THE SALVATION ISLANDS

The cruise itinerary lists Devil’s Island, French Guinea, as our destination, but to be accurate, we never set foot on Devil’s Island, only the nearby Royal Island with a view of Devil’s Island.

Devil’s Island is one of the three Salvation Islands (Iles du Salut) about 10 miles off the coast of French Guinea.  The three islands are Ile Royale, the largest and where we will land, Ile Saint Joseph, and Devil’s Island, which is off-limits to visitors.  The Salvation Islands were part of the French penal system and were in use from 1852 until 1953.  This is the location featured in the book and movie Papillon.

TENDERING

Our second port of the World Cruise was our first tender port.  Tender tickets are required for all guests except those in Neptune/Pinnacle Suites or the Presidents Club, who can show their key card instead of a tender ticket.  On our 2020 and 2023 World Cruises, tender tickets were distributed in two locations:  the Rolling Stone Lounge (4 and 5 stars) and Billboard Onboard  (3 stars and below).  More tickets were called from the Rolling Stone lounge, so the 4/5 stars still got priority.  On this cruise, there is only one spot for tender tickets, and 4/5 stars don’t get any priority.  Most of the tender ports on this cruise are not high-priority ports (like Easter Island), and with over 80% of the ship four stars or above, running a priority system created additional complexity for not much benefit.  We’ll see if there is any pushback that may force a return to the process of past cruises.

Open tendering was called at about 10:30 am.

We relaxed in our cabin until 2 pm, headed down to Deck A, and waited about 5 minutes for the following tender with 5 passengers.  Most passengers were already back on the ship when we went ashore.

The tender ride was about 10 minutes.

The tender pier is located behind the red star

The tenders moor to a floating platform, connected to a jetty by a gangway

EXPLORING THE ISLAND

Once ashore, we headed down the path on the east side of the island.

Holland America Refreshment tents

This is the map the ship provided in 2020, which was better than the map we received today – copy HERE.  We took the green route today.  Back in 2020, we walked the yellow route.

 If you turn left from the tender pier, you will face a choice of three different routes to the summit and the Hotel

The trails were dry, and the weather was warm but not blistering

We came across the old workshop and then the slaughterhouse before we turned inland.

Abandoned Workshop

The swimming area was about 50 yards down a path that opened onto flat rocks next to the water.  About 1/2 dozen tourists were swimming.  They jumped off the rocks into the deep water and then climbed out using the steps.

The water was warm, about 85 degrees, and over 10 feet deep

Most of the swimmers jumped in the water and then used these steps to climb out

These French tourists gave us the details on the swimming situation

Continuing on, we headed up a switchback path with some steps that led to the top of the island and the hotel.

The hotel gift shop and restaurant were closed, but we got 2 Coke ZEROS for 9 Euros.  As I pulled out my bag of euros, the front desk clerk spotted all my Euro coins, and he wanted to buy them all as he had a hard time getting change.

The desk clerk was happy to buy my Euro coins

BACK TO THE SHIP

The path back to the ship took about twenty-five minutes, but we slowed for some of the steeper stairs.  The last tender was 4 PM, and we arrived with about 5 minutes to spare.

These Terns were on a railing near the tender landing

SAIL AWAY

The Zuiderdam Grand World Voyage Band played during the sail away while the waiters passed out snacks and served drinks.

WORLD STAGE

Comedian Sid Davis was very funny and put on a wonderful show