Island Serenity Before Excitement of Another Sail Around the World

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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 my travel agency hosts their clients for a big reunion dinner tonight.

I don’t feel too bad, thought, as I’m sitting at my regular Crow’s Nest table with a full view of Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private beach. The Volendam (the ship I left two weeks ago) also is here today to enjoy the long stretch of fine white sand beach, paths meandering through palm trees, the barbecue area and dozens of activities, from volleyball to snorkeling to horseback riding.

This stop is one advantage of short holiday cruises out of Florida. I hadn’t been here in about 20 years until last Christmas and fell in love again with its beauty. I returned last Friday and again today. Looking at my future cruise schedule, I don’t expect to be back for at least a couple of years.

After leaving Grand Turk on Monday, we made our scheduled stop at San Juan, Puerto Rico, the next day. What wasn’t scheduled was the island-wide blackout. It didn’t keep us from docking, but we were disappointed to be at the distant Pan American pier, a shuttle ride from Old San Juan where my ships have always docked before. We could see the giant cruise ships on the preferred piers.

I had booked my only shore excursion of this two-week Caribbean interlude here – a visit to the El Yunque National Rain Forest. Even before we arrived, I had to cancel the tour, as the time had changed and conflicted with my dinner reservation with friends in the Canaletto restaurant. With the revised tour start, we would end in the dark anyway.

And once it was dark, we only saw a few lights in the city, powered by emergency generators, I would guess. I didn’t take the shuttle to Old San Juan, as I was there twice earlier this year and heard that most of the shops and restaurants were closed due to the power outage. On board that evening, the Lido Deck sparkled with lights as we welcomed in the New Year. I photographed the preparations, including the stage built over the hot tubs, but managed to forget to take any photos at the party.

On Wednesday we tendered in to Cruz Bay on St. Johns, the smallest of the three main islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We originally were scheduled to go to nearby St. Thomas, but a few months ago Holland America announced the change. I didn’t mind – there were five other cruise ships in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, including Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas with 7,200 passengers. We had Cruz Bay to ourselves. I walked around the harbor area, window shopping and enjoying an ice cream cone. I was last here in 2000 when I chartered a catamaran for a 10-day vacation with my family.

Back on board, some questions from young children during Capt. Friso’s Q&A session entertained us all – “if the ship turned over, would it turn back right side up?” (Answer: “No, it would sink. But it’s built not to turn over.” I bet some adults have wondered but never asked.)

This morning we awoke to see no signs of Christmas. Last night the crew took down and boxed up the garlands, the trees, the gingerbread village and all the other decorations. They will send them all ashore tomorrow, leaving room for the paraphernalia necessary for a world cruise.

I’ve spent the days at sea painting and met my objective to finish my 12 watercolors from the Mediterranean. I have intended to modify this blog in order to add a portfolio section, but it seems to be beyond my web design capabilities. (I’m amazed I could even put this blog together.) So I’ll do a dump here of all 12.

Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião, Azores
Kutubiyya Mosque, Marrakesh
Santa Maria del Fiore Duomo, Florence
Ponte Vecchio, Florence
Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City
Taormina, Sicily
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Valletta, Malta
Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
Cagliari, Sardinia
Sidi Bou Abid Mosque, Tangier
Cathedral of Seville, Seville