Jumping Ship Is a Breeze – From One Home to Another

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 and passengers I know from previous cruises. A dozen or so world cruise regulars come early for the holiday cruises. Officers and team members are trickling back, some today, some next Saturday and others on Jan. 4.

Boarding the ship brought a sense of familiarity. Of all the current Holland America ships, this one feels most like home. Getting here was easy. I left the Volendam just before 10 a.m., collected my embarrassingly large amount of luggage, and followed my porter through the parking garage to the Zuiderdam at the next pier.

After depositing my bags with new porters, I passed quickly through security and check-in and waited briefly to board the ship at 11:05 a.m. along with a few other priority guests (suites and 4- and 5-star Mariners).

And that explains how my experience on these Zuiderdam seven-day holiday cruises is totally different. I haven’t been on a Holland America week-long cruise since 2005. Combine the short length with the holiday, and it’s a packed ship with 2,200 passengers, more than 300 of whom are children. We have more strollers than scooters crowding into the elevators. Chaos reigns at the Lido Buffet, as most people are not familiar with the layout of the food stations.

Our rooms weren’t available yet, but I headed down my Deck 4 hallway anyway just to locate mine. I heard someone say “Jo?” It was Riston, my cabin steward from the summer of 2023. Another hug, and he said my room was ready so I could drop off my carry-on bag. I think he was relieved to have a guest who knows the routine and hasn’t stuffed the cabin with kids.

For these two weeks I’m in an obstructed ocean view, with a lifeboat blocking most of the view. The large windows still let in lots of light. I’ll move to a verandah cabin for the world cruise.

The Crow’s Nest was an oasis of quiet – most arriving guests were heading straight for lunch in the Lido Buffet and hadn’t discovered the Crow’s Nest yet. I quickly met the barista, Rej, who served my final latte of the morning. I’m sure we’ll become good friends over the next five months.

I’m guessing we will not have a classical music group this cruise, as the Explorer’s Lounge is set up in conversation groups, with a Christmas tree display put together by the mechanical departments using old recycled items.

We were one of three Holland America ships sailing out of Port Everglades at Fort Lauderdale today, and the faithful who live along the channel were out with their greeting banners – a wonderful goodbye.

Friends Sharon and Alan joined me at an evening reception for 3-, 4- and 5-star Mariners, and we were delighted to see Karlijn, the cruise and travel director. She impressed us in that same role on our Japan cruise earlier this fall. Twinkle is back to head the beverage team. I haven’t seen Capt. Friso Kramer yet, but understand he got on board today, too.

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When I last posted from the Volendam and its six-week Mediterranean voyage, we were leaving Cadiz, Spain, for an eight-day crossing of the Atlantic to Florida and the cruise’s end. I love sea days and used them to catch up on blogging, painting and eventually to pack.

We partied on Orange Day, an event on every cruise to celebrate the line’s Dutch heritage, and I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one wearing a neon wig. I attended some of cruise director Nick’s coffee chats, including one with two of my favorite people, Cellar Master Jobelle and Beverage Manager Prasad.

I had great intentions of finishing all my Mediterranean watercolors, but we had rough seas for many days, which isn’t conducive for painting. Between that and the rainy days ashore, I felt the painting gods were conspiring against me. Maybe I will finish more during these two weeks in the Caribbean.