Random thoughts from the sea
Day 1, 2025 Grand World Voyage Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Fla. I remember the excitement of returning to college after a summer away. Certainly not for the classes, assignments and exams. But rather to reunite with my friends from the previous year. I always wanted to get there
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Day 14, 2024 Holiday Tropical Caribbean Friday, Jan. 3, 2025; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas My social media is full of excited posts from friends who will be joining the MS Zuiderdam tomorrow for Holland America’s 2025 Grand World Voyage. Part of me misses being at the Fort Lauderdale hotel where
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Day 13, 2024 Holiday Tropical Caribbean Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025; At Sea. What to pack? It’s always a personal decision – do you like a lot of variety or a basic wardrobe? Is it more important to you to pack light or for comfort? There’s no right or wrong answer.
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Day 10, 2024 Holiday Tropical Caribbean Monday, Dec. 30, 2024; Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. You know that feeling when your family or friends have just left after a visit (perhaps staying a day or two too long) and you have the house to yourself? You miss them, but really
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Day 2, 2024 Holiday Tropical Caribbean Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024; Nassau, Bahamas. I surprised myself this morning by being perhaps the first passenger off the Zuiderdam. I woke up early and was waiting for the buffet to open as the Zuiderdam pulled into the empty Nassau, Bahamas, cruise ship harbor.
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Day 1, 2024 Holiday Tropical Caribbean Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024; Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joining the Zuiderdam earlier today really was like coming home, and yet totally different. I saw friends from previous cruises in the terminal waiting room. Once on the ship, it was hug after hug with team members
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Day 34, 2024 Ultimate Mediterranean Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024; Cadiz/Seville, Spain. This morning I was torn. With a forecast of steady rain all day, do I go to Seville as planned with my original intention of sketching and painting there? I have never been to Seville, and surprisingly the nearby
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Day 33, 2024 Ultimate Mediterranean Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024; Tangier, Morocco. Finally — a day for sketching. I spent almost an hour seated on the sidewalk at a small Moroccan café, sipping mint tea in the shade of an umbrella (although it was cloudy). No rain in sight, at least
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Day 32, 2024 Ultimate Mediterranean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024; Gibraltar. I hardly recognized Gibraltar today for all its growth since my previous stops here in 2011 and 2013. The first time we took the traditional tour to the top of the rock to see the caves, views and especially the
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Day 30, 2024 Ultimate Mediterranean Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024; Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. I visited Cagliari on the Italian island of Sardinia in 2011 and can’t remember a thing about it. Mom and I were on a Mediterranean cruise with a similar itinerary to this one, and most of our port
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