Even Without My Sisters, World Cruise is a Family Reunion

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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 early to see everyone as they arrived.

Today was the same. The 37 of us already on the Zuiderdam for a holiday cruise left the ship as a group around 10 a.m. to walk through the terminal for processing by U.S. Immigration. After a simple facial recognition scan, we reversed our route back on board to enjoy an hour of quiet before embarkation began.

Capt. Friso, Hotel Director Henk and Cruise and Travel Director Kimberly greeted embarking passengers on the terminal side of the gangway. I placed myself on the ship side of the gangway on Deck 2 and was immediately overwhelmed by the number of friends who were among those embarking first.

Hotel General Manager Henk Mensink, Cruise and Travel Director Kimberly Wells and Captain Friso Kramer gezegd Frehe

Of course, they were all trying to orient themselves (which deck are we on?) and find their way to either the Lido Marketplace for an early lunch or to their cabins to drop off carry-on luggage. But they had time for hugs and greetings, and it was so good to see so many people I knew. Deb just left me and the Volendam two weeks ago to go home for Christmas. Nancy and Aileen haven’t sailed with me since our pandemic-interrupted 2020 world cruise. Many are annual world cruisers. Others I’ve met on other cruises.

It truly is the friends I’ve made more than the ports that bring me back year after year. My only disappointment this year is that my sisters aren’t with me. They chose instead to cruise on Holland America’s Pole to Pole Grand Voyage, sailing around South America to Antarctica and then across to Africa and Europe to Norway’s North Cape and over to Greenland before returning to Florida.

The Zuiderdam didn’t leave Fort Lauderdale until well after dark due to the amount of luggage we brought and the provisions to load, including what I hope is ice cream.

We gathered on the Sea View Deck at the back of the ship to celebrate with live music, line dances and drink specials. The sun was nice but fierce so a group of us moved to the Ocean Bar and then to dinner in the dining room. Cruise Director Kimberly kicked off the cruise with an introduction on the main stage of the entertainment staff and a multi-media overview of all the ports we have ahead.

Setting up for sail away

Earlier in the day, the housekeeping staff moved my luggage to my new cabin. I packed everything except hanging clothes, a much easier task than packing to fly home. I usually like to jump right on unpacking, but I spent my time greeting friends. I have 124 days to unpack.

In all the day’s activity, did it ever occur to me to take pictures? Not really. I’ll try to make it up on future blog posts. Meanwhile, here’s a little overview of our itinerary.

Our first port of call will be Grand Cayman as we cut through the Caribbean to the Panama Canal and then down the west coast of South America and across the Pacific Ocean to Easter Island, Tahiti and eventually to Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. We will sail through the Indian Ocean south from Sri Lanka down the east coast of Africa to Cape Town.

The original itinerary had us heading back north from Cape Town to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, but terrorist activity in that area changed our route. Instead, we will sail up the Atlantic Ocean coast of Africa and into the Mediterranean before crossing back to Fort Lauderdale on May 9.

Original 2025 Grand World Voyage Itinerary

While in the Mediterranean, we will overnight in Barcelona where we will meet Holland America’s Volendam on the Pole to Pole. I’m looking forward to seeing my sisters there. Perhaps scheduling two grand voyages at the same time was a mistake, as neither cruise will be sailing full. As a result, Holland America has been heavily promoting segments of the world cruise, such as Florida to Sydney or Singapore to Cape Town. It probably will change the ambiance of the world cruise community with people coming and going for shorter periods. But even without my sisters here, I am with family.

2025 Pole to Pole Grand Voyage Itinerary