Amsterdam and Back to the Real World

---

Well guess it’s about time I finished this blog up. The show on the last night of the ship included the pianist Vladimir Zaitsev and singer Jeff Hooper. Mom and I enjoyed it very much then headed back to our cabin to do our final packing. In the morning we met Erin and Dennis for breakfast then waiting in our cabin till our disembarkation time of 8:45. It was very quiet around the ship that morning and appeared that a lot of people must have gotten off the night before. It was also strange not to have the numbers called and just leave when your scheduled time was but it worked quite well.

We found a porter, our bags, and then a cab very quickly. There was no checking of passports or luggage at all. It was a short drive to the Amsterdam Renaissance hotel. Our room wasn’t ready but they stored our luggage for us and told me to check back at noon. They said there was a money exchange at the Central Station just a few blocks away. We headed that direction but weren’t quite sure what we were looking for. Finally asked in a small coffee shop and found it easily from there. The Money Exchange wasn’t open yet but figured they would be by 10 so waited till then. Since we still had time to spare we decided to take a canal cruise. As we were getting on we noticed several couples from the ship on the next boat over including the Canadian couple from our dinner table. The cruise was interesting and we saw quite a few areas of Amsterdam from it. I was most surprised by the house boats along the canal in various stages of repair. Unfortunately I had left my camera in one of the bags I’d checked at the hotel so no photos from this tour.

We headed back to the hotel and our room was ready. The bus from the ship with those that booked the hotel with them had arrived and another was loading up with those headed to the ship for the next cruise so there was luggage everywhere so we gave the concierge our room number and bag checks so they could deliver the bags and headed to find something for lunch. An elderly man headed to the ship had collapsed as they were waiting for the bus so the ambulance had arrived to check him. Hopefully he was ok and continued on the trip (it was very warm). The coffee shop at the hotel wasn’t busy when we walked in but quickly got busy and it took forever to get our meal. My mother’s burger wasn’t cooked enough so we ended up sharing mine and headed out to find a cab to the pickup spot for our afternoon tour.

Our afternoon tour was to the towns of Volendam and Marken. The guide repeated everything in English, Spanish, and French. Our first stop was at a cheese farm. Though I don’t like or eat any type of cheese the brief demo of how it’s made was interesting but they gave us way too much time in the associated gift shop. We then drove to the town of Volendam which I thought was supposed to be a fishing village and I guess it used to be but now it’s more of a tourist area with lots of shops. We saw a short film on the area and did a bit of shopping (mostly for postcards since I still didn’t have my camera). We then took a boat over to the island of Marken. This was a much older town and may have been interesting but we just followed the guide thru it to get to the bus and she didn’t point anything out. It was a very long walk over old stone walkways after a very long day so guess we really weren’t into it. They did drop us off near Central Station so we got off there and headed back to the hotel. Another couple on the tour had also been on the ship and were at the same hotel so we showed them the way back.
Our baggage had arrived in our room so we got out what we needed for the weekend and decided to get some dinner in the hotel restaurant (But not the coffee shop where we had lunch). We had a very nice dinner then headed up to our room.

We got up early and headed down to the breakfast buffet included with our room. We then decided to head out and get some more money changed since we’d need it for the taxi to where we needed to pick up our morning tour. Well the place I’d seen walking back the night before wasn’t open and as we kept walking apparently nothing is open in Amsterdam on Sat mornings. We decided we’d just try to find a cab and see if they’re take US $. We were walking for a very long time and ended up in a very old part of town based on the cobblestones. One hotel told us there should be some cabs on the other side of the palace so we headed over there and found a line of them. The driver in the first one was very nice and had no problem taking the US$. Our tour today was called Windmills and Edam. This tour was in 4 languages but we had a much better guide than the previous day. The first village we stopped at had a cheese farm (a different one but same sort of demo), several windmills, and a wooden shoe factory. It was interesting and other than we could have done with at least 30 mins less “free” time we enjoyed it. Our next stop was the village of Edam which was an older town. We walked thru it like the town the previous day but the guide was very good and pointed out quite a bit as we walked along. If we hadn’t done so much walking earlier we’d probably have enjoyed it more.

We got back to the hotel in early afternoon so decided to get a bite to eat at a restaurant across the street. Found out after we eat they didn’t take credit cards or US$ but was able to go back to the hotel and they changed some money for me then. We took it easier most of the rest of the afternoon in our room. Not much to watch on the TV (news gets old fast and some show about dog groomers in English with Dutch subtitles was funny but weird). We headed back down near the Central Station about 7 for our dinner canal cruise. This was a 2 ½ hr cruise with full 4 course meal. The other couple at our table was from just outside Amsterdam and they were very nice pointing out lots of things along the way. It was late when we got back so took a cab even though it was just a few blocks.

The next day was Sunday and time for our trip home. The shuttle was a bit late picking us up and left us at the wrong terminal (not necessarily his fault since they just moved Delta from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 according to the signs) and the people in the self-serve check-in and baggage area were pretty pushy and rude. Still took us less than an hour and we had plenty of time to wait for our plane. We were delayed about 1 ½ hrs from taking off (but already on the plane) due to some issue with getting the flight plan approved so that followed by 9 hrs of flying and we were ready to get off in Cincy and very glad we didn’t have to get another flight. They did call those that had connecting flights up to the front of the immigration line and everyone was ok with it which was nice. We were about the last ones thru and then couldn’t find one of my mother’s bags. So got thru customs and had to check them back in and go thru security even though we were leaving the airport since we were out in Terminal B and had to go thru the main airport to get the tram. We got the bags again and reported the lost one. They thought they’d left several bags off in Amsterdam so there were others reporting theirs too. We then got a cab and headed for my house.

The rest of the week was unfortunately a typical return from vacation week that makes you wonder why you go on vacation. But this weekend I’ve looked thru photos and played the videos from the ship so remember what a great trip it was. My mother’s bag finally got returned to her in Oregon yesterday (it was delivered here after she left even though it had been changed in their system and I left a note on the door to not leave it). I have hot water again (the gas company decided to replace some parts in our neighborhood while I was gone and the note they left on the door blew away so it cost me a $450 plumber bill to find out the gas company just needed to come back and finish). Haven’t figured out what caused a bush and drain pipe outside the garage to look like there was a fire while I was gone. And still have hundreds of work emails to deal with and am not finished ironing and putting all my laundry away but am already thinking about my next trip.

Thanks for coming along with me. I’ve still got to write up a review of the Prinsendam itself but that will probably be another day or two while I get my thoughts together.

---

Photos

Last Supper
Our last supper with our Table 160 (sometimes 161) dinnermates

Comments

[Janet]

Amsteredam
Sharon thanks for the great blogs. I hve enjoyed being a part of your trip. Glad I didn't have to go thru the tunnels. Glad you and family got home safe. Waiting for the next cruise, you will have to send blogs again. Janet