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

Art Deck-o

Thursday, January  29, 2026

Art Deck-o

Today we are just sailing along at sea. It’s a relaxing time. I felt lazy and didn’t go to any of the “official” daytime activities. To some extent, we made our own activities: reading, taking photos, blogging. Here are some of the featured activities today.

• On Deck for a Cause - a 5k charity walk
• A City on the Sea - a behind-the-scenes look at life aboard
• Ask the Captain - Q & A with the captain
• Game Show: The Game of Love - How well do you know your other half?
• Chocolate Surprise - I wanted to go to this, but I forgot to
• Cake Me Away! - I did go to this at lunch time. I tried two kinds of cake. Yum.
• English Afternoon Tea
• The Caribbean Up Close: Roots & Rhythm

There were lots of other activities, including arts and crafts, exercise classes, pickleball lessons, music, lectures, games, and dancing. 

Here are some photos of our room. We have a Neptune Suite. It is very comfortable, and it is hard to leave the quiet atmosphere of our room. It is an aft corner suite, so we have a wraparound balcony. There is a lot of storage space here - we haven’t even used it all. The desk where I write is in the corner by the window.

This is a small dressing room between the bedroom and the bathroom, with mirrors,
good lighting, and a lot of closets

The bathroom has a whirlpool tub and a shower

We have an illy coffee maker, a small refrigerator, a pair of good binoculars, a phone charger, and a big orange umbrella.

I have peeked into other types of rooms. The standard balcony rooms look a little larger than average, and even the inside rooms are larger than most inside rooms we have seen.

Now I am going to take you on an art tour of Deck 1. We will tour other decks later. You may recall that I described the style of this ship as “quirky Art Deco.” This ship is 23 years old. The newer HAL ships have a more modern style, but often with a little quirkiness still going on. 

Deck 1 has a number of staterooms and is also the location of the Guest Services desk. There isn’t that much art here. Some of it was too ugly to take photos of (e.g., larger-than-life clown sculptures with tiny heads). I mean, I don’t want to break my phone. OK, so I am opinionated about art.

This is in the elevator lobby. Why? I can’t even.

The Zuiderdam I, outbound from Holland in the 1940’s,
by Captain Stephen J. Card, Bermuda, 2002
(technically not on Deck 1, but in a stairwell between decks)

One of a pair of ugly neo-classical urns

This was in our room tonight:

Towel elephant

Today’s fabric is diamond piqué. Piqué is a durable, medium-weight textile created using a specialized weaving method that creates raised, textured patterns. The napkins and tablecloths in the Pinnacle Grill here onboard are made from a diamond-patterned piqué.  

Tablecloth in Pinnacle Grill