All the ship docs said that we could check in from noon, but we had to check out of the hotel before 11am, so we figured, “whatever, we’ll just go”. Turned out to be a good idea, as there were minimal queues at checkin and they simply put us in a ‘holding pen’ for a few minutes until we could board. Had a raspberry lemonade by the pool until the announcement that rooms were ready, then headed for our cabin.

This is one of the smaller Holland America ships, at just over 1400 passengers. That’s fine by us. Better yet, it doesn’t seem to be overrun with children. We all boarded separately, then met up at the Lido buffet for lunch and for getting our bearings. I took a time out to explore the ship a bit.

The World Stage up front of the ship is set up in an interesting fashion, with small group seating instead of theatre seating.

Several decks above that, the Crow’s Nest is a nice place to hang out

Mid-deck and mid-ship, there’s the obligatory casino

This ship is too small to have the Tamarind restaurant with the attached bar, which was our favourite spot on the handbell cruise because it was quiet. However, I discovered that the Volendam has a bar in the Library(!) so that might be a good substitute.

The view from our cabin should be nice, once we get going. Right now, while still in port, we’re looking right at the world’s crappiest Six Flags park.

Hopefully, as we depart, I can get a good shot of the main part of the Goliath coaster, which isn’t visible from inside the park at all. It’s also the best coaster there - which, granted, isn’t a high bar to clear, but it is legitimately a good ride.

Turns out… yes, we got a really good view of it.

We lunched at the buffet which had a lot of options. I’m pretty much always up for some sushi.

The bags had arrived in our room by then, so we got unpacked and had a bit of a rest before heading to dinner.

Those who had fish at dinner said it was really tasty. Michelle and I both opted for the striploin, which was tough and way overcooked. Won’t be having steak on the ship again. The chocolate cheesecake dessert was really good, though.

After dinner, we hit up the little bar called Mix, which I don’t remember seeing on any of our other Holland America cruises. It was nice, because it was relatively quiet and the espresso martinis were good.

Then it was off to the evening’s show, “Hits on 45”- a tribute to the golden age of radio. It was.. um… energetic. Yes, that’s a nice thing to say.

There was a missed opportunity here, I think. There were four singers and four dancers - it would’ve been fun if the dances were taken from the decade that the songs came from. The moves were pretty much the same for the whole show, from the 50s to the 70s, though.

The killer was that the singers were over-singing like they were trying to belt out to the back row of an arena. That made their voices tire, and they got more and more out-of-tune as the show went on. The final number, when all four of the singers were barely in the right key, let alone on the right pitch, was Bohemian Rhapsody. It was pretty cringe, hate to say it.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. We’re docked in Quebec City tomorrow, which I love.

Click here to return to this trip’s main page
Click here to return to the travelogue page