Cruising with Holland America Line

Cruising can mean many things to many people.  In this post I am talking about cruising on a ship as a way to travel to different places.  There are many types of cruises - river, expedition, luxurious cruises, etc.  In the old days before airplane travel, cruising on a ship is the only way to travel long-distance from place to place.  This was the only to cross the Atlantic, from Europe to America or the other way round.

In 2022 I went on two expedition cruises with a Norwegian company called Hurtigruten.  I went to Antartica in March 2022 and the Galapagos Islands in July 2022.  They were written up in earlier posts in 2022.  Prior to that, the last time I was on a luxury cruise was in 2000 on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska with my then teenage children.  The cruise industry has changed and grown tremendously in recent years.  It basically stopped during the COVID pandemic but has since ramped up.  There are many choices of cruise companies today:  Princess, Disney, Holland America, Celebrity, Viking, Oceania, etc.  Every year a new company seems to enter the cruise business.  Why?  I think most travelers are finding it a very economical and comfortable way to travel.  Once you are on board the ship, everything is taken care of. Your room, food, entertainment, shore excursions, are all provided, although some things may cost extra.  Because of competition you may go on some of these cruises for as little as $50 a day a person.  Compare this to airfares, hotels, car rentals, meals, and all the hassle of moving from places to places.

In January 2023 Doris and I decided to go on a Caribbean cruise with Holland America Line (HAL).  This is the first time cruising for Doris.  She didn't know what to expect.  On the advice of others we flew to Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise starts.  This is to ensure that we'll still have time to board the ship in case there's any flight delay.  We stay at a Hilton Hotel near the cruise terminal.

In the morning we boarded a van with other passengers to go to the Holland American cruise terminal, about 10 minutes away.  There we were met with a trained staff of people who tagged and took our luggage.  We waited a big waiting room before boarding the ship.  Once on the ship we were told there is lunch in the Lido Market.  We went for a quick bite and went outside to watch the ship leave Fort Lauderdale.

Lunch before Ship Sail

Our Ocean View Cabin

World Stage, where there is nightly entertainment

Our First Stop at the Grand Turk Island

Our first stop is Grand Turk, of the Turk & Caicos Islands.  It's a beautiful tropical island with a very small population.  We hopped into a van that took us to town.  There are only a few buildings selling some souvenirs.  On the way back we hopped into the same van but this time the driver gave us a tour of the island.  Nothing interesting here, unless you want to lay on the beach.

Front Street at Grand Turk

Our next stop is San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I was here about 20 years ago but stayed at a resort just outside of town.  This time the ship docked near the downtown area and we were able to spend a few hours walking around Old Town San Juan.  It has a rich history and some very old buildings but nothing that was of much interest to us.

Street in Old Town San Juan

Another Street in Old Town

A Cathedral

Our third stop is the St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands.  This is a popular place for Americans to get away, with its beautiful beaches and slow life-style.  We hope onto a truck with seats in the back and it took us to the top of the mountain overlooking the island.  It looks like a popular thing to do.

View from the top of the mountain

Truck for ferrying cruise passengers around town

Our final stop before heading back to Fort Lauderdale is the Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.  This is owned by the Holland American Line.  It is a popular stop for HAL cruises.  They have a local population to take care of the facilities but all food is prepared and cooked on the ship.  We had to do a tender, which means we have to be ferried to shore using smaller passenger boats.  This is because the water is too shallow for the ship to anchor near the resort.  

Once on land you can swim on the beautiful white-sand beach.  You can sign up for activities while on the ship.  A generous barbecue lunch is provided.  Unfortunately, it started raining in the afternoon and most passengers started headed back to the ship.

We eventually sailed back to Fort Lauderdale, where we disembarked early in the morning.  We took a van to the airport, where we picked up a rental car.  The next few days we'll spend 2 nights in Miami, 1 night in Key West and 1 last night in Fort Lauderdale.

We booked an AirBnB in Miami Beach because the hotels are much more expensive and far away from where we wanted to go.  We tried to find the name of a popular Cuban restaurant in Little Havana but we didn't know the name of the restaurant.  We settled for a tasty lunch at a Chinese restaurant and then later walked around Miami Beach.  It's a very touristy area.  

Later I got the name of the famous Cuban restaurant, called Versailles.  A French name for a Cuban restaurant.  It's very popular and we waited in a line.  I can't tell you if it's good Cuban food but it tasted good.  

A Lunch Meal at Versailles

Later that day we walked to South Beach and join the throng of people at the South Pointe Park.

South Pointe Beach

Miami Beach

A Cruise Ship heading out to sea at South Pointe

The next day we took a long drive through the Florida Keys to Key West.  This is an interesting stretch of highway, connecting different islands in the Keys.  Again, we booked an AirBnB that is right in the middle of town.  Most of the touristy stuffs are here.  We walked around in the afternoon, then in the evening.  That's all we need to do to get a feel for the place.  One of the attractions is Ernest Hemingway's home.  Not being a fan of his we did not pay the $18 to tour the house.

Sign to Ernest Hemingway's Home

Southern-most Pointe of the US

We spent the last night in Fort Lauderdale, because the hotel is cheaper and we want to be closer to the airport.  There is not much to do here so we stayed in the hotel until it's time to check out and head to the airport.  The cruise was wonderful but south Florida, not so much.  Perhaps next time we'll go to the west coast of Florida, to the Tampa Bay area and to the Everglades National Park.