For all you foodies that live for the ‘food porn’ pics in these posts, I’ll apologize in advance. The presentation on Holland America compared to what Viking sets in front of you is decidedly lacklustre in terms of the plating. However, the food is actually quite good, so it’s only the photos that suffer.

Case in point: brekkie. Now, we had to have brekkie at the buffet (the dining room opens too late), so it’s the folks on the buffet line doing the plating and their main job is to keep the line moving. I got the traditional scrambled/bacon/sausage thing and I gotta tell you those eggs were fantastic. Maybe the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever gotten off a buffet line. PLUS, they had Cholula Chipotle hot sauce, so that went on top of everything.

I said that the dining room “opened too late” - that’s because I had my first bell rehearsal at 8am(!) I’m playing the next-to-lowest spot, so I’ve got five of the big bells to handle. It’s a weird spot to play in, because you can spend several measures in a row with no notes to play, then there will be three or four measure where you’re slinging bells, weaving, and grabbing a chime or a mallet… and then a bunch of measures where you don’t play. I feel like one of those cats that goes from a nap to spazzing and running around the house, then right back to a nap.

Funny side note: I’m wearing my t-shirt with my gangster grandpas today…

…and as it happens whenever I wear this shirt, a few people throughout the day will point and smile and say they love the shirt. I’ll say, “oh, you know Pete and Bas?” and they don’t. I explain that they’re a rap duo and they can’t even comprehend that, so they just smile and nod. It’s funny. And today was no different, getting one of those interactions from the server at brekkie.

After rehearsal, Rob and I went to browse the shops. There are the typical souvenirs you’d expect, plus some strange things. I mean, who goes on a cruise and buys a mattress?

Then it was down to guest services to book our transportation to the airport at the end of the cruise and to also book one of the specialty restaurants for dinner tonight. We opted for the Italian one, because seriously, how can you go wrong with Italian?

Back to the buffet for lunch, where I finally found the taco bar. Two with corn salsa and two with mango salsa. Both very good. It won’t be the last time I have tacos for lunch! Rob opted for potato soup and an egg salad sandwich.

Rehearsal number two happened after lunch and it was more of the same, only we’re sounding a bit better than before. Most of the four songs were playing are difficulty level 2 (out of six) and one level 3. Ironically, for my particular ringing position, the trickiest one to play is called “Simplicity.”

They announced that they’ll have tryouts tomorrow for an “all-star” group who will get two extra songs to play that will be more challenging. Hell yeah, I signed up to audition for that! There are around 100 ringers here - there are (I think) just 13 spots on the all-star team…. if they double up, then 26 spots. Either way, bring it on. The audition will certainly be sight-reading and that’s my favourite thing to do.

A quick nap, then off to explore more of the ship. I found the “Rolling Stone Lounge”, which looks like it would be nice.

I also found the casino - which is normally just wasted space for me, since I’m not really a gambler.

This time, though, since it was pretty quiet in there, I figured ‘what the hell’ and sat down at a penny slot machine. I told it that I was willing to spend $5 (ooooo, big spender!). I looked at my options and decided I’d risk $0.80 on a spin. I spun (which is actually just pushing a ‘spin’ button)… and won $6.20!

I snapped the pic while it was still counting up the winnings. So I spent $0.80 and won $6.20. That’s good enough for me! I took my card out of the machine and left. Found the Calgary bunch up at the top of the ship playing Yahtzee. One of them had gone off to get a beverage, so I rolled her turn for her. Rolled a Large Straight!

If everything comes in threes, then I figured the next thing I do is also going to be a winner - so I went back to the room and found my cute husband there. See? It works!

We opted to break away from the group and have ‘date night’ tonight. First, we found a nice little bar up on deck 11 with a quiet corner.

Afterward, we went to Canaletto, one of the premium restaurants on board. It’s Italian, if you couldn’t tell by the name. We got a nice bottle of wine and we both had the beet and gorgonzola salad (delicious!) The bread course before that was interesting - I really don’t like olives, but the pickled green olives were actually interesting - there was a fresh lemon flavour in them.

For the main course, Rob had the short ribs and I had the osso buco and both were absolutely outstanding. Everything was done to perfection. The affogato after dinner was a bit sketchy, but no matter. The meal made up for it.

After dinner, we headed to the big theatre for a show called “Song and Dance” - a conglomeration of songs from movie and broadway musicals. Of note are the sets… or rather, lack of sets. The whole backdrop was done on screens and WOW the way they leaned into that technology was impressive. They were able to zoom in/out, change locations, and switch up the mood at a moment’s whimsy and it was all flawless. Here are some pix.

Highlights of the show were a bizarre but totally amazing jazz/blues arrangement of “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat” from Guys and Dolls and a blistering rendition of Nina Simone’s “I’m Feeling Good” which absolutely needs to be a handbell arrangement. I’ll be working on that shortly. Wow.

After the show, we headed to Billboard Onboard, a piano bar…

We didn’t stay long because they had it amped up SO FREAKING LOUD that we couldn’t even enjoy it.

That’s OK, we just took our espresso martinis and went back to our room.

It was a fun day and ‘date night’ was really nice. Lots to do tomorrow, so I had better call it a night.

Click here to go back to this trip’s main page
Click here to go back to the travelogue page