Spring Nostalgia Trip Part 1: The Crossing

This year has turned into a definite year of travel -- such a year as I've  not had in my life before, ever.

After a whole string of more-or-less impulse buys, this cruise is one that's been sitting on the books with the deposit paid for almost 2 years. The irony. It's the first cruise I'd ever reserved to sail with Holland America, but now it's turning into the third time I've actually sailed with them. 

Each summer, Holland America Line home-ports a couple of their ships in the line's original home country, the Netherlands. The MS Rotterdam, which I cruised on 2 months ago, is going across to -- where else? -- Rotterdam. My ship for this voyage, the MS Zuiderdam, will home-port for this summer in Ijmuiden, the seaport for Amsterdam. So that's where I'm going.

 

Holland America photo

 

It's a 2-week voyage, with 8 of the 14 days being sea days -- my favourite kind. Actually, it's 9 of 14 if you count the first day of the cruise, the day we sail out of Fort Lauderdale.

There's really nothing more to say about the trip down -- the run up from home to Toronto, overnight in an airport hotel, the early morning  red-eye check-in at Toronto airport, the flight down to Fort Lauderdale, and the hotel there for the night before the cruise. That's all old news.

 

However, Holland America has run smack into a problem which has bedevilled the airlines and hotels for years, and has now (since the pandemic) come to roost in the cruise lines. Welcome to overbooking!

 

A couple of weeks ago, I got a lovely letter which began with this paragraph:

Due to the popularity of the Zuiderdam 14-day Fort Lauderdale to Ijmuiden cruise departing on May 11th you are eligible for exceptional savings should you choose to change departure dates.

There followed several enticing offers, including a 3-week cruise around Europe a week later on the same ship for the same money, or a complete refund to switch to one of the return cruises across the Atlantic in the fall. The letter was sent out again this Monday, five days before the ship sailed. They're desperate to free up some cabins!

 

It's a problem that has occurred with other companies too. Back before Covid-19, people could and did cancel on the turn of a dime, leaving their cabins free for last-minute bargain sell-offs. Now, it seems that people are buying with no intention that they will ever cancel. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that the ship is oversold. What will they do?

I've not heard of this happening with Holland America before, but it has happened with other cruise lines, and here's what has happened in those cases. The people who will normally get bumped off are the ones who reserved a cabin type but did not select a specific cabin. Most cruises charge you a few (or quite a few) extra dollars to pick out the specific cabin of your choice. You can save money by just picking a type of cabin and leaving it up to the company to choose the specific location. Well, you could. Now, I would have to call that the height of folly. Before this happened, I would have sworn that no trans-Atlantic cruise would ever sail with the ship filled to the brim -- but here we are.

 

I'm guessing that Holland America had to email a selection of paid-up customers to inform them that, due to overbooking, their passage on this cruise had been cancelled. They certainly wouldn't want to repeat the gross error of another company which turned away a dozen passengers at the pier at boarding time! What will these unlucky people be offered instead? Again, I don't know, but it had better be generous to a fault.

 

The moral of the story:

 

 

So what makes this particular cruise holiday a "nostalgia trip?" Unlike several of my more recent adventures, this one is going mostly to places which I know and love. There are two "new" ports (as in "new to me") and three old ones. One of the old familiars is a place I haven't seen since 1979, although I've never forgotten my time there. Then, the week which I spend ashore at the end of the cruise will be dedicated to revisiting a country which I have seen many times, but have not visited since 2007. 

For now, then, welcome to the MS Zuiderdam. This ship, which entered service in 2002, is the first of a quartet of four all-but-identical ships which Holland America labels the "Vista" Class. The names (Zuiderdam, Westerdam, Oosterdam, and Noordam) refer to the four main points of the compass. They carry less than 2000 passengers each. These  ships, like all of Holland America's vessels, definitely rank in the mid-size area in a cruise industry where new ships routinely carry 4,000-7,000 passengers or more. Shudder. This more modest size and more laid-back atmosphere is just the way I like it.

 

Here's a photo gallery of the ship. Zuiderdam is two decades older than the recent Pinnacle class ships I have sailed on recently, and frankly looks it on the inside. That's not a bad thing at all. The wood finishes everywhere are a pleasant and warm change of pace from some of the brilliant colours in the newer vessels, and the dark, cozy atmosphere of the Dining Room is (for me) a friendlier environment than the brilliant whites and colours of the Dining Room on Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam.

 

 

 

Similarly warm and friendly environments can be found in the Ocean Bar (found on the third deck level all around the central Atrium) and the Atrium itself, featuring a stylized cut-glass (I assume) sculpture of a sea horse. 

 

 

I do, however, miss the commissioned art collections on the newer ships. On this vessel, it's mostly reproductions of European art from the 1600s to the 1800s, with some sculptural pieces inspired by (or copied from) classic sculptural art of the Mediterranean and East Asia.

 

The painting selection largely reflects a nautical theme, with a few copies by skilled artists among the more numerous reproduction prints.

 

 

The most eye-catching sculptures are these three life-sized figures from the Carnival season in Venice. Although created in the current century, they definitely recapture the spirit of the ship's art collection as a whole.

 

 

In the photo of the ship at the top of the page, the vertical black stripe at midships is a glass-fronted tower housing two glass-walled elevators. There's another pair on the other side, and a pair of standard elevators in the middle of the vessel for those who are less thrilled by catching the view while moving. 

 

 

It is a bit disconcerting to see the ocean moving left or right while you're sliding up or down.

As usual on sea days, my routine is a mixture of meals, walks on the promenade deck, and a swim or two in the pool. Zuiderdam and her sisters have much more spacious full-circuit promenades than the newer ships, with ample room for full size loungers while still leaving lots of space for walkers and joggers. Many of those loungers were occupied today, and not only by elderly people. For the life of me, I can't imagine why cruise companies think that getting rid of this feature is a good idea -- but many of the more modern ships are doing just that. So I will enjoy ships that still have the promenade while it lasts.

As on the Pinnacle ships, I love the broad open deck space around and behind the Sea View Pool. The black mesh net up above surrounds the Sports Court (read: pickleball).

Typically for a trans-Atlantic crossing, the cabin fares were much lower per day than on high season trips in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Alaska, so I was able to manage an outside cabin with a spacious verandah (Holland America scorns the use of the term "balcony").

 

 

Originally the first stopping place for this cruise was to be Bermuda. That plan was changed last year, and our first port is now Terceira in the Portuguese mid-Atlantic archipelago of the Azores. We'll therefore be spending the entire first week of the cruise out at sea, making our way across the Atlantic towards that first port of call.

So here's how it looks. We start at Pier 21 in Port Everglades. Due to its key location in the harbour, this pier was the site of the unique "alien spaceship" harbour control tower, now under restoration.

The ship has to move really slowly, negotiating a tight, tricky turn to starboard as it enters the narrow channel to the open ocean -- all the while watching out for the numerous recreational boaters who think they're incredibly clever to cut off a 90,000 ton cruise ship and get into the channel first.

It's just a few minutes after leaving the pier before the ship slides into the open ocean...,

the pilot boat closes in to take the harbour pilot off...,

and you leave the beachfront skyscraper condos and hotels of Fort Lauderdale Beach behind to head out for the open Atlantic. 

 

 

The following morning, land is out of sight and only the occasional other vessel can be seen. By the second morning, even the ships are missing in action. It's days like this one that make me long for my next cruise experience. Europe, here we come!

 

The captain stated that the waves were running at 5-7 feet (1.5-2.1 metres), but on a ship this size such waves produce only a few quivers and a slight motion on the swells. 

And here, according to tradition, is the first instalment of the cruise map for this trip. As the captain explained in his noon announcement of position today, we're moving at a decent speed of 18.4 knots (21 mph, 34 kmph), which will enable us to reach Terceira in a week of steady sailing.

Base Map Attribution: https://freevectormaps.com/globes/atlantic-ocean/GLB-AT-01-0001?ref=atr

The November Epic # 6: Life at Sea

Sea days are, in some ways, my favourite part of a cruise. Sure, it’s exciting to step ashore, especially in a port you’ve never visited – but a ship is built to sail, and a trans-Atlantic cruise like this one is a great relaxing way to enjoy life at sea. 

 

There’s a massive list of activities throughout the day – from yoga to golf, knitting to dancing, trivia games to bingo to shopping to art auctions to movies to… well, you name it, it’s happening.

 

So, what does this blogger’s sea day look like? First of all, that depends on the weather. The last time I did a trans-Atlantic cruise we had five solid days of wind and waves from Madeira to Bermuda. On this trip, we had one rough sea day, from Lisboa to Ponta Delgada. Since we left the Azores and took our southwesterly course towards Florida, we’ve had four solid days of sunshine, calm seas, and a wonderful feeling of well-being. 

 

First thing in the early hours is to check the internet and look in on emails and social media. As always on a ship, the system just clogs up as the day goes on. Anything I can get done online before 8:00 am is a huge improvement over trying to do it later.  So that’s when this post is happening

 

Then, breakfast. Emerald Princess has a bright and cheery buffet area, as I’ve mentioned earlier in the trip, and the food, while not spectacularly good, is tasty and filling. The chef here does a great job with omelettes to order. The coffee is also better than it used to be on Princess, a huge plus. 

 

Sunscreen follows, and then it’s time to walk the deck. The ships of the Grand Class were all built with a full-circuit promenade on Deck 7, although you do have to go up a flight of stairs to circle the bow area on Deck 8. I’ve been passing on the stairs, which are a bit steep for my cranky knee, but I walk all the rest several times, perhaps with a sit-down-and-rest break, until I’ve racked up an hour or more of walking.

 

 

As I go, I enjoy the sunshine, the sea breeze, and the constant sound of the water rolling along the sides of the ship as we sail onward towards North America. Sea days are also a great time for the crew to carry on with the never-ending job of keeping everything neat and tidy -- all the way from deck washing to painting and more.

 

  

The walking’s a little harder to do when the ship is moving more, but then you get the compensating bonus of watching the spray flying as the bow digs into the waves. Since Emerald Princess weighs in at a respectable 113,561 tonnes, the amount of water the bow can heave at one time is mighty impressive.

 

 

Or you can spend a few minutes immersed in the mighty roar of the engines at the stern as the ship’s wake streams out behind it. It’s one of my happy places.

 

 

After the walk, the next step is to go up to the Lido deck for a cooldown in the pool. For whatever reason or reasons, there aren’t many passengers on this ship actually using the Lido area during this cruise, so it’s never been hard to get a seat where you like, and you can usually get the pool to yourself for a while – or maybe share it with one or two other people.

 

 

Part of the fun on a sea day is being in the pool when the ship does encounter waves and the water begins sloshing dramatically back and forth.

 

Depending on time of day, there may be some live music from the 16^th deck bandstand overlooking the Neptune Pool, while various films, concerts, or sports events are playing almost all day on the giant Movies Under the Stars screen above the Calypso Pool.

 

Somewhere along the line, it’s time for lunch. There’s a grill dishing up burgers and hot dogs, and a pizza counter serving pizza by the slice, as well as a counter for ice cream and premium coffees, not to mention the bars at each pool. 

 

Or there’s the buffet, same deck, just aft of the Calypso pool. If I’m in the mood for something light and quick, the International Café down at the main deck of the Piazza (Deck 5) does small sandwiches, soup, premium coffee and tea, dessert squares, and the like. And one of the main dining rooms is always open for lunch on sea days if I’m in a more sedate mood.

 

After lunch, it’s nap time. Then I may head out to walk the promenade some more, before heading topsides for another dip in the pool. My lucky break was getting to photograph a rare total eclipse of the sun -- although, oddly enough, it didn't get dark and there was no corona around the eclipse.

Also on the Lido deck is the display map where the ship's course is marked off in the time-honoured and traditional manner -- with push pins and a piece of yarn.

And then it’s time for dinner, perhaps with a drink before or a nightcap after, depending on the entertainment schedule for the day. I’ve become a familiar sight in Crooners, a bar where you either get a musician right there on the piano or you can listen to the music from the stage two decks down in the Piazza, since Crooners is on the top level of the three decks of the Piazza.

 

And finally, it’s bedtime. I know I have mentioned it before, in years gone by, but Princess Cruises scored a real winner with their bed, which is – hands down – one of the two or three most comfortable beds I have ever encountered in all my years of travel.