It’s confession time. The concept of a private island hadn’t won me over. Until now. Why wasn’t I a fan, you ask? We like ports with shops and supermarkets. Local restaurants serving fresh fish. You find this on lots of islands that are port stops in the Caribbean. Then came COVID. Many islands were closed to tourists or ships weren’t sailing. I recently traveled on a press trip aboard the Holland America Line (HAL) flagship Rotterdam. The …
We are back home after our five-night Bahamas cruise on Rotterdam, the newest ship in the Holland America Line (HAL) fleet. This voyage was a press trip courtesy of Holland America Line and All Things Cruise. Out of 100 points, how did our voyage score? What were the high and low points? Read on! Overall score out of 100 points: 94 points. Boarding and disembarking procedures. HAL has taken advantage of technology. A great deal of the …
On this voyage we made two visits to Half Moon Cay, the private island. Jane and I chose to stay onboard the second day. We had other plans. We started with our usual in room breakfast followed by coffee at the Lido Market. About 9:30 we headed to The Retreat on Deck 12. The Retreat is a private area consisting of about 20 tented cabanas, a hot tub, plush loungers and dining areas. At $45 per person …
You know our routine by now. 7:00 AM knock on the door as rolls and coffee arrive. We shower and head up to the Lido Market. More food. We sit in the sun. The focus of today will be Half Moon Cay, the private island owned by Holland America Line since 1996. It’s a significant sized island, looking long and narrow. While on a tour we heard the company invested $ 60 million, including about $40 million …
We awoke with the knock on the cabin door announcing the arrival of breakfast. Jane opted for the continental breakfast assortment instead of us picking and choosing. It included yogurt, fruit and rolls. We added juice and hot chocolate. Next, we headed up to the Lido Market on deck 9 to continue breakfast. We aren’t going overboard on food, but they have pasties that weren’t on our breakfast tray. Coming up to the Lido Market …
Aboard Holland America Line Rotterdam, Saturday, November 6th: Day Two: Our First Full Day Aboard, Plus Our Bimini Port Visit Saturday was our first full day aboard Rotterdam. It was also our port day in Bimini. The Bahamian island of Bimini is close to Florida, about 50 miles from Miami. It’s population is about 1,700. There’s a 750 acre Resorts International property and Alice Town, the main town. The ship docks at a long concrete jetty stretching away …
The most important event happened during the night. The iPhone dinged and we got our negative COVID test results! We transferred to the ship late morning completing the health documentation in addition to check in. A lot has changed since before the pandemic. Check in was done days before online, so taking our photos and scanning the barcode on our boarding pass was all that was needed. Put another way, check in was a breeze. As we …
Cruise ships go everywhere. You can visit the farthest ends of the earth. You can arrive in a European capital, bringing your own hotel with you. Yet the Caribbean has been an enduringly popular cruise destination. Why? It’s easy to reach from the US. Cruises in the Mediterranean are magical, but you’ve got to get to Europe first, unless you cruise across the Atlantic for several days. Since cruises depart from port cities, there may be a …
We want sunny days. When we go on vacation, we want perfect weather. It doesn’t always work out that way. You get days when it rains, even though the captain tries to steer around storms. What can you do? Here’s what not to do: Sit in your cabin and be miserable. Don’t take it out on your spouse or traveling companion either. Unlike renting a house on the Jersey shore, you are sailing in a multi-story resort! …
You are traveling on a seven night cruise. You’ve seen those folks whose idea of a great time is avoiding people and reading a book. That’s not you. You would like to meet some like minded people wanting to have a good time. Where do you start? The balcony cabin next to you. You have an outside cabin with a balcony. So do hundreds of other people. The weather is perfect. So is the scenery. Maybe you …
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
