First Time Ocean Liner Cruisers

Our Main Dining Room group on Gala Night; Scott & I, Lisa & Craig, Walt and Honoree

This is a map showing our cruise - Land of the Midnight Sun - with our stops

On our balcony in Amsterdam before departing.

This was our first ever cruise on a "big" boat. To be honest we had no interest in booking one until our very good friends Walt & Honoree invited us to join them on Holland America's Konigsdam Norwegian Fjords Cruise June 10 to the 24th. We hadn't seen them for too long and this seemed like a great itinerary - Land of the Midnight Sun and gorgeous scenery. The cruise exceeded our expectations.

The first surprise was how tasteful and manageable it all was. We expected a gaudier "Las Vegas" look. It is the newest ship for this company and was pristine and elegant (mostly). There was a nasty smell of tobacco in the Casino but we managed to avoid it as much as possible (it was necessary to occasionally speed walk through it on the way to something else). And the food was uniformly excellent, especially in the Main Dining Room (MDR). We chose the fixed time at 5:30 PM and were very pleased (I know it's early but the only other time was so late). The couple that joined us at the table were lots of fun and great company. And we liked getting to know our waiters and wine steward - excellent all. Scott and I ate at two of the specialty restaurants: Tamarind and Sal de Mer. The former would probably have been excellent but we had the rijsttafel and it was disappointing compared to others we've had.  The service and decor were excellent however. 

Sal de Mer was wonderful. The food, service, decor were all outstanding. The six of us from our table at the MDR came and we all felt it was worth the additional charges. They even coordinated with our Wine Steward to provide our reserved wines. The Lido market provided plenty of good choices at every meal. We generally had lunch there, although we enjoyed the burgers at the Dive In and the sandwiches at the New York Deli. Breakfast was fine, although we enjoyed it more in the MDR when we had time. 

The entertainment was also better than expected on the whole. Exceptions were the other acts in the Main Stage - with the possible exception of the pianist (we were mixed on that). The dancers and singers that performed the 5 big shows were wonderful. Our favorite performers were the Lincoln Center quintet - fantastic! The particular musicians on our cruise broke all records for attendance. The dueling pianists and B.B. King Blue's Club were also fun once in a while as were the BBC Earth videos (one in the Main Stage with live music). We also enjoyed the demonstrations in the America's Test Kitchen by Erin (and the TV hosts). 

Our main critique was the relentless plugs for products. "Demonstrations" were usually sales pitches. And these made up too much of the day's activities. Interesting "non profit" events were often scheduled opposite each other. And although there was a very nice gym with plenty of equipment, they CHARGED for yoga or cycling sessions! Alcohol pricing is often mentioned as a problem but we found the prices comparable to a good city restaurant. And we often were able to go to a "wine tasting" or "martini tasting" and save money. The later was really fun! 

The excursions were always very expensive and generally unnecessary. We four went on the Stappen Island Bird Watching Trip in Honnigsvag and felt it was worth while. Scott, Walt and Honoree did the 8 hour Pulpit Rock Hike out of Stavanger and it was great. Otherwise we organized our own trips or used local tour companies. We spent much less money and saw more! In Haugesund for example we saw everything from two excursions (would have cost almost $300 each) using the public bus!
So in summary, the best thing about the cruise was being with Walt & Honoree. Would we take another cruise? Nothing in the distant future - but I could imagine us crossing the Pacific Ocean as an alternative to sitting in a cramped plane to Australia/New Zealand (at least one way). And we'd be happy to go with Holland America if we did. But as long as we're spending half the year cruising on our own Scott Free, we've no need of any other ship.
PS - We took WOW airline round trip to Amsterdam and will never do that again.

We took the offered tour of the kitchen but it was pretty
empty and there was little cooking to be seen. We did meet
and talk to the Head Chef, which was interesting.

Erin gave fun demonstrations of 3 dishes, all coordinated
with a video from America's Test Kitchen. They were
standing room only!

There was a Captain's reception which we attended with free wine/beer and a chance to meet the charming Captain Werner Timmers. He was a big hit on the "Meet the Crew" presentation. That's him between Scott and I. 

This is my only shot of our room - I've included a stock one
further down in the blog post as it's much clearer. We thought
the room was very comfortable and attractive - lots of storage.
We were in a Salon Veranda room - 1052. 

This is my shot of the pool area - better stock one below.
Our room was just inside the door on the second floor
above this location - great spot!

You can get a feeling of the size here.

Our room was on the 10th floor near the bow.

We had breakfast in our room several times with Walt &
Honoree to watch the scenery. Other times we had
champagne (brought with us) and appetizers before
dinner.

The complimentary robes were very nice. We ordered coffee
as a wake up every morning and it was excellent.

Our favorite place to view the fjords was up on the top
deck. That's the 7 Sisters falls (only 4 were there for us).

The weather wasn't conducive to sun bathing. And the roof
only opened a few times over the pool during our trip.

Easy on and off the tenders for us. They were used only twice
during our cruise.

That's our lovely ship on the left.

The crew managed the traffic brilliantly for the ports 

The crew were mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines
(where I spent 2 years in the Peace Corps) and they were
 really nice and professional. Here's our bartender for
the "Martini Tasting".

The Duck foie gras with Lingonberry sauce at Sal de Mer

And my Lobster Thermador" 

You still need to polish some brass on the ship!

Walt and Honoree with our favorite waitress at the Lido.

Stock photo of the pool. Our room was just inside the door on the second floor on the left. We were the second room
inside and we never had any noise in the evenings even though they showed movies here in the evenings. And we went to bed early by cruising standards. 

The Tamarind Restaurant

Walt & Honoree, Craig & Lisa and Scott & Heather at
Sal de Mer

The World Stage Theater

A stock photo of our room

The gym. Walt and Honoree taught us Tai Chi and we often
used the machines.

Muderslot Castle

Muiderslot's New Yorker cover!

Here's our ship - built in 1899 and still in service.

Scott, Honoree and Walt chat with our Captain

We booked a trip on the Amsterdam Tourist Ferry days ahead but despite drizzly cool weather, we had a great time. It took most of the day with an hour and a half cruise each way to the castle in Muiden, about 15 km southeast of Amsterdam. Muiderslot dates back to 1280.
It was built by Count Floris V when he gained command over an area that used to be part of the Sea of Utrecht, one of the most important trade towns of that age. One of the most famous owners of the castle was PC. Hooft, a 16th century poet and historian. For 40 years he spent his summers there and invited friends, scholars, poets and painters, known as the Muiderkring.
It is currently a national museum and restored to looking like the 17th century. The gardens and grounds are lovely as well.
Our ship was beautiful and dated to 1899 - wonderfully restored. The Captain and Bartender were fun and informative as were the staff at the castle. Great trip!

Walt takes a turn at the beer tap!

We passed these two wrecks on the way down the river to
the castle, seen in the distance.

This pristine beautiful sailing vessel was a gift from the
country to Princess Beatrix. 

Here's the entrance from the river.

You can see the moat which surrounds the castle and the
bridge entrance.

The interiors were furnished to look like they would have in
the 17th Century - surprisingly comfortable and even, cozy.

I thought this beautiful painting of two women kissing was
ahead of it's time but our guide explained that the woman
on the right was really a disguised man, from a folk tale.

Big fireplaces dominated each room and beautiful
paintings and rugs.

A view from the castle across the bridge towards the herb
gardens.

The gardens were very formal with fields and farms beyond in one direction and the small town and marina in the other.

Raptors were used for hunting by both
men and women in the 17th Century.
Honoree would have been great!

I'm including this stock photo so you can see the castle, gardens and the
river all together.

More Photos from Amsterdam

Scott with the tallest man ever officially recorded. The
Alton Giant as he was known, was 8 ft. 11.2 inches.

And Heather with Hulk

Canals and flowers

 We've walked, walked and walked all over Amsterdam. It's such a lively livable city. The weather gods have smiled on us - all but one day we've had sunshine. We visited the Rijsmuseum, the Van Gogh, the Maritime, the Hermitage, Muderslot Castle (separate post to come) and the Rembrandt House.
Our airbnb apartment was perfect. It was right in the center of the city - we could walk to everything. (Apartment Studio Mokum, Plantage - Weesperbuurt). And when we were tired, the public transportation was excellent. Scott's Google ap gave us directions for walking or the Metro.
Today we board our Holland America cruise ship the Konnigsdam, for two weeks along the coast of Norway to the Arctic Circle.

And bicyles

Horse carriage in Dam Square

Darth Vadar in front of the Palace in Dam Square

Rubber Duckies galore

We had a fascinating demonstration of printmaking in
Rembrandt's house with the same type of equipment he used.

They limited the number of participants so
we could see everything.

And another in his studio on mixing the paints. Rembrandt
used.had a limited but beautiful palette.

Flowers are everywhere in Amsterdam.and they are reasonable.

It was a Saturgay in Amsterdam - the first country in Europe
to approve gay marriage,

And sometime it seems as if everyone in the city was out
and enjoying themselves.

These next 7 photos are Scott's, including
this one.

The view of the Rijsmuseum from the back.

Walt and Honoree clown around on R and O.

And the food was terrific - here is Honoree's
Pancakes with blueberries, bananas and
toasted marshmallows.

Scott's wild mushrooms are front and
Heather and Walt had the Benedicts
in the background.

This duck had it's own little "pond". 

Boats come in all shapes here in Amsterdam, most are electric powered, like the wooden shoe type on the right...