Miami, Bahamas, Jamaica, Cruise Ship

As of November, we were still planning on spending Christmas and winter break at home in Maryland. We normally enjoy the quietness of a week at home, relaxing and playing games.  Then Nate and I started throwing around the idea of going on a Christmas cruise instead that year.  At the last minute, we decided on a 9-day cruise leaving Ft. Lauderdale and going to Jamaica, Bonaire, Aruba, and the cruise line's private island in the Bahamas.  We chose Holland America, which is known to be popular among the 70+ crowd.  We don't fit that demographic, but we liked the amenities and atmosphere we read about it, and decided to give it a try.  Actually, we spoke to the entertainment director of the cruise ship one day, and she told us the cruise the week before us had 7 children total and an average age above 70.  However our cruise had 200+ kids, and an average age in the upper 50s - the difference being Christmas break and school holidays.  

We had one day and 2 nights in Miami at my parents' house before the cruise.  My parents were flying to Portland, Oregon to visit my brothers for Christmas, like they do every year.  It was nice to spend a little time with my parents before the cruise.  

Lydia loves their old fashioned coffee grinder (which I don't think they even use normally as they have an electric one, but Lydia likes doing the manual labor).  

The kids got to open a few presents before the cruise.  

The Holland Rotterdam cruise ship has a capacity of only about 2500 people, which we found we loved. The main pool always had space as did the hot tubs.  

They were decked out for Christmas in a few spots throughout the ship.

Our first stop was Falmouth, Jamaica.  This was the one port I was pretty nervous about because of the comments I had read online about vendors harassing tourists, and other safety issues.  Because of that, we reserved an excursion through the cruise line.  We were pleasantly surprised getting off the ship to find no vendors harassing anyone, possibly because of the vendors wanting to be with their loved ones during the Christmas season.  The cruise terminal was calm and felt safe.  We boarded our excursion's bus to Dunn's River Falls.  I enjoyed the guide's commentary about all the places we passed, and seeing the lush greenery everywhere.  

My one complaint about the excursion was how rushed it felt - for example, I could have lingered at this beach before climbing the falls for a long time, but we were rushed through. The sand and water were gorgeous!

Dunn's River Falls is a waterfall that is naturally terraced like giant natural stairs and the falls are 180 feet tall, and 600 feet long.  Tourists climb the falls holding hands.  

We started our journey on the beach and slowly walked up the falls holding hands, and taking photos along the way.  It lived up to the hype and we had a great time.

There were calm sections/lagoons along the way where we could be more independent, and also some sections that were pretty tough.

It was a fabulous excursion - I just wish we had more time! I do feel like Jamaica is one and done for me, but the country's natural beauty was very apparent.

I loved the food on the cruise.  The desserts were up my alley with lots of butter and cream, and less sugar.  The real food was great too.  Below is part of a Christmas Eve cake display.

Thess photos below were taken on the ship in port in Falmouth, Jamaica.  I like seeing how green the country is.  It was so different from Aruba and Bonaire, where we went next, because those places are deserts. 

The entertainment on board was not as fancy or flashy as the entertainment on board Norwegian Cruise Line, which we had been on previously.  The performers were equally talented, but the choreography and set up were not as elaborate.  My two favorite entertainment options were a dueling piano show that performed a few times each night, and also Island Magic, "a four-piece steel band known for its versatile performances, blending Caribbean rhythms with classical and Broadway tunes".  They were amazing!

Our room steward made a bunch of towel animals for us during the cruise.  Derek would frequently come back to his made-up bed with his stuffed dragon posed next to fancy creations.

Derek posing next to a towel creation.  The pool deck also had a show of towel animals one day that was fun to see. 

Our next port stops on Bonaire and Aruba will be in the blogpost that Nate will write.  Those desert climates, with no hurricanes, barely off the coast of Venezuela were both places I would gladly travel to again.

A pretty rainbow as seen from our cruise ship.

Our last port was Half Moon Cay, the private island for Holland America in the Bahamas.  I didn't think I would like the private island that much, but actually it was perfect.  The beach had soft sand, the waters were clear and calm, and there were free beach chairs for use.  Holland is a line that does not have fancy water slides on their private island, but I was happy for a quiet beach day.  I also liked that there was an included barbecue lunch that was delicious.  For me, it was an excursion day that I didn't have to plan for, but was still fun and complete with activities and food.

We arrived back in Florida on December 29th.  My parents had flown back to Miami on Dec 28th, so the timing worked out well.  Below, the kids are singing Happy Birthday to Mimi, who had a birthday on the 27th.  Lydia got really into it.  

We are not planning on a Christmas cruise in 2025, but it is something I would definitely like to do again at some point in the future.  Both Bonaire and Aruba are destinations worth seeing again, and I would like to go to the nearby island of Curacao, to complete the ABC islands.