Amsterdam, Netherlands & Embarkation

Tuesday, 12 Jun 2018 & Wednesday, 13 Jun 2018 – We just embarked on our very first Holland America Cruise!  Although we had heard a lot about Holland America cruise line and had wanted to try them out, this is the first cruise that we found that peaked out interest and fit into our busy schedule.  Sally was mainly the one interested in this cruise.  Since we had heard that Holland America ships are full of old people and include ballroom dancing areas, we knew we should fit right in.

This time, Jesse had a hard time finding time to pack because he was busy organizing a church function that took place Monday night, along with many home maintenance projects and the usual yard work.  After staying up late Monday night and setting an early alarm, he managed to finish packing just in time and so far, we haven’t done too badly.  After driving only a short distance from home, we remembered our cell phone and returned home to get it.  Lucky! 

Our flight left Peoria, IL at 1:50 PM, Tuesday, 12 Jun 2018.  Our connecting flight to Chicago was on a small United Airlines plane, in which steam came up from the floor, at least in the rear of the plane where we were seated.  Across the aisle and forward one row, water dripped from the ceiling, causing an alarm to blast repeatedly for a few minutes until it was turned off – but the water continued to drip slowly.  There had also been at least problem with seat assignments, with two people assigned to one seat, but that was resolved before takeoff.  We had suspected that the computer was down in Peoria because our gate was posted incorrectly on the departure list and was never corrected.  Also, they did not scan our boarding passes; instead, they put check marks next to our names on a paper list.

On our United Airlines flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, we sat on the last row in the middle section but with access to an aisle.  Seated next to Sally was a young lady (29 years old) from Monterey, Mexico but with fluency in English.  She owns her own business (lighting design) but was on vacation, visiting friends and family in Belgium and France.  [So much for the perception that some Americans have that Mexicans are all a lowly bunch crossing our border in order to commit all kinds of crimes!]  Jesse attempted to watch the movie “Black Panther,” but dozed through most of it.  Sally tried unsuccessfully to sleep.

At about 8:45 AM, Wednesday, 13 Jun 2018 we arrived in Amsterdam.  With the time change, we lost 7 hours, which we’ll get back on our return trip.

Hotel Mozart, Amsterdam, Netherlands

We arrived by taxi at the Mozart Hotel, with a [typical] narrow frontage along the outermost canal encircling the inner city.  The time was about 10:30 AM, but we sat in the lobby, using one of our laptops, until 1:00 when we were allowed access to our room.  Time went quickly.  Then, after napping most of the afternoon, we walked about 10 minutes to a McDonalds and a gelato shop.  There was also a Starbucks nearby, which we skipped – free cappuccino was available at our hotel!  Also, we stopped at a drug store and purchased toothpaste (on sale for only 1 euro).  Usually, we both bring toothpaste, but this time we had both forgotten.  Lucky again!

This was our first night in Amsterdam, where we would stay three nights until Saturday, 16 Jun 2018, when we would board our Holland America cruise ship.  Meanwhile, we would spend some time sightseeing.

Thursday, 14 Jun 2018 – During our first night in Europe, Jesse stayed up late and Sally had trouble sleeping.  However, we slept well from about 6:30 to 11:00 AM., straight through breakfast.  We found a couple of granola bars in our luggage, leftover popcorn from the Chicago Airport, and free fruit and cappuccino from the hotel lobby (available all day).  We then lounged around the hotel until about 4:00 PM.

Local Park

Anne Frank's House

Just as we were leaving the hotel, it started raining, at first just a light sprinkle.  But we donned our windbreakers and walked towards Anne Frank’s house, which was quite a distance, especially in the rain, which came down much harder most of the time.  Although there is a museum there, tickets need to be purchased online about two months in advance in order to enter.  Anyway, we took photos of the outside of the house and headed back. 

After looking over menus at several restaurants, we decided to return to McDonalds and the gelato shop!  This McDonalds had an excellent salad with very-green greens, along with crispy chicken.

Sally Resting from Long Walk

Sex Shop Near Red Light District

Friday, 15 Jun 2018 – Jesse awoke at about 8:30 AM; Sally had already been awake since 5:00 AM; and this time we made it to the hotel breakfast.  After our previous visit to Amsterdam, people often asked us if we had visited the Red Light District.  Therefore, early this afternoon we started our long walk there.  Although we had copied directions from a map program on our laptop, soon we had trouble following them due to a lack of clear street signs.  Eventually, we arrived in that area, very tired, though Sally definitely worse for having been attacked by some tree allergens.  (Her spring allergy had been light and over with in Iowa, but apparently about 3 weeks later – and very intense – in Amsterdam!)

Although Jesse found the Red Light District interesting, Sally felt uncomfortable and we stayed only a few minutes.  However, we were there long enough to see about five scantily-clad women in the windows.  Except for one, they were Caucasian and in their late 30s or early 40s.  There was one black woman that appeared to be in her mid- to late 50s.  Jesse smiled at them, but none of them smiled back, and only the black woman made eye contact.  (Later, when we shared this information with a taxi driver, he said that the women who work in the district are oppressed, and none of them really want to be there.)  Somehow, Jesse had thought prostitution might be different in this Red Light District than it is in the U.S., since it is legal here.  We also passed several “souvenir” shops that sold various “adult” toys, etc.  Following the map on our return trip, we took a more direct route and arrived back at our hotel in less time than it had taken to get there.

We had arranged to meet Jesse’s college girl friend, Barbara, for dinner.  Therefore, after cleaning up and resting a bit, we set out to find her apartment.  Again, the directions that we copied from the map computer program did not work very well.  Finally, one of the locals pointed us in the right direction, so that the estimated 13 minute walk took us 30 minutes!

Fiko Italian Restaurant, Amsterdam

Barbara had invited us up to see her place, originally for wine.  However, since we were going to be late for our restaurant reservation, Barbara called Uber for a ride there.  At about 7:20 PM we arrived at the Fiko Italian Restaurant for our 7:15 PM reservation but, luckily, they were still holding our table.  After dinner, Barbara tried giving us directions back to our hotel, but ended up walking us all the way back.  It was after 11:00 PM by then, but she said she would be fine walking back to her apartment because Amsterdam is a very safe city.  (In what American city could we say that?)  At any rate, Jesse and Barbara had a great time catching up, and Sally enjoyed meeting Barbara.

Saturday, 16 Jun 2018 – We awoke to our alarm clock at 8:30 AM, ate breakfast at the hotel, and packed up our suitcases.  Checkout time was 12:00 noon, and we were at the desk at 11:50.  A taxi was called for us, and we arrived at the cruise terminal by about 12:25 PM.  Although ship boarding was supposed to begin at 1:00 PM and we had expected a long line, we stood no longer than about two minutes and were in our cabin before 1:00 PM.  Already, this cruise was unique!

Although we have stayed in numerous cruise cabins by now, this Holland America cabin is much different from others in several ways:  (1) The cabin doorway is not flush with the main hall, but is entered from a short hall extending in from the main hall (and is opposite the next-door cabin doorway).  Therefore, the cabin door is on a side wall of the cabin.  (2) The cabin is larger than any other cabin we have had (we’ve never stayed in a suite, but this is not a suite).  (3) There is a walk-in closet with a huge amount of storage space.  (4) The long, narrow bathroom includes a bathtub!  (5) The rest of the cabin is roomy, too.  We have a small sofa (usually there’s no sofa), an end table on each side of the bed (sometimes there’s only one), a small coffee table (uncommon), a padded chair (unusual), and a rectangular stool/bench (about 24 inches wide).

We discovered that our cabin is the middle section of the ship on the fifth deck, close to the elevator that takes us up to Deck 7 where the main dining room is located and to Deck 11 where the Lido Market (buffet) is located; both are only a few steps from the elevator.  Since only one of the two small elevators at the rear of the ship is currently operational, there is usually a little bit of a wait.  We soon ate our first meal (soup and salad) in the buffet before returning to our cabin.  Shortly, our luggage arrived, and we were able to put away most of our belongings before the required safety drill.  This drill started out to be confusing because the staff members were called first on the loud speaker, and then there was a long pause before passengers were called.  (Many of us thought we had missed part of the announcement.)  However, we were told not to bring life jackets, and everyone lined up on the deck for a very brief check-in.

A vigil Mass was celebrated at 5:00 PM in the Wajang Theater on Deck 8.   (That’s another plus for this cruise!)  Although (of course) we had trouble finding the theater and arrived late, the priest, Fr. Paul, had not started yet.  Only nine passengers were in attendance; Jesse volunteered Sally to do the second reading.  Fr. Paul is a retired priest from San Francisco, CA, and has served as priest on numerous cruises.  Some of the other cruise lines used to have priests on board but, in recent years, we’ve missed Mass during our cruises.  Although it used to be Costa Cruise Lines policy to always have a priest on board, none was aboard on our last Costa cruise.  A few times, we’ve tried to find churches on shore, with little success.

For dinner, we returned to the Lido Market, where a variety of tasty food was laid out for the taking.  George and Margo of near Portland, OR, shared their table with us.  After eating, we returned to our cabin to don dancing shoes and then went to the Ocean Bar for dancing to a 3-piece band:  pianist/vocalist (woman), drummer, and bass (electronic).  In the 20 minutes or so of our dancing, they played a good cha-cha and also a tango (a special treat).  When they took a break, we returned to our cabin.

After taking a soothing bath, Sally fell asleep almost instantaneously.