Today is Day 8 of this 12-day Caribbean cruise on Rotterdam, and we’re spending it in Bridgetown, Barbados.  We’re docked at the Port of Bridgetown Cruise Terminal, which is both a major cruise hub and a working freight yard. This is one of the larger cruise ports in the Caribbean…

Day 7 on Rotterdam brought us to Scarborough, Tobago, where we pulled up to the pier right around 8am and started disembarking shortly after. On the previous evening, the captain made an interesting announcement — the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, would be in the area…

Day 6 on Holland America’s Rotterdam and today we are visiting the island of St. Lucia, pulling into Castries right at 10am. This is our third port on this 12-day run — after Half Moon Cay and St. Maarten — and after two full days staring at nothing but ocean…

Day 5 on Rotterdam and today we’re finally off the ship and docked in St. Maarten — our second stop on this 12-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. After Half Moon Cay back on Day 2 and then two full sea days, I was ready to touch land again. Don’t get me…

So while reading Scott’s recent day 3 post aboard the Rotterdam, it hit me — I completely forgot to do my day 7 review and trip wrap-up from our latest adventure. OOPS! For those of you living vicariously through us, my sincerest apologies. I may just have to book another…

Day 4 on Holland America’s Rotterdam, and we’re spending it at sea as we make our way toward our second port of call on this 12-day Eastern Caribbean cruise — St. Maarten. So far we’ve only visited one port, Holland America’s private island Half Moon Cay, back on Day 2.…

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…

Today we arrived in St. John’s, Antigua. With a typical all-ashore time of 8:00 a.m. and all-aboard at 6:00 p.m., we had ample time to explore the island, paired with another beautiful day of 76–84° temperatures. We were joined in port by the Caribbean Princess and the Celebrity Reflection, which…