Back Online!

The last post I had was almost 6 months ago! Since late last year that I went on my honeymoon I didn’t have a chance (or wasn’t really in the mood) to blog. I was a little busy with my personal and professional life and didn’t have time to dedicate for my blog, but now I decided to start writing again!

The first post I wanted to share is about the great cruise we had for our honeymoon . Although I got married back in May 2008, we didn’t have a chance to go on a honeymoon and we decided to have it by the end of the year. The honeymoon planning wasn’t easy. Since I travel so much, the last thing that I wanted to do on my vacation is to be on another plane and hotel, so after some thinking we decided to go on a cruise!

We booked the 14 Day Southern Caribbean Holiday Cruise with Holland America on board of the Maasdam. So what is so great about a cruise if you are are a tired road warrior and still wants to take a vacation?

1. No need to fly – We drove to Fort Lauderdale to get on the cruise and didn’t take the chance of getting delayed at the airport, having the airline loose our luggage etc.
2. No need to think about what and how to pack – Going for 14 days requires quite a bit of packing (especially when going with your wife) and most airlines today limit the amount of luggage you can take. Since we drove, we didn’t have to think about any of this. Just throw everything in the car and when boarding the ship the crew will take care of it all.
3. Wake up in a different place every day without packing/unpacking – I think this was one of the best things of this kind of trip. On our 14 days cruise we had 11 stops in 10 different islands. The best thing about the cruise is that you unpack everything in your room when you arrive and you move with the “hotel” to a new place every day. Every morning you wake up in a new island without the need to pack, travel and unpack again.
4. You can buy as much alcohol as you want (if you buy in the U.S.V.I you can get up to 6 bottles per person) without worrying about the flight back home (no liquids on carry-on…)

The ship was great and the service provided by Holland America is very good. The company caters to older crowd (meaning it’s more expensive) and there will be less families on these cruises (unlike Carnival and Royal Caribbean where there’s more kids than adults). Having a Holiday cruise was even better since we spent both Christmas and New Years eve on board for the special celebrations. These are the stops we had:

• Fort Lauderdale, FL
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Charlotte Amelie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
• Basseterre, St. Kitts
• Roseau, Dominica
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Castries, St. Lucia
• Saint John’s, Antigua
• Philipsburg, St. Maarten
• Roadtown, Tortola
• Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

View 14 Day Southern Caribbean Holiday Cruise in a larger map

The highlights / best places to mention:

• Half Moon Cay, Bahamas – This was by far the best island we had on our cruise! This is a private island that belongs to Holland America. A 9 miles stretch of white sand beach along with perfect blue water. Everything on the island is operated by the cruise line and they bring all the food to have a great BBQ on the beach.
• Charlotte Amelie, St. Thomas U.S.V.I – This is a great island to stop. It belongs to the USA and you will find here the best prices for alcohol! The highlight of this island was a visit to St. Thomas Synagogue. It was founded in 1796 and is the oldest synagogue in continuous use under the American flag. The marble floor of this beautiful synagogue is all covered in white sand. Legend tells us that it is symbolic of the desert through which the people of Israel wandered for 40 years. The more likely explanation has to do with the fact that this was originally a Sephardic Orthodox community. During the Spanish Inquisition, when Catholic Spain persecuted all other religions and forcibly converted the Jews to Catholicism, Jews who opted to practice Judaism - an offense punishable by death - had to do so in secrecy. They met in cellars of their homes and used sand to muffle the sounds of their prayer.