The Northern Isles
The Northern Isles
Day 1
Day 01 - Thursday, July 10, 2003 - Monument to Seattle
EARLY, TOO EARLY! We woke up on our own, without the alarm around 2 AM and finally at 2:30 we got up and got ourselves ready to go. We took our time and the cats were wondering why they...
Day 2
Day 2 - Friday, July 11, 2003 - Seattle to Boston
As the four of us had an early flight to Boston, we were up at 5:30 AM. The night had been cool and our sleep was very sound and refreshing. Just before I got into the shower, Susan brought...
Day 3
Day 03 - Saturday, July 12, 2003 - Boston & At Sea
We got up at 7:15 and met Bob and Susan at the coffee shop downstairs. We had a bagel, Starbucks coffee and chatted. Gennie went to the shop next door and found a Maine quarter (P) for her...
Day 4
Day 04 - Sunday, July 13, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea
Just as the alarm went off at 7 AM we heard the ship’s horn give one loud blast. I looked out the window, then got up and walked outside in the veranda and saw the dense fog....
Day 5
Day 05 - Monday, July 14, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & St. Pierre, French Territory
Another hour lost overnight so we are now two hours ahead of New York and the Eastern Daylight Time. This makes for short nights. We usually go to bed around 11 so...
Day 6
Day 06 - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & St. Johns, Newfoundland
The ship entered the Narrows to St. John’s at 6:30 and there to greet us was the scenic Fort Amherst Lighthouse. It was something to see such a large ship go through such...
Day 7
Day 07 - Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea
Another time change. Last night we made up the 30 minutes we had picked up when we entered St. John’s. Now we are 2 hours ahead of New York. The TV showed us that the ocean temperature...
Day 8
Day 08 - Thursday, July 17, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & Qaqortoq, Greenland
Late morning wake-up – 8 AM. We took our time getting ready, puttered around and then at 9 AM we went to breakfast. I ate a bagel also as we knew we would not...
Day 9
Day 09 - Friday, July 18, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & Prince Christian Sound, Greenland
The alarm went off at 7:30 and we got up at 8:30 - we are becoming real slackers! We stepped outside in our veranda and it was a cold morning. Around 45...
Day 10
Day 10 - Saturday, July 19, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea
Another day without CNN, New York Times, and INTERNET. There have been grumbles about the aspects of the cruise that are not professional.
When I went to the Front Desk to inquire about some maps for Iceland,...
Day 11
Day 11 – Sunday, July 20, 2003 – ms Rotterdam – At Sea & Reykjavik, Iceland
We were in the port at Reykjavik, Iceland when we got up at 7:15. This is the most northern most capital in the world. They have 170,000 people of their 266,000 people living in...
Day 12
Day 12 – Monday, July 21, 2003 – ms Rotterdam – At Sea
We saw several Dolphins last night at about 10:00 PM - they are enjoying this late sun also! We made a bet at dinner that we might have to change times again, and wouldn’t you know it...
Day 13
Day 13 – Tuesday, July 22, 2003 – ms Rotterdam – At Sea & Oban, Scotland
AT 5 AM I looked out our verandah door and saw the ship entering the Oban Harbor and the HEAVY fog with a good mist. By 6:45 when the alarm went off it was...
Day 14
Day 14 - Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & Belfast, N. Ireland
We woke up (6:15) just as the ship entered Belfast Harbor. It is the biggest port since we left Boston. We returned from breakfast to grab our backpacks and go to the Queen’s...
Day 15
Day 15 - Thursday, July 24, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & Cobh, Ireland
A good night’s sleep does wonders. We were up at 6:30 and ready for breakfast at 7:15. We had just spoken to Bob and Susan and they had been able to get a spot...
Day 16
Day 16 - Friday, July 25, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea
What a night! We had gone to bed with winds in GALE force and waves between 12-18 feet. The boat rocked a bit during the night but both Gennie and I slept well.
We got up at...
Day 17
Day 17 - Saturday, July 26, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & Le Havre,
France
As we entered Le Havre, we lost another hour. It was another short night as the alarm went off at 6 AM so we could be off the ship by 7:15. We showered,...
Day 18
Day 18 - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & Dover, England
Early morning again - at 6 AM the alarm went off and we were on the go. We looked out the window and saw the White Cliffs of Dover right outside the ship. We...
Day 19
Day 19 - Monday, July 28, 2003 - ms Rotterdam - At Sea & Rotterdam & Amsterdam, Netherlands
A stressful day. We were up at 6:30 after a night of tossing and turning. Part of it due to Holland America’s policy that they want people out of their room by...
Day 20
Day 20 - Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - Amsterdam, Netherlands to Monument, CO
We had a good night at the Crown Plaza City Center, sleeping until 8 AM. Very soft bed but we were tired after a good bit of walking all day on Monday. We got all of our...
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Day 13: Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos
Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.
The hotel prepared a box breakfast for us as we had to be in the lobby way before the breakfast room was open.
Last night we found out that our departure flight back to...
