Phil
and I arrived at the Black Falcon Terminal on the South Boston Waterfront about
11:45 am.
The
boarding process was well organized -- we were on the ms Veendam in our room
within an hour. Our first task was to
rearrange our dining reservations. We
were scheduled for open seating but were able to change to a nice table for two
on the upper level at the 8:00 pm second seating. As Patte and Dave can attest from previous
cruises -- experience has told us -- get
a fixed reservation.
There
are three options for dining: fixed at 5:30 pm or 8:00 pm or open seating which
sounds good at first blush but can mean a wait for up to 45 minutes. I think Holland America is trying to do too
much by offering fixed and open seating.
Anyway -- that is their problem -- we are all set for the next 35 days.
Lunch
we had in the Rotterdam Dining Room and then toured the ship
which is set up about the same as other Holland America ships of this
size (1350 passengers) with which we are familiar.
By
2:30 pm we are back in our room unpacking our luggage -- at 3:15 pm the
mandatory lifeboat drill occurs and by 4:50 pm the engines have started and we start
moving out of Boston Harbor in the direction of the Arctic Circle -- the
official name of this cruise is "Voyage of the Vikings".
We
went to Mass at 5;00 pm -- the priest is a hoot. He is a retired Army Chaplain from Cape
Canaveral, FL.
By
6:30 pm we are having dinner in the Pinnacle Grill (the on-board steak house)
which was excellent -- both food and service.
Most likely because there were just 14 reservations for the entire evening.
After
dinner I walked on Deck Six -- a covered 1/4 mile track around the perimeter of
the ship. It is flat, fun and what a
view! I completed one mile.
We
are in bed by 10:00 pm and looking forward to sleeping on a ship.
Thanks
for reading!
Pat
I love this portrait of you two. It's one of the best I've seen.
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