ankorway

Thanks Dave for all the time, cost and effort on sharing your cruise, You definitely got us psyched up for our upcoming Eurodam cruise. Great job!:D

 

New York Sail-away tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you for the trip. Wonderful photos. They came through after I waited for a couple of days to log in. Shirley

Are you signed up for the Meet and Greet - I think we are at about 62 cruisers now.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1657934

Yes, we are signed up for it. Working on some tours now.

Monday, September 2, 2013, Reykjavik

 

Well, the weather improved overnight, and we pulled into Reykjavik in a mix of sun and clouds, with occasional rain showers. Not too bad, and I hope it continues. We are in port with the Ariania.

 

We depart soon for our city tour, and I will let you know how that goes. Here are today’s daily program.

 

 

 

And the Reykjavik prt guide:

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

Are you signed up for the Meet and Greet - I think we are at about 62 cruisers now.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1657934

Dave, thank you again for the narrative. It has to be so expensive. HAL should be giving you a free account for PRing the ship and activities.

Pat M, I have been on roll call and I assume we are on the meet and greet. I have the info of where we are meeting and such. We will see you there. Shirley

I have apparently reached my limit on photobucket, or there is an issue. Here are the recipe cards:

 

 

 

 

Dave

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can see these. Shirley

Thank you for taking the time to post. I love reading other people's reviews. I am having a hard time reading the daily programs but it could be a me problem and not you. Anyone else having a hard time reading them.

 

I love the pictures of Amsterdam. Last time we were there was for a layover, I wish I had taken the time to leave the airport.

Interesting---I can read everything--at least, so far--but no photos. Shirley

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

 

Well, we have arrived on board. The bus took about 10 minutes to get us there. We went into the reception hall, and a rep went through asking for 4 and 5 star Mariners. We identified ourselves, and she took us to the front to the expedited check in line. We filled out our medical form while waiting.

 

We quickly checked in, were given an early boarding number, and waited about 3 minutes before that number was called. We were on board and in our room very quickly.

 

We have had time to get a bite to eat, and get a celebratory drink at Crow's Nest. We went back to the cabin, and our bags were here. So, DW is unpacking while I am helping by staying out of her way (no kidding, her idea). So, I established the online account and am checking in.

 

I will add much more later, but just wanted to post a quick update.

 

Attached are photos of the daily program. If these are not readable, let me know and I will put fewer pages on each photo. The program is the new trifold style.

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

Well, I thought if I cleaned out my browser and try again later I could see the photos. Nope. Darn it. The funny thing is that I can see everyone else's photos cruise critic. Darn it again. We will be on Eurodam Oct. 12 Quebec City so thought this would be a good way to see what is going on. I will continue reading though. Thanks, Shirley sheartland@aol.com

Thanks for the reply. I thought maybe it was my computer or lack of software. Will go back to the first part of the blog later. The last photos came through. Now I do want to see the others. We did the Baltic with Holland some years ago. Really enjoyed it.

Sunday, August 25

 

Hotel

 

HAL reps met us after customs, and we took a mini-van from Schipol to our hotel, the Renaissance Amsterdam, on Kattegat, near the Centraal Station. It is a comfortable modern hotel, pretty typical of the Renaissance chain.

 

Renaissance is part of the Marriott organization, and we are members of their program. We had contacted the hotel a few weeks ago, asking for early check-in if it were available, but our room was not ready. They told us to check back after noon; it was about 9 a.m. then. So, we checked our bags with the concierge, and went looking for coffee place open on a Sunday morning. We found it at Tazzina, an Italian espresso bar a few blocks away, along the Brouwersgracht. We had read about it in a travel book, and found it to be a place for a great cappuccino and croissant.

 

It was a somewhat foggy morning, and the walk along the canals was very beautiful, but I don’t have photos, as I had forgotten that I had my camera with me (d’oh!). Hey, it was on what we call zombie day, after very little sleep on the plane.

 

We wandered about a bit more, including a visit to the large Albert Heijn store near the Magna Plaza, where we found the mouthwash we were looking for. We also wandered to Spui street, and had another coffee at Café Esprit, near the American Bookstore and Waterstone’s, a British book store.

 

We returned to the hotel shortly after noon, and were able to check in. Our room is European-sized, which means it is smaller than rooms in North American hotels. But, it is comfortable and pleasant for the two nights we will stay. It does not have a coffee maker, but it does have a kettle and makings for instant coffee. We had read that on TripAdvisor, and so were able to get some Via packets from Starbucks before we left home. OK, it’s not the greatest, but better than what hotels usually have for instant, and certainly better than nothing.

 

Photos of the room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos of the bath:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo of the coffee area:

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

How do I open the photos? I am using a MacBook Pro. Do I need an ap? Thanks. Shirley

Wonderful review. Loved the pictures too. We will be on the Serenade in August --this gives us an idea.

When you purchased the rum samples--were they taken away for the last night packing? Just wonderin'