Woke up to the 10 a.m. announcements from cruise director Thomas Weber after a night during which I woke up several times, had trouble sleeping, and experienced weird dreams, all presumably as a result of the heavy seas we have been experiencing the past few days. Have not had sea sickness but Diane said that sometime during the night she could hear someone barfing in the bathroom of an adjacent cabin. Could hear the people who sound like backward-playing records/insects muttering to each other in the room next door and wondered if it was them.
Diane did not sleep well either and was not moving very quickly and so I decided to just have coffee delivered to the room and to work for a little while and that we could then go to an early lunch in the main dining room (which is supposed to be open again to passengers in general today).
Woke up around 9 a.m. after a long night of weird dreams brought on at least in part, presumably, by the continuous and sometimes profound rolling of the ship (and after losing a third hour as a result of our steady movement eastward).
Discovered to much consternation that the Fitbit charger Diane bought at Walmart just before we left was not the right one for her device, despite assurances that this was the case, thereby invalidating any walking she might do until such time as she can acquire one. Tried to find one after breakfast at the various gift shops and front desk but to not avail, ensuring unhappiness on this account for the foreseeable future.
Went at 11 a.m. to an interesting coffee chat with cruise director Thomas and lecturer Robin Ross, who was active in British "pirate radio" in the 1960s and '70s and, in the course of his ensuing career in legitimate radio, interviewed numerous music industry artists.
Worked in the cabin for awhile creating a product bundle for the Skirmisher Publishing section at DriveThruRPG and adding content to my neglected d-Infinity Online game magazine (my main co-contributors Chris Van Deelen and Clint Staples having disappeared from the site, almost like clockwork, as soon as I departed for this cruise).
Main dining room once again appeared to be closed for lunch so instead went to Lido, had a somewhat uninspiring meal there, and then returned to the cabin to work for awhile.
Lots of vibration, rolling, and general turbulence throughout the day as a result of significant chop in the ocean, and with Internet access regularly disappearing and then becoming available again sometime thereafter.
Breakfast: Congee with chicken, beef, dried cuttlefish, and scallions.
Lunch: Korean-ish noodles, pork with vegetables, and seafood stew (all just OK), three tuna rolls, iced tea, a baked apple, and a cone with one scoop of pretty good coconut ice cream.
Dinner: Salad of Boston lettuce with crumbled gorgonzola cheese, rare prime rib with carrots, butternut squash, Jackson potatoes, and a bottle of red wine.
Unable to eat lunch in the main dining room and went to the Lido.
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner:
Lunch in the main dining room.
Went to see the movie "On the Basis of Sex" in the theater.
Once again decided to have a nice lunch in the main dining room rather than deal with the relative chaos of the Lido.
Movie was something on Andrea Bocelli and we decided to skip it.
Breakfast: Congee, coffee.
Lunch: Bucatini pasta with a nice four-mushroom cream sauce.
Dinner:
Slept very well — probably about 10 hours, which felt good after the rough previous couple of days — and got up around eight.
Went to breakfast in the Lido buffet then went and worked for a couple of hours (released "Gebb" issue 20, announced and promoted it on Facebook and Twitter, and unfollowed 300 people who were not following me back on the latter platform). Had strong Internet connection via satellite and no issues uploading files, etc.
Had lunch in the main dining room with two other couples.
Walked six laps/1.5 miles around the very nice level 6 promenade deck.
Went to watch the new Aquaman movie in the Wajang Theater at 3 p.m. Had to slip past a woman in our row to get to the meager supply of popcorn when some was delivered but, by the time she ostentatiously stood up and glared at me, it had all been pillaged. Decided not to try to get past her again when more was brought in.
Went to thermal suite in fitness center to enjoy the hot tub, steam room, and heated beds. Were chatting quietly while laying on the latter when one of the other two people in the suite, a Germanic man, staggered over to the fountain, pointed to a sign sitting on top of it and informed us that it told us that we "must be silent," and then inadvertently smacked it off its perch onto the floor. I politely informed him that because neither of us had glasses on we had been unable to read the sign but that his knocking it onto the floor had disturbed us. We then deferred to his need for lebensraum and remained strictly silent until he moved on and a significantly more chatty and nearsighted American couple arrived. Hit the dry sauna for about 10 minutes and then the steam room again before taking a shower and heading back to the cabin.
Got cleaned up and then went to dinner, where we sat with an interesting couple from the San Francisco area (his name was Lance). She said her career had been project management for utilities and he said he had studied metallurgy at one point and we had a very enjoyable conversation that included discussion of William Manchester's Arms of Krupp and Herbert and Lou Hoover's translation of De Re Metallica.
Returned to cabin and turned in about 9:50 p.m. and dozed until about half past midnight, then got up, fixed a Diet Coke, and worked until about 3 a.m. before turning in again.
Breakfast: Coffee, orange juice, and "Eggs Sardou" (two poached eggs on a bed of creamed spinach and artichoke hearts and English muffin with Hollandaise sauce).
Lunch: Salad, Buccatini pasta with creamy four-mushroom sauce, iced tea, mille fuille pastry with bananas.
Snack: Small bag of popcorn that I grabbed on my way out the theater.
Dinner: Starter of fried crab and daikon cakes, main course of beautiful and perfectly cooked prime rib with vegetables, bottle Australian shiraz, desert of sticky toffee and date pudding.
Had an unsatisfactory and overpriced breakfast at the restaurant of the hotel we were staying at in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and, after some effort to ensure we really were booked on one of the vans going to the cruise port, departed on the 12:45 at about 1:15. Arrived at Port Everglades Pier 19 about 1:30 p.m., dropped off our luggage outside the terminal, checked in and got our sea pass cards very quickly — it is always quicker and easier when we are paying customers than when I am booked as a lecturer — and boarded Veendam around 2 p.m. Were not greeted with a glass of champagne, either because Holland America does not do that or because we boarded after almost everyone else already had.
After that, however, everything improved and we were able to start forgetting about the rigors of the previous day and our prolonged and unpleasant trip from Texas to Florida.
Went to our Ocean View stateroom on the forward port side of Deck 6 and were pleased to find it ready for us to occupy and, while there, got online and signed up for our Internet package and met our cabin steward.
We then ventured out to explore the ship a little, to include a brief tour of the fitness center, where we signed up for a thermal room package that allows us to use a special semi-private suite with steam room and hot tub for 14 days ($239). Also signed up for two eight-bottle wine packages (one from "Cellar 1" and one from "Cellar 2"), which will save us about 25% over ordering them individually. Had a light snack in the Lido Market buffet on Deck 11.
Went to mandatory safety drill at our muster stations on Deck 6 around 3:30 p.m. Then went back to the room for awhile before returning to the fitness center for a drawing where we won nothing but where my wife apprised me in detail of just how misguided it was for the manager to be wearing the stiletto heels she had on.
Set sail about 5 p.m.! Went and had another light snack at Lido Market.
Went back to the cabin again, made a dinner reservation for 7:45 p.m., and then changed into trunks and sweats and went to enjoy the dry sauna in the men's changing room at the fitness center for awhile.
Had a great dinner and about 7/8 of a bottle of wine between the two of us and then went back to the cabin and passed out about 10 p.m.
* Pros: Were very pleased to discover that the quarter-mile Promenade Deck goes all the way around the ship and will make walking laps very easy! This is something many newer ships no longer do and it is a feature that we both appreciate and make use of.
* Cons: We packed for this trip based on information on the Holland America website for this ship that said it had a self-service laundry facility and were thus very surprised and disappointed to learn this was not actually the case! Passenger-access launderettes were apparently removed during the recent renovation of the ship but this information was not reflected on the website for people getting ready to sail. We can, of course, simply pay to have our things laundered, but that is not much consolation.
Snack 1: Six sushi rolls and an Italian Moretti draft beer.
Snack 2: Three small tapas/appetizer plates, including one with pickled mushrooms and one with grilled zucchini and mozzarella cheese, followed by a cone of pistachio ice cream.
Dinner: Starter of broiled scallops, entree of sauteed cod on pearl cous cous, bottle of Estancia pinot noir, small cheese and fruit plate for desert. Wine was a bit light-bodied and tart and, while we enjoyed it well enough, probably would not order it again.
