Sunday morning arrived and we were still adjusting to the time shift. Creatures of habit, we found ourselves back at the Starbuck’s where the very tall wall behind the counter proclaims “Fresh Roasted in Amsterdam”. I tried the caramel shortbread this time, along with their version of the breakfast croissant. Sharon went with the chocolate muffin. I think my mocha Frappuccino was even chocolatier than the day before. Checkout time was noon; but, we were ready to leave an hour earlier and the concierge ordered us a taxi. The taxi arrived within five minutes, and it was a short drive to the pier where the Koningsdam was waiting for us. We were told that you could walk to the pier, but with Sharon’s legs and my left heel still hurting some from the previous night’s walking ... read more

We awoke in the wee hours of the morning to bright flashes flooding our bedroom, and after a bit I just had to go see if we were indeed in the midst of a desert downpour and thunderstorm. Mother Nature was indeed putting on quite a spectacular light and sound show. Our chance at a 75% solar eclipse was done in by rain; now, I only hoped that our flight from the desert wouldn’t be impeded by the weather (or more likely, our plane prevented from arriving. We had an early afternoon flight, so I had some comfort in that. Sharon didn’t want to venture out for breakfast; but, she sort of promised me IHOP and a chance to try their “Doughnut French Toast” featured this month. When I reminded her, she dismissed the idea with ... read more

With our bags in the hall by midnight, we once again found ourselves with the realization that another cruise was rapidly coming to a close; and, Sharon is now working on her fourth one-hundred days at sea! More than one “ear worm” plagued us during this journey. I remember humming one tune with new lyrics: “Do you know the way, to Prudoe Bay,…” Now, all I’m hearing is “I’m leaving, on a jet plane; Don’t know when I’ll be back again…” Well, perhaps that isn’t precisely true. We seem to visit Alaska every other year; so, we will see. We had to wait until the end of our projected time slot before PINK-2 was announced for disembarkation. We found our bags and then went over to “The Man in Green”. Sharon insisted I was headed the ... read more

Sharon went to the morning mass and I met her in the Exploration Lounge. From there we proceeded to the Dining Room. We had a leisurely breakfast, and I enjoyed the egg white frittata again. Sharon decided on the French Toast. We had a tour scheduled, taking the trolley out to see the totem pole park on the edge of town. Sharon booked it from an online company so it wasn’t one available from the ship. The ship was cleared about 10 minutes later than scheduled and the people waiting to get off the ship were lined up on several decks. We were there early since it was on our deck but many people squeezed in from the upper decks via the stairs and elevators. We finally made it off but were close to our meeting ... read more

We had the luxury of sleeping in this morning; and, our inside cabin has the advantage of not letting in the early morning sun in these northern latitudes. We headed up to the Lido for breakfast where Sharon got her waffle with a sprinkle of chocolate chips and I got my spicy omelet. We have a tour today; but, not before lunch! We headed for the Exploration café where I picked up two different pairs of matching Sudoku puzzles. We chose to do the Puzzle #230; but, it was significantly smaller than the “double-digit” puzzles (and even they are small), and it was virtually impossible for Sharon to annotate without rendering the entire puzzle indecipherable. I finished the Easy Puzzle; but, even I couldn’t complete the Hard Puzzle (I was attempting to do it without annotations). ... read more