Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Day Two - at Sea on the ms Veendam Sunday - 13 July 2014:


After a good rest overnight,  -- I am on Deck six by 6:00 am for two miles --- then to the 7:00 am stretch class.  By 7:45 Phil and I are having breakfast in the Lido Restaurant.

At 9:00 am --  "Good Morning Veendam" with Bruce, our Cruise Director is taped.  This half hour show consists of interviews with staff and chit chat with the audience -- it was cute.  From now on I might watch it on TV.

At 10:00 am -- we both attend a session reviewing the excursions available in the upcoming ports in Newfoundland, Labrador and Greenland.  It was informative but we are going to tour these ports on our own.

At 11:00 am -- Phil goes to parts unknown and I stay for the lecture on Boston -- specifically the "Tea Party" and its role in the American Revolution.   Everything was going fine until the lecturer got to the Battle of Bunker Hill.  He kept saying "Charleston" instead of "Charlestown" -- now for Bostonians that is a big deal and as a historian he should have known the difference.   I almost went up to him after the lecture but decided to let it go -- I'm already in "cruise mode".  However another Bostonian in the audience did go up to him pointing out, in a nice way, his error.   He didn't think it was such a big deal and blamed it on his "texas accent".  I'll think twice before going to one his lectures again.

After lunch I went back to my room to read and fell asleep for two hours - must be the rocking of the ship.

The evening activities included the Captain's Welcome Cocktail Party with complimentary champagne,  wine and soft drinks.  The Captain introduces his  direct reports.   We had our first dinner at Table 73 in the Rotterdam Dining Room.   Our waiters are excellent --- the plus about eating later then we are used to is the more relaxed  atmosphere.

After dinner we wandered around the ship stopping in to several of the venues for a minute or two before heading back to the room exhausted from doing nothing all day.  We were in bed by 10:00 pm.

Thanks for Reading.

Pat

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