Friday, October 20 --  Off we go

In the words of the immortal Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again.  Last year, we took HAL’s Atlantic Adventurer from Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale by way of Greece.  This year, we are taking substantially the same cruise on a different ship, the Veendam, not the Rotterdam.   And it is a week longer, so we won’t be home until December 8.

It was all too easy today, especially compared to some of the nightmarish embarkation days we have suffered at Port Everglades.  We drove to the off-site parking facility we always use, unloaded the luggage and were on the shuttle to the ship in under 10 minutes.  Once the bags were off-loaded at the terminal, we breezed through check-in and were on board the Veendam, again, in about 10 minutes.  We dropped our carry-on bags in the cabin and went to the Main Dining Room [herein after called the MDR] for lunch.  In deference to Jon, we will omit the details. 

From lunch, we went forward to the showroom for a 2 o’clock reception for the 3, 4 and 5-Star Alumni. It featured cheap champagne and mimosas.  We have learned over the years that one can really get anything to drink at these gatherings, so we got Diet Cokes.  Boy, do we know how to live!  When no one had appeared on stage by 2:45, we left and return to the cabin to start unpacking the luggage.  We had to stop for the mandatory safety drill which seemed interminable [as always] and finished the unpacking when it was over.
We will pause here for a SCAN, a Senior Citizen Afternoon Nap.  Although dinner was casual, because many folks had not received their bags or had not unpacked them, we cleaned up a bit before going to the MDR at 8.  We have “fixed dinner” which means we will eat at the same table at the same time every night.  Except we won’t.  Although we were assigned a table for 4 set up for 2, an ideal arrangement we think, it was right in the middle of the dining room.  The noise from surrounding tables made it hard to hear and the A/C made it were cold.  D went to one of the managers and arranged to change to another 4-top set for 2 at the back window.  The view will be better; the noise level will be less; and the temperature more comfortable.  A win-win-win.

We wandered through the casino on the way “home” to get the lay of the land and then did computer stuff before bed.


Tomorrow – The first of many sea days

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