A 20 Day Review

Not usually a part of my blog, but I decided to add a post trip review to reflect on choices we made.

Renting a car to get to Ft Lauderdale was a good choice. Total flexibility, and the most economical.

The Holland America Nieuw Statendam. The food was generally good. Scheduling and reservation system was far below expectations. Not only were reservations mixed up, a kind and nice way of saying screwed up, no attempt was made to either acknowledge mistakes or correct them.

There were a number of post cruise options, but none were listed before the cruise.

Excursion descriptions were fairly accurate.

Music was what I would expect on Carnival. Very loud. Next to zero listening or dancing music.

Entertainment was mediocre. Not as good as Royal, Celebrity, or Cunard. Headliners were repeated.

Seminars were a mixed bag. One series was professionally produced and presented by the cruise director. They were basically good. Another series, which unfortunately included the best topic, AI, was put together and presented by a horrible presenter. So bad in fact, that I could not bear to listen to him despite the AI topic.

Cabin. We lucked out and upgraded to a "family oceanview" designed for 5 guests, there were 2 showers and an extra closet. The standard configuration for most cabins is a shower in the tub. Fine, except no hand holds for safety when getting in or out or showering.

Bathrooms also had about a 5 inch step-up to enter.

Closet doors seemed to be backwards.

Not what I would consider a modern cabin design, but what I experienced on ships designed 40 and 50 years ago.

But being a cabin for 5, there was plenty of space for 2, and the bed was very comfortable.

Service staff and cabin staff were good. Cabins were cleaned twice a day. Two years ago Holland was still providing a chocolate every night. Now they have cut back to 1 every 5 days.

As with most lines, they rely very heavily on their app. It was often inaccessible, and gave incorrect information.

The biggest disappointment was lack of environmental temperature control in public spaces.

Once we left sunny Florida, The buffet, on deck 9 was usually cold because doors at each end opened to the outside decks and a cold blast of outside air would occur for about 2 minutes everytime the door was opened. Considering someone went in or out every minute, it was always cold.

Even worse was decks 1, 2, and 3 when we were in Port.

The gangway was either on deck 1 or 2. The doors open all day. Nothing blocked the cold air from coming in the gangway doors, down the open space and up the stairwells, making most of the public spaces unusable during port time unless you wanted to be in a 55 degree environment.  A simple design flaw that should have been addressed during a refurbishment, but so far hasn't.

8 and 10 hour excursions 3 days in a row is tough. I don't like to admit it, but I'm not 50 anymore.

For the most part the hotel in Amsterdam was good. The staff very friendly and helpful, but if I had known that the only way to get in or out of bed was to climb in from the bottom I would not have chosen it.

In general the hotel was nice, but the functionality of the rooms very poor. I would not choose CitizenM brand again.

I will add that the hotel is high tech with everything from lights, room temperature, and automatic blinds controlled from an I Pad. 

Totally unrelated they were the only place the entire trip that would not accept my goto credit card. Fortunately I always carry backups.

I am writing this as we fly nonstop from Amsterdam to Tampa. We deliberately booked a bulkhead seat in Comfort Plus section. A very wise choice as there is probably more than 4 feet of legroom!

A delta flight on a Delta Airbus A330, but totally handled In Amsterdam by KLM. Mostly full, probably 95%.

Amsterdam was an interesting city. By far the best public transportation I have ever encountered. Clean and friendly. Bicycles rule the streets, car traffic is light as many inner city streets are blocked to vehicles. Prices are probably comparable to US big cities.

Our plane was probably 95% full. What I did not expect was only 5% of the passengers holding US passports.

About 4 hours after touchdown we arrived in Clermont in our rental car. The end of another "adventure" as my grandkids would say.

Tours in Amsterdam

April 21. Up early, breakfast at our hotel. The driver has been in contact with us several times. He is at our hotel lobby door at 8:20 as promised.

The day long tour takes us to many of the must see's in the greater Amsterdam area. A cheese factory, wooden shoe factory, diamond cutter and diamond sales outlet, windmills, a 20 mile long dike holding the North Sea at bay, etc. Our guide talks non stop, and feeds us samples of local mints, chocolates, licorice, and cookies.

The other 6 passengers are from Singapore, Connecticut, and Japan. Definitely a divese group. All in all a typical tour. Parts were excellent, some parts were much less so.

We are back at the hotel by 6 and head down the street about a block to a local tavern for dinner.

A hamburger, fries and a couple of drinks, expensive but good. A full stomach ends a long day.

Next up on Tuesday is the Keukenhof Gardens, our main tourist destination here in Amsterdam.

I quickly mapped out that the tram just outside the hotel lobby door would take us to central station, but after talking with a local, he tells me the metro is much easier, and the metro station is only a hundred feet further away. One of the reasons I picked this hotel was it's location next to the tram and metro. That reasoning was definitely sound.

Off on the Metro, at central station we then hop on the ferry to cross the river and have about a 10 minute walk to check in for our canal cruise and visit to the gardens. Public transportation systems here are excellent. Just scan a credit card when you get on a bus or tram or enter a metro station, scan again when you leave.  Charged by trip and distance, but a maximum of $10 euro per day.

I always try to allow plenty of time. It was good that I did today. Just as we reached the metro platform, the train was Leaving. Just as we reached the ferry, the gates closed and we need to wait for the next.  Combined with my "fast" walk, it couldn't have taken us longer.

At our designated meeting point there are hundreds if not thousands of tourists in various ques for different busses. Crowded but organized. Again we knew this would be the case with Easter, the tulip festival, and "Kings Day" celebration all taking place in Amsterdam.

We are given a blue card to get us on the proper bus. We make it. The driver wants to know who is staying at a certain hotel? The tourist gave him his blue room key instead of the blue card to board the bus. We are on our way.

The canal tour was good. Past farms and small villages only accessible by boat. 400 and 500 year old wind mills are still used to manage the canal and farm fields water level. The canals are 15 feet below sea level, the farm fields are another 10 or 15 feet below the canal levels.  First made lower as peat was harvested, and then sinking more as the land dried out. Many of the farms have been in the same families for hundreds of years.

After the canal we are off to the gardens. Absolutely gorgeous, and despite the very large crowds it was not crowded.  I was really mentally prepared for large crowds. Actually there were, but the grounds are very large so the crowds are dispersed. We wandered on our own for hours and then hopped the next tour bus back to Amsterdam. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather. The sun burned thru the clouds just as we stepped off the bus for the canal tour, and remained out for most of the rest of the day. Much nicer than the rain that had been forecast.

No scheduled return, but were warned the last busses leaves at 6:30. We beat that by several hours.

The journey home is basically the reverse of the morning trip. Bus to drop off, walk to ferry, ferry across river, and metro to hotel.

Leaving the metro we were able to help a couple from Italy lugging suitcases that didn't understand the metro process. Just a tiny payback for all those that have helped us.

Exhausted and hungry after we freshen up we return to the same pub for dinner. They are very busy with many reservations. They find a table for us, inside of course. Outside is too cold for us Floridian's.

The small world part. The couple from Italy we met several hours earlier on the Metro arrive and sit at a nearby table.

No alarm to set tonight. Tomorrow is basically an easy day. Nothing scheduled except packing in the evening.

April 23, our last day in Amsterdam.  The hotel has a good  buffet breakfast. Scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh pastries, juice and fruit. We indulge again. 

Today we will explore the city and little by tram, or light rail as we would call it.  Dr Google tells us tram 2 is one of the most scenic in the world. Why shouldn't we trust Dr. Google?

Again metro to central station then find the stop for tram 2. It arrives within minutes and we board. It is quickly packed. We have seats, but it is difficult to see.

The tram takes us past many museums and beautiful buildings, and across many canals bustling with boat traffic. The end of the route is in the residential suburbs. We change trams and are soon headed back towards central station. This time we are able to secure prime window seats.

At central station Lynn does a little gift shopping as we head to our metro line.

When we arrive at our metro station and emerge from the underground maze, we are concerned we are lost. Nothing looks familiar, but should as this is our 4th passage though this station. Did I make a mistake and get off at the wrong station?

Studying Google Maps for a few minutes I was able to conclude we just took a different exit from the underground, about a block away from where we usually exit..

Tonight we have pizza at the hotel. It is raining lightly and we have had enough of the local pub.

We decide to try Uber and book our trip to the airport for Thursday morning.  A driver is assigned and will pick us up at 6:40 AM.

Thursday, April 24 home to Florida.

The app says our driver is waiting and is around the corner from our hotel. We check out and step outside. I can't find any way to message him so we start walking towards where the app says he is parked.  A truck has parked on the sidewalk, and I trip trying to get around the truck and all the bicycles. Fortunately this time it was only my pride that was broken, honestly I didn't check the bikes.

Uber is not where the app says he is.  We go back and head the other direction and see a parked car with flashers on. Yes it is our driver. A Tesla 3. He is reluctant to load our luggage, but eventually does. We are on our way.

He soon relates to us that Uber tracking is horrible and often sends him in wrong directions. He is not surprised that he wasn't parked where the app said. Traffic is light. He drops us about 100 feet from a terminal entrance. He is happy that the traffic isn't too congested yet. It will be soon.

It takes a little over an hour to get checked in. KLM does all the terminal stuff for Delta. The staff is very helpful with a process that is much different than any other airport I have ever been through.

As planned we have plenty of time for breakfast. Yes, McDonald's. 

By the time we board the plane our passports have been checked four times. My shoes taken away to be x-rayed, and of course the normal body scans and pat downstairs.

Our gate is very close to the main terminal, so the walk isn't too bad.

Boarding is just a few minutes delayed because of security inspection of the food.

Our seats are just behind a bulkhead, so I have not only lots of leg room, I can stand in front of my seat whenever I so desire without blocking the aisle. A great personal comfort during our 10 hour flight to Tampa

Day 26 - Rotterdam & Amsterdam.

The ship arrives on time. This is the end of the cruise portion of our trip. We will spend 4 nights in Amsterdam before returning to Florida.

We departe the ship pretty much on time. The process is slightly different than usual.  We are seen by local custom officials, have our passport stamped, and then gather our luggage.

With help from a porter We board our bus.  We have elected to take a canal cruise in Amsterdam, then being dropped off at the airport. From there we will take a taxi to our hotel. A convoluted route, but one we could manage. Taking two trains would have been more economical but I am not comfortable with all the luggage.

The weather in Amsterdam turned out better than forecast. The canal cruise was good and our tour guide was excellent.

The walk from bus parking to the taxi area at the airport was long. Despite telling us one fare, the cab driver charged me much more. I learned later that this is a common problem in Amsterdam.

We get to our hotel. It is prepaid except for taxes. My primary card won't work. Backup card works fine.

I use the questionable card multiple times at other locations and it works every time.

I understand Europe hotel rooms are small compared to American standards, but I was not prepared for how small this one really is. Smaller than any cruise ship cabin I have ever had, and more to the point not conveniently designed. So be it.

We are exhausted, grab a bite at the hotel, and call it a night. Our tour driver will be picking us up at 8:15 for a 10 hour tour.

Day 15, April 19, Dover, England

We arrive and are secured to the dock before 6:00. A number of passengers are leaving the ship here. We are scheduled for a 10 hour tour of London.

Room service does much better today. The coffee is hot and most everything is delivered. Well I got the cereal and milk, only the sugar was missing.

Off to the theater. The trek to the bus waiting area is long. I am not the last to arrive but almost at 38th out of 40.

Again the weather is cooperating. The forecast rain stays away.  Traffic is very light, probably because of it being Saturday and the Easter holiday. 

We are scheduled to have lunch at an English pub at noon, but arrive 45 minutes early.

We are seated and served very quickly. The tavern being unorganized, our tour guide helps deliver beverages, but not until everyone is nearly finished with their food.  Maybe that is English custom even though I prefer a beverage with my food.

The location is in the heart of London, across the street from London tower and under light rail tracks. A train passed over about every 5 minutes. The building over the pub was added many years after the pub. Support columns pass thru the pub and the old brickwork.

Fish and chips, and in my case a hamburger, we're good.

After a few hours to shop and sightsee we were on our way back to the ship. Today we will get back long before our scheduled time.

In all fairness this is the first tour out of Dover to London in almost a year.

Several cruise lines stopped calling on Dover because of increased docking fees. The tour operators are out of practice.  Going to London we used a new tunnel that has been open about 10 days.

On the return trip we took one of the oldest tunnels, one about 2 centuries old, originally dug for horses and wagons.

Tonight the clocks go ahead again. We are scheduled to departure the ship about 7:15 for our bus trip from Rotterdam to Amsterdam.

Paris

Room service arrives half an hour early. I had ordered cereal with skim milk.  Everything was in order except they forgot the cereal.  Eating is overrated, a glass of juice and a pastry will have to do.

Lynn doesn't function until she has morning coffee. Served in a metal pot, it was barely warm and more ran out the broken seam in the pot as out the spout.

The day is not starting well.

We make it to the main stage at the assigned time. Bus tickets are picked up, off to the waiting busses.

Traffic is heavy as expected. We pass a number of the famous sites, and eventually stop near the base of the Eifel tower at a dock on the Seine.

A casual cruise on the Seine while enjoying wine and a wonderful lunch.

The weather in Paris was sunny and warm. Well warm for April at about 60. All in all an excellent whirlwind tour of Paris.

Traffic was heavy, and we arrived back at the ship about an hour late, but still before the scheduled departure time.

Too late for the dining room, we grabbed a bite in the Lido buffet and prepared for another long day in London tomorrow.

Yes, we gave room service another chance.

Tonight our clocks go back an hour as we will be in England tomorrow.

Day 11 - Last Sea Day

As we approach Europe the seas have subsided to 10 or 12 feet. The skies remain partly cloudy. So far we have only experienced a few brief showers. Life is good.

Tonight we will go to Timarind, one of the specialty restaurants for Holland America.  The "Have It All" package gave us 2 nights of special dining, along with other benefits. Food and service was excellent.

The headliner shows have been typical. One comedian was good, the other, well we passed on his second appearance.

Tomorrow we dock at Falmouth, England.  We do not have an excursion but will get off for a bit if the weather cooperates. It is a small city and also a tender port.

Starting at 7:00 AM or when we dock all passengers need to be screened by UK customs. This usually just means verifying we look like our passport.

Cruising sometimes really is a small world. A couple of nights ago we ran into Marilyn and Skip, neighbors in my Kings Ridge Community.

I mentioned that Marty spent time in Antartica. We'll it turns out that Lynn's nephew, a photographer for National geographic was in Antartica at the same time, probably in the same places. There are not a lot of inhabited places in Antartica.  

I have managed to come down with a very bad cold. No going ashore for me. I will rest and hope to be better for our visit to Paris in a few days.

By April 17 I am much better, but will still pass on going ashore in Portland, England.  In case you guessed it, Portland cement was developed here.

The ship is pretty quiet today. The crew is practicing emergency skills. Some are learning to drive lifeboats, others fight fires, even the emergency generators are tested.

Yesterday's immigration was smooth as far as I was concerned, but many passengers just don't get it.

Everyone was told at least 4 times what the procedure would be. It was announced, it was in the app, it was in a letter placed in the cabin, in the guests native language I might mention, etc, etc.

Passengers were assigned to groups. When called, procede to the main stage. Have sea pass card scanned, present yourself and your passport to UK officials, have a sticker placed on your card. And you are done.

After all the groups were called, a process that took about 90 minutes for 2600 passengers and 900 crew members, then individual names were announced for all those that didn't show up.

90 passengers were individually called. Then 50 again, then 20, then 10, finally one. The last passenger was called  5 times before they complied. What can I say.

Generally the cruise has been good. I can't blame the cruise line for my cold.  Bar service has been good, and servers adequate. In the dining room the staff has varied. Some nights there has just been 1 server, sometimes 2. It did take the front desk 2 attempts to correct a simple billing error, but it did get corrected.

The weather in Falmouth yesterday, and Portland today has been good for this time of year. Sunny and no rain!

Today I discovered a major design flaw in this class of ship. The gangway opens directly to deck 2, the public area deck with shops and bars.  There are no door ways, so when we are in Port there is a horrific air flow in the gangway door, down the hallways and up ythe atrium and stairways located fore, center and aft on the ship.

When the outside temperature is cold, every public area of the ship experiences a very cold strong draft.

A minor design flaws that results in big discomfort for guests and staff alike.

This ship has been refurbished since launch, and this could have been easily fixed with the addition of some doors.

Tomorrow, we will be Lehavre, France. We have a 10 and a half hour tour of Paris scheduled, providing I fell well enough.  The clocks get set ahead another hour. Room service breakfast is scheduled so we can make our 7:00 AM meeting time for our excursion.

Days at Sea

Unlike oceanliners that cross the Atlantic as quickly as reasonably possible, repositioning cruise ships have different priorities. With fuel being a major cost, we meander across the ocean with only 2 of 4 engines running and a comfortable speed of 15 or 16 knots. No transatlantic speed records for us.

As we move further north and east the daily high temperatures have slowly dropped from the 70s into the low 60's, but the cloud cover is less and there is more sun. Too early for good European forecasts. Only time will tell.

The demographics on the ship are much as you would expect. One person reported less than 12 passengers under 30.

Personally I have spotted 4 children. 2 boys about 5 and 9, and a couple of young teenage girls. I expect maybe related. At least three of them are seated together in the dining room.

What there is here are some very interesting passengers.  Many cruisers dream about visiting Antartica. Most cruise ship just pass by. A few let you step on the ice for a few hours. Marty, one of our table mates, worked in Antartica with a number of the famous explorers. A naval engineer by education it was his chore to keep all the equipment working.

After hearing stories of the conditions, I think a quick visit would be enough for me. But he did relate swimming in the ocean near where a volcano had erupted and warmed the water.

Holland has always presented enrichment talks during cruise sea days. Now they have perfected the process that was beginning to change when I last cruised Holland a few years ago.

Experts in various fields put together the programs and they are then presented by the cruise director, following a script and using a teleprompter.

The best of both worlds. Excellent programs and excellent presentation.

We have both. One speaker that is doing his own series of presentations, and others that are being presented by the cruise director. I wish she were doing all. Bradley Jacobson who is talking about AI amongst other topics is a very poor presenter, but I endure because of the topic.

It is frequent for reservations to be messed up on the first few days of a cruise. Passengers have come to expect that, at least I have.

By the third night we were settled into sharing early dinner with the same 4 other people at our table. Then the next night it happened. A 7th person was sitting at our table when the rest of us arrived. If I related that she told me she had "talked with the captain" and he told her she was to be seated at this table you might correctly get the feeling that I quickly formed an opinion about her.

More unacceptable was that no one up to and including the dining room manager would even attempt to resolve the problem. They wouldn't even acknowledge that something was wrong with 7 people assigned to a table for 6, or that any mistake was made somewhere. Getting the feeling that we would never get dinner until this was resolved we litterly took matters into our own hands. A chair and place setting was stolen from a nearby table. The staff wouldn't resolve the simple problem at our table so now they have other problems to solve.

Our table became overcrowded, creating more work for the servers not only in serving 7 instead of 6, but in juggling everything to fit on the table. And the adjoining table - well they were short a chair and place setting. Management wouldn't address their original mistake so now they have more to contend with.

There are a few first time cruisers on this voyage. One interesting gentleman is originally from Vietnam. He was one of the children evacuated from the embassy roof by helicopter and air lifted to the US at the end of the war. He became a data analyst for a large Washington financial research firm and comfortably retired in his 50's.

Just for those that feel we should not allow immigrants into the US.

About 3 days from Europe the seas have increased to about 5 meters with waves coming from both the North and the South as we pass between 2 North Atlantic weather disturbances. The roll of the ship has increased to about 4 degrees, still very manageable for most passengers.

The colder temperatures and some rain keep most of the passengers inside.

There is an underlying concern amongst many passengers of how we will be received in Europe in lite of the actions being taken by our deranged fascist president. Time will tell.

Overall the food has been good. There is a heavy emphasis on fish and seafood, but let me assure you I have found more than enough to choose from.

Having done it both ways, I have concluded that it much easier when traveling east across time zones to change the time midday, and when traveling west to change during the night. This was the scheme used by Cunard on the Queen Mary 2, and it was much easier.

I add to this in bits and spurts. It is now day 10, 7 days after Bermuda. The skies are partly cloudy. This morning there was a very bright rainbow that appeared to be only 30 feet from the side of ship. Of course I was too slow to capture it. But I was able to tell many passengers and crew to take a look.

As expected the swells today are about 7 meters or just under 25 feet. The captain has raised our speed slightly to 17 1/2 knots so the stabilizers can work better. For most passengers the seas are very tolerable. I imagine a few of those most sensitive to motion are having a more difficult time.

The Seas are predicted to subside after midnight.

As do many ships the Statendam has a cook to order hamburger and hot dog venue on the pool deck. I must say probably the best of any ship. The secret - everything is cooked to order, not prepared in a galley and left in a steam table pan for hours.

With the enclosed pool deck it is quite comfortable. A few passengers enjoying the pool, many more reading, playing cards, and just relaxing.

Bermuda

We arrive an hour early. The wind and gulf current has been behind us since leaving Florida.

The air temperature is about 70, and the wind is a brisk 25 or 30 mph but the skies sunny.

No shore excursion booked, we take the free shuttle around the dockyards.

Shortly after noon the NCL Nowegian Jewel arrives. It is amazing how gently a 100 thousand ton vessel can be manuvered in close quarters. She is gently nudged into the next dock. An ambulance is awaiting as it was for our arrival earlier this morning. A few minutes after docking the ambulance leaves, sitens warning the tourists to get out of the street.

Probably less than 30% of passengers take a shore excursion. This mature crowd doesn't have a high interest is beaches.

We leave port promptly at 5pm. At 6:00 the curse of the Bermuda triange strikes. The Azipods are turned to stop the ship, and then turn her around. We are heading back into port to discharge a crew member that needs medical treatment beyond what is available on the ship. This seems to be a common process in Bermuda, but it makes sense since the next closest port is days away.

For us it will be 8 days until the next port. Falmouth, England.

As we finally get into open waters, the seas have picked up a little as the ocean swells are now on our starboad side, imparting a gentle roll to the ship.

Sea days ahead.

2 days at sea

The Nieuw Statendam is a relatively new Holland America ship. Launched in 2018 she carries 2666 passengers. Probably we are close to that number on this cruise.

Much more of a traditional design than the large megaships of Royal. No large promenade, no central park, and just 2 pools without waterslides or artificial surfs. The main pool has a large retractable domed glass cover.

The main theater is very good. Sort of a theater in the round design, seating for 660 extends over 270 degres around the stage. The electronic LED backdrop covers not only the backside of the  stage, but extends back both sides of the theater almost to the rear doors.

There are only a handful of obstructed view seats. Missing - no drink holders in the arm rests.

Food in the buffet is served by the staff. So far food in the main dining room has been excellent.

Seas remain such that no roll or pitch is imparted to the ship. Temperatures remain in the 70's, someting that will change as we approach northern Europe in a week or so.

Our first port is Bermuda.

April 5, 2025 Heading to Amsterdam

Yesterday afternoon we pick up the rental car. It is the best option for a 3 week trip leaving from Port Everglades by ship and returning to Tampa by air.

The suitcase is packed with more than usual. It is in the high 80's in Florida amd we expect temperatures may be in the 40's in Northern Europe. This time of year the probabilty of rain is significant.

It was after we booked this trip that we learned it will be tulip festival time in Amsterdam. Tiny Tim I am not, but the tulip fields should be colorful.

We are underway before 8 AM. Traffic is average for a Saturday morning. The rising sun in our eyes is the only irritation.

We make our usual stop in Ft Pierce for a restroom break and a quick breakfast at McDonalds.  The restrooms have been remodeled, a desparately needed upgade. McDonalds is well, McDonalds. Not nearly as bad as on some previous trips, but not great.

The security check at the port entrance is backed up, and it takes about 30 minutes to pass. Lynn drops me and the luggage at the terminal and takes the rental car to the airport to return it.

Boarding is quck and easy. Certainly disappointing but I witness 2 couples being denied boarding because they do not have the required visa for England. I get it, this is a relatively new requirement, but the cruise line has reminded us about this numerous times.

The cabins are ready so I put away the contents of my carryon.

Lynn arrives 30 or 40 minutes later, having returned the rental and taking a cab to the pier. Cabs have a separate lane and don't encounter the security check delay that private vehicles do.

I can be slow at catching on sometimes, but this must be a universal cruise line thing. My confirmations clearly stated that we had early dining, exactly as I had requested. Once on the ship, the reservation had been erased.

The best they could do was tell me to show up in the standby line.

We explored the ship and unpacked the luggage. A week or so ago I was able to upgrade our cabin to a "large family oceanview". 2 baths and sleeping accomadations for 5. The cabin is a little larger, but I would never want to be with 4 others in it.

Dining works out just fine, we share a table with 4 others at the aft of the dining room at a window.

I never learn why, but our 5:00 pm departure is delayed until almost 8:30. So is life at sea. As we leave Port Everglades the seas are under 2 meters. Winds will be basically behind us for the majority of the crossing

The next 2 days will be sea days with our first stop in Bermuda on Tuesday April 8.