Sept 2003 Cruise - MS Zuiderdam - Western Carribean

Holland America
MS Zuiderdam
September 6 - 13, 2003

7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise

Our Room: Superior Verandah Suite SS-6117

The SS category is the smallest of the suites on this ship. (Normally 384 sf + 40 sf balcony) Our room was one of the shoulder rooms, where the ship widens out from the middle to the back, so it has a little extra space for the sitting area and a larger diagonal verandah. The room was wonderful being almost twice the size of any room we've had in the past. The bathroom was actually comfortable with both of us in there at the same time.

Cruise Critic Party

We have been following some of the boards on the Cruise Critic Website. Quite a few of the readers there were on board with us and held a small get together in the Crow's Nest lounge as we left Ft. Lauderdale. These are the few pictures and a quick video I took. Hopefully I've remembered the names right.

Sunsets Over Miami

A bit of a rain storm passed over as we left Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday evening. Our verandah was on the west side, so I took a few sunset shots as we headed south past Miami.

Sights in Key West

We stopped in Key West on Sunday. We purchased tickets for the tour trolley online before we left, so we got a guided trip around town and visited a few shops and galleries along the way. These are some of the sights we saw.

Grand Cayman

We stopped in Grand Cayman on Wednesday. We took the tender into town and shopped around, mostly looking for more Advil before we ran out. Afterwords we returned to the ship and relaxed for the rest of the day. There were 3 other ships in port with us that day.

Second Formal Night

Thursday was the second formal night on the ship. We slept in, relaxed in our room, and visited the pools late in the day after most people had left for early dinner. After dinner we attended the second of the musical shows. They don't allow flash pictures, so I was playing with my camera taking dark photos.

Half Moon Cay - Private Island

Friday was our last full day on board, and we visited Half Moon Cay. We tendered in early and got one of the last covered chairs on the beach near the snorkelling area. Shelley had trouble with her gear and headed back in because the salt water was bothering her eyes. I went out to the rock wall where all the schools of fish were hiding, so the snorkelling there was pretty decent. Shortly after I got back, a storm rolled in and dreched the beach with rain. We were glad for the covered chairs. Once the rain eased up, we decided we'd had enough sand and salt water and headed back to the ship to enjoy the fresh water pools instead.

Pictures of Us

This cruise we decided to skip the ship photographers as much as we could. I did manage to get a few shots of the two of us in various places along the way.