Boarding Zuiderdam

I forgot to note yesterday that Barbara scored us a suite, so she could nap while I sat in the “living room” and read.  POSH!

We breakfasted on healthy food. (Yes, Mrs. Butterworth, I did deny myself a waffle but only because I knew I’d be eating a thoroughly decadent dessert tonight.)

I discovered I had not packed my Fitbit charger nor my sneaker socks, so off we toddled to the Walmart Superstore nearby; where to my delight, a charger was stocked and waiting for me!!!! After much sock discussion, I finally chose some. Do you have ANY idea how varieties of socks exist? Especially in the Women’s department, sadly the Men’s aisle was almost barren of diversity and color.

After a somewhat circuitous route, despite repeated references to Google Maps and an unintentional tour of the Ft. Lauderdale airport arrivals terminal (which looks a lot like LaGuardia!) we arrived at Park & Fly, where Lee directed us to Aisle 5 and Jaime picked us up before we even had Mary Todd unloaded!  We were whisked to the Holland America pier.

Marvin greeted us, reminding us to have our passports. We chatted for several minutes about growing up in Georgia and living in the North East. Then he sent us on our way with a hug and a “hope to see you when you return.”  Our boarding procedure was fast, efficient and friendly - we were in our stateroom (8082) within 15 minutes of driving up to pier.

We unpacked a bit, wandered around to orient ourselves and discovered Leon in the Ocean Bar. He’s going to be a keeper of a waiter. Back to the room to get life jackets for the drill, we decided to head down early and have a drink in Ocean Bar. On our way two ladies stopped us, notifying us the  cruise line had abandoned life jackets during the drill 5 years ago and soon there would be a announcement stating that fact. Back to room to dump the jackets. (Now I am really tired of stairs!) safely ensconced in Ocean Bar (same deck as our drill station - 3) we ordered exotic libation to celebrate. YUM!! 

“Good thing we had a drink,” Barbara noted, as we were standing outside on Deck 3, crammed together under our Lifeboat while the captain and the cruise director gave speeches about safety and how to put on a life jacket. It was kind of chaotic.

I was bummed because we did not meet our steward until just before 4 in the afternoon as he was walking down our passageway and we were off to Ocean Bar, pre drill. Faizal seems nice but this ship does not have the same competency air as QM2. 

Post drill, we read for a bit on our balcony. Barbara decided to buy the “Social Net” internet package, then discovered it did not allow her to email, only to use 4 social media sites, so she’s communicating with her daughters via FB Messenger. I chose not to spend $150 to email for 11 days, so this blog will be posted when I return. My Scots ancestors just couldn’t make that leap. Plus, Mom would have had my hide!

At 6:30, we went to try out the Lido Market (the buffet we checked out earlier) only to discover more than half the stations were closed. Pouty Face! We both had had thoughts of Asian cuisine running through our heads; turns out Asian is only open for lunch I settled for Cobb salad, Barbara for meat and potatoes.

Barbara’s “dessert treat” to herself was a soak in our cabin’s spa tub! Her argument - the jets will relax her ankle. Yeah, she just wants to be spoiled a bit!!  This tub is one of the HUGE benefits of this stateroom!

We FINALLY got ice about 7:30!!!!!!! And met our second cabin steward, Dedi.

The ship is rolling a bit, even though the seas as like 2-3 feet...I miss stabilizers a lot!! I have to check if they’re even on Zuiderdam. But that’ll have to wait until I get home. (Actually, I learned later that she does have them, they just are not as effective as QM2’s as we felt the rolling in 8’ seas.)

Despite some small personal grievances, today was good, I am relaxed and comfortable and looking forward to tomorrow.    

Random thought for this day: Do foghorns all around the world have the same mournful sound?