Day at Sea

Tuesday, March 31

Our first full day on board the MS Volendam was a nice relaxing day at sea. We woke after a great night's sleep with the slight movement of the ship gently rocking us into a deep sleep on a very, comfy mattress. After perusing the day's Activity Program, our day was planned out - loosely, anyway.

As we are visiting a number of different countries on this cruise there were the formalities of entry and exit cards, customs declarations and a visa to obtain, so we attended to the paperwork which Holland America (HA) delivered to us this morning and which had to be returned by tonight. We did this over a morning coffee in the Explorations Cafe which made the task a lot more pleasant and it was a good one to get out of the way early in the day!

All the paperwork completed and time to relax in the Explorations Cafe & Library

We decided to have lunch in the dining room and although we said we wouldn't have dessert, we were tempted to try the red cactus pear ice cream - what a great choice and we'll look for this flavour again when they have it on the menu.

After lunch we attended a talk on the next few ports/cities we are visiting, and followed this with another talk on the future cruises HA are scheduling over the next 12 months. There are quite a few that appeal so I'm sure we'll be booking another cruise from this cruise, which should make Stefan our travel agent happy!

Then it was time to soak up some sun around the pool before we had to start getting spruced up for the first formal night of this cruise. The modes of "formal" vary a lot these days, and HA isn't as strict as, say, the Cunard line, so we tend to take a middle of the road approach. It is fun getting spruced up, and with everyone in their finery we really do forget we're on a ship. The standard of meals is usually a bit higher on the formal nights as well.

So far the meals have impressed us, with lots of options for both entree and main course, making the choice of what to eat a difficult one. However, we know from past experience, some dishes are available every couple of days so there's no need to worry.

After dinner it was off to the show and then we finished the night with a stop at the piano bar. Tonight was also a bonus as we crossed into a new time zone and the clocks were wound back an hour! We'll enjoy it now because we know we'll have to give it up once we leave Bangkok and start heading east.

Tom, the piano man and guests enjoying his performance

 

 

 

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