“Traveling. It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” Ibn Battuta
Carol writes: Fresh off of a new round of Covid vaccinations, Al and I decided it was time to dip our toes into the cruise world that was so tempting and inviting along the Florida coast. After all, Ft Lauderdale was just a 5-hour drive south for us.
The ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) in the Dutch Caribbean
have always seemed to me an ideal example of tropical life. Although tropical storms can originate close to the ABCs, as had occurred earlier in the week, hurricanes typically do not come ashore there.
By a fabulous stroke of luck, best friends Pem and Lucy were also in the process of booking a cruise to the ABCs. We had been considering a Celebrity cruise, but when we checked out their itinerary, we decided to make it a foursome on the Rotterdam, flagship of Holland America Line and 7th ship to bear that name.
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| A previous version of the Rotterdam |
We met up with our friends at a hotel in Ft Lauderdale just outside Port Everglades cruise terminal,
our port of embarkation. A bit of pre-cruise horsing around at the hotel with pretend-Captain Morgan made for a fun photo with Lucy.
Day #1 began with perfect Florida weather that was ideal for underway celebration photos.
We were happy to christen those drink packages.
From our stateroom balcony, we said goodbye to Ft. Lauderdale. See you in 11 days!…which ultimately turned into 12 days when Mother Nature made other plans.
We were delighted with our “home” for the cruise—on the port side, high up on deck 8, near the bow!
It was pure dumb luck that we had selected a room that would prove to be ideal for observing all the port activities at our future ports of call.
HALF MOON CAY
Early the next morning, we dropped anchor at Half Moon Cay, an island owned by Holland America Line. We were transported to the island via a small tender boat since there was no pier big enough for the Rotterdam, which has a tonnage of 99,500 and a passenger capacity of just over 2600. Half Moon Cay was all set up for lounging on the beach,
and a buffet-style lunch.
I was anxious to don my snorkel gear, get a little sandy, and see what I could find under the water while the rest of the group kept me company and delighted in the warm, magnificent turquoise waters.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
During a restful day at sea, we took advantage of some of our favorite things—early mornings on the balcony,
the Lido deck pool and hot tub, poolside pizza for lunch, enjoyable and creative entertainment, reading and talking to other passengers on the observation deck,
where we frequently met up with Pem and Lucy for coffee.
I especially loved seeing “Where the Crawdads Sing” on a giant outdoor screen, under the stars, on a reclining lounge chair at poolside.
Our excursion in the Dominican Republic was a bus ride from Amber Cove into the city of Puerto Plata. The rum tasting at Macorix House of Rum
consisted of sampling 8 different types of rum. Sharing a small sampling cup with Al proved to be a wise move, as the excursion was just beginning and the samplings were generous!
We visited historic 16th century Fort san Felipe,
had lunch at the home of a famous local painter,
and did a brief walking tour of Puerto Plata. This northern coastal city had lots of ambience, with brightly colored buildings,
well-preserved San Felipe Cathedral,
and two interesting pedestrian streets—one canopied with colorful umbrellas,
and the other painted entirely pink.
ARUBA
The advantage of our port-side balcony was soon apparent as we docked at Oranjestad, capital and largest city of Aruba. Some of our favorite early mornings were spent watching our new port of call come into view as the Captain maneuvered the ship into docking position at the pier.
With Al at the wheel on Aruba,
we took a UTV (utility terrain vehicle) excursion through residential neighborhoods leading to the northern coast. The candle cactus, a type of organ pipe cactus, was thriving on this very arid island.
As the Rotterdam sat peacefully docked on the protected southern shore of Aruba, our UTV excursion motored over dirt roads to the dry, dramatic northern coast,
where there was lots of big wave action.
For a little side of history, we stopped at an abandoned gold mill. Gold was discovered on Aruba in 1824. Mining for gold stopped in 1916 and never resumed.
After our UTV excursion, we sampled some hard-to-resist tourist shopping in the port area of Aruba. The pastel color palette of the Dutch architecture was soothing to the eyes in the noonday sun.
Dinner on the ship that evening was “dress up,” which gave us a good excuse, for a change, to get into some clothing that wasn’t casual Florida wear.
BONAIRE
The next morning, it seemed like we had nearly ideal weather as we tied up along the pier in Bonaire.
However, we soon realized our competence at evaluating wind and water conditions for tourist excursions was sorely lacking.
Bonaire has a reputation as one of the top diving destinations in the world! But, all the most thrilling underwater scenes are lost on beginner snorkelers like us if the water is choppy and winds are marginal for safety, and that was the case.
Fortunately, water conditions were deemed “just safe enough” for a quirky sail on an old “samur junk” to an uninhabited island called Klein Bonaire, 2 miles offshore.
Here we experienced a “drift snorkel,” which involved motoring in small groups about a half mile to the beach waters of Klein Bonaire via a small zodiac. We snorkeled along the coastal coral while drifting with the current back to the junk. Poor rental equipment with frustrating leaks prevented me from total emersion in the activity, but eventually trading equipment with Al enabled me to savor the waning minutes in the water. I felt like I had experienced what I wanted.
A brief walk into the port city of Kralendijk
revealed an island economy and infrastructure that was in need of “lots of attention.” Sadly, we found that to be the case in most Caribbean ports of call on this cruise—a tourist/cruise industry that is just about the sole support of the island economy with few other options to create wealth for the residents.
CURACAO
Our favorite port of call was Curacao.
In the capital city of Willemstad, long rows of buildings with brilliant pastel paint color combinations on iconic Dutch architecture pushed Al’s camera into high gear.
The flag flying atop the seat of government building (Ft Amsterdam) in Curacao signified that the governor was present and at work.
It was very windy, which made walking across the Queen Emma pontoon bridge very challenging. We bobbed and weaved our way across the “Swinging Old Lady” as if we had sampled too much Caribbean rum!
With high winds that even we could appreciate, we wondered how our snorkeling excursion would play out. Our bus made a stop at Shete Boka National Park for an appreciation of the rugged natural coastal beauty of Curacao.
Snorkeling “with the turtles” became quite an overstatement in such windy conditions. The water was cloudy and turtles were hard to spot, although we did see a huge loggerhead and also one other smaller turtle.
After lunch, we had a second snorkeling opportunity in the turquoise blue waters of Knip Beach.
I was determined to go in the water even though this Colorado girl really didn’t have any idea how to get started from the beach in big waves while wearing a mask and snorkel.
I was relieved to get into the horizontal position at last while Al took pics from the beach. The experience was a whole lot different than my swimming pool sessions back home in WaterSong.
On the way back to the ship, our bus driver thought he knew where some flamingos might be feeding. Sure enough, he guessed right!
We learned that flamingos get their pink-colored feathers from beta-carotene in the algae and brine shrimp that they eat. Hmmm, I never knew…
As a final goodbye to Curacao, we had a delicious rum drink that was blue from—what else?—blue Curacao liqueur!
GRAND TURK
It was a disappointment for us to have our final snorkel excursion cancelled at the last minute in Grand Turk due to high winds. We were to have taken a catamaran out to an island just offshore where we would snorkel with the stingrays in their sanctuary habitat. The downside of cruising is that you typically have only one day in a particular port.
Heading down the pier gave us a most spectacular view of the Rotterdam, and all the professional photographers knew it…
We made the best of this port call and headed out on our own with another couple in a taxi. The driver narrated what we were seeing as we rode along for only $5 a person. She pointed out where she lived—a cinderblock house where she has ridden out many hurricanes. She said that Grand Turk was still in need of debris cleanup from Hurricane Ian, which had passed through only 6 weeks ago. The island infrastructure and wooden structures were also in disrepair from a pair of Cat 5 hurricanes that hit back-to-back in 2017. Beach erosion needed a lot of rehab on this chief island of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Is King Charles III aware?
I almost didn’t recognize this tiny picturesque plaza that I had seen in a promotional video about ports of call on our stateroom TV. The lovely flowers, trees and bright-colored buildings in Caribbean colors portrayed in the video were in terrible shape! Only the cannons cued my memory that this was what I saw in the video!
The wild donkeys have survived and were a source of amusement for the tourists. Our cab driver said local residents were pretty much fed up with them.
Other scenes conjured up how beautiful it must have been before destructive hurricanes hit hard.
FT LAUDERDALE
Grand Turk was our last port of call, and we were anticipating one more day and night at sea before our final port call in Ft Lauderdale. Not so fast! In the Caribbean Sea storms can organize quickly with only a few days of warning! Ship’s passengers everywhere were suddenly reading on their cellphones about a very large tropical storm named Nicole that was aimed straight for Ft Lauderdale!
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| Category 1 Hurricane Nicole |
Captain Bas von Dreumel informed us that we would be making a course change to Ft Lauderdale. He intended to proceed along the north coast of Cuba, through the “Old Bahama Channel,” where we would remain safe from the winds of what was now a rare Cat 1 November hurricane.
We would be cruising at a very slow speed for an extra day at sea to wait out Nicole’s landfall. Selfishly, I did not mind the extra free day at sea because we had no deadlines to meet since we had our own transportation in the parking garage at the cruise terminal; however, I sympathized with the many, many travelers who were scrambling to make changes in their airline reservations. I felt especially bad for the European travelers we had met who now had to book last-minute flights home across the Atlantic.
While we waited out Nicole, we noticed the seas were getting a bit rough, but the stabilizing technology of the Rotterdam was amazing and kept us quite comfortable. We were enjoying our last lovely evening meal with Pem and Lucy in the luxurious dining room on deck 2 when the Captain came on the ship’s loudspeaker and said that someone had spotted a boat in the water with several refugees on board. They looked to be taking on water and were desperate in the rough seas. I obtained this picture from an official Rotterdam source.
Over the next hour or so, in the dark, Captain von Dreumel maneuvered the ship so he could make a safe rescue at sea. I must confess that I felt a bit emotional while enjoying a gourmet meal in a fancy dining room as the Rotterdam welcomed 14 refugees and gave them blankets, food, water, and a place to sleep.
As we approached Ft Lauderdale the next day, all 14 refugees were transferred to a US Coast Guard ship for repatriation back to Cuba, where our Cuban cruise friends told us they will undoubtedly be in trouble…
Early the next morning, we waited our turn at sea to enter Port Everglades. The Ft Lauderdale/Miami coastline was eerie in the morning mist.
We were given first-in-line privileges as soon as the cruise channel was cleared for safety. We had a picture-perfect day for disembarkation at Port Everglades.
What an adventurous first cruise experience! I must give Pem and Lucy a big pat on the back for helping us maneuver through many unfamiliar procedures and customs in the cruise world. Experienced mariners gave us great tips on future cruise travel. I loved the international flavor of the Dutch ship and the interesting conversations with European passengers we met. We will definitely cruise again! Needless to say, I have certainly learned to expect the unexpected!
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
J.K. Rowling
Carol Galus,
PhotoBlogger
