After three days at sea, it's time for our first port-of-call on this 9-day Southern Caribbean Seafarer Cruise on Holland America's Rotterdam and we're docked in Kralendijk - the charming capital of Bonaire.  Looking out from the ship, the first thing you notice is the turquoise bay and small boats…

Another sea day on the Rotterdam as we head to our first port of call on this 9-day Southern Caribbean Seafarer Cruise - Bonaire.  As the ship came alive in the morning, something was amiss.  Cell phones, tablets, and self-setting watches all turned back an hour overnight as the United…

The second day of this Holland America Southern Caribbean Seafarer Cruise on the Rotterdam was a sea day and being so allowed me to compare the crowd levels on the ship's outside decks compared to the last segment of this cruise which ended Friday.  With the average age dropping a…

Today kicked off the second segment of this 21-day cruise on Holland America's flagship, the Rotterdam.  The next nine days are a Southern Caribbean Seafarer Cruise which will find us cruising to Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, and Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas - a cruise referred to as an "ABC…

The final day of the first segment of this 21-day cruise on Holland America's Rotterdam has arrived. It's a sea day as we head back to Fort Lauderdale where most passengers will disembark while 258 of us will stay on for the second segment, a 9-day Southern Caribbean Seafarer Cruise…

Greetings from Jamaica, mon!  The final port stop on the first segment of this 21-day cruise finds the Rotterdam docked in the country known for Red Stripe beer, Bob Marley, reggae, and Blue Mountain Coffee.  Bet you thought I was going to put "weed" on that list, didn't you?   We…

Here on Holland America's Rotterdam, we celebrated Halloween at sea as we sailed towards our next port of call, Falmouth, Jamaica.  I'm mid-way through this 21-day cruise which is two cruises back-to-back.  This first segment is a 12-day Panama Canal Sunfarer Cruise which will end on November 3rd when we…

Yesterday, the Rotterdam did a partial transit through the Panama Canal and immediately set our sights on the next port-of-call, Puerto Limon in Costa Rica.  What can I say about Limon... not much.  The ship docks at a spartan, run-down port that makes you instantly ask, "I thought Costa Rica…

The most anticipated day of this 21-day cruise on Holland America's Rotterdam has arrived - the day we do a partial transit of the Panama Canal.  The last time I went through the canal, I was on Holland America's Zuiderdam which was small enough to pass thru the century-old original…

It's now been a full week I've been onboard Holland America's Rotterdam and there are two more to go.  The 7th day of this 21-day Panama Canal Sunfarer Cruise saw us spending a small portion of the day docked in Cartagena, Colombia.  The ship docked around 6:30 am and we…