All Good Things Must End

February 11, 2023

After a lousy night's sleep (and Bob admitted he struggled too) I was awake at 6 am, well before the three alarms I had set went off. The ship was just pulling into Port Everglades as we dressed and packed our last few items.

At the buffet, I savored each bite of my eggs benedict and fresh berries at breakfast knowing that things would change very soon. I'm not sure we will even be able to AFFORD eggs when we get home!! 😏 Bob and I joked that it might be cheaper to keep cruising just to get eggs! 

At exactly 7:45 on the dot we left our cabin and went down to deck 2 to leave the ship. There was no luggage to collect since we were doing the Luggage Direct option. In the terminal we zig-zagged through a taped off queue for customs but never stopped walking. At the front of the line were several face detectors and once your face was scanned you were given a green light if your photo matched what was on file. From there we were directed past the custom agents, but told not to stop. There were no questions to answer and we did not show our passports.

It was 8 am when we walked out of the terminal and called an Uber. (Sailor Steve walked by as we were standing there and we said good-bye.) By 8:20 we were in line for the security screening at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Unfortunately at that point things came to a standstill. Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 1:25 pm and that was FIVE hours away. 

The gate area was extremely crowded and filled with lots of "coughers". One guy sitting across from us was coughing and clearing his throat so often that we got up and moved. Bob and I had taken a Covid test before leaving the ship just to make sure we weren't bringing any unwanted "souvenirs" home with us. What a shame if we stayed healthy for three weeks of cruising only to get sick in the airport waiting for our flight home.

The flight left on time and was totally full...every single seat was occupied. At least Bob and I were able to get seats together. Sitting across from us was a guy and two gals with a total of 4 kids...and two of the kiddos were babies. The guy seemed to be helping with all four of the kids and we speculated...did he have two wives? Maybe the two women were sisters? Who knows. What I do know is that the seven of them were quite the circus. They kept shuffling their seats in an effort to keep the kids under control. During one of the temper tantrums, one of the younger kids threw a bottle of formula across the aisle and hit Bob.

Our flight landed a few minutes early in Austin, Texas but then there was a delay getting off the plane. Our layover was so short that all we had time to do was rush to the bathroom and then get lined up to board the next flight to Minneapolis. That flight had 35 empty seats and Bob and I were able to have a row with a vacant middle seat. Yay! I finished watching a movie I had downloaded onto my iPad and then watched live TV using the SWA wi-fi connection. The majority of the passengers were from the Eden Prairie, MN, high school orchestra. We figured out they had been in Florida for some kind of music competition. 

Our son and his family had spent the day at the Mall of America which is near the MSP airport. They were there to go to Nickelodeon Universe, the indoor amusement park at the mall. Our daughter-in-law had left to take the kids home but our son (who had driven our car) hung out at the mall until our flight landed. He had been nice enough to keep our car at his house while we were gone and even provided a spot in his large shop where our car stayed warm and dry through the lousy winter weather that had been happening. He timed our pickup perfectly and arrived at the airport just as we were walking out of the terminal with our luggage. It was nice to crawl into a warm car since neither of us had a coat!

After a quick stop at Jimmy John's to pick up sub sandwiches, we were at our son's house west of the metro area in a little less than an hour. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground, but the temps were above freezing...much warmer than what they had experienced while we were gone!

Our grandsons were still awake when we arrived, but were very tired from their long day at the mall. Bob gave them the conch shells that he had picked up and then they were off to bed.

February 12, 2023

We didn't hang around long the next morning before starting the three hour drive back home. I was still a little paranoid that we might have picked up Covid (or some other variety of virus) sitting in the airport all day and didn't want to chance giving it to anyone. Also it was Super Bowl Sunday and our son & family had plans for the afternoon.

Our drive home looked a lot like what we had driven in over three weeks earlier at the beginning of our trip...a little snowy and very foggy. After seeing a few cars off in the ditch, we took our time and made it home safely.

All in all the trip was great. As I am writing this post a few weeks later, I can report that neither of us got sick at all. For the most part, the cruise felt closer to pre-pandemic times although "not quite normal" yet. We took part in activities regardless of the crowds but did wear masks when we were indoors around other people. I know from reading comments on a Facebook group I was part of, that others did come down with Covid after our Zaandam cruise (and I'm sure on the Nieuw Statendam too.) 

It was impossible to not make comparisons between our experiences on the two different ships. Each ship had its pros and cons which I will summarize below. Overall I would have to say I enjoyed our time on the Zaandam more. One thing that was similar on both cruises was the location of our cabins...one deck below the aft pool and buffet. It was so handy to run up the stairs to get a cup of coffee in the morning! (Both cabins were quiet, but we did experience the smell of cigarette smoke in the hallway outside our cabin on the NS which was being sucked in from the smoking area on the Lido deck.)

Zaandam Pros: 

• Fewer passengers (1180 vs 2600+)
• Better variety of entertainment on main stage
• Piano bar entertainer was great
• Longer cruise gave us time to meet & get to know people
• Service in both buffet and MDR was much better
• Promenade deck much more enjoyable to walk (better view, wider) 
• Large library

Nieuw Statendam Pros:

• Loved the balcony cabin (only suites have balconies on the Zaandam)
• Main theater better, wrap around video screens impressive
• More food options at buffet
• Much bigger TV mounted on the wall (rather than taking up desk space)
• Grand Dutch Cafe (split pea soup especially!)

At the present time we have no future cruises booked. I am sorry now that we didn't purchase some future cruise deposits while we were on the ship in case we did find a HAL cruise of interest. Some of the longer itineraries require such a huge deposit otherwise!! But on the other hand, it might be time for us to check out some other cruise lines. So much of the HAL entertainment is the same from ship to ship that it would be nice to experience something new. On the other hand I REALLY like HAL cabins and the itineraries they offer.

For the last several years (since the pandemic began) we have taken land trips in the fall and Lord willing, this year we will do the same. In the meantime I will continue to keep my eyes open to interesting places to visit and any good deals that might come along!