WriterOnDeck

I'm not Pete :-), but I use an app called Compress Photos & Pictures. It is free, I believe, and works well. I put the photos I want to compress into a folder in Photos (I'm using an iPhone), and then open compress, select all the photos in that file, and compress in a few seconds. You can set the level of compression -- I aim for around 500 kb. I set the photo quality scale for "great - 90%" and photo dimensions for 35% and that is what I then put in my blog. Hope this helps!

Of course, it was hot and humid at Devil's Island, French Guiana. Retracing Steps of Prisoners on Notorious Devil’s Island https://www.writerondeck.com/2024/01/11/retracing-steps-of-prisoners-on-notorious-devils-island/

We just had a retreat cabana on the holiday 12-day Zuiderdam cruise. It was wonderful. The ship wasn't crazy with children, although there were a couple of hundred at least. All were well behaved for children imho. I didn't see any in the cabana area, which frequently was very quiet. The cabanas easily held 4 people -- 2 lounges and 2 chairs at a table (with a power plug!). We had 5 adults (incuding 2 adult "kids") in our group and figured we would just go up in pairs, but as the area was very quiet, no one seemed to care if we had one or two more, including our wonderful steward. We tipped him well, and I understand that my younger nephew went up with an additional generous tip, as he was that good. Not sure I would splurge in the future, especially given the price increase. But I'm used to long cruises where deck chairs are always available, and on the full holiday cruise that wasn't the case.

Just to add a small point here. If you are continuing, you also can leave the vessel early (with departing guests) and return much later. So you miss the "in-transit" drill. You receive an in-transit pass, and when you return you use it to bypass all lines except security scan and go directly onto the ship. We did that Jan. 3 in Fort Lauderdale, and I did it at the end of the 2023 world cruise, as I was continuing on. Rich, continue to have a grand trip!!!

We did get them on the Grand South America/Antarctica this fall. Just FYI.

Also depends on how long each cruise is. New credit card rules require the account to be paid about every 30 days. So on long cruises, if you owe a balance it is charged to your CC then. If you have a credit it carries over. The front desk can tell you the exact days.

I'm in an obstructed OV (4103) on the Zuiderdam right now. Your only drawers will be in the nightstands, and they are narrow nightstands. You will have one closet behind the entry door that is more shallow (regular hangers are too big unless you put everything at an angle), one regular closet and a third with fixed shelves on the top, including the safe, and a hanging area in the bottom. The other two closets have shelves you can drop or leave upright for hanging longer clothes. At the desk is the cooler and a small triangle-shaped cabinet (two shelves) that has glasses and the hairdryer and makeup mirror stored in it. You also have the two big drawers under the foot of the bed, but sometimes the stewards store sheets etc. there. If asked they will remove them. If you go to halfacts.com, pick zuiderdam, scroll down to 4104 Oosterdam FO, it is identical and nicely shows the closets. Let me know if you have questions.

What interesting questions! I'll save a few to answer in blogs. But regarding family, I come from a small one. No kids myself, just two nephews and a grand-nephew, whom I don't see much less than when I'm "at home." And two sisters, both of whom will be cruising with me for three cruises in 2024. Fortunately, I haven't had major medical issues while traveling. I did fracture my kneecap last spring, but was able to heal while on the ship. I'm sure my dentist wishes I came more often. I bought a waterpik to improve dental hygiene. And was fortunate to be on land last summer when I needed a root canal.

Today seemed like a good day to think about the 10 months I spent cruising on Holland America in 2023. I won't be posting every blog post here (you can follow them with all the photos at www.WriterOnDeck.com), but I'll be updating this thread and glad to answer any questions. Ending 2023 with Reflections on a Year Cruising the World Day 10, 2023 Holiday Panama Canal Sunfarer Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023; Caribbean Sea I greeted the last day of 2023 with an hour of precious solitude, sitting alone in the Lido Restaurant on a ship with 2,000 passengers. I accomplished this feat by getting up at 5:15 a.m. and watching the sun rise. As I reflect on my year of living for 10 months on two cruise ships, I know I am blessed. Yes, I have made sacrifices – giving up the stability of a long-term home, missing my friends and family, foregoing the opportunity to do my own laundry and make my bed. OK, not so much that, yet occasionally I do miss cooking. But oh, what a year it has been! It started with the 2023 Grand World Voyage, when we stressed over passing a covid test to board. It is ending with stress over getting a Brazilian visa for the 2024 Grand World Voyage, which starts on Wednesday. (I’m still waiting for final visa approval.) I’ve sailed to six continents; gone on safari in Africa; shivered in early spring snows in both Norway and Antarctica; basked in the sun and heat of the South Pacific, Africa and the Amazon; bumped into friends in Scotland and the Netherlands and sailed through stunning fjords in Chile, Greenland and Norway. I’ve explored cities from Sydney to Cape Town to Boston, from Amsterdam to Rio to Buenos Aires. I’ve written and published 149 blog posts, with about 111,000 words (enough for a full-size novel) and 2,348 photos. We missed a few ports Madagascar due to a typhoon, Dakar due to riots and tear gas, and the Falkland Islands, Guernsey and Punta del Este for rough seas. We gained a few new ports — Santos, Brazil; Corner Brook, Newfoundland; and Port Canaveral, Fla., giving me an opportunity for an overnight visit with friends I met earlier in the year. I’ve made many new friends on the ships (Zuiderdam and Zaandam), as well as through this blog, including one who took me to breakfast during a stop in Fort Lauderdale. If it weren’t for the friends I see repeatedly on cruises, I doubt I would choose this lifestyle. Many go back six years to my first grand cruise in 2017. Some even back to 2011 and a 45-day cruise to the Mediterranean with my mother. And others I’ve just met, but we quickly become fast friends. Meanwhile, since I last posted we have visited Willemstad, Curaçao; Cartagena, Colombia; Colon, Panama (following a partial Panama Canal transit to Gatun Lake) and Puerto Limón, Costa Rica. In Cartageña we took a city tour that included a visit to a small fishing village surrounded by high-rise apartments and condos. One fisherman demonstrated the technique of casting the nets. Then we walked through the old city that lies behind thick walls. It is full of vendors and emerald jewelry stores. I had a few minutes to listen to music coming from the church, which reminded me of a similar experience in Tonga in 2020. I thought I might stop for a Colombian coffee, but the only place I could find was Starbucks. Now, I do like Starbucks and frequent it often back in the states. But it just didn’t seem right this time. To return to the ship in Cartageña, you pass through the Port Oasis Eco Park and its up-close encounters with anteaters, monkeys and tropical birds. Our cruise director Kimberly provided an outstanding narration of our canal transit, not only giving us details about the canal and its history, but also about the ships we encountered – their sizes, purposes and planned itineraries. During the few hours we anchored in Gatun Lake, many passengers disembarked on tenders to take shore excursions, later joining us during our brief stop in Colón just outside the canal. After 60-something years without transiting the Panama Canal, I’ve made up for it this year with three visits — and I’ll be back in less than a month for a fourth. Passing through the whole canal is a great experience, but I would recommend the partial transit for anyone who can’t do the whole thing. It is amazing to see how big ships, with just a foot or two of clearance on each side, rise through the locks and back down. Willemstad is a fun port and easy to explore on your own. We docked next to the floating bridge that connects the two sides of the city. I lucked out with a front-row seat at a waterside cafe and returned to the ship with lots of photographs of street art and the colorful buildings.

The ship is looking great and lots of familiar crew and officers are aboard -- it will be a great cruise!

Yeah, but my MIZZOU Tigers won, so I loved it!

It will be GRAND! Henk joined a few days ago and officially took over as hotel manager yesterday. Others have been trickling back during the current holiday cruise. About 2 dozen of us world cruisers who already are on board the Zuiderdam met for an informal reception two days ago, where the party game was predicting which countries we actually would visit. Will Brazil get eliminated for having the world's worst visa application process? Will we make it through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, or will things change dramatically if we have to go around the Cape of Good Hope? What would 128 days in the Caribbean look like? Overnights in Galveston, NOLA, Mobile? We all agreed that wherever the ship goes, we will have a great time!

It could change by then.

Thanks for coming back with you experience! I'm on a 12-day holiday cruise on the Zuiderdam now and we are really enjoying our cabana. The area usually is not crowded so we get lots of attention. As it is a holiday cruise, I knew it would be full and with lots of kids. It is nice to know we have a quiet place to go.

My understanding is that HAL looks for musical theatre experience for new cruise and travel directors -- people who are good on stage, can memorize lines and seamlessly intergrate the canned presentations (Origin story and the various talks interspersed with video). Last fall ours had never been to the South Pacific, Australia or New Zealand, and she gave incorrect travel information. But this fall Jeremy on the grand South America put in hours on his port presentations, and also recorded a separate version to put on the cabin TVs. (Most presentations aren't broadcast because the graphics are under copyright control.) Obviously it varies.

In mid July I was able to get an Uber quickly (I might have ordered the day before; I can't remember) and was to the airport in about 15 minutes. It was a Saturday, which probably helped.

There isn't a second 100 night medallion -- just ones for 100, 300, 500 and 700 nights. But don't feel bad -- there is no benefit other than receiving the medallion.

On the Zuiderdam in July of this year I received my platinum medallion (700 actual days) at a ceremony in the MDR, along with Silver and Gold recipients. After our ceremony the dining room was opened for other mariners (3*? surely 4 and 5*) for lunch. A lot of people complain about the long ceremonies where recipients file up slowly to have photos with the captain and hotel manager. That may be why the bronze medallions are just delivered. On the world cruise last spring, one of my sisters got her bronze delivered, with a note to attend a photo opportunity if she wanted (not a ceremony). But at 128 days, even the first tiime HAL passengers would get bronze medallions. This fall's medal ceremony on the grand south america was the most efficient I have seen. Cruise director Jeremy called the silver, gold and platinum recipients up, but just as one arrived and started posing, he called the next name to keep things moving. Then we all headed to the dining room for a mariner's lunch. There were so many on this 73-day cruise that the recipients were divided into two groups for ceremonies and lunch on subsequent days.

Sounds wonderful! I loved my 2017 and 2018 Grand Asias and will jump on this. I'm surprised that HAL doesn't alternate these grands. The 2018 Grand Asia was a great price because it came on the heels of the 2017. The same may have happened with the Grand Africas of the last couple of years.

The future cruise consultant on the Zaandam told me this fall when I booked 2026 world that no decision re ship has been made, but she predicts it will be Volendam or Zaandam, as they have not been filling Zuiderdam. (Big blocks probably at bargain basement prices to resellers like Travel by Alan this fall to sell more cabins on Zuiderdam.) I'm guessing that 2025 will bring some great last-minute pricing as the typical world customer base will be split between the world and the pole to pole. Annette took my cabin preferences for both the R-class and the Vista class ships with my $100 2026 deposit a couple of months ago. She said of course the details (ship, itinerary) won't be announced until April -- probably when the HAL suits come aboard. My booking shows up on Navigator as a future cruise credit at the moment. Same thing happened early this year when Neil started selling the 2025 world early in the world cruise. He even took preferences for the "rumored" world and pole to pole.

Rich, it sounds like my kind of cruise! If I weren't on the world I would be joining you. Great job of stringing the cruises together. Have a wonderful time.

Zuiderdam has a setup behind the counter in the Lido restaurant, not the separate DIY like on the Zaandam, etc.

Worked fine for me -- IF you are in a location with good connection to a router. That was not the case in my cabin on the Zaandam -- perhaps because it has the metal walls that hold magnets. I had to seek a quiet but public place for a couple of zoom calls.

Worked fine in November when the Zaandam went to Antarctica.

This is the last post for this voyage. I'm not sure that I will do another "Live" thread on Cruise Critic. It takes a good deal of time to edit and post from the blog site. I think most people that are interested now subscribe to the blog by email. Thanks to all of you who followed and commented. After 3 days in Fort Lauderdale, I'm now aboard the Zuiderdam for a 12-day holiday Caribbean cruise, and then will continue on the 2024 Grand World Voyage. It has been great fun to see so many friends -- passengers and especially crew members. I'll be writing about that on the blog site. [All the photos are on my blog site, https://www.writerondeck.com/.] Wrapping up One Cruise; Prepping for Another Between Cruises Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023; Fort Lauderdale, Florida I hadn’t planned another blog post about my 73-day Grand South America & Antarctica cruise, but several friends on board urged me on. Who knew so many people who are on the cruise with me are reading a blog about this cruise? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – I frequently follow the blogs of fellow cruisers. Each of our journeys is different, even on the same ship and itinerary. Our last two sea days have been busy with activities. Ben Sack, the artist in residence who joined the cruise in Buenos Aires, unveiled his approximately 5-foot by 6-foot drawing of the cruise itinerary. I’m always tempted to order a smaller print, but it would just sit in storage. The towel animal menagerie took over the Lido deck once again – this time with notes from the housekeeping staff. I found several made by Andri and Dwi, my great cabin stewards. My travel agent arranged a rare bridge tour while the ship was underway. It’s nice to see some women working there. A highlight of long cruises is the Crew Talent Show, and they have evolved and improved over the years. This year brought eight acts ranging from traditional Indonesian and Filipino songs and dances to contemporary pop and rock performances. It’s easy to forget that the wonderful crew we see in “corporate” uniforms around the ship are mostly just young people who follow the current music trends. “Ask the Captain” is always a popular event, and this was one of the best sessions I’ve attended. Passengers asked interesting questions, and Capt. Ane Smit gave candid answers. Had we been scheduled to sail up the Amazon River just two days earlier, the voyage would have been canceled. Just enough rain fell upriver to allow us passage. At times we had just one meter of water beneath our hull. The odds of being able to tender in the Falkland Islands? He estimated them at 90 percent. I guess I’ve just been unlucky to have missed that port the two times I’ve cruised there. What he might have done if he hadn’t had a career on the sea? “I think I might have been a farmer.” We sailed an alternate route skirting Cuba on our way back to Florida from Puerto Rico due to a storm last weekend on the East Coast. After seeing very few other ships – and cruise ships in particular – on our cruise around the continent of South America, we passed a whole raft of them yesterday heading out for Caribbean cruises. It took me most of yesterday to pack, mainly because I was trying to pack things for my three days in Florida in one bag, things for my 12-day holiday cruise in another and everything else for the world cruise in the last two, as I will be changing cabins for it. When I finally got the luggage outside my cabin last night, I was somewhat embarrassed about how much there was and tempted to put a couple of the bags outside another door. I do remind myself that this is what I have to live with for eight months. After dropping the bags at my hotel, I spent today shopping for a few things I need, getting some Christmas decorations for the cabin door, and upgrading my iPhone. I had planned to wait until next summer, but after a few passengers were robbed of their phones in South America, I decided I wanted to have a backup. I’m excited to see my sisters and nephews, who will arrive tomorrow. In a few days Holland America will send me an extensive survey about the cruise, but here are a few thoughts. The Zaandam is in great shape, and I love the smaller size. The captain and hotel manager have worked together for years and it shows – this was perhaps the smoothest operation overall of any cruise I’ve taken. I loved my “vista suite” cabin with its nine desk drawers and full-length sofa. Newer ships have much smaller cabins. I would say an area where Holland America falls a bit short is entertainment, and that is determined by headquarters. I thought the piano bar musician shouted more than sang, and apparently many others agreed, as there was seldom more than a half-dozen people during his sets. That deprived me of one of my favorite evening venues. On the World Stage, the comedians got mixed reviews. I think most of them cannot maintain a show for 45 minutes. There’s a reason late-night talk show hosts only do a short opening monologue. Good news on the ongoing Brazilian visa issue. I still don’t have mine, but the visa contractor has finally sent it to Brazil for review. Even better, Holland America said no one will be denied boarding if the visa logjam doesn’t break. Instead, we will go somewhere else. Of course, many people are looking forward to the Amazon, so we all have our fingers crossed. I’m planning to take a short break from regular blogging during the holiday cruise (although don’t be surprised if I sneak one post in).