Women of the Caribbean

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OK, so the title is shamelessly plagiarized from Pirates of the Caribbean, but you'll allow me a tiny bit of poetic license? It really does fit, if you think about it.

As many of you know, Herself won a week long cruise to the Caribbean, and that is where we spent the week of Thanksgiving. (November 23-30). It was a women's only cruise, aboard Holland America's ms Westerdam.

There were men as crew, of course but all passengers were women. What a wonderful way to relax, go a tiny bit wild rejuvenate, recuperate from political ills and find a deeper resolve to see that this world does not deny equal rights to anyone... but it was a fun time so we'll focus on that, eh?

I'll give you some general aspects, and then as with my other reports allow the photos to do most of the talking.

Did we like the ship? Well. Yes, but it didn't have a wow factor. It was a simple basic ship, very clean but with no grand atrium or wonderfully ornate anything. Lovely enough, but no real majesty.

Was the food good? Ummmm...yesssss, I guess. It was an odd parceling out, I must say. The meal times were rather rigid which isn't something we are used to (having cruised a whopping two other times with Norwegian Cruise lines ) and you had to be more ready to eat on "their" schedule than you may have preferred. The food was all edible, most certainly but nothing was tremendously delicious. I prefer my hot food to be scalding, so was not really thrilled with the temperature of the food, but that really was a minor point. We had one special meal (in the restaurant where you pay a cover charge) which I'll explain in a bit. That is the only one I took photos of...

The spa area was lovely and we spent some time each day there. It was an extra fee for use, but we really felt that it added to our holiday.

The cabin was small, but winners won't be complainers! The bed was quite the most comfortable ship's bed we've had.

The service was impeccable. Regardless of the type being provided (cabin steward, meal server, etc.) every crew member was extremely polite and solicitous of our comfort.

The ports of call were all nice enough. We fell in love with one. That's coming. We chose not to go ashore on one... the first port... but all in all quite nice.

The voyage itself was a bit rough from time to time. I think that had more to do with the size of the ship (I have the details here somewhere) which was a bit smaller than we've been on previously, but the seas were rough in some areas.

The weather was essentially wonderful, once we were underway. It was cool as we set sail, but warmed up nicely (and stayed that way) until our return to cold, miserable rain this morning.

I'll get on with it then. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best to answer!

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First, the ship and the flags that we flew. The banner, says Olivia Feel Free... a lovely slogan, yes? And you'll recognize the Rainbow Flag, and then the flags of the ship...

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The cabin and the toiletries provided by Holland America. Each evening there was turn down service with chocolates and sometimes towel animal creations. Each morning the cabin was made up with fresh linens (only if you left the used ones on the shower floor) and fresh toiletries upon request, and ice in the bucket. Oh, and there were robes provided for use throughout the cruise. They were available for purchase. We chose not to do so.

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There were two outdoor pools (and one indoor) on board. These are the dolphins of the main pool. This is the sail away party on deck 9 (the Lido Deck). The shoreline is Fort Lauderdale where Port Everglades is. I must say, I far prefer the Port of Miami... but that's just me and my adoration for big cities.

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Not a very lovely port city... but it will do...

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Here are some shots of the interior of the ship. We got a big chuckle out of the 'conversion' of the men's rooms into women's rooms. When I entered this room my first thought was, "What in Sam Hill have they done to the bidets? OH! OH!" LOL. (So I'm slow... you'll still love me, yes)?

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More interior shots of the ship...

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The ports... The Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. We also visited St. Martin (by ourselves). We fell in love with that French side of the Island. We found a little shop, L'Epicerie Marie where the shopkeeper had glorious cheeses (we splurged) and had spent some time working at the France Pavilion in EPCOT! All together now, "It's a small world after all..." He was a charming young man and made us laugh. Although their currency is the Euro, he allowed us to use our US dollars. Very convenient! We'd love to visit St. Martin again some day.

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Ports continued...

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One of the most beautiful and alluring things about the Caribbean is the color of the water. I've tried to capture it, but clearly it takes much more sophisticated equipment and talent than I have. Here, the blues of the Caribbean...