Map of the archipelago of the Turks and Caicos Islands. 2006 population estimates of the main islands (listed from west to east):

Caicos:
West Caicos (uninhabited since the early 1900s)
Providenciales (main urban center, with most of the population - 22,542)
North Caicos (population - 1,895)
Middle Caicos (population - 468)
East Caicos (uninhabited since the early 1900s)
South Caicos (population - 1,579)
Ambergris Cay (uninhabited up until 1997, population unknown)
Pine Cay (tourist resort, population unknown)
Parrot Cay (tourist resort, population - 100)

Turks:
Grand Turk (with the capital of the territory, population - 5,567)
Salt Cay (population 186)

The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), British West Indies (BWI), are a British Overseas Territory consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean (the Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands).

Grand Turk (our port-of-call) is the largest island of the Turks Islands (but not the Caicos). It contains the territory's capital, Cockburn Town. Grand Turk is the administrative, historic, cultural, and financial center of the country, and has the second largest population of the islands at approximately 3,720 people.

It is said (though this is disputed) that Grand Turk was the landfall island of Columbus during his discovery of the New World in 1492.

A bunch of guests dressed as some weird birds (we had a gay charter on that week - fun!) 

Rachelle and Aunt Jemima! 

Matty and I chillin' for a sec. 

Katie and I!

Halloween 2006! Clockwise from left, Rachelle, me (and my parrot), Jay, Kelsey, Brandon, and Matty.

Brandon and I. 

Another of Christina and I.

Christina and I!

Rachelle and I.

Matty and I looking real studly!

Matty, Rachelle, and I during one of our formal nights. Notice the classy formal night backdrop in the background.

Guests walking on deck during the event. 

Melissa holding up the lap number during the walk. 

Brandon and I. 

It's windy out on the deck! Jen sporting some sweet sunglasses during the 3-mile walk. 

Vikki and Haneke posing during On Deck for the Cure. 

Me with a cheesy smile during our On Deck for the Cure event, a weekly 3-mile walk on the Promanade Deck to raise money for breast cancer research. 

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that I've been offered my next contract on my next ship!! I leave the Zuiderdam on January 6th, 2007, after which I will fly home to Seattle and be off for two months. I board the ms Westerdam on March 4th, 2007, and am on that ship for four months. While on that ship, we're going to spend most of the time in the Mediterranean!! Europe is definately my 2nd home after the USA, so I am really excited to see parts of the continent that I've never been to before. My iternary is as follows...

• March 4 - March 31 : Three different Caribbean cruises : 1. Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos islands -- Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands -- Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles -- Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 2. Half Moon Cay, Bahamas -- Grand Turk -- George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands -- Costa Maya, Mexico 3. Half Moon Cay, Bahamas -- St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands -- San Juan, Puerto Rico -- Grand Turk.

Then I'm off to Rome!!

• April 1 - April 16: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas -- Grand Turk -- Funchal, Madeira, Portugal -- Casablanca, Morocco -- Cadiz (Seville), Spain -- Barcelona, Spain -- Monte Carlo, Monaco -- Rome, Italy.

We then do 20-day cruises to the eastern and western Mediterranean!

• Rome, Italy -- Dubrovnik, Croatia -- Kerkira, Corfu, Greece -- Olympia, Greece -- Santorini, Greece -- Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey -- Athens, Greece -- Messina, Sicily, Italy -- Rome, Italy -- Monte Carlo, Monaco -- Florence/Pisa, Italy -- Barcelona, Spain -- Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain -- La Goulette (Tunis & Carthage), Tunisia -- Palermo, Sicily, Italy -- Naples, Italy -- Rome, Italy.

So there it is!! Needless to say I am very excited, and very happy with my new life at sea! I'll be home in six weeks and will be catching up with all of you. In the meantime, keep logging into my blog for new photos from on-board the ship, and from my current ports-of-call. Later! -J.

Another photo from "Pool Games." 

Rachelle and I running "Pool Games" on the aft pool. 

Rachelle and I on "Tropical Night." 

The ms Zuiderdam docked in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on October 21, 2006, after travelling for twenty-one days from Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Florida is my home state and I haven't been back in over six years! We are now doing 7-day cruise runs to the Eastern Caribbean, with Ft. Lauderdale as our home (turn-around) port. Our new weekly iternary is Ft. Lauderdale -- Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies -- Road Town, Tortola Island, British Virgin Islands -- Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. Stay tuned for many more photos, as well as new updates from my new life at sea!

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Me swimming at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas with our ship in the distance. The island was originally called Little San Salvador Island, but was renamed when Holland America bought it in 1997. It is now a private island owned by the company, and one of about 700 islands that make up the archpelago of the Bahamas. Located roughly between Eleuthera and Cat Island, it is usually a one-day stop (port of call) on most Holland America Caribbean cruises.

The island is about a hundred miles southeast of Nassau. Holland America has developed only 45 acres of the 2,400 acre island, with the goal of maintaining as much habitat as possible for wildlife. The island is also a significant nesting area for waterfowl.

Activities include swimming, sunning, scuba diving, jet-skiing, and snorkeling. Deep-sea fishing, parasailing, glass-bottom boat rides, and nature walks also are available. A variety of water toys are available for rent, including Hobie catamarans, Sunfish sailboats, windsurfing sailboards and kayaks. There are also volleyball and basketball courts, horseshoes and shuffleboard, a fitness trail with exercise stations, and nature trails for hiking.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Near the resort where we ate and drank at after rafting.

One of our rafting guides showing us a breadfruit. 

Me getting ready to raft! 

In Ocho Rios, Jamaica we went rafting on the White River. Ocho Rios is a town on the northern coast of Jamaica. 

Cartagena, Colombia

The following forty or so photos were taken in Cartagena, Columbia. Start at the bottom and work your way up through the pictures and text.

Streets of Cartagena.