Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Had a great time at the sail-away party from Rotterdam. Lots of music, dancing, and laughing. I heard that 100 people disembarked and 120 people embarked today. I also found out that it was easy to take the train to/from Amsterdam. If we ever pass this way again, we will attempt the train.
Hard to believe we are half-way through our voyage and heading back to Boston. I hope the next half is just amazing as the first half.
We went to the Lido for dinner. Time for a salad.
After we listened to the first set of the Ocean Bar band, we decided to go to the show: The Step One Dance Company presented Off the Charts. In the past, it has not been one of my favorites as the featured singers have been hit or miss. However, tonight was a hit. The piano player from the Ocean Bar and the Piano Bar player were the singers/piano players – singing a very nice variety of hits. The dancers were excellent.
The Ocean Bar lead singer came out to do the Whitney Houston song. She was good but the most outstanding person I ever heard do that part was the lead singer from the BB King Blues Club on the Rotterdam last December. She put goosebumps on my arms when she sang.
After the show, we played some slots. When we got back to the room, there was a card on the bed. I couldn’t help but cringe before I looked at it. But, the clocks were going BACK one hour tonight. WooHoo!
Having gotten that extra hour, I was up at 6:00 and ready for coffee. Breakfast in the Lido started this day at sea.
We were informed by a letter from Guest Services that every guest would have to have a face-to-face meeting with Ireland Customs officials this morning. At least this year, we are meeting with them the day before we arrive. In 2019, we had to meet with them the morning we arrived. Took so long to get everyone processed that some people missed or had their private tours delayed.
The letter said our deck number would be called between 9:15 and 9:45. At 9:45, we still hadn’t heard any announcement. We took our passports and walked to the 5th floor. There was a line of people and the Guest Services just let us get in line. I really hate when you’re give instructions and then they don’t follow them. Just causes inefficiency and frustration.
We finally made it to the Customs table. They stamped our passports and said have a nice day. Same as last time. Hope everyone had a hassle-free meeting. (Oh, they started calling deck numbers at 10:00.)
Spent most of the time on the balcony. The water was calm as a lake. We saw two pods of dolphins and a seal. Lots of different fishing boats and cargo ships. Later on, Chuck played some cards, and I worked on some photos.
All of a sudden, it was time for the evening activities.
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