August 28, 2004 Day 1 (of a 7 day cruise) We boarded Holland America's Zuiderdam ship in Port Everglades at 3pm. Everyone was onboard eating. We headed for our stateroom that looked just like an apartment without a full kitchen. It was 384 sq feet of luxury. We were on the Port side, first state room, 5th floor. It was beautiful. Larger than we expected. Our state room had a 4 foot by 7 foot veranda on the side, and because we were the first stateroom in front, we also had a huge balcony in the front. It was shared by others, but no one bothered to come to the front and sit on our "front" veranda. We immediately pushed the beds together to make a king size bed, and unpacked. Celeste and I looked at eachother, totally excited about our 7 day adventure. We got up to the Lido deck, on the 9th floor, and there was all kinds of food out.. There was a sweets bar, a pasta, pizza bar, a grill, a salad station, a deli station. We took our place in line and got all kinds of goodies... We walked around and met Marsha and Bobby from Houston, and Lynn and her husband from St. Augustine. Lynn and her husband had done the round the world cruise. We noticed a lot of gay couples.. which was intersting.. We stood up on the 10th floor with the couple from Houston and watched as we pulled out of port, past John Lloyd Park, and out to sea... We went on a course due West. Our first evening, we had dinner in the Pinnacle Grille. It was exquisite. Celeste had the Atlantic Salmon and I had lamp chops.. Everything was cooked to perfection. We had a lovely bottle of wine. For appetisers, C had the smoked seafood platter and I had the crab cakes. They brought us little tiny portions of food. The Alaska salmon was out of this world. Neither of us had ever tasted that kind of salmon. We've always had farm raised salmon.. Let me tell you!!! There is such a distinct difference.. I can't imagine eating farm raised salmon again. The Alaska Salmon was not red, had no fishy taste, and was superb in flavor and texture. My lamp chops were tiny little succulent chops cooked medium rare. Everything was awesome. Service was impeccable. They brought Celeste a birthday cake, and we had ordered dessert as well... So... we were off to the feeding frenzy start. We noticed about 4 gay couples eating in the grille as well... and knew we were going to have a great time. When we got up, we introduced ourselves to the gang and let them know we were on the ship as well. We waddled out of the dining room thinking... we ate too much. It didn't seem like it was an over abundance of food, but perhaps we ate more than we usually do. We went to the Northern Lights Disco where they were having music trivia game. I went and sat down next to some men, and invited them to help me play since C was in the casino. Their wives came, C came, and we had 6 people at the table playing on our team. We called ourselves the Banana Sliders!!! (I named the group). We were playing really well, until they started playing some heavy metal.. None of us middle aged folk knew the music. But at the end, it seemed like we knew all the songs, and were congratulating ourselves at how well we did, high 5ing one another, when another couple scored 10 pts more than us, by knowing the 2 heavy metal songs... Celeste and I danced for about 30 minutes, and then I put my tail between my legs, and went to the casino.. We played the nickel slots, and then went back to our room. Day2 We arrived at Half Moon Cay at 8 am. It's the private island of Holland America. Celeste and I went upstairs to the Lido, where we ate breakfast, met Jack from Bangor Maine, and then went and got our bathing suits on. It was a barren looking island.. No big shade trees, no palm trees. The beach was white, the waters were turquoise.. Very pretty sight, except there was no shade. Everyone was fighting over the little bit of shade we could find. I grabbed my snorkel and jumped in the water. I found a small conch shell about 30 minutes into swimming. When i went to pick it up, I hit a sea urchin and pierced my skin.... That was the most painful thing I can remember. I got out of the water, thinking I had been poisoned and went directly to the first aid station. They had no tweezers, no razor blades, nothing but bandaids. The nurse had to use an IV needle to break the skin and push the point of the sea urchin needle out of my finger. then she bandaged me.. and off I went, back to the water. C said she nearly stepped on a sting ray. After swimming for awhile, we were ravenous... So we walked up to the bar, and found Jack sitting at the bar, having a beer. So, Celeste, Jack and I walked up to the feeding pavilion where we had mediocre food.. the ribs were dry, the salads were full of mayonaise, and the crew weren't all that friendly. Then we left Jack, went back to the water and swam a little while longer.. About 2:30, 3, we decided to go back to the ship. So we got on the "tender" (the small life boats that hang on the sides of the ship) and went back to the main ship.. We got to our stateroom, took a shower and a 3 hr nap. After I awoke, I walked with C for a mile before dinner.. We've decided that we're going to have to walk this food and booze off. Can't figure out why we're so hungry... We don't eat like this at home. Maybe it's the whistles.. We ate at the Lido Grille and C had the most awesome piece of grouper. It was huge. I had a NY Strip, cooked perfectly MR. We sat in the dining room and watched the moon come up.... It's C's birthday, and a full moon. The moon was so large, we could see the craters with our eyes. We walked around after dinner, saying hello to everyone. The ship is so huge. So many alcoves, and bars, and seating areas. Everywhere you look, there's another living room. When we got back to the cabin, there was a birthday card from the ship to C. I took a bath, and sat there watching the water swaying back and forth.. Before you know it, I got seasick. We fell asleep after watching Finding Nemo around midnight. Day 3 Our first full day at sea. Waves everywhere. We knew there was a hurricane out there, but none of the TV stations was broadcasting it. Our TV stations were coming from Europe, and they weren't interested in our hurricane. So.... we went up to the Lido for breakfast, found Jack and had breakfast with him outside. We must have stayed out in the sun for 6 or 7 hours. We met Kurt and David from Port Charlotte. They were in Hurricane Charley on August 13th. And here we all were, out at sea, wondering what is going on with Hurricane Frances. No one seems to know anything. Had lunch on the deck in the sun, enjoyed the pool, and beer, and the company. Walked 2 miles this afternoon, and took a nap. Had dinner in the Lido, watched Cold Mountain in our state room, and the end of Big Fish, and crashed. Day 4 Well, we're finally starting to hear something about Hurricane Frances. We arrived in Tortola, thru 12 foot swells. Being on the front of the boat, it was like a bucking bronco. The ship would rise, and then we would wait for it to fall. We were in the Francis Drake Channel, bucking waves, and looking at dreary weather. We had our breakfast on the Lido deck with Jack. Packed up our back pack, ready for a day shopping in Tortola. Good thing we brought our rain jackets. We were walking around, taking pictures of little narrow roads that seemed to go straight up the mountains. And then the sky's opened up and rain squalls were drenching us. We were walking around looking for a store that carried coke, and ran into Kurt and David. So we all went over to Pussers Landing and drank native beer, called Caribe. Ran back to the ship in the pouring rain, had lunch, and went to take a long nap. Later we learned that our backpack wasn't water proof, and our camera was ruined. It rained heavily, and i sat on the veranda looking at the lush mountains, sucking on rolaids. When C got back from walking 2 miles, she came and got me, and we walked 2 miles together. Then we went to the Crow's nest, which was in the round glassed in part of the ship up front and had 2 apple martini's. We found the italian bistro on the Lido deck and had pasta. We ate, walked a little, went back to the state room and crashed. Day 5 We have heard that Hurricane Frances is moving slowly, and still on a path to Florida. Are we worried? Hell yeah! But the TV isn't telling us anything. Finally, JR, this man from Ponte Verde, Florida, got on the Internet and printed out 9 pages from the weather service, telling us about Hurricane Frances. It doesn't look good. They're saying it's the size of Texas, largest hurricane ever recorded... Holy shit!!! We arrived in St. Thomas on a beautiful day at 6:30 am. We ran up to the Lido for breakfast, found the boys, and jumped off the ship. St. Thomas is a beautiful port. Lush mountains with villas nestled into the mountains. I couldn't wait to go to the beaches. C called her mom from the phone booths right off the ship, and learned that everyone is having to evacuate. The whole eastern seaboard of Florida is under evacuation orders.. This doesn't look good at all! We went and bought the booze.. A large bottle of Absolute Vodka was $8. 3 bottle of Chiva Regal were $56. C bought lots of scotch. The boys bought rum, and David met Daisy Dukes. Daisy was a taxi driver that offered her services. She said, she would be our tour guide all day long for $20 a head. Suchadeal! We found her, had her take us to the shopping area of St. Thomas first. She said, "I'll be here at the straw market at 11 sharp to pick you up." We had NEVER heard of a taxi driver, not asking for any money, and telling us, she would meet up with us in an hour. So we all headed out to shop, we bought a new camera, as did Kurt and David. They also bought some jewelry, and I got some perfume. My Cinnabar was $29. It costs me $54 in the states. We bought a 6 pack of Heineken, and took off for our tour. Daisy was at the straw market exactly when she said she would be. She drove us all over the island, showing us the Latin Quarter, going up mountains. A huge Iguana ran across the road in front of our taxi.. Blew us all away. Daisy Dukes and the wild Taxi ride. She took us to the highest point where we bought banana dacquiries and took pictures of Magen's Bay. The water was incredible. So clear.. Then we rode down the road and around to Cocki's Beach where we all wanted to snorkel. She said, I'll pick you all up at 3pm. So, off she went, still not asking for any fare money. We claimed some beach chairs, and all of us ran into the water.. We snorkeled amongst Angel Fish, and Wrasse's and Parrot Fish. The water was absolutely the clearest.. You could see every hair on your toes!!! Someone gave us dry dog bisquits to feed the fish. I was trying to crumble the dog bisquits into little morsels for the fish, but they were attacking my fingers and biting my fingers. We found someone that sold Heineken for $1 each, and we drank ourselves silly, snorkeled, saw people from the ship that was familiar. It was like family. There was commarderie. At exactly 3pm, Daisy Dukes showed up and she had 6 old folks in the van. So the 4 of us squeezed in, and we brought along another couple from the ship. So all of us crammed into her van, and she took us to Saphire Beach, where we bought BushWacker drinks.. They were better than great. We were all ready feeling no pain... All of us were having a blast.. It was the best day.... We got back to the ship where C called her mom twice to find out that everyone was gone, the Port and Airports were closed. Then the Captain came on the loud speaker system to tell us that our trip to Nassau was cancelled due to Hurricane Frances. Oh well.... So we got back to the ship, jumped in the hot tub, sang along to Jimmy Buffet, thinking... 3 days at sea shouldn't be so terribly bad. We drank Rum, and grooved to the music. We had dinner with the boys in the dining room, went back to the cabin and crashed... What a lovely day it was in St. Thomas. Day 6 Well, it's a fact, Hurricane Frances is headed for South Florida. We've been divered to the channel between the south of Cuba, and north of Jamaica. We were going back and forth, east - west, west - east. Never knew which end of the ship was going to have the sunset. The water was like glass. You could see fish in the water, you could see flying fish come out of the water to get away from the ship. So at 6:30 am, I went up to the Lido deck and had coffee with the early morning risers.. Jack found me, and he and I had coffee. At 7 am, I rushed back to the cabin, knowing that room service was bringing our coffee, only to find C all ready up and drinking coffee. We got out to the pool early to claim our corner.. We now were up to 4 couples in our little corner on the aft end of the ship. Whoever got there early, had to situate the chairs in our little circle. Today, the crew had "Pool Olympics", which I participated in. Celeste was my cheering section. Our team was called "More Rum To Come" and we did all kinds of silly pool games. There were 2 teams. When it was all said and done, they gave all of us a rum punch drink as prizes. We were in the sun for 6 hours total. Had a lovely lunch in the Lido, and enjoyed the company of Kurt and David, and the sun. Every now and then, Jack would come out and check on us. We had dinner with the boys again, and then we returned to our state room where I enjoyed a lovely bath. Since the water is like glass out in this channel, the boat ride was smooth. Captain came on the loud speaker (he says, " this is the voice from the bridge) to tell us we were not going to be going home for a couple of days... Day 7 Another day at sea. Sat out in the sun for another 6 hours, and watched other ships doing the same thing we're doing. There must be 12 ships out here in this channel.. David said we should tie up all the cruise ships and have the world's largest boat hopping party!!! We waved to the other ships as we crossed past each other.. It really was a funny sight. There was a Carnival, a Princess, a Celebrity, us, NCL all going east/west/west/east.. back and forth, back and forth in this smooth still water. Captain came on the loudspeaker twice today(this is the voice from the bridge) to say we were not going to be in Port over the weekend. We're stuck at sea. Day 8 And still another day at sea. We're getting programmed to eat constantly. As soon as breakfast is done, they start throwing on the exhaust fans and all you can smell is garlic on the aft deck. We all sit and count the hours before it's an acceptable time to mosey into the Lido grille to eat, yet again... We went to the movie theater on the ship and watched Shrek 2. The boys, and C and I grabbed bags of popcorn, a booth, and watched Shrek.. Laughed our asses off.. How gay is that movie???? Day 9 And yet still another day at sea.. Now I've counted 18 ships out in the ocean. David was right.. If we tied all the ships up together, we would have the world's largest boat party at sea.... And the Cubans would be watching us....LOLOL! We took the ship tour of the kitchen, their refridgerators, freezers.. We saw that there was very little food in the refridgerators.. And the freezer was nearly empty.. I actually started counting the boxes of eggs, to make sure we had enough eggs for breakfast on Monday morning... God.... if we ran out of food.... we'd all die!!! The captain came on the loud speaker and told us that Port Everglades would be opening Monday morning, and we would be docking by 7 am... I kept waiting for the Capt to say "We are running out of food, please conserve." "This is the voice from the bridge again, please stop eating the food, we're running out!" We sat in the sun a total of 7.5 hours. If we're not mocha brown by now... it's not gonna happen. So the boys and us had dinner in the Lido the last night, there was no more lettuce for the salads, they ran out of snapper for our dinner, and we were eating NY Strip steak for about the 6th time. No more veggies, a few carrots and green beans were left. After dinner, we all went to our state room, got some scotch and then went on the bow of the boat and layed down and looked at the stars.. We were counting shooting stars and looking for satelites. It was smooth sailing, the sky was polluted with stars, and we were on the bow of the boat... All alone, no crowds, no screaming kids, no rude adults.. just the 4 of us in total, complete darkness on the bow of the boat with our scotch. Day 10 I didn't sleep a wink. And it seemed like no one else did either. The seas were angry, we were rocking like hell, and Port Everglades was right in front of us. I counted 9 ships directly behind ours, all of us in line to enter Port Everglades. So many people were up before the sun came up, squinting our eyes, trying to make out any destruction. We had heard that Hurricane Frances had hit land at 1 am Saturday morning, and moving at a snails pace, raining tons and tons of rain, and wind, and not moving... Eastern Florida got pounded for 20 hours. She came on land at Fort Pierce. We've heard that Vero Beach is under water.. we heard that the Hollywood Broadwalk was under water. As the sun rose, we all looked, wondering what was gone. Princess and Celebrity Cruise ships came in before us, and the rest were behind us. 22-25 ships in all came in, one right after another. It looked like a freeway out there. I ordered room service, complete breakfasts, fruit, coffee, muffins.. and we ate in our state room. Then we went out on the Lido deck and waited for them to call our number so we could get off the ship. We didn't get off until 10:05 am. We hailed a taxi, and the man that put our luggage in the back of a taxi, DEMANDED a tip. He had his hand out, and I asked him why his hand was out, he wasn't driving us... He said, "My tip lady, give me my tip." Tip for what????????????????????? We drove west on 595 towards the Florida Turnpike, but all the damage we saw were a couple of trees down, and billboard signs missing. It looked like Hollywood fared well. So our 7 day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean lasted 10 days.. Our ship was nearly out of food, the crew was grouchy, we were testy. Would I do it again? You bet!