EARLY REPORT - 1ST 2 DAYS AT SEA!

OUR "OFFICIAL" DEPARTURE PHOTO!

DEPARTURE DAY: JANUARY 6TH
     Departure day (January 6th) started off well ... I got to sleep in! After Tues. night, sleeping only 3 hours (early hair appointment), followed by a sleepless Wed. before our 6:30 am flight out, we got to Ft. Lauderdale and finally got to sleep at the hotel the night of Thurs., Jan. 5th.
     Friday began with a (van) cab ride to Costco, where I bought 5 cases of water, 8 cases of Pepsi, 3 cases of Dr. Pepper, 3 cases of Mtn. Dew, 15 cartons of cigarettes, and a “Costco-sized” supply of Bic lighters – all to avoid the (up to) 700% mark-up on these items by Holland America Line ("HAL”)! Our “supplies” drew attention from dock and HAL workers alike. They seemed quite fascinated by my stacks of “stuff”. Recall, we shipped 16 bags and boxes on December 27th. Now, we had 8 more (mostly smaller) ones PLUS all these supplies! Dock workers were there to deliver our remaining items to the room, but they said not to leave anything we didn’t want stolen (e.g., cash, jewelry, laptops, camera). (Hem - why would they hire people they can’t trust not to steal our belongings?) This meant we had to haul most of our 8 remaining bags onto the ship ourselves. Thank goodness, we encountered a friendly HAL worker who helped bring them up to our cabin. This young man even turned out to be our waiter! He’s always smiling, and I liked him instantly. Check-in went smoothly, as we arrived after the crowd. (What a relief - no “Carnival Chaos”.)

 

     We got to our “suite” - at the far end of the ship’s rear. The entryway is so narrow that claustrophobia would naturally set in, were one to stop there. I can now safely confirm, I DO have a jetted tub! Hooray for that! Next comes the bed, then the sofa and small TV/dresser and then the verandah/balcony. I already knew my wish for a larger suite would not come true, so we started unpacking. Our room - which cost more than $66K - is smaller than your typical hotel room. Yet, I found lots of shelves, drawers and some closet space to put stuff. This process continued all evening, with a break for our first dinner in the main dining room – which is beautiful. Staff seemed to have amazing empathy for the stress of this unpacking process and somehow knew to only deliver one or two bags at a time, to give us a chance to manage them. Our room stewards were quite friendly. Amazingly, we managed to fit everything, although our clothes are sandwiched tightly in the closet. FedEx must have turned our wardrobe boxes on end, because most of the hung up items were no longer hung up, and many were a wrinkled mess. But no fret - we bought unlimited laundry and pressing.

     In the late evening, Bill and I took a brief walk around the ship. Unlike my two prior cruises, there were no parties or crowds of people anywhere. Everything seemed to be shut down. We stopped in at the Casino, where I quickly lost $120, playing the same 5 cent game while never getting a bonus or a decent pay-back. (I’m told, they took out their craps table, because it wasn’t a “winner” for HAL. Hem.)
     After all this, Bill decided he wanted to sleep on the verandah in a sleeping bag. I sat up, combing through the mounds of paperwork sent to our room about shore excursions, spa treatments, phone and internet usage, etc. I finally got to sleep by about 3:30 a.m.

FIRST SEA DAY: JANUARY 7TH
     Today, we visited various HAL representatives with questions and problems with pre-paid items, shore excursions, dinner reservations at Pinnacle Grill, etc. I had my 1st two spa visits: an “Ionithermie Algae Detox” (electrical stimulation, using algae, to detox and reduce cellulite) and a pedicure. Now, I have cute toenails! (It’s the little things.)
     Bill had a “moment”, when he was told he couldn’t watch the NFL playoffs (he was loudly requesting the first helicopter ride off the ship).  A HAL official in a fancy uniform seemed quite miffed by the display and barked out about how this wasn’t an American-based cruise line (i.e., we shouldn't expect to see ABC, NBC, CBS or other "American" stations).  I told Bill to “ask someone else”, and the man now refrained sarcastically in response that, "right, I don't know what I'm talking about".  Maybe he was the Captain and "knew everything", who knows.  I reminded Bill about what one friend said:  only we ourselves could ruin this trip.  He calmed down.  And, it turned out, his game WAS televised (on ESPN) - so that HAL official was wrong, after all ... .

     We also met Erika and her mom, Lynn, and Bradley and his wife, with whom I’ve been corresponding the last several months. It was really great to finally meet these people in person! My new friends ...

P.S. - It took me 2 hours  to upload this page and photos.  That's how slow the internet service is onboard, and we're in the Internet Cafe.  So enjoy whatever I manage to send!  I'll soon tire of this ...