The 2025 Caribbean Escape Cruise

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

It is that time of year again. Time for our annual "get out of winter" cruise. Lord willing, a week from today we will be stepping onto the Holland America Eurodam for 21-days of warmth and sunshine in the Caribbean. Booked last August, the cruise is what Holland America deems a "collectors cruise". That is a fancy way of saying it is really just two back to back cruises booked as a single itinerary. 

Our original itinerary included the island of St. Lucia, a port that we had previously visited thirteen years ago and loved. But...in October we received word that St. Lucia was being dropped and replaced with a stop in Guadeloupe...a new port for us. This adjustment to the itinerary also caused the order of several other ports to be shuffled around. 

We invited our good friends, Jon and Michelle, to join us but never imagined they would accept. Jon is still working full time AND is in the process of finishing their home that has been under construction for the past few years so having them agree to cruise for three weeks didn't seem likely. But I was wrong...they said YES! The four of us had a great time cruising together last spring and I am sure this cruise will be equally as fun.

To make the cruise a little more affordable, we each booked a guaranteed obstructed oceanview cabin on the Eurodam. I have a hard time handling the cave-like inside cabins and even if we don't have much of a view we will still have natural light in our room. Also the oceanview cabin categories (and above) all have a couch, something I appreciate on our longer cruises. 

Yesterday we finally received our cabin assignment and although we didn't get an amazing upgrade, we are happy with where we ended up. Our cabin #4060 will have a wonderful view of the side of a lifeboat 😉 but I am happy because the location seems OK and Jon & Michelle will be close by in #4061. Although the cabin numbers makes it seem like we should be right next door, the odd and even rooms are down two separate hallways. Still we will be close enough to make it easy to meet up for meals, etc. 

Our original booking included free gratuities but in October I was able to re-fare and get a much cheaper rate...but without the free tips. In the end we still came out ahead and our large sum of onboard credit will cover the gratuities we lost. By taking advantage of some AMEX credit card offers I was also able to get several hundred dollars in credit when making our cruise payment.

I am the planner for our group and I have independent tours booked for many of our ports with a handful of shore excursions booked through Holland America (HAL). I spent the afternoon today printing off confirmation emails and other "notes" that I have gathered to optimize our time at each port.

Here is the weather forecast for our little town in Minnesota for tonight. It is easy to see why we are looking forward to warmth and sunshine for the next few weeks!

Come along with us as I blog our way through the Caribbean over the next few weeks! I will write the blog posts in real time daily while we are on the cruise, but will not publish them until we return. That gives me time to sort through the many photos that we (and our friends) will take and add them to the written posts. 

The Painful Side of Traveling

Three weeks from today and the adventure to South America and Antarctica begins. OR...maybe sooner if the weather decides to throw a wrench in our plans. You can be sure we will be keeping an eye on the forecast and will be on the road to Minneapolis earlier than planned if we hear any mention of the “B” word. (That would be "blizzard" for you southerners!) It is over a 3 hour drive to MSP so we will be spending a night...or two...or three with one of our kids who live in the area before our flight. 

Now that the holidays are over we have begun to count down the final days. The lists are being made and checked, the final Amazon orders are going out, and piles are starting to show up in our guest room staging area. Today we marked off the last of one of the more painful parts of planning for this cruise...our final vaccine!  

When we first booked this cruise, Iguazu Falls seemed like a perfect add-on to our itinerary...just a short flight away from our final port of Buenos Aires. The falls lie on the border between Argentina and Brazil but after a little research I discovered that visiting the Brazilian side required a visa for U.S. citizens. Although the view from this side appears breathtaking, the few hours that we would spend there made it hard to spend the $160 per person to get the visa. I also noted that visitors to this area were encouraged to get yellow fever vaccines whereas the Argentina side was not included in the CDC warning area. 

After much deliberation, we booked a package tour to Iguazu Falls...but only the Argentina side. Fast forward a few months and Brazil announced they would now offer an e-visa. Available online, getting the visa no longer meant having to apply at a Brazilian consulate and...the cost was less than $50! At that point it would have been too expensive to change our plans so we made peace with the fact that we would only see Iguazu Falls from one side. 

Now...fast forward a couple more months. The CDC changed their map and the Argentina side of Iguazu Falls was also in a warning area for yellow fever. ☹️

Current CDC Yellow Fever Warnings

I could think of several good reasons why we shouldn’t get yellow fever vaccines. The chance for serious side effects is greatly increased in people over 60 years old, the shots aren’t cheap, and for gosh sake...we are only going to be spending one day at the falls! But... contracting the disease could be a death sentence and that ultimately led us to make an appointment at a travel clinic. 

The yellow fever vaccine is in short supply, but the clinic was able to substitute a vaccine that is currently not approved for use in the U. S. Hence it is considered “experimental” and required us to sign numerous consent forms. We spent a long time visiting with the travel nurse and she gave us all sorts of helpful information about the countries we plan to visit. Oh...and we each were "given" a travel adapter as our reward for getting poked! (Although when we each paid over $200 for the shot we essentially bought the adapters.)

This framed photo of Iguazu Falls was hanging on the wall of the travel clinic!

We left the clinic with prescriptions for the oral typhoid vaccine (4 pills containing the live virus taken over several days) and also for antibiotics to take with us “just in case.” Locally we were able to get the hepatitis A vaccine...a series of two shots which we finished today. Although not travel related, I’ve also recently gotten my flu shot and a series of 2 shingles vaccines. 

I would like to say the vaccines were the worst part of preparing for this cruise...but that would be a lie. The most difficult part is just beginning. Packing. We will be experiencing winter to summer to winter to summer and finally back to winter...all within about four weeks! Yikes!!! How in the world does one pack for so many seasons???!!!

The Magical Mystery Tour

The magical mystery tour is coming to take you away

Coming to take you away...

A magical mystery tour. Yep...that seems like a suitable description for this cruise! The itinerary has changed...and changed again...and changed even again. Up until just days ago, the Holland America website was showing we were going to St. Croix...the same island that was still under a curfew following the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the same island that was under a boil order because drinking water wasn't safe...and the same island that was still mostly without power. The governor himself had announced that the port wouldn't be open until mid-November at the earliest and we were scheduled to stop there on November 1. I don't think so. 😕

Finally a few days ago, I got the following email message from my travel agent...

Due to slower than expected recover of Frederiksted, St. Croix, the 11-1-2017 call has now been replaced with a call to Amber Cove, Domincan Republic.

With the cruise just 6 days away, the itinerary map still hasn't been updated and there are still no shore excursions for Amber Cove posted on the Holland America website. Surely our itinerary can't change again...can it? (Please...don't answer that question.)

Yes...this is a first world problem. I know I am so fortunate just to go on a cruise. And I am not going to gripe about going on a cruise that doesn't go to the ports we wanted. Or at least I won't gripe too much. I was just so looking forward to enjoying a food tour while walking the streets of Old San Juan. Or sitting in the shade of a palm tree on a white sand beach looking out at the bluest water ever in Grand Turk...just steps from the ship. Such an easy day for me while Bob was to go off scuba diving in one of the top diving destinations in the Caribbean.

But instead we will now be making TWO stops in the Bahamas and TWO stops in the Dominican Republic. It is sort of like ordering a lobster dinner in a nice restaurant and being served canned tuna. I really like tuna sandwiches, but it would be a disappointment if I were paying for and expecting lobster.

Ok, ok...its maybe not really the same thing at all. It is time for me to adjust my attitude and count my blessings. I will be spending a week in the tropics with the love of my life being treated like royalty. Life is good...very, very good. (And I will be thankful and enjoy my tuna!)

The Mystery Revealed

Thanks to the horrific damage caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean, our upcoming cruise has been changed from an itinerary of favorite and familiar ports to one that is taking us to four new and never visited ports (for us, at least.) Although it will be nice to see some new places, I'm feeling a bit uneasy with the fact that I have not been able to spend much time researching what we will do.

At first the only change that Holland America announced was that Nassau would replace Grand Turk and we would be there on the first day of the cruise followed by a sea day (reversed from the original schedule.) The ports of San Juan and St. Thomas were still on the schedule in spite of news reports showing total devastation of the islands. Finally last week a second revision was announced with Cap Cana, Dominican Republic and St. Croix replacing San Juan and St. Thomas, respectively.

Originally my plan was:

• Grand Turk --- Bob would scuba dive and I would enjoy a day on the beach, just steps from the dock
• San Juan --- I had found a walking food tour that explored the old city
• St. Thomas --- a day at Sapphire Beach for swimming, sunning and snorkeling
• Half Moon Cay --- another lazy beach day with even lunch provided by Holland America

Cap Cana, DR (near Punta Cana) and St. Croix are less visited ports so I'm having trouble finding many options of what to do on our visits. Nassau on the other hand will be overrun with cruisers. I believe there will be at least four OTHER ships joining the Nieuw Amsterdam on the day that we are there. AND...to make matters worse, we will be there on a Sunday when it sounds like many tourist places will be closed.  For now my preliminary plan for Nassau is to do a self-guided walking tour using directions I found online.

With less than 3 weeks until we cruise, Holland America has not posted any ship sponsored tours for Cap Cana or St. Croix. I will be spending time online looking for reviews from other cruisers to find something to do while in port.

A side note...several weeks ago, I had booked Bob's scuba diving tour in Grand Turk through the Holland America website and our credit card was billed immediately. When the schedule changed we had gotten an email stating that the tour would be cancelled and our VISA card would be credited.

I kept checking the online credit card statement, but just figured the transaction would take some time to show up. (After all...the refund we got from Norwegian after our Hawaii cruise took MONTHS!) Can you imagine my surprise when I logged onto our reservation on the Holland America website and saw the schedule had a booking for scuba diving on a SEA DAY!! I quickly cancelled the reservation but we have been chuckling over the idea of a sea day scuba excursion! Bob is certified for deep diving, but that might be a little extreme!

And as the itinerary for this cruise has been changing, our cabin category has also evolved. Hoping to do this quick get-away as cheaply as possible, we started by booking an inside cabin in late June. I pored over the deck plans on cruisedeckplans.com (which has a feature that lets you drag one level of deck over another to see what lies above and below potential cabin choices) and I chose a Category J cabin on the Main Deck. These cabins are larger than most inside cabins and I was pleased with my choice.

A month later, the price on this cabin had dropped so I called and got a price adjustment. A couple of days after final payment was due in August, the price dropped again and I requested another price adjustment. Holland America was not willing to do that, but did upgrade us from the inside cabin to a guaranteed oceanview cabin. Yay...a window for us...we will have daylight!

Then...a little over a week ago I saw quite a drastic drop in price AGAIN! (With all of the hurricane damage, I'm guessing Caribbean bookings are way down.) The cost of a balcony cabin is now only $10 higher than what we had been paying for an inside cabin so we were able to pay the difference and move up to the lowest level of balcony stateroom. We have no idea where this cabin will be located and there is a good chance our railing will be solid steel rather than clear plexiglass, but hey...we now have daylight AND fresh air AND a balcony!!

Today the countdown clock is showing 20 days until we cruise! Scary because I am confused on what to do in the ports, but exciting because it is so close. It is getting real!!

Coming Up...Our Mystery Cruise!

Last fall came and went and we did NOTHING as far as travel. Oh we talked about it, but that was the extent of the planning. By mid-winter I was sorry we hadn't made more of an effort to get away before the cold and snow brought on a major case of cabin fever. By the time our cruise to Alaska rolled around in May, I was chomping at the bit to go ANYWHERE!

I vowed that this fall, we would take one last trip before we hunkered down for the long winter months. No place in particular...just somewhere that doesn't look like the prairie of SW Minnesota. 

So...when an email arrived in late June advertising $1 deposits on Holland America cruises it seemed like a great chance to get a trip booked...but without too much commitment in case something else came along.

Fast forward to today...September 19. Final payment has been made for a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Holland America ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, and we are excited about trying out a new cruise line. BUT...where will we be going?

Two big, bossy ladies named Irma and Maria are trying to mess up our trip. Their friend, Jose, has also been conspiring against us, but his influence will not be felt to any great extent. 

Here is a map of where we "thought" we would be sailing...

...but at this point, the chance of us following this itinerary is slim to none. St. Thomas sustained incredible damage when Hurricane Irma passed through just a couple of weeks ago. Now we are waiting and watching as Hurricane Maria has become a powerful Category 5 storm and is taking direct aim at Puerto Rico...and possibly Grand Turk. 

In less than 6 weeks (Lord willing) we will be boarding the Nieuw Amsterdam in Ft. Lauderdale...but where will we go?

(Want to read more? Here are the links to the individual blog posts covering our cruise!)

• The Mystery Revealed
• Magical Mystery Tour
• On Our Way...The Weather Curse Continues
• Good Bye Winter
• Saturday, Day 1 - Embarkation Day!
• Sunday, Day 2 @ Sea (Nassau Cancelled)
• Monday, Day 3 @ Sea
• Tuesday, Day 4 - Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
• Wednesday, Day 5 - Amber Cove, Dominican Republic
• Thursday, Day 6 @ Sea
• Friday, Day 7 - Half Moon Cay
• Saturday, Day 8 - End of Cruise...Homeward Bound

Getting close...

Two weeks from today we will be sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and heading north to Alaska!! Since booking this cruise 11 months ago, I have been constantly reading and researching all things Alaska but yet I still feel like I'm not totally prepared!

For the last week I have been double checking and confirming all of our plans and printing page after page of reservation details for my MASTER PLAN folder. I also have a massive spreadsheet where I have estimated our costs. I do this for all of our travels and have perfected the process to the point that I often come within a few dollars of the actual costs! Yes...I am an obsessive planner!

Our guest room has become a staging area for our packing. Piles of clothes, coats, rain gear, cameras, binoculars, etc, etc, etc. I am exploring the whole new world of packing cubes on this trip although I have not yet converted to the "roll your clothes" philosophy. I'm sure (as always) my luggage will be creeping up on that maximum weight of 50 pounds.

On a positive note...we are looking forward to WARMER temps in Alaska than what we are currently experiencing here in Minnesota! 😨 Here is what the first day of May looked like around here...

As much as I love and admire bloggers who post live reports while they travel, it will not happen here. I want to enjoy every minute of the cruise so any blogging will have to wait until we are home. Stay tuned!!

The Next Adventure!

Yes...I am in the planning stages for our next adventure! Our last trip took us to Hawaii in March of 2016 and here it is a year later...far too much time between travels!l 

In just a couple of months we will be returning to Alaska. Not a totally new destination, but our 14-day cruise will be stopping at some first-time ports for us. It was just three years ago that we first visited the 49th state on a northbound cruise on the Coral Princess. (To read more about our Alaska cruise, click HERE.) That cruise was considered a "once in a lifetime trip" for us. However, once we saw the natural beauty of Alaska we knew we would return "someday"...we just didn't realize that it would be this soon!

If you read the posts from our Hawaiian cruise on the Pride of America, you know that due to a delay and unfinished projects following a dry dock, we were given a credit equal to 50% of what we had spent on the cruise. This credit could be put towards a future cruise on a Norwegian ship. Initially we considered a Caribbean cruise since the amount of the credit would pretty much cover the cost of an inside cabin for a 7-day cruise. Our traveling buddies, Kent & Laurel, also had the same credit but were not excited about going to the Caribbean.

Then...in June I discovered a unique two week cruise on the Norwegian Sun going to Alaska. All it took was one phone call to Laurel and by the next day they had made up their minds that they wanted to go with us. 

With our 50% credit, booking an inside room would have been a great deal, but we decided a balcony was a MUST when visiting Alaska. The credit helped bring the cost down, but as we learned the last time...visiting Alaska is not cheap.

By mid-June the cruise was booked and the planning began!

Here is a map and itinerary of our cruise. The ports of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway will be repeats for us...the rest will be new. And as an added bonus, we are planning to spend a couple of days in San Francisco prior to boarding the ship.