Coppenhagen, Denmark

Good morning from sunny, but chilly Copenhagen! Megan and I took our late excursion meet up as an opportunity to continue to get little extra rest. I am still not 100% and she is now congested as well. The consolation in that is that a lot of passengers seem to have gotten a cold as well as we changed climate so drastically in the the last couple of weeks. So we are all in good company and despite many a COVID test, it is just a cold. We went and had brunch again in the Lido this morning and then met our excursion group at the Main stage at 1:00pm. Some other passengers had gotten off this morning and took the shuttle into town and then came back to the ship for the excursion. If we had been more motivated we could have done the same thing this morning as well. Our fist stop was Tivoli Gardens in downtown Copenhagen. It is celebrating its 180th anniversary. It was a cross between the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Disneyland. We had two hours to walk around this park and we took the opportunity to get Megan and unlimited ride wristband and she had a chance to ride some rides and just be a big kid. She twisted and turned and flipped herself upside down more than once. I wish we had come here first thing this morning and spent the whole day here. Next time. We met back up with our tour group and took a scenic drive around Copenhagen. We saw the palace, the opera house, a replica of David by Michelangelo, Rosenberg castle, some of the places Hans Christen Anderson lived and St Alban’s Anglican Church. There were daffodils opening everywhere and cherry trees blossoming. There is actually a cherry blossom festival here tomorrow. We were told several times today how blessed we were to be here at this time. The weather was lovely. It is Friday here and everywhere we went we saw tons of locals hanging out outside enjoying the weather and the sun shine. Our last stop on our excursion was to the Little Mermaid Statue. The sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue, which was unveiled on August 23, 1913. We have seen the replica of the statue in Solvang, California several times and it was nice to finally see the original. We were back to the ship around 4:30pm and had time to relax and take some extra time to get ready for our special dinner this evening. We met for a cocktail party at 6:30pm with other passengers and had the opportunity to spend the evening with several officers and Gus Antorcha, the president of Holland America. We were treated to a lovely dinner in the Pinnacle Grill and had two other lovely couples seated with us and had the Hotel Manager, Henke as our table host. The conversation flowed so easily and everyone had such a lovely evening. Before we knew it, it was almost 10:30pm and we were one of the last tables in the restaurant. We were home shortly after. We came home to a vase with some of the tulip bulbs left over from the 150th celebration event with a note that said “From Florist”. I had an even later evening catching up with loved ones back at home but it is the blessing and curse of the time differences when we are traveling. We are currently 9 hours ahead of CA time and will be for about another week. Tonight we will sleep while the ship sails toward Oslo, Norway. We will have a scenic narrated sail in through the Fjords in the morning before we dock at the pier. Looking forward to a new country and a new adventure there. Wishing you all great rest and a fantastic weekend ahead!!

Sea Day

I am happy to say I woke up this morning feeling a lot more like myself again. I got a really long nights sleep and I didn’t wake up all night coughing. Megan and I slept in till about 10:30am this morning. We didn’t even make it to Project Linus. Gail was so sweet, she texted us and made sure we were o.k. We went and had brunch around 11:30am in the Lido after doing come tidying around the cabin. We sent laundry out and did a little organizing. It is hard to believe that we are only three weeks away from the end of this amazing trip. We still have much left to see and do. But the organizer in me wants to start packing, but there is no where to put packed suitcases in the cabin. So the will stay nestled under the bed for now. Megan went to tutoring at 12:30pm and I worked on my blog for a little while. We met at the Main stage around 1:00pm for a presentation by Holland America President Gus Antorcha. He is still on the ship and hosting a few events over the next couple of days post 150th anniversary celebration. He announced the itinerary for the 2025 World Cruise. For the first time ever Holland America in actually offering two World Cruises for 2025 and there are two itineraries passengers can choose from. He then opened the floor for a Q&A session. We listened till 4:30pm as passengers got to ask questions, voiced complaints and give compliments. I give the man huge kudos for making himself available to the guests like that. I don’t know that I would have been as graceful or as composed as he was, but he handled the entire session with professionalism and grace. Next, we headed home to get ready for dinner. We were lucky enough to get to host Spencer, the athletic director, at our table tonight for dinner.It is always nice to be able to interact with crew on a personal level over dinner. It was a relaxing day. I was happy to have had the opportunity to get the extra rest and take it easy today. I am feeling better and hope the healing continues. We have several ports in row beginning again tomorrow in Coppenhagen. We are looking forward to seeing some new and amazing places, taking pictures and sharing our adventures with you along the way.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Day 2 of2

This morning the alarm went off particularly early after our last evenings Gala celebration. We grabbed a quilt breakfast in the Lido before heading to the Main stage to meet our excursion group at 7:15am. Today we are off to the Keukenhof tulip festival. This experience is only available for seven weeks out of every year. There will be over a million visitors to this festival in those seven weeks. I am very lucky we were there early upon it’s opening. By the time we left the place was absolutely packed. I believe the cruise ship along brought six bus fulls of passengers here today and probably the same if not more yesterday. What an absolutely beautiful experience. Over 7 million spring flowering blooms of tulips, daffodils and hyacinth. There are also five other indoor pavilions that had additional displays of orchids, hyacinth and hibiscus. It was nice to be able to go inside the pavilions and get a break from the cold wind. There is also a windmill on the property and we got to go up inside of it and see the view of the tulip fields in the surrounding area. The colors everywhere were so beautiful. The smell of hyacinth in the air was actually overwhelming in a few areas it was so strong. I had never seen so many blooming flowers at one place at one time in my life. It was a very memorable experience and I am so glad I was able see this as part of my 2023 World Cruise adventure. We were back on the ship by about 11:30am and I laid down on the bed, still in my jacket and shoes and I fell asleep. I napped away the afternoon as this cold is still wiping me out. But I am letting myself rest as I decided it is my body trying to tell me something. We got up around 4:00pm and started to get ready for our 5:00pm dinner seating. We had a nice dinner and got to watch the scenic sail out of Amsterdam. We went through some beautiful scenery and some locks at one point I am not sure exactly where we they were but it was lovely to see. I was back in my cabin shortly after dinner and I was in for the night. Megan went out and went swimming for a bit before she came home and was in for the evening. I am hoping for a good night sleep, healing, and to wake up feeling refreshed. Please enjoy the photos I took today. There are many more and it was super hard choosing which ones to post. It truly was a magnificent place to visit.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Day 1 of 2

Hello from the Netherlands. Home to Holland America. And appropriately so as today is the company’s 150th birthday celebration! We woke up early this morning and I pushed myself to participate in today’s activities. We put a lot of time and energy into planning our time here in Amsterdam and despite how I am feeling, I will not allow illness to slow me down. We had breakfast in the Lido and then headed to the Main Stage to meet our excursion group at 9:15am. The Lido Pool Deck area is currently closed to passengers in anticipation of delivery and set up of staging, tables, chairs, etc, for this evening’s Gala event. We were off the ship and onto a scenic drive around part of Amsterdam today. We visited the Van Gogh Museum today and learned that the Van Gogh family actually donated the collection to the state but the caveat was that the state had to build a museum to display the works. So the museum was built in 1972 and it has been here ever since. The museum is undergoing a restoration currently but we still got to see several of his famous pieces and learn about his education in art and about his eccentricities. It was a wonderful museum to visit and a unique opportunity to view his works. At this point we said farewell to our excursion group, after we told the tour guide, as they were just heading back to the ship. We had other plans today and we walked from the Van Gough Museum to the Anne Frank House. We had booked a 30 minute narrated introduction to the museum followed by an audio guided tour of the House. I have been here before, but have recently re-read the book and Night, and Megan is a avid WWII history buff, so it was quite an experience for both of us. It’s a somber look at the reality of that time in the world’s history. And a testament the atrocities that took place. It was definitely a moving experience and I was glad to have another opportunity to visit this hallowed home. The photo of the diary below is not the original one. There are no photos allowed in the museum so this is the only one I was allowed to take. After we left the Anne Frank House we decided to take the walk back to the ship. We popped into a few shops along the walk back. Found a fantastic bakery that I had visited on my previous travels here, thank you Jackie for the photo and the reminder of where it was! Grabbed a sandwich at a deli for Megan. Oh and I had two Cappuccinos today cause that what it took for me to rally myself. I don’t normally drink caffeine so I am concerned how that will affect me later but we shall see. We got back to the ship around 3:30pm. We had a few housekeeping things to take of. At the top of my list was getting our new room keys made. Megan and I are now officially Five Star Mariners with Holland America. It is the top tier (kinda) to their loyalty program and it get us benefits whenever we travel on Holland America. We received a new pin and now our room key reflects our new mariner status. Then it was time to get ready for tonight’s Gala’s event. There was a special dinner in the Main Dining room. Then we returned to our cabin to find a nice gift from Holland America of a duffle bag, to pack all the extra souvenirs “you” bought on the cruise. The 150th Birthday Event started at 8:00pm and we went up early so we could secure a table for the event. WE spent a lovely evening sharing a table with our with our friends Freddy and Bob. There was complimentary cocktails and appetizers served. There were tulips everywhere elegantly decorating the space. They brought on a live band and set up a stage on the pool deck. At 9:45 pm the president of Holland America made a speech in accompaniment of the captain. They thanked us for our dedication to the company and for all our loyalty through the difficult years of COVID. We had a champagne toast to the future of Holland America and then we were done. I can’t even believe I stayed out this late. It was nice to get dressed up and enjoy the evening, but I am still fighting the ick and tomorrow is a very early excursion. I will probably be napping by noon tomorrow. I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, enjoy the photos from our adventures today. We walked over 14k steps today!! Sending you lots of love from across the miles.

Zeebrugge, Belguim

I am sick. We got up this morning and I am so dragging my wagon. We made arrangements for Marty to go ahead and take Megan on our excursion today, cause I just can’t. Unfortunately Cruise Specialist won’t allow him to take her without a signed release of liability and with the time difference there is no one currently in the office to do so. So I rallied and threw on my clothes to go and meet her. When I got there Megan was super cool and said she understood that I was sick and that we could just stay on the ship today. We told Tom, our Cruise Specialist liaison, and I went to the cabin crawled back into bed. Most of the day is a blur for me. In and out of consciouness between sleep and awake. Continuous announcements on the ship does not make for restful sleep at all. The past librarian from a previous World Cruise came on board with her spouse and her two little ones and Megan got to spend the day hanging out with and playing with them. She had dinner with Gail and Marty last and tonight both. Tonight was Tomo’s, one of our Main Dining Room server friends, last night on the ship. So Megan got to say goodbye to him on our behalf. I must give huge thanks and praise to Marty and Gail for their willingness to pitch in for me today and take Megan on her excursion. And then to keep an “eye” on her all day today. I know she was a little disappointed to miss getting off in Belgium but at the end of the afternoon they did take her to the shops at the pier and she got me a magnet, way to go girl. I also need to give my thanks and gratitude to Tom from Cruise Specialist. He was super sweet and brought Megan and I both back a box of Belgium chocolates from our missed adventure today. Totally above and beyond. I am concentrating on nothing but to get better. Tomorrow we are in Amsterdam and have a full day planned. It is also the gala event and 150th celebration of Holland America. Happy Birthday Holland America. I don’t know how I am going to do it. Praying for miracle at this point. Hoping the antibiotics kick in and I start to feel better soon. Really makes me miss home and my own bed right now. Love and hugs to you all!!

Dover, England

Woke up definitely not feeling well this morning. I believe I have the beginnings of strep throat and it is not any fun. Luckily we had no excursions planned for today. We slept in a little and then I rallied so Megan and I could fulfill a quest of Fish and Chips. We took the shuttle from the port into Dover. We got to see the lovely white cliffs of Dover. They are quite a sight to see. There were two shuttle stops, one in the downtown area and one at the Castle. As beautiful as it is, I just was not up to walking around the castle today so we opted to head into the downtown area. The was a beautiful Unitarian church at the shuttle stop. We walked to the beach and Megan had a chance to touch the water and that made her happy. Next, we found a cool shopping mall. We visited the grocery store where Megan got her favorite, a french baguette and butter. I got a tin of coronation cookies and coronation chicken chips in honor of the royal coronation that is going to take place in a couple of weeks. That’s a lot of the word coronation in one sentence. LOL. Then we went next store to the drug store and picked up a couple of things. While we were in the drug store Marty asked a local for a recommendation for local fish and chips place for us to go and have our treat. So off we went to Castle Fish and Chips. But sadly, it was closed. But this is England, so we didn’t have to venture too far to find another place. We wound up at the Eight Bells pub. This place was packed with locals so I knew it would be good. We had a huge piece of fish and fries and mushy peas (I love them, Megan not so much) and a pint of Guinness. A lovely way to spend the afternoon. After lunch we headed back to the ship and I happily crawled into bed at 2:30pm and never came out. This thing is kicking my butt. Megan went and had dinner with Gail and Marty and then went off to play cards. I am hoping to get some good sleep. Tonight we leave England and head to Belgium. We set the clocks ahead an hour again and room service is scheduled for a 7:00am delivery (6:00am to us). Wish me luck!!

Portland (Weymouth), England

Hello from Jolly Ol’ England. We finally got to come into port early this morning after the cargo ship moved out of the slip. The cruise director, Ian, started making announcements for passengers to report for face to face immigration inspection at 7:00am. Megan and I got up and got ready to head for inspection. We finally got called about 8:00am and we headed off to complete our inspections. After immigration we went to the Pinnacle for breakfast. We hadn’t been there in a while and everyone told us it was nice to see us back again. After breakfast we headed back to our cabin to relax, rest and to watch a movie. I have been fighting a sore throat for a couple of days and it is affecting my sleep so it was nice to rest. At noon we got all ready to head out and went up to the Lido and grabbed something to eat for lunch. Next, we headed to the main stage to meet our excursion group at 1:00pm. We headed out for a drive around Portland before we headed through Weymouth and on to Bovinton to visit the Tank Museum. It was a great afternoon walking through the museum and followed the progression of the invention and modifications made to tanks over the years. It was quite an impressive display. We had two hours there and it wasn’t enough time to see all that they had and read all the displays. They had a few “famous” tanks in the museum. The most famous was the tank Brad Pitt used in the movie “Fury”. They had a display to the movie with several props and costumes. On the way back to the pier we drove by the place where Lawrence of Arabia got in a motorcycle accident and then died six days later. We also got to see the former sight of a WWII airstrip. There is much history here; the landing sight of thousands of troops that came over on the Queen Mary before going to Normandy, the fishing history here, and the home of a former torpedo factory. It was great to learn more about the rich history in Europe today. When we got back to the ship we were greeting by an entire choir that had come to sing us off. There were also four men dressed in period military uniforms. They brought out a cannon and shot it off three times as we puled out of port. The first one that went off, we were still right next to the pier, and we were right next to the cannon and I could feel it in my chest. The other two rounds went off as we got further away from the dock. It was one of the coolest send offs I had ever been a part of. After the sail away Megan and I went to the Lido for dinner. It was steak night and they had almost every kind of cow preparation you could think of. We had a great dinner and then headed back to the cabin for an early bedtime. We popped on a movie, I wrote my blog and we got into our jammies. Hope you all are having a wonderful Saturday doing what ever you are doing. Hugs from us to you.

Sea Day…Weymouth (Portland), England

We woke up this morning floating into the English Chanel. We made our way to right outside the port in Weymouth. Since we came in earlier than expected (we weren’t scheduled to arrive until tomorrow) our slip was previously occupied by a cargo container that is off loading its contents. We had hoped to pull into port sometime today and hopefully get off and walk around the city, but sadly that was not to be. The rain and winds here delayed the speed at which they could off load the cargo ship so at dinner the captain made an announcement that we are now expecting to be able to pull into the slip tomorrow morning. Sow we are anchored for the night. This a first for me. We have had our share of over nights in port, but never have I done it while in anchor. Another bit of “good news” we received this afternoon is that there is a nationwide labor strike going on in France, that includes port workers. So our visit to La Havre, France for Sunday has now also been cancelled. Instead we will make our way to Dover, England. But it also means that we will not be visiting France at all as part of this world cruise. And on top of that, we were to receive supplies in La Havre so our supply chain has once again been hampered. A few upcoming specialty dinners have been cancelled so more time can be committed to the grand preparations for Holland America’s 150th Anniversary Celebration that is to take place on April 18th. We are hoping for a grand event that evening and I am very much looking forward to it. I came into this trip expecting many a change to take place, although I thought the cause of our changes would be COVID related. But you learn to be flexible, to remember the blessing in each day, and to appreciate where we are right now. I know what a blessing this opportunity is and I will find the joy in every day. So we did get to sleep in a little this morning after our late night of festivities last night. We made it to Project Linus time and got to spend time with all our wonderful friends. Then we went to the Lido for lunch as we had skipped breakfast again. Megan had tutoring at 12:30 and I headed home. I have a bit of a frog in my throat and I have been dragging my wagon most of today. We spent the afternoon watching a really good movie called Bridge of Spies. It was based on a true story and a novel by the same name. It was directed by Steven Spielberg. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. We had dinner in the Main dining room at 5:00pm. Then Megan and I went to the Main Stage to watch the show this evening. It was an acrobatic show with light effects. It was pretty good and we enjoyed it. After the show Megan went off to play cards and I came home so I could whip up this blog and pop into bed. We have face to face immigration inspection tomorrow here in England, starting at 7:00am and then we have an excursion later in the afternoon. I am looking forward to getting off the ship and doing some exploring tomorrow. Have some wonderful sleep tonight everyone!! Hugs.

Sea Day

Oh what a rough night we had last night. We rocked and rolled the night away and I wasn’t even at the night club. I didn’t get much rest with the creaking and noises in the cabin all night long. Always a mom first hearing the bumps and thumps int he night. We slept in a bit and were up and out the door in time to meet with the project Linus group around 9:30am. We both finished and turned in our next completed blankets today. It is definitely much colder onto ship these days. Most people are wearing pants and sweatshirts now. I am SO glad I bought a pair of UGG shoes in Australian and I am wearing them today. After Linus Megan and I went to the Lido and had lunch as we skipped breakfast entirely this morning. Then Megan went off to tutoring and I went to an acupuncture appointment. We met back at the cabin after and we worked on starting our next two blankets today. We have four more weeks left on the ship and several of them are port days but we decided there is plenty of time to as last do one more each. Tonight was a formal night with a 007, James Bond theme encouraged. We had a lovely dinner int he Main Dining room at 5:00pm and I finished my bottle of wine from Kangaroo Island. At 7:00pm the casino opened up for a “Casino Royale” party. You could try your hand at several different casino games for free and those with the most chips at the end were tabulated for prizes. I got to try Roulette, Black Jack and three round of a Slot tournament. They also had a crap tournament, but I didn’t play that. I was lucky in Roulette this evening. I will call it beginners luck. I played my children’s birthdays and hit on two out of the seven spins out of the tournament. I wound up in second place in the entire tournament at the end of the evening. We enjoyed some live music from the dueling pianos, enjoyed drink specials, and made a donation to the casino throughout the evening. It was a lot of fun and we stayed out till almost 11:30pm. We came home and quickly got ourselves ready for bed, put on a movie and are going to sleep. Hopes are for a much calmer evening at sea tonight. I need some extra rest. We are expected to pass into the English Channel the evening and to seek shelter from the brewing storms. We will be pulling into Portland, England sometime tomorrow when our slip becomes available. There is currently a cargo ship off loading and we have to wait for that process to be completed. Enjoy the few photos I have from today. Blessings.

A Corūna, Spain ( Partial day trip to Betanzos)

Good morning from our last port of call in Spain. I didn’t realize we had another one when we left Seville. Not used to the back and forth in a country like we’ve had this trip. This country is close to Portugal and definitely had a strong Portuguese influence. It is their primary language as well. We started our morning with an announcement from the Captain. That is not a typical occurrence so we knew something was up. Turns our there is quite a nasty storming brewing off the West coast of France so a decision has been made to cancel our next port of call in Brest, France. We will still have a sea day tomorrow and then the next day we sail into Portland, England early. We weren’t supposed to be there until Saturday, but now we will arrive there sometime Friday. We are still waiting for a time we can berth but we will now be there overnight. I know the captain is, as always, looking out for our safety and well being so we respect the decision that has been made. We headed up to the Lido to grab breakfast this morning before meeting our tour group in the Main Stage at 9:30am. We were off to take a scenic drive around A Coruna and then we arrived at our first stop, The Tower of Hercules, a Unesco world heritage sight. I think we have seen at least one a day since we have arrived in Europe. This lighthouse is still working today and it was originally built by the Romans in the first century. It is the oldest existing lighthouse known. The walls are 3 meters thick, the lighthouse is 55 meters high and the lighthouse is made up of over 3,000 granite blocks. At one time this was thought to be the “end of the world” before explores traveled west and discovered the Americas. There are lots of legends and folklore that go with the tower and if you are interested you can look it up. It was quite a hike up the hill to get the photos but the view was great taking and it was a great adrenaline rush to start the day, oh and we only had 20 minutes to do it. It was a beautiful way to view the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. Next we drove to Betanzos. Along the drive we saw the Coca Cola factory that was built here in the 1960’s. When we arrive to Betanzos, we had about 30 minutes of free time to take photos in the square, have a comfort break, and to grab an espresso. It was only about 53 degrees today and we needed our coats for the first time on land of this entire trip (we needed them once before for a boat trip). We then rejoined our tour guide for a walking tour of Betanzos. We visited several historic buildings and went inside two churches. I need to take pause here and express to you the overwhelming feeling of awe I experienced today realizing I was standing in front of and sitting on the steps of a church that was over 800 years old. The history here is just so old, unlike anything I ever experienced before, at least not that I appreciated it before. I was in Italy when I was 13, but I took what I was seeing for granted then. I am not today. We got to see them starting to remove special adornments in the churches that were put up for Holy Week. We also got to go inside a church that our tour guide told us doesn’t usually allow tourist into. There is a photo below of a mural with a light on it. The photo of the large wooden alter was recently moved as part of a restoration project and the mural was discovered behind it just this past November. This church was built in the 14th century and it wasn’t known to have been there. It was a very exciting discovery for this community. Next, we visited Iglesia San Francisco. The irony that yesterday we were in a town that made me homesick and reminded me of San Francisco, California and today we visited a church with its namesake, does not escape me. There was even a statue of Saint Michael (my son’s name) outside the church. The tombs within the church walls were beautiful done and the resting gothic statues were a tribute to those buried there. As we stepped out of the church we ran into two backpackers, grandfather and grandson, hiking their way through; The Camino de Santiago. They showed us their certificates of passport, that they had stamped along the way. The Way of St James became a major pilgrimage route of medieval Christianity from the 10th century onwards and is about 500 miles long. We then walked back to the bus and took a short ride to a waterside restaurant where we enjoyed tapas and wine before heading back to the ship. We arrived back to the ship around 2pm. The Captain changed our all aboard time this morning to 10:30pm so Megan and I went to our cabin to drop off our heavier jacket in exchange for light ones and then we went back out to walk around A Corūna. We were on a trek to try some “thick” hot chocolate that Gail ad Marty told us about. It has the constancy similar to pudding and it was delicious. We also went to the grocery store and to a empanada store. It was hard making a decision, so we actually got three. Next, we ventured into a shop where they sold cured meats. I fell in love with iberico ham in Amsterdam several years ago and I was able to purchase some today to bring home!! As we walked our way through the promenade shops there was a man singing in Spanish and the acoustics of his voice echoing off the walls of the buildings was as melodious as anything I had ever heard before. I could have sat and listened to him for hours. Lastly, we found a park and decided to “not” act of age for little while and we played on the swings and the slide. Before we knew it we had been off the ship almost three hours so we decided to walk back to the port. We walked over 12k steps today. We were back on the ship around 6pm and we couldn’t believe how late it was. The sun sets so much later here so it is hard to judge the time of day but the sun’s position in the sky. Again, we are not hungry for dinner and I don’t know if we will even eat tonight. We still have empanadas to finish too. Megan will probably go play cards tonight and we will both enjoy getting to sleep in as tomorrow is a sea day. I have absolutely loved my time in Spain and plan to return here again the future. Anyone want to come with me? Buenas Noches to you all from España.