Day 1: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is the starting destination of our Grand World Voyage aboard Holland America Lines’ Ms Amsterdam. Our journey started the day before in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where we spent all day flying to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A. We left Vancouver at 7:20 am and did not arrive in Fort Lauderdale until 8:30 pm local time where we spent the night at the Hilton Marina hotel.
In the morning, a shuttle service was running for all those that had booked the flights through Holland America. We were picked up at our hotel around noon and taken directly to the port in Fort Lauderdale to board the ship. The organization was impeccable and we were through security and on board by 1 pm.
One interesting thing to note here is that we expected our room to be ready and luggage to already be in our room, but that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t until later that we realized that the ship had not been parked there all that long and most of the work had to be done in a short amount of time, parallel to the passengers embarking. The cost of ports and tight itineraries were likely the reason.
With nothing else to do yet, we dropped our carry-on bags off in our room and went to find food. They were kind enough to leave a pamphlet telling us of the day activities so we took that with us to read while we ate.
THE HOLLAND AMERICA LINE EXPLORER:
All passengers receive a printed schedule/program each day, which they call the Holland America Line Explorer, to help keep everyone informed of the daily activities.
The following is a paraphrase of the first message we read from it:
WELCOME ABOARD! |
Our captain for this journey is Captain Olav van der Waard and our hotel manager is Henk Mensink, both from Holland. The cruise director is Bruce Allen Scudder, from the U.S.A.
DRESS CODE ONBOARD THE SHIP:
We are given the following information for dress code on board the ship:
“In order to compliment your fellow guests, please adhere to the dress code throughout the entire evening in the La Fontaine Dining Room and the Pinnacle Grill. In addition, it is greatly appreciated to also observe the dress code likewise in the bars and lounges, including the Queen’s Lounge.
Formal Nights:
Ladies – Gowns, cocktail dresses or elegant pant suits are appropriate.
Gentlemen - Tuxedos, dark suit and tie, or jacket and tie.
Cultural formal wear such as Asian style formal wear or suitable Theme Night wear is also acceptable for both ladies and gentlemen.
Smart Casual Nights:
Ladies – Casual dress, slacks and informal evening wear are appropriate.
Gentlemen – Slacks and collared shirts, round-collar knitwear is also acceptable.
No shorts, t-shirts or tank tops but suitable Theme Night wear is also acceptable for both ladies and gentlemen.
Despite this, the dress code is generally pretty relaxed. During the day, we are allowed to wear what most land establishments at home allow. Shoes are required in restaurants and walking around the ship in just swimsuits is strongly discouraged.
OUR ACCOMODATIONS:
We are staying in stateroom number 6107. It’s a larger suite on deck 6, with our own private balcony. Our stateroom is located near the front, right side of the ship, and quite close to one of the stairwells. Right below us is the Queen’s Lounge, which is where most of the lectures, live shows and seminars are held. <img>
OUR FIRST VISIT TO THEIR RESTAURANT:
After dropping off our carry-on bags in our room, we were invited to the Lido Restaurant for food. The Lido Restaurant is located on Deck 8, past the Greenhouse Spa and Gym and past the Lido Forward deck and Lido Grill. The food choices at the Lido Restaurant were great; there was a salad section (to create your own salad), an Asian section (with Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Indian/Indonesian/etc) food, a cold cuts and cold appetizer section, a hot entree selection (normally with ham, roast beef, lamb, fish & chips, etc), a Sandwich bar (where you can have you own sandwiches made), a fruit/mixed salad bar, and of course a dessert bar.
Despite being a buffet, the crew was serving the food. It seemed very inefficient but the reasoning was sound. An enclosed environment like this can cause illness to spread through the entire ship in a very short amount of time. There were many controls during the first few days to prevent any germs brought on board by crew and passengers being spread.
OUR FIRST DINNER IN THEIR DINING ROOM:
All our meals and tips on board are included in the cost of our cruise. Eating at the Pinnacle Grill carries an additional charge of $20 US per person (reservations are required beforehand as well) and alcohol is charged based on what we get but carries a similar price as US land prices. Holland America has fixed seating and dining times for their main dining room – the La Fontaine Dining Room. We had scheduled our dinners in this dining room for the main dining time of 8pm and we were set to sit at table 117 which turned out to be a table set for six people. Since we knew that we would have dinner at 8pm and that there would likely be people who are arranged to sit with us, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet our dinner-dining mates.
We were both excited to meet the people we would be dining with most evenings on our cruise and excited to eat and see the menu that this restaurant offered. The La Fontaine Dining room was on the rear of the ship on the 4th and 5th deck. Our table was on 4th deck and we actually got a little lost trying to find the dining room. It appeared that deck 4 does not go all the way through and we actually had to go back up to deck 5 in order to get to the rear of the ship to the deck 4 dining room of La Fontaine.
After finally finding the dining room and we were shown to our table at the end of the ship, right next to a window. The table was very nicely set up as a long rectangular table, with three chairs and settings on each side. There was already a couple sitting, one on each side and we sat next to each other on one side. We weren’t entirely sure how we should be sitting since the table was set for 6 and we weren’t sure if they were all couples. The couple greeted us warmly and introduced themselves.
They were Michael (Mike) and Judith (Judy). They had name tags and it said Dance Instructors on it, so we used that as an icebreaker. We talked to them about all sorts of things, getting to know one another. This couple was so very nice and we both enjoyed talking to them. The other two who were to dine with us never showed up so we all placed our dinner orders.
This dining room is your standard, if very nice, restaurant. There are two waiters, a primary one for taking orders and another for ensuring water is topped up. There is also a sommelier, but as we don’t drink, we never really engaged him. Sonia had a Crab Salad to start, then their French Onion Soup and finally their Filet Mignon as her entrée. Finn had their Chilled Blueberry Soup, their Caesar Salad and the Filet Mignon as his entrée. The food was delicious, the service was great and the company was engaging. Mike and Judy gave us a lot of information and answered any questions we had about how things were on this cruise. After dinner, we were offered coffee or tea by our beverage server.
Mike and Judy had to leave shortly after dinner and skipped having coffee/tea and dessert because they were expected to be in the Queen’s Lounge for the show tonight. This “show” was called “Let Us Entertain You!” and was essentially a meet and greet with our cruise director, Bruce and the entertainment staff. We wanted to see it since we wanted to learn more about the activities held on board and we had promised Judy and Mike we would go and clap for them really loud!
Since we still had some time before the show, we got our coffee and tea; Finn had Mint tea and Sonia had Apple Cinnamon tea. Then we ordered our desserts – the dessert menu was so good, we wanted one of everything! Sonia settled on a Strawberry Sorbet and Finn had their Cheese plate. Both were excellent. We sat a little while before we headed up to the Queen’s Lounge for our first “show” on board.
OUR FIRST “SHOW” IN THE QUEEN’S LOUNGE:
The Queen’s Lounge was located at the front of the ship, taking up the 4th and 5th deck near the bow. We noticed how busy it was and decided to sit at the upper deck (deck 5) and watch the show from the top. It worked out since Bruce was inquiring how many honeymooners were on board. Not wanting to be in the spotlight, and since this was a belated honeymoon for us, we only raised our hands halfway. Bruce proceeded to question the honeymooners and give them a complimentary bottle of champagne. Since we don’t drink, we didn’t care to have the spotlight anyway, despite the people around us tried to get Bruce’s attention (and luckily for us, failed to do so). The show lasted about 45 minutes, with introductions of other staff and their roles. We had dance instructors (which we have met already, Mike and Judy), tai chi instructors, bridge instructors, yoga instructors, computer/internet or information technology instructors, etc.
Amazingly, Sonia met the owner of the medical clinic she was working at in 2007. It was good to see a familiar face – and hear that this was also her first Grand World voyage. She has taken a few Grand voyages, but not the whole Grand World voyage – so we both got to share in the excitement of this epic adventure around the world! Many of the passengers were regular World cruisers with Holland America Lines.