Day 1 - Leaving Ft. Lauderdale
Saturday, October 1, 2005
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Kathryn and Izzy dropped us off at Holland America a little before one and we were through check-in and security by 1:30! I was really amazed at how easily the whole procedure was. The only thing I missed was getting a picture of the ship at the dock before boarding--it was a little bit of mass confusion once we arrived and handed off our baggage, so by the time I thought of it, we were already inside the hangar/warehouse and before you knew it, we were walking up the gangplank (do they still call it that?). Then it was off to find our room, except we didn't have to look far--a steward (was that what he was called?) grabbed us and off we went!
Even though we knew ahead of time what the layout and size of the room was. We were still very surprised! There is a TON of closet space (room for all of our hanging clothes) plus room for all of our suitcases under the bed (so we don't have to take up precious floor space). The balcony was great, as well--we were missing one chair, but before we barely had time to think about it, someone was delivering a chair! We can't keep the door open (to hear the ocean) as I had hoped, but we do spend a good amount of time out here (I will write all daily drafts out there and will post later from one of the three wi-fi hotspots on board). The best surprise was the bathroom--it was MUCH larger than I EVER anticipated and has a medicine cabinet, detachable massager showerhead, and extra large bath towels!
We had a few hours to explore before the mandatory lifeboat drill at 4:15, so we wandered around the ship, turned in the necessary paperwork to the front office, scheduled our dinner reservation for the Pinnacle Grill (the fanciest restaurant on the ship--our package thankfully came with one dinner upgrade, otherwise it’s a $20 per person upcharge), and scheduled my birthday present at the spa—a hot stone massage! After the lifeboat drill, we had a short amount of time to prepare for dinner. It was a casual evening, so we didn’t have to do much! I had hoped to watch the departure from the Observation Deck on the 10th level (we’re on the 7th) but it was raining so that was not really an option. Instead, we chose to watch from our balcony—which was neat because you could look all around you and see everyone else on their balconies! I keep telling Tom it looks like a bunch of gophers with their heads sticking up out of their holes!
So, dinner…let me just say WOW. So we were waiting in line to get in and the greeter people (can’t remember what they were called!) look at your dining card and show you to your table. So they get to us (we were probably fifth in line) and right away, we sense something is different—instead of just having us follow them like everyone else, he made some comment like “I have to go see _____” or “I have to go ask ____” (I didn’t quite catch it). All I could think was “Oh, great. Something is wrong.” As it was, we were a little paranoid about getting the seating request we had made—I had requested a table for two instead of the typical table for six or eight where you eat with other people…but we had heard someone earlier saying that their request had been denied. So, imagine our surprise when another greeter guy stepped in, saw the number on our card, and said something to the effect of “Ah, a table for two, for the special couple, right this way!” EXCELLENT! And the food? Wow. Of course, everything started with bread and butter! We had two stewards (Mo and Al), a wine girl (Lillibeth), plus a manager-type person (Ruddin) came over, introduced himself, and said not to hesitate to contact him about ANYTHING we might be unhappy with. There were about four appetizers to choose from (I had crab salad on tomato and Tom had steamed mussels), three soups (I had chilled blueberry and Tom had hot island pepper), three salads (we had Caesar and spinach) and five or six main courses (I chose eggplant cannelloni parmigiano and Tom had prime rib--he said he could eat prime rib EVERY NIGHT…until he tried my eggplant and said he would have rather had that!). Dessert came later and there were about twelve choices--I actually skipped the chocolate cake (I know, can you believe it?) and had the apple strudel and Tom had a pineapple torte.
Then it was more wandering around the ship. We took a tour, signed up for wireless internet service (outrageous prices, of course), went to a free liquor tasting, visited the art gallery and signed up for the auction later in the week, took a gander at the casino, and ended the evening at a Mixology Class at the night club—which was an absolute blast. I hated to spend $10 a person, but we got to try four different signature drinks of Holland America cruise line. The first three were SPECTACULAR (Epic Spiced Daiquiri, Melon Drop, and a Tropical Tom [Collins])… but the last one (New-Fashioned Bermuda), made with either black rum or whiskey, was something I could not stomach. So, Tom, being the sport that he is, drank mine! We had some good laughs with the bartenders (excuse me, mixologists) and other guests.
Overall, we were very impressed with every aspect of the service. Our steward knew our names after having met us once and says “Hello Hudsons” every time we pass in the hallway. We stopped at the front desk to ask for a second robe and it was there within the hour. We received turn-down service between the time we left for dinner (5:30) and the time we stopped back at the room after dinner (7:30). We needed laundry pickup (pressing, actually) and they were at our door within 10 minutes. Amazing. Of course, the thing that we don’t like are all the little extra fees for everything--$30 for a week’s worth of soda (Tom only—I can live with water), $20 for the mixology class, $10 for a photo (we didn’t like our boarding photo, thankfully), $30 and up for internet service, tips for spa treatments, because they aren’t technically part of the ship (should have thought about it, but didn’t), and the list goes on! The only thing we don’t have an issue with is the $20 gratuity per day—the staff here definitely deserves it!!