The last day of any cruise is a sad one, but to us, it’s a bit easier when the last day is a port day as the distraction of going ashore keeps us from dwelling on the inevitable.  On the final day of our Nieuw Amsterdam sailing we found ourselves visiting Half Moon Cay, Holland America Line’s private island in the Bahamas.  We enjoyed the tropical paradise, thought about how it compared to other private islands, and then went back onboard to absorb the last hours of what Nieuw Amsterdam had to offer us this cruise, including dining in the Pinnacle Grill...

Sometimes we cruise to enjoy the destinations, the activities, and the entertainment – other times we cruise for the sake of leaving our cares behind.  Today’s sea day on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam was one of those days we just wanted to look around and bask in the enjoyment of doing nothing.  Don’t worry, we still managed to do something, or else we wouldn’t have much to write about…

Amber Cove is just outside of the city of Puero Plata in the Dominican Republic. The lush mountains of the Island of Hispaniola overlook a beautiful resort, our third destination on this seven-night cruise. We took a cab to the city to get a spectacular (and scary) view, checked out what the resort had to offer, and enjoyed the ship once more…

Today we visited the island of Grand Turk, the capital island of The Turks & Caicos Islands – a self-governing nation with close ties to the US and UK.  The ship docs at a purpose-built cruise center, which is not the manufactured experience we usually advocate, but several surprises were in store for us on this trip, including a great tour and an island of resilient folks...

Today we woke up to the kind of sea day everyone wants while sailing the Caribbean, though everybody else started their great day a few hours earlier.  After being up a bit late last night, a time-zone change, and a lack of morning-obligations we found ourselves up and moving around 11am.  Despite this, we feel like we really got to enjoy the ship during the day, including a stroll, beer-tasting, a cooking class, and a beautiful start to our evening out on deck.

The first full day of our cruise brought us to a cloudless Key West, Florida.  We spent a bit of time in port, but took it pretty easy, and then enjoyed more of what the Nieuw Amsterdam has to offer including a beautiful sail-away, pizza, our first experience with the main dining room...

Embarkation day is one of the most exciting days of any cruise - you're vacation is just starting and you've got so much ahead of you!  At the same time, even when it all goes smoothly, there are logistics (unpacking for example), muster drill, and other things that make the day pass by quickly.  Despite this, we had an enjoyable day, so we'll quickly recap our embarkation process, initial observations, and our first evening on Holland America Line's m/s Nieuw Amsterdam...

Saturday November 18th we'll be setting sail once again, this time on Holland America Line's ms Nieuw Amsterdam for seven nights.  We're always excited to cruise, but this is particularly exciting as it will be our first time personally experiencing Holland America.  In fact, while our last live blog was so exciting because of the itinerary (Cuba), this cruise is all about the ship (well, mostly).  The plan is to update the blog as often as we can, but internet connectivity isn't the strong-suit of this sailing, so check out the highlights below, and look forward to live-ish updates...