Blue Skies and Fair Winds

February 9, 2025

This is the view from the aft (back) of our ship today.  Beautiful blue water, blue skies with fluffy clouds, and calm seas.

Here is the path our cruise will be taking (except that the departure point was actually Miami).

We have had a mostly uneventful beginning to our cruise to the Amazon.  The flights from San Diego to Miami were smooth and arrived on time. 

Our overnight stay in Miami seemed to be going smoothly until we were awakened by a fire alarm going off in the early morning!  We waited a couple of minutes to see if it kept going, or if there were any announcements.  But it just kept blaring, so we evacuated our room.  Did I mention we were on the 17th floor???  We walked down a lot of stairs and waited outside until word started to spread that it was a false alarm, triggered by a water line bursting on an upper floor.  So, we walked to the elevators to get back up to our room, but they were still in fire evacuation mode, so they were only going down!  Hotel staff had to stay in the elevator to over-ride the system at each stop so the elevators would take guests back up to their rooms.  In the end, it all worked out and during our adventure we re-connected with a fellow educator whom we met before at an education conference or event.  We never did figure out exactly where, but it was fun chatting with him. And it turned out his room was next door to ours!  Small world.

Miami Cruise Terminal

Boarding the ship, the Holland America Zaandam, was an easy process. And we were lucky to not have to wait in the very long line to board because we were with Tom and Katie (Karen’s brother and sister-in-law) who are Holland America superstars!

Here are pictures of some important parts of the ship.

Today is our first full day aboard, and we quickly fell into our cruise routine.  We will be at sea all day today and tomorrow. 

Where are we now?

The picture of our position from our ship's tracker.

What bodies of water will we be sailing through?

The ship is currently traveling in the North Atlantic Ocean and will travel through the eastern Caribbean Sea next on our way to the entrance of the Amazon.  As I was planning for the blogs for this trip, I learned a lot about the difference between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.  I will be posting more information on that topic in the Education Resources section of the blog.  For now – here are some Fun Facts about the Caribbean Sea.

Fun Facts:

The Caribbean Sea is home to 90 mammal species, including dolphins, sperm whales, manatees, humpback whales, and seals, among many others.

There are more than 1,000 known fish species that can be found in the Caribbean Sea. Some of these include flying fish, moray eels, bull sharks, tiger sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, giant oceanic manta rays, and parrotfish, among many others.

It is estimated that the Caribbean Sea is between 160 and 180 million years old.

Parts of all four of the Pirates of the Caribbean films were indeed shot in the Caribbean.

Our first stop will be Philipsburg, Sint Maarten on Feb. 11. Our excursion includes a land tour of the island. Please check back with us in a few days! Take care and enjoy your time wherever you are!