Rotterdam, day 2

Ahoy Maties! I found it difficult to post to the blog during my cruise... wifi was at a premium price and free wifi was sketchy at best.  So this post will be the first of the "catch-up" posts...

Rotterdam, The Netherlands... day 2

Several of us got the hop on, hop off bus to explore Rotterdam...  the thing that struck me the most was the architecture...  creative... unusual... enjoy the pics (click on the picture for a larger image)

How odd...  This a an apartment building

The cubic house (got this image from the web)

We took the HOHO to the "marketplace" but it was considered a holiday since Rotterdam's team was playing soccer, so we were unable to get inside.  it was amazing from the outside.  I took a few pictures, though I don't think they did the building justice.

The building... apartments on the outside, inside is the market place.

peering into the building - and through the building

A closer look (flowers were gorgeous)

You can see the ceiling has been painted into a masterpiece

Here's a better picture at night (found on the web)

 There was a lot of police presence because of the soccer game.  The stadium was close by, you could hear the chanting.  Everyone walking around before the game were either in jerseys or scarves representing their team.  After we were back on the ship, you could hear yelling as a parade of people walked across the nearby bridge and a fireboats had water plumes...  they won their game.

crowds cheering on the bridge while fire boat  sent plumes of water in the air.

artistic view of bridge

Rotterdam was a beautiful city. The day is now done and we're off to our final destination of this leg of the trip...  Copenhagen Denmark.

until we meet again

Kim

Rotterdam...

We arrived in Rotterdam, The Netherlands this evening...  So a group of us went exploring... we wanted to try a dutch dinner...  To get there we walked over a bridge (found these love locks along the span of the bridge. I had actually never heard of them before)

A love lock or love padlock is a padlock which sweethearts lock to a bridge, fence, gate, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials are inscribed on the padlock, and its key is thrown away to symbolize unbreakable love.

Here is a pic of the cruise ship on our walk to dinner

We found a pub that was very popular for the locals.  We took a look at the menu, all in dutch...  kind of determined a couple of things but were very grateful when the server brought us an English menu... we ended up having the meatballs, what the restaurant was famous for.

On the way back to the ship we walked along the waterfront... stopped for a few souvenirs...  here's some great evening pics of the ship:

until we meet again...
Kim

Turmoil at sea....

First I'd like to say, I love, love cruising.  This cruise has been great as far as meeting new friends. We all have a love of cruising, and do it as often as possible. And this cruise for the most part has been excellent. Great entertainment, wonderful staff... awesome company of new friends.

BUT, there have been some blips along the way that have made me a bit frustrated.  Yesterday was the last straw that made me a bit emotional.  Let me go  back a few days.

Our first planned stop on this cruise was the Azores.  After 6 days as sea (sometimes quite rough & wild) we were looking forward to putting our feet on solid ground.  But, the seas were still too rough, so it was determined that we were going to skip docking - it was just too unsafe.  So, off to another sea day...

Next stop, Brest, France.  The lines to get off the ship were soooooo long.  it took some 2 1/2 hours to get off ship. (still wondering how that happened)  I don't remember such a fiasco before...  we were not docked at a regular cruise port.  There wasn't much there.  We were not allowed to walk around there.  For $15 we could take a shuttle to town. (or for free, they would shuttle you to the gate, then you had a 4 kilometer walk to town).  I found a spot on deck 8 where I was able to find some free wifi...  it overlooked where the passengers were getting off and on the ship.  On this particular day, the rains were heavy.  The disorganization of the people getting back on the ship was awful... the tide made the gang plank a real hazzard (way too steep - and there were many passengers with disabilities)  Add to that, in the rain, people had to wait in line for 2+ hours to get back on the ship. One friend took a tour.  When they got back to the dock it was pouring down rain. The bus driver would not let them stay on board the bus until the rains died down... how rude. Here's a picture of the very very long line waiting to get back on the ship.

Needless to say, I was glad I decided not to get off... but on the other hand, sorry I didn't get a chance to see some of the WWII history (Brest was almost completely destroyed during the war.)

Next stop: Southampton, England.  We had to go through immigration before we could leave the ship.  The UK immigration officials were supposed to come on board in the Azores, but because we didn't dock there, that didn't happen.  And they refused to come on board in Brest.  Soooooo, we had to go through immagration before we got off ship in Southampton.  Add to this cluster, the ship had a propulsion problem, so we were getting into port about 4 hours later than originally planned.  Getting 4,000 people through immigration was rediculous.  We docked at noon, and it wasn't until 5pm before I got off the ship. (and there were many many more after me)  I was so frustrated and so near tears over the frustration.  We had until 11:30 that night to spend in town, but most of the shops closed at 6pm.  What the hell!??

this is an anchor from the Queen Mary

Needless to say, I got back on board early... played the anti-social card... Went to the thermal spa for a good long soak (felt so good after the couple of miles of walking to get to the stores that were mostly closed).  I continued with the anti-social thing but grabbing dinner and hiding in my cabin...  had a long, well needed sleep and hopefully a much better attitude.

Well the whoas continue... we won't be stopping at the port in Brussels since we are off on our schedule. (dang!)  Tonight we will land in port at Rotterdam... good thing, we are staying there over night and won't leave until 6pm tomorrow night.  I'm hoping to get to Amsterdam, which is about an hour or so away from the ship to see the Anne Frank house/museum.

I guess this was a downer of the post.  Had to get it out of my system.  I can't let these blips in life get me down.  So I'm now going to put on my happy face and get on with the "fun".

until we meet again...
Kim

its my birthday...

It's my birthday today.  I turned 65, an age that seemed so far away as a kid...  where did the time go?

This morning I got up around 8:30am...  spent ssome indulgent time in the spa (which included a little nap!)  when I came back to my cabin. I found it decorated with birthday ballons, banner and decorations. It made me sigh... and I also got a birthday cupcake and card...

 looks like some of my fellow cruisers remembered and took care of me.  what a wonderful feeling! Tonight they are takiing me out to dinner to celebrate.

it's been an interesting few days since I last wrote. The storm was too much, and dangerous for the ship to dock so we didn't get to stay at the Azores.  kind of disappointing! do that makes it a 10 day straight for sea days... sign... tomorrow we will be docking in Brest France.  I don't have an excursions planned.  Just going to wander around town doing the touristy thing.

The ship has so many activities that it's hard to not find something to do...  Every evening there's some kind of dancing venue.  Last night was country western dancing... they taught 4 lines dances... not exactly what I was looking for, but still fun... I did get to 2-step and waltz with the cruise director.  (an interesting tact, Silas (cruise director) grew up in Grants Pass, OR...

oh, and I have met 3 other people from Vancouver, WA!  I heard there are some from Camas, but I haven't connected with them.  What a small world.

well it's kind of layed back and relaxing, so no big adventures, yet.  maybe tomorrow.

until we meet again...
Kim

PS  My birthday even got better...  there were 8 of us that went out for dinner for my birthday. we went to the japanese resturaunt Teppanyaki.. What an amazing experience! here's a couple of videos of the chef as he prepared our dinner on a grill as we sat around it.

The food was outstanding!  Then, Patty (who arranged the decorating of my room) arranged to have a birthday cake made for my birthday (pictured here). and the cake was delicious! not sure how I could eat it after that huge dinner.

Afterwards we went to the 70's disco dance, which worked off all that eating at dinner...

what a wonderful celebration with 7 new friends that I only met 10 days ago.  I'm so humbled by the experience.  My special thanks to Patti! (here's a pic of Patti and myself at dinner)

until we meet again,
Kim

oh what a night... rough one that is... May 6th

I'm about 425 nautical miles from the Azores.  The Azores are part of Portugal, but its really surprising that they are so far out in the ocean from the mainland.

The weather has been awesome up till last night.  Weather in the 70's once we left Miami. I had sat in a comfy chair, curled up with a bookwith this gorgeous view. (it definitely makes you realize how small you are in comparison to the ocean.

The sun was warm, and the day almost perfect!  Actually the weather was supperb all the days since we left Miami. (though many have been sun bathing, I haven't been interested in that) Every night we have a dance party in the Spice H20, which is a big open area at the back of the ship...  including a huge screen (also used for the movies)

Each night is a different theme... we've had 70's music, 80's music, Latin music, and last night was supposed to be the "glow" party where everyone wears white and black lights are in abundance. There is so much loud music it makes me wonder if they can't see and hear it when orbiting the earth.

But things changed last night..  sigh... The winds started to pick up and the ocean got a little more rough...  THEN...  during the night the waves really picked up... tossing the ship around. (I was rolling back and forth while laying in bed)  I was reading the stats, and there are 12 foot swells.  Hoping it ends with that and doesn't get worse... also, found that it's raining... another big sigh!

Even though the weather is quite iffy, I'm having a blast! each night there is a show of some kind... I've seen singing groups, a hypnotist (now that was funny), improv and dueling pianos.  There's a huge solo group, so it's nothing to have 25-30 of us going to dinner and then a show afterwards.

Tomorrow we dock at the Azores... I have a cool excursion planned.  Lots of volcanos & caldrons that make for beautiful scenery. I'll post pics later (I should have wifi when we land.)

until we meet again...

Kim

in the middle of the atlantic ocean...

Putting aside the 4,000 passengers, and 1,800 employees, this cruise is very peaceful.. The sun is shining brightly, but a cool breeze keeps me from totally roasting!

Last night we had a solo meet & greet... you won't believe how many solos are on this trip... my guess, a minumum of 50 showed up for the get togeh
ter, but I heard there were more thank 150.... probably more.  We went to a show together, then 12 of us had a late dinner... what an eclectic group! we had several retirees, but some were just on holiday.  people from Florida, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Boston, Melbourne Austrailia, Deleware - I think a couple more places.. and this is just with the 12....

This morning at I got up early, though it was mostly for self-preservation.  the bed killed my back and hips...  I kept waking up... struggling to turn over and get comfy... it mostly didnt happen.  The reason?  I have a memory foam mattress, the bed in my cabin is hard as a rock.  I asked the steward to put a topper on it so I could sleep a little better... hopefully he did this.

So, since I was up early, I decided to walk the deck.  There's a running track that works perfect.  Besides getting some good exercise,  I caught some beautiful sun rise (we'll a little more up thank sunrise.)


We had our Cruise Critic meet and greet this morning... it was the biggest group to date... all the officers of the ship came and were introduced to us.  Then we did a gift exchange.  Each of us brought something from home to share with others.

I just took a dance lesson... latin dance Bachata... pretty simple... it will be interested if it compare to the dance taught in Vancouver..

until we meet again...
Kim

sailing the ocean blue...

It's so odd.  I'm in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean... nothing to see but water...  yet I can call home and chat...  it's a bit spendy, $2.99 a minute, but I'll make my calls short.

Right now I'm waiting a little bit and then will call my friend, Mary...  on her 50th birthday I promised to make her a quilt...  had the fabric and everything...  8 years later, she's receiving a package with the long missed quilt!!  I'm so glad I got it done.  I'm excited for her to see it. yeah!

untill we meet again!

Kim