Saturday, September 16, 2023
So, we both went to sleep very quickly. I woke up about 6:00 p.m. I was surprised I wasn’t hungry. We could have ordered room service, but I guess I was still full from lunch. Chuck was still sleeping. I removed all the airline tags and tagged the bags with the ship tags. Was also glad I remembered my European adapter so I could charge my electronics.
I read until 10:00 and then went back to sleep. Woke up fifteen minutes before the alarm. Chuck was already awake. I didn’t toss and turn too much during the night, so I was grateful. Watched our ship, the Rotterdam, slowly make its way to the berth next to the hotel. Our home for the next 36 days.
We put three of our bags outside of our door to be picked up and delivered to our stateroom. We kept one rolling bag and our backpacks to bring on ourselves.
We went to the breakfast buffet that was included in the price of the hotel. I was fascinated by the huge honey comb that just oozed honey out of it. You could scoop it out and use it on the different breads or yogurt they had. They had all sorts of food offerings. The cold European selections – sliced meats and cheeses and the hot American selections – eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. Chuck got two eggs made-to-order, sausage, fruit, and a pastry. I got fruit, bacon and a piece of the thick dark brown bread that I discovered and loved the last time we were in Amsterdam.
The coffee machines gave you several choices. Chuck had the espresso, and I had a latte. You had to press the button twice to get a full mug. I also had a glass of blueberry juice which I had never had before. It was very good.
At 9:30, went to the HAL hospitality desk to verify with them about the number of bags that had been picked up to be delivered. I was glad that our numbers matched. The representative said we could walk to the terminal any time after 10:30. Our paperwork said our check-in time with the ship was 11:50 and boarding would be around noon. We decided to stay in our room until 11:30 as the chairs in the terminal lobby are usually uncomfortable so why sit there for an hour and a half when we could stay in a very pleasant room.
We checked out at 11:30 and walked over to the terminal. We quickly made it to the passport scanner station where we hit a snag. Chuck’s passport would not scan. Had to go to the main desk area. Turned out that his security photo was attached to my information and vice versa. Also his passport number did not match their records. First time those problems have ever surfaced. The attendant called a supervisor who was able to enter the correct information and we got our photos taken. After that, we never stopped walking until we reached our state room. Very easy.
We listened to the safety video that was playing on the TV as we unpacked our backpacks and my carry-on. After that requirement was finished, we went to our Muster Station to check-in and then to the main dining room for lunch.
We sat at a table with a couple from Florida and a couple from California. Pleasant company and a delicious lunch. Just be aware that if you order all appetizers, they will bring them all at once instead of spacing them out or bringing some of them for the main course unless you specifically tell them to do so. I didn’t order any appetizers, but one person had ordered several. I had the Cobb salad and Chuck had the Arctic Char (similar to salmon).
We went back to the room and the other three pieces of luggage had arrived. I told Chuck I could get the suitcases unpacked and would meet him at the Mariner’s reception at 3:00.
It was a nice reception. We were greeted by some ship officers and were offered wine, champagne, mimosas or orange juice. Also brought some hot appetizers. I ate one bitterballen.
Afterwards, we went back to the room to finish the unpacking and storage of the empty luggage. We met our room stewards – Anang & Pram. Pram looked familiar and I realized he was one of our stewards on our March cruise.
We went to the sail-away party on the Sea View deck. The DJ got us all up and dancing.
We went to the Lido for dinner and we each got the steak dinner. I added an order of mussels with mine.
We then spent time in the Rock and Roll Lounge and the BB King Lounge. We were happy to see several BB King band members who performed when we were on the South Pacific cruise and the Antarctica cruise. Found out that they would be staying on the Rotterdam until it arrived in Fort Lauderdale. Knew we would be in for some great music.
Travel Trivia
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
It is true that there are more bikes in Amsterdam than inhabitants. There are roughly 900,000 bikes. This is much more compared to 800,000 (a bit more) people, who live in Amsterdam.
Since 2014, there are around 185 Coffeeshops in Amsterdam, stretched out over the whole city. Coffeeshop is the name of their cannabis shops.
There are around 165 canals in Amsterdam, which are almost as many as in Venice with 177 canals.
One main attraction of Amsterdam is their houseboats. More than 3000 houseboats in Amsterdam and stretch out over their canals.
Amsterdam is a city which is built on poles. It is built on eleven million poles. The city is three feet or so below sea-level. The train station of Amsterdam Centraal alone needs 9000 poles to be supported whereas a normal house needs about ten. These wooden poles of 45 – 60 feet are placed in a sandy layer which is around 33 meters deep.
If a person dies in Amsterdam but doesn’t have any family, friends or acquaintances, then a poet will write a poem and recite it at the funeral.
The Red-Light District is well known for its red lights, however, there are also blue lights. When the lights are blue, there is a transgender woman in the room.
There is a cat boat in Amsterdam. Visit the Poezenboot. It’s an animal shelter where they have more than fifty cats.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the only airport in the world that has a museum. It is located behind passport control and the entry is free.
You can find swarms of parakeets in the Vondelpark. More than 4000 parakeets can be found here. They are not native to The Netherlands but were brought here as pets. A few escaped and decided that they liked Amsterdam.
*Trivia provided by Wikipedia
