We got up at 07:00 and got ready for the day. Then we headed down to the buffet for some breakfast. Graham had fruit and yoghurt followed by some oatmeal with dried fruit and brown sugar. I had congee with chicken, boiled egg, fried garlic and soy sauce. We both had some orange juice.
After breakfast, we headed down to the World Stage. This was the only day where we had plans before we got on the cruise. We had some shore excursion credit as part of the cruise package, and we used this for a very unusual shore excursion that day. We went on a luxury canal cruise on a 1940 Holland America lifeboat. This was something totally unique and we were really looking forward to it. When we got to World Stage, they checked our excursion ticket on the app and gave us some stickers. Then we were told where to sit down. There was some kind of drama. I am not sure what the person was upset about, but she argued with the person giving out tickets for a while and then a manager came to speak to her. After this, she left.
Our excursion number was called, and we were advised where to go and where to meet the shore excursion staff. It was not entirely straightforward to get off the ship as for most of the people, this was the debarkation day and quite a few were carrying off their own luggage. We did make it to the meeting point and we assembled again. A while later, our tour guide arrived to walk us to the boat. We walked through the baggage hall and there were a large number of people milling about. The group was split up. In the end, the whole group made it to the boat, and we were handed over to the crew.
We got on the boat and just as soon as we got on, it started to rain. This had not been in the forecast. Our captain commented about this as well. He had removed the rain cover that morning as there was no rain in the forecast. We sailed past our ship. We were offered a glass of sparkling wine. By the time we entered the canal, it had stopped raining. Our captain told us a bit about the boat. The boat was lifeboat from ss Maasdam, which was torpedoed by the Germans in 1941 and sunk. The lifeboat was at some stage found in Poland where it had been turned upside down in somebody’s garden and was used as a shed. The boat was then brought back to Amsterdam, refurbished and now operates canal cruises. I am not sure if this is exclusively used for Holland America shore excursions or if they use it for their regular canal cruises, too.
The canal cruise was truly magical. We sailed through a number of different canals, and the crew pointed out various landmarks and told us about them. We sailed right past the church that contains the grave memorial of Rembrandt. The hostess explained that his body is not there. When he did, he was poor and was buried in a paupers grave in the same church. As was standard procedure at the time, he was disinterred after 20 years and the bones were destroyed. The precise location of his grave is unknown. The grave memorial was installed in 1909.
We got dropped off back near the port about, 1.5 hours later. We set off exploring. We wanted to check out of the churches that we had passed earlier, but this was not due to open until early afternoon. We had no intention hanging around that long. We were ready for a snack. The only place we could find was a place specialising in pancakes. That sounded good to us. However, the prices were crazy. The wanted upwards of EUR25 for a pancake. We were not willing to pay this. I took some photos and then we headed back towards the port.
When we got back to the port, check in for people joining the cruise had started, but boarding had not. I wondered if we had to wait until boarding had started, but we were sent down a different line for passengers that were in transit. We stopped for some more photos. Just before we got to the gangway, Lewie the Lion was welcoming people. He had a photographer in tow. We stopped for some photos with him as well. Then we got back on the ship.
We figured we should head to the buffet before they started to let embarking customers on and things would get busy. Graham had fish and chips and some iced tea. I had fried chicken and chips and a pulled pork and spicy coleslaw slider. I had some lemonade again. For dessert, I could not make up my mind if I wanted pecan pie or the red velvet roll. I ended up having a small piece of both. The pecan pie was amazing, but the red velvet roll was somewhat anaemic.
After lunch, we took our stuff to the cabin, and I picked up my iPad. We managed to snag a square lounger. We settled down for the afternoon. I alternated reading and watching the world go by. At some stage, a bar server came by to offer drinks. I had a mango margarita, and Graham had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
We stayed where we were for the sail away. Initially the view was quite pretty, but it then turned pretty industrial. We had to pass the IJmuiden sea lock which is the largest lock in the world. That we were a touch underwhelmed by the experience would be the understatement of year. We entered the lock, stayed there for short while and then exited. The change of elevation was minimal.
Once we were clear of the lock, we quickly headed to the cabin as I wanted to get changed. Then we headed to the buffet. I had BBQ beef brisket, corn bread, macaroni cheese. Graham had prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and roast potatoes. He was positively surprised by the Yorkshire pudding. I decided to go back for some prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy. I passed on dessert, but Graham had banana coconut crisp with vanilla sauce.
After dinner, Graham took some photo of my outfit. Then we headed to the Panorama Bar for a drink. We both had a Bahama Mama. When we had finished our drinks, we headed back to our cabin. I read for a while and then we went to sleep.
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