Art for Sail

Monday, February 2, 2026

It’s another day at sea. The weather is better, but not what I would call “nice” weather. It’s still cool and a bit bumpy.

Seems like a perfect day for an art tour on Deck 3. Here you will find the upper entrance to the theater, the library, some classrooms/meeting rooms, jewelry store, shops, the OceanBar, the photo gallery, and the upper level of the Main Dining Room. There are no cabins on this level.

It is a tradition for a port to give a ship a plaque the first time the ship visits that port. Some of the plaques are quite lovely. Between Deck 2 and Deck 3 there is a small staircase where many of the Zuiderdam’s port plaques can be seen.

In a dimly lit passageway nearby we discovered a half dozen interesting little “viewboxes.” They are shadowboxes, recessed into the wall, about the size of a book, perhaps. Each box contains a tiny three-dimensional display. Each one is illuminated with a light that slowly changes color. They are very difficult to photograph. We found that an iPhone does a better job photographing dark tiny things than a digital camera. If you are viewing this on a phone, you may not be able to see the details of these pieces.

The viewboxes are by Volker Kühn, Germany, 2001.

Heavenly Joy

The Dealer

Way to the Stars

Off We Go
(Tiny man on actual size champagne cork)

Auf dem Richtigen Weg (On the Right Path)

Music in the Air

A painting of our ship! (A painting of the Zuiderdam I, by the same artist, is Here.)

The Zuiderdam II, Cruising the Carribbean 2002
By Captain Stephen J. Card, Bermuda 2002

This large Waterford crystal seahorse hangs in the atrium. I think it’s kind of ugly, but a lot of people think it is special.

“Sailing Vessels at Sunset,” by Jacob Willem Gruyter, The Netherlands, 1887. Sorry, little out of focus, but it’s such a beautiful scene, really wanted to share it.

One more nautical painting from Deck 3. No plaque. I would like to know what is happening in this scene.

A beautiful arrangement of fresh flowers.

“The Robe,” a cast bronze patinated sculpture, by Sean Rice, England, 20th Century.

Most of the elevators on most of the decks have these vibrant Art Deco doors.

“De Vecht,” copy of a weathervane on top of a home at the River Vecht, The Netherlands, by Willem Jonkers, The Netherlands, 2001.

Ken had a drink called a “Smokey Old Fashioned.” It smelled like a campfire. I don’t know how this was done. Here is a video, 21 seconds. Once again, I don’t know if everybody will be able to view the video. Let me know if you can view it. I will try to address this when I get home. I think the internet here will not support the use of a video.

Today’s fabric is “Not Quite Rembrandt, by edsel2084 for Spoonflower. 

I Spy Art

Sunday, February 1, 2026

Today is a sea day. The low temperatures in southern Florida are breaking records. We are still close enough to Florida to be feeling the cold temperatures and the choppy water.

We are going to go on a tour of the art on Deck 2 today. Deck 2 is where you will find the Main Dining Room and the Pinnacle Grill, a specialty restaurant. Also located on Deck 2 are the theater, the casino, several bars, and the Explorer’s Lounge, which is used for lectures, classical concerts, and daytime reading. There are two dedicated music venues on this deck: Billboard Onboard, with a resident pianist who plays popular music and sings, and the Rolling Stone Lounge, with a resident rock band and space for dancing. You will also find a Cariloha shop and a photo portrait studio here. There are no cabins on this level.

The photographers don’t seem very busy on this segment, but they always have some kind of backdrop set up to tempt you into posing for a photo. I have developed a robust immunity to this attempt to get my money. However, I would consider getting a professional photo taken for a milestone event such as an anniversary or big birthday.

The photographers also have a new gimmick, which is a little creepy, IMO. You can get a photo of your iris. They blow it up to about 2 feet square and print out a color image suitable for framing. Everyone’s iris is different, like a fingerprint, and iris scanning can be used as a form of ID, but it is not something I would hang in my living room.

About the art on Deck 2: I did not include all of it. In general, I did not include things I didn’t like at least a little bit, and I did not include most of the pieces that lacked a plaque with information about the piece. Sometimes I did include something I didn’t like because I wanted to share how ridiculous or awful it was. Sometimes the location of a piece made it difficult to photograph due to reflections, glare, or location. Think of this as “highlights” rather than a full catalogue.

These two still lifes came from germany and were painted in the 18th century. There is something about the plump, shiny fruit that seems much quite modern and makes me wish I could have some grapes.

This floor-to-ceiling painting of Venice seems an especially appropriate format to properly showcase the grand scale and the drama of Venice. By Fred Arends, The Netherlands, 2001.

“Venetian Doge,”  bronze by Lebigre & Roger, Italy 2001

If I had a nightmare about Carnaval in Venice, this might be part of it. These life-size figures are over the top and sort of disturbing. (Apologies for the reflections.) Carnaval characters by Daniel Ogier, France 2001

This one is a man with a really long neck. A boat is worn on his neck like a collar.

These two have mermaid tails

This looks like a veiled, masked, one-legged woman

Glass objects, single and double Graal technique, by Peter Bremers, the Netherlands, 2002

Fresh flowers mixed with dried branches

Painting of B.B. King

Model of a large American Paddle Wheel Boat, by Sheet Metal Workers, Int., United States, circa 1865

Unlabelled print, possibly a young Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Beatrix on her wedding day, 1966

I found the wedding photo of Beatrix on Wikipedia. I think it proves that the print is a representation of Beatrix. 

Beatrix of the Netherlands, was born in 1938. She reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was about 75 when she abdicated, saying “It is time to place the responsibility for the country in the hands of a new generation.”

Finally, we visited the Gallery Bar, for the first time, during our Deck 2 art tour. It was tucked away behind the casino, and we had never seen it. The pictures below show only a portion of the art displayed there. None of it is labeled. It is quite a hodge podge of different styles, but it makes the bar very interesting and entertaining.

My favorite picture from the Gallery Bar

In the evening we saw the dance show called “Move.” We also saw it last week, but enjoyed it enough to see it again. This time  I noticed different things You can’t watch all six of the dancers all of the time. This time I tried to focus on the facial expressions of one of the female dancers. She was very expressive and very funny. How can you do that and also perform all the dance steps?

Today’s fabric is eyelet lace. Usually cotton, eyelet lace can be found as a fabric or a trim. It features stitched-edge holes, known as eyelets. It is valued for its breathability and its vintage and feminine aesthetic.

Photo from lacejamila for Etsy

Turnover

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Zuiderdam arrived in Miami at dawn.

7:00 a.m.

7:00 a.m.

7:01 a.m.

7:01 a.m.

7:05 a.m.

Today is called Turnaround Day. About 90% of the passengers on Zuiderdam will be disembarking this morning. That’s just a guess. I don’t know the exact number. Their replacements will begin arriving two or three hours later in a carefully choreographed water ballet. By 4:00 pm, ships will begin to sail away from Miami and nearby Fort Lauderdale.

We are staying onboard for the next cruise segment. We could get off for a few hours, but we decided not to for two reasons. First, the port traffic is so chaotic. We didn’t know how hard it would be to get a taxi or Uber into central Miami. There will be about eight ships turning around today at the port of Miami, so we would have to compete with the departing passengers and the new arrivals to get from and to the ship. It didn’t seem worth it to spend two hours sitting in a taxi in order to spend two or three hours on shore. The second reason is the weather. Much of Florida is experiencing an unprecedented cold spell. It was in the 40’s this morning and may not reach 60° by afternoon. It’s windy. It just won’t be very enjoyable walking around outside.

We will have a couple of hours between the time when the last passengers leave and the first crop of new passengers boards. The ship will be extremely quiet and nearly deserted during that interlude. Yes!

After a relaxing morning we decided to visit the library to see if any new books had become available. on the way back we discovered a bar we hadn’t really noticed earlier. The bar wasn’t open, but we chatted a bit with the bartender and perused the menu. The bartender said he would make us a drink if we wanted something. We thought it would be fun to try the Pirate Punch:

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

We drank about 25% of it and got the rest “to go.” It lasted all day.

When it was time to sail, the Captain announced that the weather would be unpleasant. Once we are 20 miles out, we will hit rough seas and wind. He called it a “bomb cyclone.” The forecast calls for this weather to stay with us for the next two days, or longer. The Captain was right. It was quite chilly in the evening, and became very bumpy as soon as we moved away from the coast.

The ship seemed more crowded tonight at dinner. Maybe we didn’t sail at capacity last week. I think there may have been people on last week’s voyage who planned to arrive on Saturday and were prevented from doing so. Many flights were cancelled last weekend due to snow storms. These passengers were notified that they could join the ship at Amber Cove if they couldn’t get to Miami in time for last Saturday's departure. That would have been nearly halfway through the 7-day cruise. I suspect a lot of these passengers decided it wan’t worth it to spend their own money to get to the Dominican Republic to meet the ship for what was left of the cruse. This scenario illustrates why we always arrive at the city of embarkation at least two days early.

We left Miami in a spooky fog around 4:45 p.m. The ginormous Icon of the Seas was right behind us.

Icon of the Seas is in the center of this photo, taken from our aft-facing balcony

I forgot to mention that the show last night (January 30) was very good. It was called “Hey, Mr. DJ” and featured the ship’s resident singers and dancers. 

Today’s fabric is Cruise Ship Forward Facing Grid with Seabirds and Waves by sueshormanart for Spoonflower.