We were up early (OK, when the alarm went off at 7:00 Cheryl pointed out that we should have set it for earlier. But we still had our suitcases out in the hall and were down to breakfast at the appointed 7:30 (ish). Tim and Diane were there ahead of us. Actually they were up even earlier and were eating breakfast when our alarm went off. Anyway we finished and were ready to load the bus at 9:00.

On the way out of town we stopped by the Peace Palace. At the end of the 19th Century Tzar Nicolas convened a worldwide conference to discuss world peace in the wake of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. One of the outcomes of that conference was a commitment to study peace, how to achieve it, how to maintain it. Efforts to identify a suitable location for the effort were stymied until Andrew Carnegie donated the funds for the construction of a grand edifice.

We also drove by some other interesting and significant sites.

While in Scheveningen (the north part of The Hague) we stopped briefly at the beach. It was very different from Monday. Today the strong wind was blowing giving us a true north sea sendoff.

Then it was on to Amsterdam. We arrived with just enough time for a comfort stop before boarding our canal boat for a cruise on Amsterdam’s canals.

Following the canal tour it was time for lunch. The Hard Rock Cafe was just across the canal from the boat dock and we were in the mood for more familiar food and it was handy. I had a burger while Cheryl had a Thai Chicken Bowl.

After lunch we headed out on a short walk.

We were back at the designated stop in time to catch the bus to the ship.
We showed our passports, received our room keys, and were escorted down the corridor to our staterooms by a member of the housekeeping staff. I’m sure they’re very good at this process, but ours was a bit thrown by the fact that we had more experience on a viking river ship than she did. We were kind and thanked her warmly for her help, then set about unpacking the suitcases that had miraculously arrived before we did. Then we napped.

We are in a different class of stateroom. We have a balcony room while Tim and Diane are one step higher in a balcony suite. I’ll post photos of our room in the next couple of days, but here’s what theirs looks like.

At 4:30 we were awake (basically) and down in the lounge for an orientation by the Cruise Direcor (Marie from Pari) and the hotel manager (Eugen).

The next event was the safety drill. We heard the muster signal, put on our life vests, and reported to our muster station where our names were checked off and we waited for the ‘all clear’ signal.

Then it was off to dinner. During the meal the maitre ‘d stopped by to confirm that today was our anniversary. No, we are celebrating with this trip but the actual date was a couple of weeks ago. And Tim and Diane here are also celebrating even though their anniversary was in June.

So that’s boarding day.
Tomorrow we start serious excursioning.

Till then…
R

Except…I finished up working on a blog (hanging out in the lounge) and returned to the stateroom at about midnight to find Cheryl awake and at the window – watching our sail-away.