Thirty days, two cruises, 2530 miles. Spent the whole month of November 2025 road-tripping around Southeast USA and cruising to Mexico and the Caribbean. Kicked off our trip celebrating Halloween with hubby’s cousin in Newnan (Georgia) before making our way to Tampa (Florida) for a Margaritaville cruise to Mexico and Western Caribbean. After a week on the sea, we continued our journey driving across Florida and spent the week visiting Ft. Lauderdale, Key West and Miami, before a Holland America cruise to Eastern Caribbean. Wrapped up our trip driving along the coast to visit Savannah (Georgia) and Charleston (South Carolina). Grateful for the opportunity to explore so many different places in one month and thankful for the beautiful weather throughout our trip.
12-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise (Bahamas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Guadeloupe, & Puerto Rico)
16 Nov 2025: Fort Lauderdale
17 Nov 2025: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
18-19 Nov 2025: Sea Days
20 Nov 2025: Philipsburg, Sint Maarten
21 Nov 2025: Castries, Saint Lucia
22 Nov 2025: Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago
23 Nov 2025: Bridgetown, Barbados
24 Nov 2025: Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe
25 Nov 2025: San Juan, Puerto Rico
26-27 Nov 2025: Sea Days
28 Nov 2025: Fort Lauderdale
Yes we are going on another cruise, our 3rd cruise within 3 months. This time we are cruising with Holland America on Rotterdam for a 12-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. When we first booked the cruise, we were supposed to go to St Kitts and Nevis but they changed it to Puerto Rico instead.
16 Nov 2025 (Sun): Embarkation Day
Checked out of the hotel at 11am and drove to Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel, where we made a reservation to park our car for 12 days at the covered garage.
Traffic at the port area was crazy that day so we had to wait a while for the shuttle. As we were waiting, a lady saw our luggage tags and realized we were going on the same ship, so she asked if we wanted to split the cost for an Uber coz she and her husband had been waiting for a long time for the shuttle. Somehow my phone wasn't working that morning so we agreed to share the Uber with them. However, the Uber guy also got stuck in traffic and the shuttle arrived before the Uber so we went ahead and boarded the shuttle. The shuttle driver was very nice and did his best to navigate through the slow traffic to get everyone to our respective terminals. It took about 40 min for us to get to the terminal but we ended up having a very good conversation with Barbara and Dane.
Check in was smooth and quick. We arrived at terminal 19 at Port Everglades at 1pm and were on the ship by 1.15pm.
Our room was ready by the time we boarded the ship so we were ready to check into our room immediately. Our 'home' for 12 nights was an interior king room - 5089 on Deck 5 - Gershwin Deck.
The Rotterdam is a pretty new ship, launched in 2021, so everything looks new and fresh. However, the bedding on this ship is the worst we've had so far. I was sweating almost every night coz the covers were not breathable. This bathroom is the nicest one we've had so far, with a glass shower door (not curtain).
Shampoo, conditioner, bath wash, body lotion and hand soap were provided (not all cruises provide body lotion and conditioner). Our luggage took a little longer to be delivered so we were only able to unpack our stuff when we got them at 4.30pm.
Beach towels and a beach bag were also provided.
The in-room entertainment system was good as there were plenty of movies available and we were able to get all sorts of information like menus and port related information on the TV.
The ship's Navigator app also provides information of each of our port-of-calls.
Went to the buffet for lunch and of course gotta start off our cruise with ice cream.
Since this is a fairly new ship, all the facilities are nice as well.
There were two pools (including a covered pool), plenty of hot tubs, 2 pickleball courts, and a nice fitness center. The Rotterdam is heavily themed around music and the decks are named after Mozart, Beethoven, etc.
Grand Dutch Cafe on deck 3. Good for light lunch or snack. Food is free but coffee cost extra.
Checked out the Crow's Nest on deck 12. It's a nice observation lounge located at the top forward section of the ship offering panoramic ocean views where guests can play puzzles and board games. This place was crowded most of the time.
We also learnt (and saw) that there were a total of 8 cruise ships departing Ft. Lauderdale on the same day (2x Princess, 2x Holland America, 2x Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Disney). No wonder traffic around the port area was crazy.
The sailaway party for Holland America wasn't as happening as Princess or Margaritaville. Felt like there were more staff than guests on the dance floor. The demographic for Holland America definitely skews older (65+) and a lot of the guests are seasoned cruisers so the sailaway party wasn't as exciting for most.
Beautiful sunset to wrap up day 1 of our cruise.
The variety of food options on the ship was good but I'm not a fan of how the buffet is set up (almost everything has to be served by the staff). I understand it's for hygiene purposes but everything was slower. We definitely had to pack more patience on this ship. There were various stations in the buffet but I learnt quickly that my go-to station is the "Distant Land", as that's the Asian food station.
We were also able to see the daily menu for all the dining options on the Navigator app.
Had dinner at Lido Buffet.
17 Nov 2025 (Mon): Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
Buffet breakfast at 9.15am before disembarking the ship for our first port on this cruise - Half Moon Cay, Holland America's private island in the Bahamas.
This is a tender port so we had to get a tender ticket to get on the water shuttle to the island.
Got our tickets at 10.40am, boarded the water shuttle at 11.10am, and arrived at the island at 11.25am.
We didn't read up much about Half Moon Cay and had no idea that it's much more than just beaches.
They had a whole food area set up (all inclusive since only Holland America guests come on this island).
There were 2 Holland America cruises in port on the same day (Koningsdam and Rotterdam) so the island was busy but there was still plenty of space to enjoy our lunch and ice cream.
Beautiful weather and waters!
There were plenty of chairs on the beach to lay out. We are not beach people (coz sand is annoying) but it was nice to lay out with the view of white sandy beaches and blue waters. The beach towel provided in our room came in handy.
After soaking in some vitamin sea and sun, we decided to head back to the ship at 2pm. It was nice that the staff provided cold towels to freshen up before we headed back to the ship.
Spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the facilities on the ship while there were fewer people. Played pickleball and went to the gym.
Went up to the deck at 5.15pm to catch the beautiful sunset as we left the Bahamas at 5pm.
Had dinner at Lido buffet and ice cream to wrap up the day.
18 Nov 2025 (Tues): Sea Day
Day 3 of our cruise was a sea day, which means it's a chillaxing day. Had buffet breakfast at 9am, played ping pong at 9.45am, went to the gym at 12.15pm, buffet lunch at 1.15pm.
Sunbathe by the pool at 2.30pm.
Went to the Dining Room for the Royal Dutch Tea at 3pm. This was only available on sea days.
Dressed up for Gala Dinner at the dining room at 5pm. We found out that the food in the dining room is basically the same as the buffet (just plated nicely and much slower) so we decided to just go to the buffet for all meals after this.
Starters: Escargot Bourguignon, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail.
Mains: Dried-Cherry and Thyme Coated Fresh Salmon, Espalatte Beef Tenderloin & Shrimp.
Desserts: Black Forest Cake, Caramel Lava Cake.
Went to the World Stage at 6.30pm for the Captain's Welcome Toast, mainly for the free champagne...we got 2 each since we were early. We then stayed on to watch part of the show.
Returned to our room and got some chocolates and towel animal.
19 Nov 2025 (Wed): Sea Day
Day 4 of the cruise was another sea day. Same routine as the previous day minus the evening events. We are mastering this cruise life thingy.
20 Nov 2025 (Thurs): Philipsburg, Sint Maarten
Day 5 of our cruise at St. Maarten (Dutch side). After two chillaxing sea days, we decided to venture out and explore St. Maarten ourselves. Had breakfast before disembarking the ship at 9.25am.
I learnt on this trip that St. Martin (French side) and St. Maarten (Dutch side) are two distinct halves of the same Caribbean island, differing in culture, language, and vibe.
I knew St. Martin is famous for the plane-spotting beach but didn't do any research, so thanks ChatGPT for helping with my lazy planning. We followed ChatGPT's instructions and walked about 10 minutes from the port to town to catch the public minibus to Maho Beach.
We were glad we took the public minibus coz it gave us the opportunity to "do as the locals do", since the minibus is mainly used by the locals. The 'minibus' was a 10 person van with a sign in front stating 'Maho Beach', and there was no AC. Glad that ChatGPT's instructions specified "You'll see white or light-colored minivans with route letters/numbers", else we'd stupidly wait for a 'minibus'.
The journey took about 30 minutes with stops along the way to pick up and drop off the locals. There was another tourist couple doing the same thing as us. The cost for this 30 min ride was $2/pax (cash) each way, much cheaper than taking a cab or an excursion tour. P.S. We felt very safe using the local transport here.
Maho Beach is actually a very small stretch of beach and the reason it is popular is because it's located right next to the airport, which makes it the perfect spot for plane spotting.
We found a spot right next to the road to sit and watch the planes, while using a flight map to track the incoming flights.
We were there at 10.30am, which was too early to see the big jets. According to ChatGPT, most big jets (all flights coming from the US) land between 12pm and 3.30pm.
We were there for about an hour and spotted a total of 8 planes, including the last, bigger one, which was an Airbus A321neo. It was cool to see (and feel) the planes so close and the blue waters definitely made it more epic.
Enough of plane watching, and it was lunch time so we decided to hop back on the minibus to town at 11.40am and head back to the ship. This time the minibus was really a minibus. Hubby somehow ended up being the volunteer doorman for the minibus coz everyone was having trouble opening and closing the door. Made it back to town at 12.15pm and walked another 15 min back to the port.
Made it back to the ship at 12.45pm. This port was busy with 5 ships in port. It was hot!
Spent the rest of the afternoon chilling on the ship and catching up on internet.
Port days mean internet time (with cellular data). We don't have an internet plan on this cruise so this was a partial digital detox cruise.
Our ship left at 5.30pm. Btw, one guest didn't return to the ship at this port and even made the news, but we were oblivious about it until Barbara gave us the gossip on the last day.
21 Nov 2025 (Fri): Castries, Saint Lucia
Day 6 of our cruise in St. Lucia, a new country for me. To be honest, the views from the ship were much better, especially as our ship was entering the port at 9am.
Buffet breakfast at 9.15am and went to the upper deck to check out the views before disembarking the ship at 10.45am.
This was just a port + sign stop for us.
We were the only ship in port that day.
Returned to the ship at 11.15am. Sunbathe then had lunch. We were in port for a full day and that means plenty of internet time.
Went up to the upper deck to enjoy the sunset view before enjoying our bufffet dinner at 6pm.
22 Nov 2025 (Sat): Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago
Day 7 of our cruise at Tobago. Had buffet breakfast at 9am before disembarking the ship at 10am.
During our sailing, USS ships were deployed to the region, creating a significant naval presence near Venezuela. Flights to Venezuela were also cancelled, resulting in concerns for guests because our next stop, Trinidad and Tobago, is the closest Caribbean island to Venezuela. The Captain made a special announcement the night before to reassure everyone that Tobago is relatively safe and cruise ship operations in the area are proceeding as normal.
Learnt on this trip that Trinidad and Tobago is a dual-island nation located northeast of Venezuela. It consists of the larger island of Trinidad and the smaller island of Tobago. Our port was on the Tobago side of the country. Love the festive music and dance at the port.
We decided to venture out on our own again at this port. Happily used ChatGPT to find out what free things we could do around the port, and ChatGPT's suggestion was "Fort King George (free, best view in Tobago)". Ok cool, we searched Google Maps for the directions and saw it's a 30 min walk (1.6km) each way, no problem. What we didn't know was that it was a steep uphill climb the whole way.
To make things worse, there was zero breeze and it was hot so we were sweating like crazy by the time we made it to the Fort. This is what happens when I choose to half ass it using ChatGPT...lol!
Walked 20 minute back to the port. Thank goodness it was downhill this time so it wasn't as bad.
Returned to the ship at 11.15am.
Buffet lunch at 12pm.
Buffet dinner at 6pm.
23 Nov 2025 (Sun): Bridgetown, Barbados
Day 8 of our cruise at Barbados, a new country for me. Had breakfast at 8.45am before disembarking the ship at 9.30am.
Took the free shuttle bus to the cruise terminal after disembarking our ship instead of walking.
It's about a 30 minute walk from the port to the city, so we decided to venture out to explore the city.
Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a Sunday so the city was pretty quiet at 10am.
Bridgetown felt a bit like the jetty area in Penang.
Spent about an hour sightseeing with quick photo stops at the Parliament Buildings, Independence Square and Chamberlain Bridge.
Bought some Barbados rum before returning to the ship at 11.45am. The ship helped to keep the liquor we bought until the last day of the cruise.
Same routine...buffet lunch, workout, sunbathe, buffet dinner.
24 Nov 2025 (Mon): Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Day 9 of our cruise at Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe is a French territory so it's not a new country for me.
Cruising around the Caribbean makes me realize how many countries and territories there are in the Caribbean. And yes, I have a spreadsheet to track the number of countries vs. territories for each cruise.
Disembarked the ship at 11am.
This was another port and sign stop. We just spent 10 minutes walking around the port. The views from the ship were better than on the ground.
Spent the rest of the day chilling on the ship.
25 Nov 2025 (Tues): San Juan, Puerto Rico
Day 10 of our cruise at Puerto Rico, a US territory. San Juan port is located right next to the old town which makes it an easy port to explore on our own. Our ship arrived around 12pm so we took our time to eat lunch before disembarking the ship to explore.
We spent about an hour walking around the town with quick photo stops at the following places: Plaza Colón, Castillo San Cristóbal Fort, Calle Fortaleza, the colorful Spanish colonial streets, San Juan Gate, the Paseo del Morro oceanside walk, Paseo de la Princesa, and Raíces Fountain.
We barely did any homework for the ports on this cruise and San Juan definitely turned out to be a pleasant surprise. San Juan is the best walkable free port in the Caribbean and we were impressed by the cleanliness of the town, especially with so many cruise tourists passing through daily.
There were 3 cruise ships in port that day...Holland America, Princess, Celebrity.
Returned to the ship at 3.15pm.
Returned to the ship to chill for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Played ping pong and pickleball, and still had plenty of time to browse the internet.
We were in port until 11pm so we got to see the night view of San Juan from the ship.
26 Nov 2025 (Wed): Sea Day
Day 11 of our cruise is a sea day, 26 November 2025. Our sea day routine...eat, work out, sunbathe, chill. Btw, I've been enjoying the prawn crackers served at the Asian buffet station every day.
Decided not to be lazy this evening and went for the Song and Dance show at the World Stage at 7.30pm. It was Orange night (Dutch color) so many people were dressed in orange. It was a full house and I liked that the aunty and uncle in front gave the performers a standing ovation. This cruise is good for people who enjoy music and broadway shows coz there were lots of shows in the evening. We were just too lazy to catch all the shows.
Orange party at the BB King's Club. Holland America is known to be the 'old people' cruise but these aunties and uncles had a lot more energy than us. Everyone was dressed up and enjoying the dance floor. That uncle in the front definitely caught my attention with his dance moves.
27 Nov 2025 (Thurs): Sea Day
Day 12 (final day) of the cruise, 27 November 2025, was another sea day as we sailed back to Fort Lauderdale. It's Thanksgiving Day and special cake day at the buffet. We met a very nice Dutch couple at breakfast and ended up chatting with them until lunch time. Found out that they've been to Malaysia a few times and loved it.
Btw, cruises waste so much paper printing the daily itinerary and the many, many promotion flyers (e.g. spa, painting, jewelry).
Football by the pool and left our luggage outside our room for the staff to take them off the ship. It was nice that they even provided luggage scale at the elevator area for guests to use.
28 Nov 2025 (Fri): Disembarkation Day
Time to say goodbye to the ship. Checked out of our room at 7am and enjoyed our last breakfast at the buffet. Bumped into Barbara and Dane at breakfast and she caught us up on all the gossip we missed (e.g. someone died on embarkation day, someone went missing in St. Maarten).
Disembarked the ship at 9am and caught the free shuttle back to Renaissance hotel to pick up our car. Glad that our car was all good and there was no issue with the parking.
What was the total cost for our 12-night cruise which included 12 nights of room, food & transport?
This was a casino offer. We paid $680 for 2 pax and we also got $200 onboard credit refunded so the total was $480 ($240/pax; $20/pax/night).
This would have been the total cost for 2 pax at normal price. =)
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