Friday, March 22, 2013
Larry and I left this morning at 7:30 to drive a rental car from Clearwater Beach to Fort Lauderdale. It was a beautiful sunny day and the temps were near 80. Driving south was highlighted by going over the gorgeous Sun Bridge that crosses the Tampa Bay dumping into the Gulf of Mexico. We also drove down Alligator Alley, not spotting any wild critters that are usually sunning in the canals that follow beside the highway.
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale , America's Spring Break Capital, around 12:00 noon. Fort Lauderdale is one a America's top tourist resorts, renowned world wide for its balmy weather and 23 miles of postcard perfect beaches.
We returned the car to the Fort Lauderdale Airport and boarded an Alamo Bus to ride to Port Everglades founded in 1927. Evidence of thousands of cargo containers stacked high confirmed what we had read about the port being a very commericial shipping area... not as visually apealling as the Miami Port. Here we boarded Holland America's Noordame immediately. NO lines! Yeah!!! What a wonderful experience! Last year we had the same experience of boarding the Holland America's Rotterdam in San Diego with the same no line embarkation. Holland America continues to be our favorite cruise line.
We unpacked our bags and then wondered around the ship to get our bearings. The ship was beautifully maintained. Lots of visually appealing art and architechural forms everywhere. We went to the top deck to view the ship's departure. On port side of the ship we saw the industrial part of Port Everglades while the other starboard side had lavish multimillion dollar homes and sky rise condos lining the inlet. Scenic beaches went as far as the eye could see.
The captain blew his horn multiple times as we passed people on the shoreline waving and the pilot boarded his ship. Balmy breezes blew as we headed to sea watching the coast line become a distance spot in the horizon. Dinner was yummy....Prime Rib and Pork Buco...Larry and I shared with each other....steamed broccoli, fresh fruit and salad. Larry had a wonderful strawberry dessert with a dish of ice cream. Sleep came early for us with the gentle rocking of the boat....What a heavenly first day!
After a nice lunch in the Lido Lounge, Kay went to the Greenhouse Spa to use the exercise equipment. We had a delightful dinner of quail and almond crusted trout with snow pea pods.
Larry got his chocolate fix with a slice of chocolate cake and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. We went to the 8:00 final performance of a show called "Ballroom Blitz" where the Noordam Singers and Dancers performed a lively show of various ballroom dances. Afterwards we danced the night away to the sounds of Ben and the HalCats in the Queen's Lounge who played the music of Elvis, the Beatles, and Bill Hallies and the Comets...a night of 50's and 60's sounds. Our clocks were moved forward an hour at 2:00 am. What a fabulous day!
Sunday, March 24, 2013 Second
Day @ Sea
What a fabulous day! After listening to a lecture on European Highlights of
Malaga, Spain and Civitecchia, Italy, Larry and I walked the Promenade Deck. It
was a cloudy, blustery day, but we
enjoyed the warm temperatures and fresh
air. Afterwards we went to the pool and enjoyed the music of a solo guitarist,
David (who had a Martin Guitar like Larry's) and read
for a while. When the music ended, Larry enjoyed talking with David, a
young man from Conn. who is
enjoying seeing the world while entertaining folks on Holland America Cruises.
We had a lovely lunch by the pool. Afterwards we went to a computer lecture
and enjoyed some time in the gym. We had a nice dinner... Jerked chicken and
lamb chops with a delightful fruit salad...you know who had a nice slice of
pecan pie... and went to watch a comedian and magician, Rich Purpura. He had us
in stitches for most of the evening. After a final walk around the outside
deck, we headed into our cabin where we enjoyed a good nights sleep as the boat
rocked gently back and forth.
Monday, March March 25, 2013
Third Day @ Sea
After a great breakfast of ham and eggs over easy, we attended a lecture on
Christopher Columbus. Afterwards we walked the Promenade Deck. Clouds hung over
the ocean of huge waves, but there was
very little wind. We were surprised to
find it to be warm. Lots of cruisers were out
relaxing on the deck lounge chairs enjoying the fresh air. We enjoyed
walking for three miles while watching the the waves roll by. Afterwards we
went to the ship library to read about
some of the places we were planning to visit in the upcoming weeks.
Lunch was an oriental cuisine out by the pool. Kay
attended a computer class and an exercise class. Later in the afternoon we
watched a movie in the Queen's Lounge called " The Impossible" about
a family who survived the tsunami in Thailand. Quite a remarkable true story!
Larry and I shared a dinner of veal
cordon blue and roast duck with a nice slice of Chocolate Cake and ice
cream. We had front row seats to the Latin
American Singer Show who performed in the evening. After a stroll around
the deck
we watched the Michael Jackson DVD, "This is It" before drifting off to sleep . It was another great day at sea!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013 Fourth Day
@Sea
Larry and I had a wonderful Three
Bear's breakfast special....Oatmeal with
fresh strawberries. We went to see a lecture on the explorer, Sir Frances Drake. Afterwards we started our
walk on the 10th floor known as the
Crow's Nest , the very top of the ship, but ended up walking the Promenade, on
the third floor near the water because of rain. The day was cloudy and warm
with smaller ocean waves and very little
wind.
We enjoyed reading in the ship
library for a while and then had a nice lunch by the pool. The ship clocks were
turned up an hour at 2:00 making the time 3:00pm. I attended a lecture on
Window 8 and then visited the ship gym
using the treadmill and bicycle.
I also finished reading the autobiography of Nicolas Sparks, Three Weeks
with My Brother. A great book and an eye opener to the stories that Sparks
has written. We had a great dinner of
roast turkey and pumpkin soup. Larry had
chocolate concoction that tasted a lot
like chocolate mousse....with ice cream
and a chocolate chip cookie. We enjoyed a show featuring two time Olympic Gold
Medal gymnist, Lance Ringwald. What a
talented 42 year old guy. He was
quite a comedian, singer, piano player, juggler, and gymnist. We ended
the evening visiting the piano bar for a few songs and then retired to our room
to watch Anthony Hopkins in "Red Dragon". It was another perfect day at sea.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013 Fifth Day
at sea
It was a great day for walking on top of the ship for an hour. Interspersed sunshine and clouds, warm and
nice breezes! A great way to start the day. Larry and I enjoyed talking with
Brett, a JMU grad with a master's degree in Business Administration and our on
board Travel Host. He worked in the real world for seven years selling
medical supplies and decided that he worked all year to travel on his
vacation....so he thought, " Why not work while traveling?" Great
young man and really knows his stuff when it comes to visiting the ports. He is
the best of all our travel host that we have experienced. Also gives excellent lectures.
We spent an
hour enjoying magazines in the library and then had lunch by the pool. Attended
another computer workshop and worked out at the gym. Watched the movie
"Argo" in the Queens Lounge. It was excellent! Dinner of King Crabs
and Prime Rib and Tarimasu Cake. Watched a violin show for about ten minutes,
escaping it after yawning too much. Went to our cozy suite to watch a DVD, "Love in the Time of
Cholera", a wonderful, humorous love story. Another great day! Are we ever so lucky to be cruising on our ship called the Noordam or what?
Thursday, March 28, 2013 Day
six @ sea
Our scheduled to stop in Ponta Delgada was terminated on Wednesday evening.
Rough seas and wind caused the captain to discontinue the trip into the
harbor. We were planning to spend the
day walking the town of Ponta Delgada and sending emails home. Oh well...now we
have three more days at sea. No worries! We are just as happy to continue on
since we had already spent a day last year in this gorgeous port.....so.....
Larry and I jumped right into our daily routine. Breakfast by the
swimming pool, lecture on the "Most Luxurious Yachts in the
World", Computer Class about using Windows 8, a 3mile walk on the 10th
floor upper deck, a visit to a relaxing
recliner to soak up the sun on the Lido Deck, lunch on the outside deck
back deck, a little nap, a workout in the gym, and a movie,
"Hitchcock". Dinner at 7:30
and a show at 8:00 with a comedian and fiddle player followed by a DVD of
the movie, "Bobby". Turn out to be a pretty nice day for having our
plans changed from being in port!
Saturday, March 30, 2013 Eighth Day at Sea
The sun is really out bright today....the brightest day of the whole trip. You can see very far into the horizon....not the foggy distant view of the past days. We walked the Crow's Nest for three miles and then just enjoyed sunning up there as well. What an absolutely beautiful day! Not too hot! Just perfect! Lunched by the pool and enjoyed a 140 Birthday Party for the Holland America Cruise Line. The chief had baked a 140 ft with 140 candles to the birthday! There was champagne and the whole stage was full of crew members singing happy birthday in several languages. A wonderful movie of the history of the company which started in 1872 was shown. Their first ship, the Rotterdam, acrossed the Atlantic bringing emigrants to America taking 15 days. Today they are a fleet of 15 ships that travel the globe to all seven continents and 320 ports of call. The Rotterdam VI today is the the fleet's flag ship and the fastest ship in the Holland America Line. After taking this voyage, our first one on the Rotterdam VI on the Holland America Line last spring, it has become our favorite cruise line. They have excellent service, a library of excellent books and DVD's, a fine selection of dining, excellent entertainment, and the friendliest staff. There is so much to do each day, that the time passes all too quickly.
This evening we went to see the movie, "Playing for Keeps ", a romantic comedy and took a romantic walk around the Promenade returning to our room around 10:00 to watch Part II of "Empire Falls". We had to turn our clocks back one more time making this the fifth time on our trip across the ocean. We had a super day of relaxing and working on our tan...a little break from all the classes and lectures that we have attended over the past seven days.
Sunday, March 31, 2013 Easter Sunday Ninth Day at Sea
It rained most of the day. Although we expericed a few sprinkles here and there, it was really the first real amount of rain. We had an enjoyable breakfast and then Larry attended a lecture on Spain and I went to a class about using Photo Gallery on the Computer. Larry and I were hoping the rain was going to go away, but we ended up walking for an hour on the Promenade to keep the raindrops from getting us. Lunch was an extravaganza....oysters on the half shell, salmon, scallops, Yorkshire Pudding (a sort of popover), Chocolate covered strawberries....What an Easter menu! There were lots of other things as well but we have tried to stay with just a couple of things on the menu to keep our belt from expanding. The ship had some of the cutest Easter decorations. Chocolate Rabbits, colored eggs, carved flowers from veggies...all very exciting to see up close. They also had egg hunts for the kiddies.
The rain went away and Larry and I decided to take a dip in the hot tub on the back end of the ship for some fresh air. During dinner we had a lively conversation with a couple from Canada who actually had been originally from Portugal and Korea.We retired to our cozy room for an earlynight sleep. We were excited about seeing Lisbon, Portugal in the morning and had planned to rise early to watch the docking... our first visit to Portugal!
Friday, March 29, 2013 Day seven @
sea
This was a wonderfully warm day. This trip has been a delight in that it
has not been as windy or cool as the past two voyages across the Atlantic. After breakfast we walked the Crow's Nest
Deck and enjoyed having it all to ourselves. Don't think anyone has discovered
this area for getting out in the fresh
air and walking. I attended a computer workshop while Larry went to a lecture
on Submarines. We both thoroughly enjoyed
the new information. Read for a while out on the lounges on the top deck
and then went to have lunch. Larry is loving the sushi on the Oriental Buffett
everyday along with a sampler of everything else that they have while I really love the fresh salads and
fruits. The afternoon we sunned on the
back deck of the ship, took a little snooze, exercised using the great room of equipment, went to see the movie, "Amour". Oh my, what
a tear jerker! We had dinner while watching the movie. Coming out of the movie
after the nightly show had started we decided to just return to our room
and watched Part one of a DVD with Ed
Harris called " Empire Falls". Tonight we turned our clock forward
for the fourth time.
Carrots and Turnips
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