Cruising at Christmas

Accurate or not, Holland America cruises have a reputation for attracting 'older' and 'linen and china' passengers. The line's 'Mayan Ruins' cruise over Christmas 2006 on board the SS Veendam (1200 passengers, 500 crew) from Tampa was anything but; perhaps, the exception which proves the rule! Several friends, my wife, and I arrived at the designated boarding dock in Tampa in the early afternoon of the Saturday before Monday's Christmas Day, expecting to be among the youngest of the passengers and wondering what special treats a Christmas cruise would offer. Not that we wanted Christmas to be too quiet, of course; we expected the ship would make the holiday season special. We were immediately struck, though, .... and worried .... by the number of children running about the inprocessing area. Looked to be lots of three generation families getting lined up to board: grandmother, adult children, and grandkids! Perhaps the cruise wouldn't be as quiet as we thought!

After we had gone through the usual boarding procedures, found our cabin, and practiced the lifeboat drill, we returned to an outer deck as the Veendam slid past the SS American Victory, a restored World War II merchant vessel seemingly ready to get underway at any moment. Even its defensive guns were still onboard! This old warrior is adjacent to Tampa's 'Channelside', an area of shops, restaurants, and hotels which attracts tourists and those who just want to see the big cruise ships come and go! Small groups of people were gathered on shore waving to us as we began our journey. I heard at least one call, 'Wish I could be with you!'.

My wife and I had never been to Key West before so we were excited by the chance to spend several hours in the cruise's first port of call. It was what I expected - very touristy but walking around the town was still a lot of fun. 157 miles from Miami but only 90 from Havana, Key West has certainly experienced its share of history. Pirates sailed throughout the Keys for three centuries and the islands played major roles in the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the Mariel Boat Lift. For example, hidden away in a small cemetery is a memorial to the American sailors lost when the USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor in 1898, leading to war between Spain and the U.S. German submarines were sunk in later wars just beyond Key West, too.

Our group also enjoyed a tour of Earnest Hemingway's home in which he lived for eight years and where he wrote about 70% of his novels. Harry Truman often vacationed in Key West when he was President, making an old naval officers' barracks built in 1890 'the Truman White House'. This building was used as recently as 2001 for a major conference hosted by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Finally, one has to walk down Duval Street to shop - as the ship's crew warned us - 'til you drop'. Lots of shops with the usual tourist 'beachy' items but in no other place can one truly experience Jimmy Buffet's 'Margaritaville' or wonderful key lime pie in its home! We had to have our photo taken at U.S. Highway 1's mile marker '0', too, as it begins its long route up the east coast to the Canadian border. We agreed somehow Key West manages to pull off being 'touristy' and very 'laid back' at the same time.

The Veendam's many diversions allowed us to enjoy our first of two 'days at sea' enroute our most southern port of call. The ship had everything, of course: all types of food available throughout the day, several bars with live music, casino, sports bar, library, internet cafe, fitness center, photo center, medical center, and lots of shops open when the ship was at sea. Various classes were offered, too. My wife is still talking about the line dancing class! Each cabin had CNN, ESPN, The Weather Channel, movie channels, and several other channels, including the ship's own. The ship published a little 'newspaper' daily - U.S. and British editions - with brief news, sports, business, and weather articles. We spent our evenings in quiet conversation before dinner in one of the bars or on deck or, after dinner, attending the remarkably good live entertainment - singers and dancers, comedian, juggler, and pianist. An aspect of cruising today which I expect is industry wide - passengers and crew are always washing their hands to prevent the intestinal problems which have so often recently ruined cruises. 'Waterless' soap dispensers are found throughout the ship and everyone is encouraged to use them!

The next port of call on Tuesday was Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala, a port through which bananas, pineapple, melons, cedar, and mahogany pass to consumers around the world. Perhaps my father's ship used this port when he was a merchant seaman at the end of WWII! The ship offered several excursions in each port of call or trips could be arranged dockside with local guides. In Santo Tomas, we chose a bus tour of the nearby town of Puerto Barrios which gave us a sense of the area's poverty. Our local guide pointed out to us the shopping mall which had opened only 15 days before and the McDonald's in its parking lot which was almost completed. She said 'everyone is excited about the chance to get a good hamburger!' We stopped in the little shopping arcades beside the ship's dock when we completed our tour and the shoppers among us enjoyed the great variety of local arts and crafts. A friend and I enjoyed Guatemala's Brahma and Gallo beers as we watched the action!

Belize City, our next port on Wednesday, does not have docks for big cruise ships so everyone had to go ashore in a 15 minutes trip in small boats, 'tenders'. While most of our group remained close to the shopping and dining in the immediate port area, my wife and I struck out on foot to walk the narrow streets of the town. We enjoy looking at homes and going into the stores in which locals shop to determine how they live, what they buy, and how much it costs. As is too often the case in other places we have visited, food and appliances cost more in Belize City than in the U.S.! Everyone speaks English in this former British colony so our walking 'survey' was easier than in many other nations! We'll certainly always remember the local radio station DJs' wonderful accents! Finally, we were surprised to stumble upon an 'embassy' from the Republic of China (Taiwan) but I expect the Belizean government allows this 'embassy' while there is another embassy from the Peoples Republic of China in the nation's capital. A diplomatic 'sleight of hand'. The shopping variety around the port was quite good again and our friends were excited with their purchases of some very exotic rums and liquers.

Our last port of call on Thursday before a day at sea on Friday was Costa Maya on the Mexican coast. This area is about 120 miles south of Cozumel and it's clear the Mexican government is hopeful it will become the next great beach development. An impressive complex of bars and shops near the dock and only a very small number of homes nearby, though. I'm sure there is a residential lot waiting for anyone! We signed up for the tour to the Caccoben ruins of the Mayan civilization, about 30 miles away through very undeveloped land. It was certainly worth the drive! The discovery of these ruins is a remarkable story. In the early 1970s, a young American graduate student traveled in the area, studying the known Mayan ruins. He happened to speak to a group of workers who collected the sap of the chicle tree for use in chewing gum. They told him about a group of strange mounds in an area in which they often worked so he investigated. The mounds he found were covered by dirt and fully grown trees and other vegetation but he decided to dig anyway. Amazingly, he quickly found the first of many classic Mayan pyramids in what is now known to have been a small village from 300BC to 700AD! Excavation of the site began in 1994 and it was opened to the public only in 2000. It was a great thrill to be able to climb in certain sections of the ruins and to think that more than two thousand years ago men and women lived where we stood!

Disembarkation back in Tampa was accomplished in a very efficient fashion early on Saturday morning. It's clear the crew knows how to move 1,200 passengers and their baggage from ship to dock very quickly and to prepare for the arrival of 1,200 more passengers and baggage in about three hours!

And all those kids on the cruise? We saw them in the upper deck cafeteria for lunch; sometimes around the ship, usually under the care of a young woman of the ship's crew; and they were certainly in control of the ship's largest swimming pool. They were not in the main dining room, however, when we had breakfast and dinner and only a few attended the evening entertainment. Turned out they weren't much a problem, after all; in fact, it was a lot of fun to watch as Santa Claus arrived on board the ship on Christmas Eve and the kids' response!

I expect Holland America does normally host an 'older' clientele than the industry average but in the holiday season one can be surprised. In our cruise, though, it didn't make a difference.