We went on a 1 week cruise in October on Holland's ship Nieuw Statendam, Dave's sister Tammy joined us, it was her first cruise.
We met Tammy at our hotel in Fort Lauderdale and found a place close by where we enjoyed a yummy mediterranean dinner. Next morning we took the hotel shuttle to the cruise port and experienced a very long check in! Dave and I were being very covid cautious, we choose to wear masks when indoor or outside in large crowds.
We choose Holland because we like the BB King Blues club, wrap around promenade deck, size of ship, and love that they don't do self serve buffets.
Our stops were Grand Turk where we just spent a beautiful day enjoying the lovely beach, swimming and floating in the warm water and walking the beach.
In San Juan Dave and I just explored on foot, we have been here several times and have spent a few nights here after a cruise that left from this port. It is such a beautiful area. Tammy went on an excursion that went to highlights and the rainforest.
Our stop in St Thomas was a bust due to lightening and rain. We all had booked a catamaran snorkel/beach day but it was cancelled. Dave and I got off the ship to walk to town but got rained on so bad we turned around and headed back to ship to get dry. We enjoyed lunch at the pool area.
The final stop was the private island. Another Holland ship was also there. We have never experienced another ship at the private island. Due to so many people the buffet lunch on the island was overcrowded, slow and food uneatable. Burgers were raw, salads so warm we were afraid to eat them, but the cupcakes were delish! We enjoyed the beautiful beach and water though.
We had 2 sea days. Highlights on the ship for us was the music at the BB King Blues club, 6 nights, time spent on our balcony reading and enjoying the ocean view, drinks and cards at the Exporers lounge, and spending time with Tammy, we really enjoyed getting to know her better. Tammy enjoyed time in the casino and she did pretty well there!
This is a very short report done almost 2 months late. Mostly to see in my old blog site still works as my newer site seems to be out of space and I am not sure I want to fork out the higher yearly fee to add more space!
