Tuesday, June 11, 2019

The latest incarnation of The Longest Day began innocently enough.  We were up at 7:30 and were at the Spa for manicures at 9:00.  Home by 9:30, we had an hour to kill before our driver was due.  The suitcases were packed; the house had been straightened for the cleaning lady; and we were at loose ends.

The Super Shuttle people had sent a text with a link to the driver’s GPS, so D started to monitor his progress.  He seemed to be taking a circuitous route and D started to worry.  Finally, he used the “contact the driver” link and asked him to call us.  He responded quickly and we discovered that [1] he was given the wrong time to pick us up and [2] he was in Lake Worth at the wrong development and wondered why the guards would not let him in.  By now, it was past 11 and we needed to be at the airport by noon so we had enough time to check our bags.  D called the next door neighbor who did not hesitate to agree to drive us.

Speed Racer had us at PBI in record time.  We checked our Vanderbilt-like luggage at the curb and went through TSA Pre-Check in a flash.  We had time to wolf down Whopper Jrs before being called to board our Southwest flight to Baltimore.  Whew!

We are on our way to Amsterdam to board the Prinsendam, our favorite Holland America ship.  The Elegant Explorer, as she is known, has been sold to a German cruise line and this will be her last voyage for HAL.  For two weeks, we will sail up [and down] the coast of Norway before returning to Amsterdam.  We are Crossing the Pond a few days early to visit museums [weather permitting] and to visit Dutch friends.

Our plane from Florida actually landed early which meant that we had even more time to kill at BWI.  We were off the plane and had our luggage by 3:30 or so.  We were lucky enough to meet a “wheelie,” one of the support staff who pushes who passengers who need wheelchairs; she volunteered to assist MA since she was going to the international terminal herself.  She steered MA whilst D pushed a trolley with three suitcases and two carry-ons while dragging the fourth suitcase.  The Vanderbilts indeed.

Once we schlepped to Terminal E and British Airways, we realized that check-in would not begin until 6:00.  It was 4pm at that point.  We found comfortable seating and D went in search of lunch [remember, breakfast had been Burger King].  It took 45 minutes for the round trip; the food options before the security areas were slim.  We ended up with chicken tenders which were surprisingly good.

By 5:45, we were in line with all the other anal retentives and by 6:15 we were on the way to and through security.  Again, we were stamped with Pre-Check on our boarding passes so barely slowed down. 

Our first flight is scheduled to take off at 9:30, so we had 3 hours to kill.  Since we always fly in the front of the plane on long trips, we were able to use the Chesapeake Lounge, BA’s Business Class holding area, rather than having to sit in the departure area.  Comfy chairs, snacks and drinks, and peace and quiet. 

The lounge closed down at 8:45 as all of the British Airways passengers were told to report to the gate for boarding.  We took flight at 9:30, as scheduled, and opted not to have dinner.  Like most of the rest of the passengers in our area, we tuned off the lights [well, the cabin crew did] and MA went to sleep and D tried mightily.  MA slept uninterrupted until we were approaching London 6 hours later but D slept only a little.

 

Wednesday, June 12

There was a 2-hour layover at London Heathrow before we continue on to Amsterdam Schipol.  While that sounded like a lot of time, especially since our bags were checked through, we had to go through security screening again.  More long lines and confusion.

Once through, we made our way to the BA lounge which seemed to be in Scotland it was so far from the security checkpoint.  Lots of walking and elevators.  We asked about a wheelchair for MA and were told a chair was available but a wheelie wasn’t.  D said he would push the chair if they gave him directions to the gate. 

We were in the lounge about a half hour – long enough to get a light breakfast – before it was time to go.  MA balked at the chair but relented when there was a wheelie ready and able to take her.  D had a hard time keeping up but we all made it to the gate at the same time.  As luck would have it, we were the first people to board the plane.

Inclement weather had forced a “hold” on planes heading to Amsterdam, so we sat on the tarmac at Heathrow for 45 minutes.  As a result, we did not arrive at Schipol until almost 3pm.   However, there was a wheelchair and a wheelie waiting for us.  Once MA was pushed up the long and steep jetway, we transferred to a motorized people carrier and were whisked through the airport to an elevator leading to baggage claim and customs The wheelie, Josephine, steered us through Customs, bypassing the long line, and then onward to collect our luggage.  She even insisted on taking the bags off the belt although D stacked them on a trolley.

We followed her as she pushed a chair-bound passenger through the madness of the airport.  Once outside, we discovered a cold and rainy day.  Naturally, our sweaters and rain jackets were packed safely away where we could not get to them.  Josepheine deposited her other passenger at the taxi stand and then led us through the rain to the shuttle stop for our hotel.  We had to wait for more than 20 minutes but were mostly under cover.  Still, it was cold and raw and we were decidedly under-dressed.

The shuttle showed up exactly when expected, we stowed the luggage and got out of the cold.  After checking in, we collapsed on the beds and slept for hours before going to the café and getting  for supper at 10:15.

Tomorrow, if the weather is better, we will go to the Rijksmuseum and gawk.

Thursday, June 13

We are in Amsterdam, but it could just as well be a sea day in port.  We were so lazy – and jet-lagged – that we left the room only to get a late dinner.  There was no breakfast since we stayed so late in bed and lunch, such as it was, was burgers and McFlurries from the Mickey D’s next door. [D had to charge lunch because his 50 euro would not register.  It turned out that he had presented a Norwegian 50 kroner bill by mistake]   Dinner at the hotel was beef bourginon for MA and ribs for D.  Overall, we spent the day in the Twilight Zone.

Friday, June 14

Our plans for Amsterdam included two reunions with old friends.  Today, we were to meet Edwin van den Hooven for lunch downtown.  We were up and presentable in enough time to catch the 10am shuttle from the hotel to Schiphol airport.  We wandered around like the Israelites in the desert looking for information about trains to Centraal Station.  We ended up in a line at a ticket kiosk.

When it was our turn to purchase tickets, D punched all the right buttons, but the machine would not recognize our credit card. We eventually found the ticket booth and purchased round-trip tickets to Amsterdam.  We followed the yellow brick road and found track 2 where train was waiting.  We arrived at the station well before our meeting time, so we searched for and found a Starbucks where we had Frappucinos and split a lemon muffin.  Breakfast of the gods.

Edwin had decided to take the train rather than drive so he could avoid Friday afternoon traffic on the way home.  We were all coming to Centraal Station which made meeting easy.  We met Edwin as planned at 11:45 and dithered about walking or getting a taxi.  Since we could not find a taxi stand, we started to walk to the restaurant Edwin had picked.  The day was warmer and the skies clearer than we had anticipated; we had dressed for overcast, rain and temperatures in the 60s, so the walk was warm to say the least.  Maybe it was the heat; maybe it was the late Starbucks breakfast; maybe it was the cobblestones.  Whatever the cause, MA was quite suddenly collapsing on the sidewalk.  Her legs had turned to jelly and she just dropped.  Edwin and D got her up and half-carried her to a nearby department store where there was some place to sit down.  Edwin went to call a taxi to come for us.  Once MA was sufficiently recovered, we crossed the street to meet the taxi.  Once again, we found a seat for MA.  When the taxi failed to appear, Edwin engaged a pedal-cab to take us the restaurant.  The three of us, including 6 foot-plus Edwin, squeezed into a seat meant for 2 and off we went.  Essentially, we were in a bicycle tuk-tuk whizzing over the cobblestones of Amsterdam.

Lunch itself was anti-climactic.  The restaurant was quite busy, the atmosphere was pleasant and we enjoyed the food and fellowship.  All good things have to end, and so Edwin had the staff call a cab and we all returned to Centraal Station to find our way home.  We reversed our morning schlep and went from the train to the airport to the hotel shuttle to the hotel with no problems – and no rain.  Today we were dressed for the rain we met on Wednesday whereas on Wednesday we were dressed for the weather we had today.  On average, then, we were okay.             

Saturday, June 15

We both spent restless nights, D’s made all the worse by intestinal distress reminiscent of his experience in Jakarta years ago.  Then, he may have had a touch of food poisoning after eating a crab; today’s may have been induced by crab and shrimp at lunch.

We were able to get to the hotel’s breakfast buffet before it closed.  It was disappointing and made us yearn for breakfast on shipboard.  We returned to the room to await the housekeeping staff because D had somehow locked our cash in the room safe but could not open it later.  Eventually, he returned to the front desk and reminded them to open the safe and someone came immediately.  The lone housekeeper for the floor did not arrive to clean the room [clean being used loosely] until after 4pm.

Otherwise, it was another sea day in port.  Between MA’s aching body and D’s discomfort, staying home was the best option.  We were disappointed to miss the museums on our mental schedule, but we had seen them before.  We spent most of the day in comfortable chairs in the lobby.  D chatted with our cruise-friend Linda/Ginger via FB Messenger and we went outside long enough to walk next door for McD’s chicken strips and real, high-test Cokes.  Before returning to the room, we bought another Coke [no free refills here] and 3 macarons from the McCafe display.  This may become our new breakfast place.

We were in bed early again.  It’s like the jet-lag will never end.

Sunday, June 16

Somehow, in handling the travel alarm clock, we activated the alarm which went off at 6am this morning.  MA slept right through it but D did not and filled the hours [yes, hours] before MA finally woke up by reading the news, browsing FB and pretending to do the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle.

We skipped the breakfast buffet which was disappointing and probably over-priced. [When we checked out Monday, we discovered that we had not been charged for the buffet, but it was still over-priced.]  Once everyone was dressed, we hopped on the shuttle and went to Schiphol to find lunch/brunch.  We selected an egg place since we were looking for brunch and had spinach/Portobello quiches and cappuccinos.  After wandering a bit – including looking in a grocery store for stroopwaffels – we reversed course, took the shuttle and went “home.”

This was not the day we had expected.  Our original plan had us taking the train to Kampen to visit our friends Marcel and Jeanet whom we had met years ago on a holiday cruise with Emily.  We have seen them in Florida several times when they were cruising out of Miami and we visited them in Delft in 2014 when we spent several days in the Netherlands following a river cruise.  That was also the last time we saw Edwin.

Instead of talking of travels and families [ours since they have no children], we spent most of the day in the hotel lobby reading, blogging and doing crossword puzzles.  We ate dinner at the hotel; MA had pork satay and D had a gigantic pork schnitzel which was so big he ate only half of it.  After dinner, we finished packing for tomorrow’s departure on the Prinsendam.

Monday, June 17

D claims he did not sleep Saturday night, but that seems unlikely.  Ma slept like the proverbial rock and got up at 7, an hour before D was going to wake her.  There was the usual last minute checking, rearranging and securing of the suitcases and by 10:15 we were pushing and dragging a dolly filled with 4 suitcases and 2 carry-ons down the hall and into the elevator.  It was slow going and a tight fir in the tiny elevator, but no one died or was even maimed.  We hauled our belongings outside to wait for our ride from near the airport to downtown Amsterdam, site of the cruise terminal.

D had contracted with a car service in January and we were hoping for better luck than we had in West Palm last week.  We were both a little anxious as 11 o’clock came and went, but a taxi – our taxi – pulled in just a few minutes late.  D thought he had reserved a car which would hold 4 people with 3 medium suitcases and carry-ons.  Of course, we ended up with 4 suitcases none of which was really “medium.”  To top it off, the car was a 6-month old Tesla which the driver was babying.  He would allow no luggage in the car, not even on our laps, and got upset if we used the front seat backs to get out of the car.  He was masterful at stowing all of our bags although he did castigate us a bit about ordering the wrong size car.  Nonetheless, we sped silently along the roads and were at the dock before noon.  He unloaded the bags, we tipped handsomely, and he was off.

A young man schlepped our stuff into the terminal where it was fed onto a conveyor belt [we tipped him, too].  Next, we signed in and got our room key-cards and headed to security.  Getting on a cruise ship may not be as strenuous as boarding an airplane, but the screening is just as thorough.  We breezed on through, boarded the ship and went to our cabin.

We were unable to book our regular cabin, but we are an identical one further down the hall.  When we entered, there was a bottle of maybe-not-so-bad champagne waiting for us with a note that it was from Ferdinand Basa and the Beverage Department.  We did not expect Ferdie to be on this cruise and we were right.  D found the Beverage Manager, Alphonse, who said that Alphonse was to take good care of us.  We don’t know what that means but we suspect the champagne is all there is to it.

Lunch in the MDR was served from noon until 1 pm, so at 12:30 time we, went to lunch.  By the time we returned, the bags started to arrive, so we spent the afternoon unpacking and stowing and also assembling 2 bags of laundry. 

The steward who was delivering luggage [and who took our laundry] looks like one of the stewards from our Christmas cruise.  He called us by name which is not significant in itself and had no name tag.  We will keep looking.

At 4pm, there was the mandatory boat drill which went on forever because people did not show up.  Hoping to rest her back while standing, MA did an Episcopal slump on a window sill rather than sit down on a towel chest.  She landed on a grease glob and ruined not only her while pants but also he underwear.  When things go wrong…

One of the shore excursion sheets we got today said that the transfer to Schiphol at the end of the cruise is only for passengers whose plans leave after 10:30.  Ours is scheduled for 10:40 which we feel is a wee bit too close for comfort.  We are trying to cancel that so we can arrange for a minivan to get us early.  Not only would we get to the airport in plenty of time but we would also not have to deal with the steps on the bus [or all of those old people].  Time will tell whether we can cancel the shuttle.

We left Amsterdam at about 10 feet per hour, killing time because the outer lock connecting the city to the North Sea was broken.  We had to go slowly to keep our place in line and are hopeful that this delay will only cost us an hour or two.  The time will be made up easily before our first port.

Tomorrow is a sea day and the first formal night.