As with tradition, the World Cruise 2026 journey begins for our Cruise Specialists guests when they start to converge on the Renaissance Hotel near Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise begins. They were welcomed by our friendly Cruise Specialists Cruise staff and given a wonderful array of gifts followed by a splendid cocktail reception and dinner. It was a great way for us to meet each other and enjoy so many smiles and hugs from old and new friends alike. This year the wonderful gifts exclusive to Cruise Specialists guests are a logo embroidered vest or fleece, a backpack or cross body bag, a hat pin, pen & water bottle. All super useful for the World Cruise ahead.
On embarkation day, we were taken by bus to the port for priority boarding. The Holland America World Cruise 2026 is taking place on the beautiful Volendam. There are 1,044 guests starting the journey from Fort Lauderdale. We will be joined by additional guests along the way during segments in Santiago, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo and San Diego. The guests on board Volendam at this time comprise of 25 different nationalities. The top five being USA (752), Canada (113), UK (36), Australia (32) and The Netherlands (15). No more than five persons from each of the remaining 20 countries.
The first day or two is always spent organizing and unpacking, finding your way around the ship, checking out what venues suit you best, and signing up for various activities. There is also a welcome cocktail party poolside prior to dinner and a host of other things to get the voyage started! Departing Fort Lauderdale into the darkness of the Atlantic is where it all begins – 133 days at sea traveling across 23 countries and 5 continents under the command of the ever-jovial Captain Rens van Eerten.
We are heading south but have three sea days before the first port so it provides a great chance to get established, enjoy the onboard daily program of events and entertainment or just relax embracing life at sea. We – that is Susie, Keith and Tom as professional hosts for Cruise Specialists, hold an exclusive Chat Time every sea day morning to meet and assist our guests. We are there to help with any questions they may have or just to enjoy a chat – we provide a lovely selection of cookies and pastries with coffee or tea too!
A Block Party is held late afternoon on one of these sea days – this is to meet your neighbors on your deck! Free drinks and snacks are served by your cabin stewards as the Captain and his officers race through every deck – Captain Rens and his team ran along this year wearing cowboy hats and shouting greetings to everyone! It is a lot of fun!
As we near South America the Oi Brazil team are on board offering a variety of extra activities from crafts to Latin American aerobics and learning Portuguese! They even put on a high energy performance of dance, music, and Capoeira for everyone in the World Stage.
Port 1 - Bridgetown Barbados. A lush green island with a rich history of sugar cane. The plantations are still marked by the remains of beautiful old windmills. Only one on this 20-mile-long island is in full working order. Now the islanders grow mangoes, bananas, almonds, breadfruit among other produce and are widely known for their rum production. A unique thing that I had never seen before – every bus shelter has solar panels and supports a charging station for cell phones! How resourceful!
We had an exclusive 7-hour Cruise Specialists tour in Barbados. We were treated to a fabulous circular scenic tour of most of the island with a local guide and visited Speightstown, Bathsheba, Andromeda Gardens, had lunch at the Atlantis Hotel, and Rum tasting at the historic Sunbury Plantation House. It was a joy to feel that we had really started the cruise and to step foot in our first port – with both beautiful sunshine and a warm welcome. As I heard one guest say – “This is the Life!”
Back at sea for another day of activities – lectures, trivia, pickleball, tech for travelers, watercolor, craft classes, Mahjong, bridge, cooking shows, movies, afternoon tea, ballroom dancing, shows, talks and more. Never a dull moment on a cruise ship – unless you chose to have one and luxuriate in the gentle rocking of the ship at the many relaxing areas.
Port 2 - Devils Island (where 80,000 men were once incarcerated) Sadly there was a problem with the sanitation on the island so we couldn’t go in. The captain took us within 2 miles for everyone to take pictures but then we had to sail on past. The island has a sad history but is now a peaceful setting with just one small hotel, and pretty monkeys roam freely among the ruins. Fortunately, we visited before, so we watched the movie ‘Papillion’ (about one famous prisoner) that night instead.
There is a wide selection of movies to watch at leisure in your stateroom and many are destination related. There is also a different daily movie shown in the afternoon and evening in the Wajang theater – here you can enjoy a full movie theater experience, complete with complimentary popcorn! As commiseration for missing the port – Erin, the Cruise Director announced free drinks for an hour the next day – another very sociable event! Cheers Captain!
Following on into Brazilian waters there are a few extra rules – one being that all the crew in food departments must wear hair nets. On the girls you can barely notice, but the men are not so keen as you can imagine! The other thing is that all the shops must charge 25% more for goods sold. So, no-one is presently buying anything and the shop people are looking bored!
No time to be bored though as we crossed the equator and King Neptune graced the ship with his presence poolside. Total shenanigans ensued as foam lathered Pollywogs were ordered to kiss the fish and jump in the pool. We all got a certificate later to stick in our travel journal.
Port 3 – Icoaraci, Brazil. This is the port for Belém. To visit this city, we needed a 20 min ride on a local tender, then a 45 min shuttle bus into Belém. The city was as hot and busy as we had expected. The sidewalks were treacherous with deep gutters and holes everywhere. But the hundreds of tarpaulin covered colorful street stalls were eye catching & selling everything from umbrellas to sunglasses and phone accessories to bras! There was a mall of air-conditioned restaurants near the shuttle stop, so people with mobility issues could happily while away an hour or two there before heading back for the bus ride and tender.
My favorite event - The Fun Fair - took place on Volendam that night. It comprises of good old-fashioned games like knocking down piles of cans, spin the wheel, hook a duck, mini golf, hoop a bottle and more! If you win, you get a ticket to put in a barrel and in turn, they have intermittent draws for prizes – which can be anything from a free drink to a meal at The Pinnacle. We won loads of tickets but no prizes, it’s still my favorite event! There are also cotton candy, popcorn, doughnut stalls, live music and definitely all the fun of a fair!
Two days at sea ensued heading further south and people are definitely getting into the swing of life at sea. The daily program is printed and delivered to your stateroom every evening and the full 133-day program can be found on the Navigator app. You don’t even need the Internet package to access this wonderful app. You can message other guests, see the whole daily program for every day for the full cruise, book tours, have your tickets there ready to scan on the day of your excursion, see your statement and a whole host of other items. Nowadays you can even pass on messages of thanks and praise to crew on there too. I regularly do this as each individual is given extra break time for praises attributed to them. They are all indeed worthy of an extra few minutes and they get to see your messages almost immediately.
The first formal night was held, along with a Captains Ball. Whilst it is not mandatory to wear formal attire, many do and it is always nice to see the glamorous ladies and handsome men make an effort to grace the elegant surroundings that we dine in. Formal night also brings with it the excitement of Holland America gifts. The 2026 World Cruise gifts given to each person are; a rain poncho, a travel mug, a crossbody bag, a power bank, a card wallet, a pashmina size scarf and two tiny ducks. These gifts used to be given throughout the cruise but are now given on the first formal night so that you can use them throughout the cruise. Great idea – but I haven’t needed the poncho yet!
Port 4 – Recife, Brazil. This is a port where you are not allowed to walk inside the port area, so a complimentary shuttle bus is always provided in these circumstances. From outside the gate was another complimentary shuttle to take guests who were not on tours to the Cultural Center. This used to be a prison with 4 wings. It now houses a multitude of colorful shops in the old cells selling handicrafts and souvenirs. As an added bonus there are also plenty of clean washrooms there too! Unfortunately, the police were nearby advising us that going further into the town was dangerous at this time due to a protest about current news regarding Venezuela so we were advised to stay close to the cultural center. Good advice that many people abided by. The Cultural Center had plenty of things to look at in perfect safety for all mobilities.
Back on board – today’s highlight is the Ice Cream Social. Loads of flavors with a multitude of toppings – another immensely popular event! As a point of note here, the complimentary ice cream counter in the Lido is open most of the afternoon and evening every day with a different selection of ice creams, cones and toppings. The soft scoop is great for creating milkshakes too!
Port 5 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A climax of this section of the cruise is the visit to Rio. We sailed in slowly to get magnificent views of Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain, followed by the colonial buildings and the new magnificently sculptured museum.
We later met up with our eager Cruise Specialists guests for a fun excursion – first a drive through the city and out to Copacabana Beach for a photo stop. We saw them dismantling the huge tents that were installed for New Years eve celebrations, it was Lady Gaga this year and millions of people were there. They even build a bridge from the nearby hotel so that the artists can walk straight out onto the stage! There are water pipes running down the beach so that you can access the sea without burning your feet! We all loved that idea, but there was no time for swimming on this tour. Oh, and it is floodlit at night so that people can enjoy the beach when its cooler!
We then drove past The Avenue which is the main arena for the World-famous Rio de Janeiro carnivals. Started in 1932 – the summer schools prepare for the next one as soon as the previous one ends. We visited the Grande Rio workshops – a huge building where floats and costumes are created. We were entertained by video showing carnivals of the past, walked through areas to see costumes of the past – AND THEN … we were taken to a rook of costumes for us to try on! Such a wonderful experience. Then dancers joined us and performed for us. I took soooo many photos! It was wonderful to see so many happy faces!
We were even treated to the national cocktail of Brazil ‘Caipirinha’ and a soft drink Guarana.
This concludes our first two weeks on The World Cruise aboard Volendam, more soon!
Affectionately,
Tom, Susie and Keith, Cruise Specialists Voyage Hosts
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