My Cruise History

Now that I am back from my most recent cruise, from Hong Kong to Shanghai, and getting ready for a big and particularly exotic one I will be doing in spring 2017, from Abu Dhabi to Rome, I wanted to update my cruise history! Some of the following entries might be missing ports or even inadvertently had incorrect ones added that we are remembering from other cruises, and not all sea days are reflected, but we are confident that it is pretty accurate overall … (shown here is La Fortaleza, the historic governor's mansion in San Juan, Puerto Rico, decorated for the 2016 holiday season).

August 1998: Royal Caribbean, Majesty of the Seas, seven day, western Caribbean (Fort Lauderdale/Miami; Labadie, Haiti; Kingston or Montego Bay, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico; private island, Bahamas; Fort Lauderdale/Miami). This was pretty typical of a "starter cruise" in terms of length, line, and itinerary.

January 2002: Royal Caribbean, Radiance of the Seas, seven day, southern Caribbean (San Juan, Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; St. John’s, Antigua; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten; Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; San Juan, Puerto Rico).

December 2002: Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), Norway, seven day, eastern Caribbean Miami, Florida; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten; maybe other ports … private island, Bahamas; Miami, Florida). My parents, Mike and Merrilea Varhola, accompanied us on this cruise. Launched as SS France in 1962, Norway was reminiscent of a classic ocean liner and, of all the ships I have been on, was my favorite. Sadly, she was badly damaged by a boiler explosion in 2003 and was eventually dismantled at an Indian scrapyard in 2008.

December 2004-January 2005: NCL, Norwegian Wind, 13 day, Hawaii & Kiribati (Oahu; Hilo or Kona Hawaii/Big Island; two ports in Maui; Kuai; two sea days directly south; Fanning Island, Kiribati; two sea days directly north; Hilo or Kona Hawaii/Big Island; Oahu).

September-October 2006: NCL, Norwegian Jewel, 13 day, Aegean, Adriatic, and eastern Mediterranean (Athens, Greece; Corfu, Greece; Olympia, Greece; Crete, Greece; Santorini, Greece; sea day; Alexandria, Egypt two days; Mykonos, Greece; sea day; Kuzadasi, Turkey; Istanbul, Turkey. Best itinerary ever! We did an excursion in every port except Corfu, including an overnight trip to Cairo while we were in Egypt. We also spent one night in Athens before the cruise and three nights in Istanbul at the end of it.

January 2007: Princess, Regal Princess, 10 day, Panama Canal (Acapulco, Mexico, to San Juan, Puerto Rico). This was the first cruise on which I served as the ship’s lecturer! This image is from one of the man-made lakes that are part of the Panama Canal and which our ship crossed during the cruise.

May 2007: Royal Caribbean, Empress of the Seas, seven day, Bermuda (Norfolk, Virginia, roundtrip). While we had fun and loved Bermuda, this was in many ways our least enjoyable cruise for a number of reasons, one being that we had an inside cabin that was also the smallest we have ever had, the other being the high proportion of trashy locals who had clearly purchased cheap last-minute passage on the ship.

c. October 2007: Azamara, Journey, seven day Bermuda, (roundtrip from Cape Liberty, New Jersey).

c. November 2007: Azamara, Journey, seven day, Bermuda (roundtrip from Cape Liberty, New Jersey). This one I did on my own after the cruise line asked me to stay on board and lecture for an additional week and Diane had to return to work! I spent a lot of the five days in Bermuda exploring the interior of the island, the highlight of which was a nine-mile hike along with historic Rail Trail (part of which, near one of the historic lighthouses toward the east end of the island, appears in this photo).

January 2008: Princess, Coral Princess, 10 day (?), Panama Canal (roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale). My details on this one are a little fuzzy because I took my daughter, Hayley, with me instead of my wife, who serves as my institutional memory. We took three excursions, including a horseback ride in the Costa Rican rainforest, a canoe trip to a native village in Panama, and a bus trip to a number of historic sites in Kingston, Jamaica (an image from the first of those excursions, of Hayley on her Costa Rican forest stallion, appears here).

September 2008: NCL, Norwegian Pearl (?), six day, New England & Canada (roundtrip from New York City/Manhattan). This one was different than the norm in that it took us north instead of south! We did not take any excursions but did independently explore all our ports of call, to include visits to a number of museums and at least one fort.

October-November 2008: Celebrity, Constellation, 11 day, southern Caribbean (Cape Liberty, New Jersey, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida).

November 20-December 4, 2010: Celebrity, Constellation, 14 day, southern Caribbean. This was our longest cruise to date and included three ports of call we had not yet visited, including Bonaire, Grenada, and Curacao (from which this picture was taken). No excursions but we are wishing we had taken one to a beach at some point early in the cruise.

*December 2012: Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas, seven days (roundtrip from New Orleans via Jamaica; Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico). *Diane did this one with our daughters Lindsey and Hayley.

c. April-May, 2013: Celebrity Eclipse, c. 14 days (trans-Atlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton, England, via San Juan, Puerto Rico and Philipsburg, Dutch St. Martin). This cruise sailed right past the Azores but did not make a port of call at them!

September-October, 2013: Royal Caribbean, Radiance of the Seas (trans-Pacific from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Sydney, Australia, via Bora Bora; Tahiti; Moorea; Wellington, New Zealand; and Picton, New Zealand).

*March 31-April 10, 2015: Royal Caribbean, Grandeur of the Seas (roundtrip from Baltimore via Labadie, Haiti; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, St. Martin; San Juan, Puerto Rico). *Diane did this one with our daughters Lindsey and Hayley. 

January 23-30, 2016: Norwegian Jade, seven day, western Caribbean (roundtrip from port of Houston via Belize, Roatan; Cozumel, Mexico). This is the only cruise since 2006 that we simply paid for and for which I did not serve as a special interest or destination speaker! Of all the cruises we have been on, this one had the lowest standards for passenger conduct and did not enforce its own dress codes, allowing people into the formal dining room wearing camouflage hunting gear, swimwear, baseball caps, and the like. We had a good time but would have enjoyed it a lot more if we had not had to share so much of it with a ship half-filled with weird hillbillies.

November 26-December 3, 2016: Celebrity Reflection, seven day, eastern Caribbean (roundtrip from Miami via San Juan, Puerto Rico; Philipsburg, Dutch Saint Martin; and Basseterre, St. Kitts, Federation of Kitts & Nevis). Served as destination speaker and gave presentations on "A History of St. Martin," "Exploring the Bermuda Triangle," and "Ghosthunting Florida." Shown here is Hotel El Convento, where we reprised our tradition of drinking a pitcher of its great sangria.

December 4-December 11, 2016: Celebrity Silhouette, seven day, eastern Caribbean (roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale via San Juan, Puerto Rico; Philipsburg, Dutch Saint Martin; and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands). Served as destination speaker and gave presentations on "Blockade Running During the U.S. Civil War," "A History of St. Martin," "Exploring the Bermuda Triangle," and "Ghosthunting Florida."

January 14-26, 2017: Celebrity Millennium, 12 day, East Asia (Hong Kong to Shanghai, China, via Chan May, Vietnam; Manila, Philippines; Keelung, Taiwan; and Busan, South Korea). Served as destination-oriented special-interest speaker and gave presentations on "Incident in the Gulf of Tonkin," "A Maritime History of the Philippines," "Exploring the Dragon's Triangle," "Taiwan:Cradle of the Pacific," "The Pueblo Crisis," and "The Korean War at Sea." Shown here is an artistic display of Chinese lanterns at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, which we visited during a city tour excursion. 

March-April, 2017: Celebrity Constellation, 15 day, Abu Dhabi to Rome (Abdu Dhabi, UAE; Muscat, Oman; Aqaba, Jordan; transit Suez Canal; Athens/Piraeus, Greece; Katakalon, Greece; Rome, Italy). 

August-September, 2017: Viking Sky, 15 day, Viking Homelands (Stockholm, Sweden; Tallin, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia (overnight); Helsinki, Finland; Gdansk CANCELLED due to weather; Wartemunde/Berlin, Germany; Aalborg, Denmark; Copehnhagen, Denmark; Stavanger, Norway; Eidafjord, Norway; Bergen, Norway). 

April-May, 2019: Holland America Veendam, 21 day, Transatlantic (Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Azores, Portugal; Malaga, Spain; Cartegena, Spain; Civitavechia, Italy; Corfu, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; XXX Montenegro; Split, Croatia; Ravenna, Italy; Venice, Italy). 

July 4 - July 12, 2019: Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas, 9 day, Bermuda/Caribbean (Port Liberty/Bayonne, New Jersey; Royal Navy Dockyard, Bermuda; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten; Labadie, Haiti; Port Liberty/Bayonne, New Jersey). 

July 12 - July 16, 2019: Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas, 5 day, Bermuda (Port Liberty/Bayonne, New Jersey; Royal Navy Dockyard, Bermuda (two overnights); Port Liberty/Bayonne, New Jersey). 

October 27 - November 11, 2019: Celebrity Eclipse, 15 day, Hawaii Roundtrip (Los Angeles, California; Hilo, Hawaii; Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Lahaina, Mauai, Hawaii; Honolulu, Hawaii; Ensenada, Mexico; Los Angeles, California). 

Aboard Holland America 'Veendam' Day 7 (At Sea)

Woke up to the 10 a.m. announcements from cruise director Thomas Weber after a night during which I woke up several times, had trouble sleeping, and experienced weird dreams, all presumably as a result of the heavy seas we have been experiencing the past few days. Have not had sea sickness but Diane said that sometime during the night she could hear someone barfing in the bathroom of an adjacent cabin. Could hear the people who sound like backward-playing records/insects muttering to each other in the room next door and wondered if it was them. 

Diane did not sleep well either and was not moving very quickly and so I decided to just have coffee delivered to the room and to work for a little while and that we could then go to an early lunch in the main dining room (which is supposed to be open again to passengers in general today). 

Aboard Holland America 'Veendam' Day 6 (At Sea)

Woke up around 9 a.m. after a long night of weird dreams brought on at least in part, presumably, by the continuous and sometimes profound rolling of the ship (and after losing a third hour as a result of our steady movement eastward). 

Discovered to much consternation that the Fitbit charger Diane bought at Walmart just before we left was not the right one for her device, despite assurances that this was the case, thereby invalidating any walking she might do until such time as she can acquire one. Tried to find one after breakfast at the various gift shops and front desk but to not avail, ensuring unhappiness on this account for the foreseeable future. 

Went at 11 a.m. to an interesting coffee chat with cruise director Thomas and lecturer Robin Ross, who was active in British "pirate radio" in the 1960s and '70s and, in the course of his ensuing career in legitimate radio, interviewed numerous music industry artists. 

Worked in the cabin for awhile creating a product bundle for the Skirmisher Publishing section at DriveThruRPG and adding content to my neglected d-Infinity Online game magazine (my main co-contributors Chris Van Deelen and Clint Staples having disappeared from the site, almost like clockwork, as soon as I departed for this cruise). 

Main dining room once again appeared to be closed for lunch so instead went to Lido, had a somewhat uninspiring meal there, and then returned to the cabin to work for awhile. 

Lots of vibration, rolling, and general turbulence throughout the day as a result of significant chop in the ocean, and with Internet access regularly disappearing and then becoming available again sometime thereafter. 


Breakfast: Congee with chicken, beef, dried cuttlefish, and scallions. 

Lunch: Korean-ish noodles, pork with vegetables, and seafood stew (all just OK), three tuna rolls, iced tea, a baked apple, and a cone with one scoop of pretty good coconut ice cream. 

Dinner: Salad of Boston lettuce with crumbled gorgonzola cheese, rare prime rib with carrots, butternut squash, Jackson potatoes, and a bottle of red wine. 

Aboard Holland America 'Veendam' Day 5 (At Sea)

Unable to eat lunch in the main dining room and went to the Lido. 

Breakfast: 

Lunch: 

Dinner: 

Aboard Holland America 'Veendam' Day 4 (At Sea)

Lunch in the main dining room. 

Went to see the movie "On the Basis of Sex" in the theater. 

Aboard Holland America 'Veendam' Day 3 (At Sea)

Once again decided to have a nice lunch in the main dining room rather than deal with the relative chaos of the Lido. 

Movie was something on Andrea Bocelli and we decided to skip it. 


Breakfast:  Congee, coffee. 

Lunch:  Bucatini pasta with a nice four-mushroom cream sauce. 

Dinner:  

Aboard Holland America 'Veendam' Day 2 (At Sea)

Slept very well — probably about 10 hours, which felt good after the rough previous couple of days —  and got up around eight. 

Went to breakfast in the Lido buffet then went and worked for a couple of hours (released "Gebb" issue 20, announced and promoted it on Facebook and Twitter, and unfollowed 300 people who were not following me back on the latter platform). Had strong Internet connection via satellite and no issues uploading files, etc.

Had lunch in the main dining room with two other couples. 

Walked six laps/1.5 miles around the very nice level 6 promenade deck. 

Went to watch the new Aquaman movie in the Wajang Theater at 3 p.m. Had to slip past a woman in our row to get to the meager supply of popcorn when some was delivered but, by the time she ostentatiously stood up and glared at me, it had all been pillaged. Decided not to try to get past her again when more was brought in. 

Went to thermal suite in fitness center to enjoy the hot tub, steam room, and heated beds. Were chatting quietly while laying on the latter when one of the other two people in the suite, a Germanic man, staggered over to the fountain, pointed to a sign sitting on top of it and informed us that it told us that we "must be silent," and then inadvertently smacked it off its perch onto the floor. I politely informed him that because neither of us had glasses on we had been unable to read the sign but that his knocking it onto the floor had disturbed us. We then deferred to his need for lebensraum and remained strictly silent until he moved on and a significantly more chatty and nearsighted American couple arrived. Hit the dry sauna for about 10 minutes and then the steam room again before taking a shower and heading back to the cabin. 

Got cleaned up and then went to dinner, where we sat with an interesting couple from the San Francisco area (his name was Lance). She said her career had been project management for utilities and he said he had studied metallurgy at one point and we had a very enjoyable conversation that included discussion of William Manchester's Arms of Krupp and Herbert and Lou Hoover's translation of De Re Metallica. 

Returned to cabin and turned in about 9:50 p.m. and dozed until about half past midnight, then got up, fixed a Diet Coke, and worked until about 3 a.m. before turning in again. 

Breakfast: Coffee, orange juice, and "Eggs Sardou" (two poached eggs on a bed of creamed spinach and artichoke hearts and English muffin with Hollandaise sauce). 

Lunch: Salad, Buccatini pasta with creamy four-mushroom sauce, iced tea, mille fuille pastry with bananas. 

Snack: Small bag of popcorn that I grabbed on my way out the theater. 

Dinner: Starter of fried crab and daikon cakes, main course of beautiful and perfectly cooked prime rib with vegetables, bottle Australian shiraz, desert of sticky toffee and date pudding.