GLOBAL ODYSSEY 2010 BLOG #6: WE’RE OFF!!!

The good news is that this is not a diary, so you’re only going to be getting what we think is of some interest. We arrived in exhausted Fort Lauderdale some time the back side of 11:00 PM, but fortunately had reservations at the Holiday Inn Express, which even provides transportation to the port. That was good move number one. Good move number two was staying up until about 2:00 AM repacking, which managed to somewhat consolidate our baggage. We caught about six hours of shuteye and woke up in time for Mary to return the rental car to the airport and for us to catch the 11:30 bus to the pier with all our baggage. We learned that newbies to cruising were identified by the amount of baggage they took on the cruise. We were easily spied.

So what are formalities like? Well, all but carry-on bags are sent aboard separately, and while they do have metal detectors and x-ray equipment, the search was not at the “take off your shoes” level. TSA still was fairly clueless about what they wanted – “take out your laptops!” “Put your laptops back in the bag!” along with admonitions to “Move it! Move it!” A bit like the operation was being run by Maurice (the king lemur) in “Madagascar.”

After all this, you come to Check In. Here the mood perceptibly alters – Holland America wants you to have a good time and feel special. Someone is smilingly passing out cookies (good, but unfortunately not hot) as well as drinks. You need what you need – passport with necessary visas (those that can’t be obtained for you onboard – India and China), preprinted boarding pass, and – above all – proof of vaccinations (there was a minute of panic as the rep searched for our yellow fever vaccine certification – thankfully it was on the back of the form). The rep Sam spoke with said that people did forget (or packed in their checked bags – unreachable now) their passports or other required paperwork, which required legwork like faxing a copy of their birth certificates. We don’t what is done for those without the proper shots, but apparently it can be a “deal breaker.” A fellow passenger said that Joan Rivers had just been refused boarding just days previous for a name variation on required documents.

Through an arch of balloons, we passed a reception line of officers and staff and on board. While bags were delivered to the cabins (and the departure delayed to load dockside stores), the Lido Restaurant was open and complimentary champagne was served. Mary was easily identified by the big smile that covered her face. ☺ She was looking forward to getting some rest.

OK, so what can you expect from this BLOG over the next 100-odd days? We may not tell everything, but we do promise you to TELL IT LIKE WE SEE IT. This may or may not be popular with the Line or people at the ports we visit, but it is the least we can do for those of you who are taking your limited time to follow this blog.

So here are some first impressions of being aboard:

Cabin: We’re quite happy with it. Big enough with lots of room for storage. Our load of baggage doesn’t look like such a bad idea in retrospect. A big plus. Suggestion for Holland America: Put in a bookshelf or two, guys; a large proportion of your clientele does read.

Ship Décor: Another big plus! Sam traveled on a number of liners from the 1950’s into the 1970’s, but this beats them all. Mary concurs.

Library: Actually surprising good. The best thing the Line has done is – ironically to prevent passengers from checking out travel books, so that all guides are on hand unless they are actually being read. At the same time, we did bring several books which are not available, but should have been. Suggestion for Holland America: Put the ship holdings on line and make this available to passengers. That way you’d know if a book would be available on board or not.

La Fontaine Dining Room: The best part of this is the dinner music – played live. Really good talented musicians. Keep them happy! The food is well cooked, but has heat issues. Carrots were cool. Steak was well done as requested, but had seen warmer days, and the lemon sorbet was dished up with a spoon which had obviously been used for chocolate ice cream. We expected – and expect - more. Flavor overall was excellent!

After dinner show: This was better than a high school musical, but if your kids aren’t participating, our advice would be not to waste your time!

More “picks and pans” in our next!