My Childhood Best Friend and I Reconnected After Nearly 30 Years Thanks to Holland America.

“We have to do George Washington hair!” I yelled to my childhood best friend. We were in the warm waters off Corsica, but for a second we might as well have been in a backyard swimming pool. We’d named the hairstyle after the first president when we were 12. Now here we were, in the Mediterranean Sea, floating below an old military fort, laughing just as hard as we did back then.

Growing up, we spent every summer together. We camped, swam, and talked about boys and what we thought our lives would look like when we got older. After high school, we went in different directions. For nearly 30 years, I didn’t see her. I thought about her often. Sometimes I’d remember something we did as kids and wish I could tell her about it, because I knew she’d remember it, too.

Last year, she joined a women’s group trip I hosted in France. I was glad to see her again, but I was running the trip and we rarely had time to ourselves. When I had the chance to sail from Rome to Barcelona aboard Holland America’s Oosterdam and realized it was  on her 50th birthday, I invited her. I was excited to go. I also wondered what would happen when we ran out of catching up to do. We’d been inseparable as kids, but a week in a cruise cabin is a lot of time to spend with someone you barely know as an adult.

We gave ourselves a few days in Rome

She’d never been to Rome. I’d been excited beforehand and was excited to show her my favorite places and restaurants. We arrived a few days before the cruise, toured the Colosseum, wandered through squares and ruins, and ate more gelato than should be legal.

One night, we went to dinner in Trastevere and came across a block party. A crowd was belting out “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” about the last song I expected to hear on a street in Rome. We knew the words, so we joined in. 

Oosterdam is perfect for a reunion

I’ve taken nearly 20 cruises, but never on Holland America. Oosterdam turned out to be the perfect ship for our reunion. Our balcony cabin was cozy enough to have intimate conversation, but roomy enough we had space to breathe.  We spent hours on our balcony reading, chatting, and scanning for flying fish and dolphins. 

The ship had wonderful entertainment options without feeling like an amusement park. We went to shows, booked massages, and made new friends too. 

We dressed up for dinner at Morimoto by Sea, where I ordered the biggest lobster I’ve ever eaten. Giggled over pasta plates at Canaletto and shared stories about our families at Pinnacle grill while feasting on Chilean Sea Bass and candied bacon hung from a “clothes line”.

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My favorite night was the one we decided to have an old-fashioned slumber party.  We started with facemasks we had purchased in Italy, watched rom-coms in our cabin and stayed up talking.  After years of distance, here we were, back to the same activities we shared together as kids.  

Four ports, four very different days

Our seven-night Holland America itinerary took us from Rome to Barcelona by way of Portofino, Ajaccio in Corsica, Marseille, and Gibraltar. The itinerary was the perfect blend of history, incredible scenery, and excitement.  

We were looking down on the Italian Riviera from a castle one day and walking through World War II tunnels inside the Rock of Gibraltar a few days later. We visited Napoleon Bonaparte’s childhood home in Ajaccio, and toured beautiful churches in Marseille.  

We wandered ancient cities, got lost in colorful alleyways, and laughed for hours when I got robbed by a Barbery Ape in Gibraltar.  

I’d take the trip again

When we opened the curtains on the last morning, we were already docked in Barcelona. We said goodbye to our room steward, hauled our bags down the gangway, and spent a few more days together in the city. 

What worked about this reunion trip was choosing a ship that was the right size and vibe for us, an itinerary that was interesting, and a shared desire to reconnect with each other and the youg girls we once here. 

At 12, we spent whole summers talking about what our lives would be like when we were older. I don’t remember what either of us imagined. I know we didn’t picture taking nearly 30 years to see each other again. A week on Oosterdam couldn’t make up for all that time, but it gave us enough of it to talk late, read beside each other, and make new memories. When I think of her now, I still picture those backyard pools. I picture Corsica, too.

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