The sounds of a steel drum always makes me think of an ocean cruise and especially a cruise to the Caribbean. So after hearing a local steel drum virtuoso, I decided it was time to revisit the current number one popular cruise destination...the blue Caribbean.

It was November and according to the local rhyme (June too soon, July stand by, August you must, September remember, October all over) the hurricane season should have been at an end...although that was not really the case in 1998. I should have been tipped off when the port of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic was canceled due to Hurricane Georges damage even before the Holland-America Lines' Veendam was due to depart from New York. Then the first stop at the cruise line's Bahamian island called Half Moon Cay was canceled as heavy seas, a side effect of Hurricane Mitch, prevented safe tendering between ship and island. And the cancellations were not over although I am getting ahead of the story.

The Veendam (Ref 1) is a very modern cruise ship and although first put into operation in 1996 is still one of the latest ships in the Holland-America fleet or at least until the Volendam puts in its appearance in May 1999.

The early evening departure from New York was a thing of beauty with a full moon above the city and the Statue of Liberty lit up as if waving bon voyage. A superb dixieland band played in the Crow's Nest wrap-around window lounge high up in the ship and the cruise was off to a flying start. I should add that the band was brought aboard by a Canadian travel agency that was celebrating it's 25th anniversary cruise with the same band!

As usual the first full day or two is spent investigating the ship and the onboard activities and everything seemed in order. I had been aboard its sister ship, the Statendam, so the physical layout was familiar and pleasant.

The third day was to be spent in what I am now calling half-baked cay as most of the passengers I talked to said they had their previous scheduled visits there canceled because of heavy weather. In fact, I could find no one who had ever visited the private island. But no matter as the shipboard activities were plentiful and I enjoy being at sea.

After the better part of a week we did visit a port - St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands (Ref 2). I took the opportunity to catch a public van to the small eastern port of Red Hook and then by ferry a pleasant half hour or so to Cruz Bay on the neighboring island of St. John. Most of this island is in a national park so its development has been slowed to a trickle. When I got off the ferry I walked a relatively few steps to a small park and when I asked which direction was the center of the city, I was told I was standing in the center of it at that moment!

Well, we were back at sea heading south across the Caribbean to Curacao (Ref 3), just some 40 miles off the South American mainland. The city of Willemstad is a large port inasmuch as large volumes of crude oil is imported from Venezuela to be refined on the island then exported elsewhere. The immediate port area sports a Dutch flavor in the colorful colonial style buildings which have recently been awarded status as a World Heritage site; however, I seem to remember the great number of casinos all over the place. I did travel southeast along the coast to the Seaquarium to see their interesting collection and to swim at their nearby hotel beach.

Then its back at sea to retrace our wake north to St. Croix (Ref 4) which is only some 35 miles from where we had been in St. Thomas. I should mention that St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands was the substitute for the canceled visit to Santo Domingo. Are you keeping this straight?

In any event, this island does not have the convoluted shoreline of its two neighbors but has a bit more bulk and has an agricultural presence in the form of sugar fields and a huge refinery. The ship moored in the small port of Frederiksted on the westernmost part of the island and I again engaged a van with a number of my fellow passengers for an hour long ride to the larger and more colorful administrative center of Christiansted. A parade celebrating Armistice Day lent a bit of excitement to the visit.

Then guess what. Back to sea to San Juan, Puerto Rico only to find that a navigation aid, one of the buoys that marks the lateral side of the channel leading into the port had broken loose and was blocking the entrance way enough to prohibit safe passage by the Veendam so that port visit was canceled too. It is certainly a good thing that I like shipboard life so much.

A few more days at sea and we make Nassau, capital of the Bahamas (Ref 5). It looked like a big city after what we had been seeing and I rather enjoyed visiting the huge Atlantis hotel with its aquarium, huge pools (one of which has at least a hundred small dark rays schooling about) and an enjoyable beach. Did I mention it has an extensive casino? Surprise, surprise.

Next day we are already in Ft. Lauderdale and all too soon. The ship has been enjoyable but it would have been even more so had it a decent place to dance. Everything is tiny when it comes to dancefloors but then the policy must be to deemphasize the activity because there is no real dance band and no real dance instructor if one makes a comparison with other cruiseship programs.

Another puzzling item is Holland-America's new "no tipping required" policy which as far as I can see is nothing new because tipping has never been required but only solicited. Now there will be no solicitation? But at the end of the voyage the statement is made that tips will be appreciated! My travel agent says the policy means tipping is included in the fare. I really don't believe that so I tipped anyway. Another of life's little mysteries.

I participated in a novel program initiated on the Veendam that is called "University at Sea"(Ref 6) which is a structured set of lectures much as a college short course might be constituted. It will be an extra charge but it will provide credit for those desiring it and, depending on the subject, might satisfy a periodic educational requirement for some of the professions. The sessions I attended dealt with a general background of the Caribbean...history, economics, geography, geology, sociological insights, etc. It was excellently done and I hope the program achieves a large measure of success.

In retrospect, four ports in thirteen days made it almost seem like a transatlantic voyage. Well, we did go from New York to Florida although in a somewhat roundabout way.

If you have comments, please send them to WaikikiWeb@webtv.net and we will compare notes.

References:

• 1.
  ms Veendam
  Ship Review

• 2. St. Thomas
  St. Thomas
  Map of US Virgin Islands
  

• 3. Curacao
  Map of Curacao
  Island Guide
  General Information
  

• 4. St. Croix
  St. Croix

• 5. Nassau
  Nassau
  Bahamas
  Bahamas Guide

• 6.
  University at Sea