BACK AT SEA

April 14, 2019

When I just hit F3 to save this first blog, I noticed one of the folders was Zuiderdam 04-18.  We were blessed to be doing a transatlantic last year at this time.  Neat.

For those of you who haven’t heard, we got up at 2:30 this morning and at 3:30 we were loading our transport to be chauffeured by Ivy Uber to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.  We sailed through security without a whimper by anyone in our party, went quickly to our gate and decided to go to Chick fil A for breakfast – before we remembered it was Sunday so we had something else.  Good flight to Fort Lauderdale where a man was waiting just for us to take us to the ship.

As we unloaded our luggage, I told the porter I’d have to check the manifest because I didn’t know our stateroom number.  The first glitch in the trip popped up when I found my name and the room number, but there was no companion’s name listed.  I did not mention it to my cruise buddy, but once at the check-in counter there was no hiding it.  One quick phone call and in less than 10 minutes we were on our way to board the Veendam.  Our luggage showed up quickly, and we unpacked, having for the first time in all of our cruises, more hangers and more drawers than we need.

We were going to take a nap before the lifeboat drill – Bonnie did get a quick one – but I did not because the battery was running down in the smoke detector, and it was emitting a regular, piercing beep.  If there is an unusual noise, I can’t sleep, so I left the room, went to Guest Relations where I got the computer set up for these blogs and emails.

We have Any Time dining and have set up a regular reservation for 5:15.  Tonight we ate with a couple (mother and son) from Atlanta, and a married couple from Kentucky.  Good dinner companions.  I don’t know if we’ll have the same table tomorrow night or not.  Stay tuned.

Well, as we are sailing east, we have to set our clocks ahead 6 hours by the time we get to Rome, and so we lose an hour of sleep tonight.  That being the case, and in as much as I haven’t rehearsed for tomorrow, I shall close this rambling (Mom is already asleep).

TTFN