Hello, I'm A'DAM Toren (Tower) in Amsterdam
When we arrived in Amsterdam, we found we were two of only about 280 people stopping the tour after 17 days. That means (if the cruise was fully booked) that about 1000 passengers are continuing for the full 35-day round trip to Boston, and our replacements for the second half will board later today or tomorrow.
On the way back to Boston, the ship takes a different route— to the east coast of Scotland, the Shetland Islands, and three places on the south coast of Iceland (not the three places we went on the north coast), a different place in Greenland, St. John’s and St. Anthony in Newfoundland, and Bar Harbor in Maine. We’d actually like to do the trip in reverse sometime, leaving from Europe instead of Boston, but next year, they are swapping the itineraries, so we would have to wait at least two years to get the tour we want.
Scrubbing the Veendam
So now, we are back on land. Zero sea legs. The Veendam is so stable, and we had such a calm crossing (except for our stormy night off Greenland), there was no transition to be experienced at all. In fact, speaking of transitions, we didn’t even have to go through customs when we got to Amsterdam. It was exactly like getting off at any of our other ports, except that our Dutch friend, Gerard, was there to greet us and help us with our luggage.
Originally, we were planning to stay with our friends Gerard and Diane while we are in Rotterdam, but we ended up booking our first four nights in the Netherlands in a Novotel to spare them the deadly shipboard disease I contracted. It’s a good thing we opted for a hotel instead of staying with our friends, because whatever it is has proved to be quite virulent and is taking a long time to get over. It wouldn’t be a nice thank you gift at all!
Not-So-Gentle Reminder in the Staff Lounge at the Cruise Port in Amsterdam
After having access to the first decent internet since we began the trip and catching up on our online activities, we are ready to go back to Gerard and Diane’s for dinner and an evening at their house.
Photos © 2014 P.J. Gardner. All rights reserved.