Bar Harbor, Maine

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Day 9 - Friday, May 13, 2016 - Bar Harbor, Maine - Weather forecast: partly cloudy in the morning - temperature: 9°C/48°F - actual: temperature 14°C/57°F - in the afternoon bright sunny skies emerged for a short time - we gained an hour back last night



Bar Harbor, being our first US port on the cruise, required the entire ship to go through a face-to-face inspection by the US Customs & Border Protection. the exercise was very well organized as they assigned specific decks to meet with the agents at specific times, our time being 9:30 am. Things moved along at a steady pace and we were called a good 45 minutes before the assigned time. No fuss no bother.



Bar Harbor is actually on an island and does not possess a dock large enough to accommodate a cruise ship of any size so that required tendering. As our tour didn’t

leave until 12:30 from the pier we had the morning to relax and have a bit to eat before we left for the tender station. Unfortunately the Lido food court did not open before 11:30 so we asked if we could snatch a sandwich, which we then took ashore to eat there. Being 4 Star Mariners allowed us priority access to the tender and we did not have to wait for the service. Once ashore we ate our sandwiches on the pier overlooking the harbour.



Our tour was to include a trip through Acadia National Park followed by a lobster dinner. To our surprise and that of many of our fellow travellers the order was reversed and lobster bake was first on the schedule followed by the excursion through the park. To say we were stuffed for the rest of the afternoon would be an understatement. The restaurant where the dinner was served was once an exclusive club but after a devastating fire on the island was conversed to a public convention centre and hotel.



Acadia National Park was one of the first to be established on the eastern side of the United States. Our coach followed the 27-mile loop road that took along the ocean edge and then into the interior of the park to Cadillac Mountain. At the summit, we experienced a clear bright afternoon affording us a 360° panoramic view of the granite cliffs, coastal mountains, forest, lakes and a view back to the anchorage where the Veendam was riding at anchor.



We were one of the last groups to arrive at the tender port but I had enough time to dash into one of the shops and pick up some Halls cough drops. Remember earlier when I said the ship was cold, well after getting damp in Quebec City things must have percolated and I developed a head cold with a nasty cough. I opted not to do anything in the evening

other than go to bed early in the hopes that I could defeat this cold. Brooke took in the evening show which was a variety show that included the three performers who had appeared earlier in the week.



For many of the passengers this was their last night aboard meaning that packing was the order of the evening. Their efforts resulted in the corridors being filled with luggage, which then mysteriously disappeared, not to be seen until it reappears on shore in the pier tomorrow morning.

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