Day 3 on Holland America’s Rotterdam was the first of two back-to-back sea days as we make our way toward our next port of call, St. Maarten, where we’ll arrive on Wednesday. Personally, I love a sea day — no rushing, no tender tickets, no “be back onboard by 2:30pm,”…

Day 2 on Holland America’s Rotterdam brought us to our first port of call: Half Moon Cay, HAL’s private island in the Bahamas. We arrived a little before 10am, and tender operations began shortly afterward. This visit was a bit unique because we weren’t the only ones there — two…

Fresh off seven days on Holland America Line's Zuiderdam, it's time to kick off another cruise adventure, and this time I’m settling in for the long stay. I’m back on Holland America Line’s Rotterdam, and not just for a quick getaway — this is the first of two back-to-back cruises…

Day 7 is here and just like that, we’ve reached the end of this 7-day western Caribbean adventure aboard Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam. Over the past week we made our way from Miami to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, hopped over to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, almost didn't make our…

Day 6 already — and yes, I’m back in Cozumel, Mexico. If you’ve been following along, I was just here last week during my cruise on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, and before that… well, I’ve lost count. Let’s just say Cozumel and I see each other more often than most people…

Day 5 onboard Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam and today we’re visiting Grand Cayman, our third stop on this 7-day western Caribbean cruise. So far we’ve had perfect beach day on Half Moon Cay, survived my least-favorite port of call — Ocho Rios, Jamaica — and on Thursday we’ll hit our…

Today the Zuiderdam is visiting Jamaica — Ocho Rios, to be exact. Now, you may be saying, “Scott, didn’t Jamaica just have a Category 5 hurricane blow through? Why on earth are you going there?” Well, Zuiderdam happens to be one of the first cruise ships to call on Jamaica…

Day 3 on Zuiderdam was spent at sea as we continue our journey toward our next port of call, Ocho Rios, Jamaica — our second stop on this seven-day Western Caribbean cruise. Our first stop, of course, was Holland America’s private island, Half Moon Cay, which I covered in detail…

On the second day of this 7-day western Caribbean cruise, Zuiderdam dropped anchor off Holland America’s private island in the Bahamas — Half Moon Cay. Or, as the marketing folks in Seattle are now trying to rebrand it, “RelaxAway Half Moon Cay.” Yes, you read that right. RelaxAway. Can we…

Fresh off nine days aboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, I’ve traded British formality for Dutch charm and am back aboard Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam. This one feels a bit nostalgic — I first sailed this ship way back in December 2013 for a Panama Canal cruise. And before anyone tells you…