Day 2 of 111. Sea Day
Today is the first “sea day” and I am learning that they are at least as important as the ports we visit. They change the rug in the elevators each day so we know what day it is. This is very helpful. I had a Windows 10 class, a watercolor class and an arts and crafts class. I had time to read some J K Rowling short stories and it is only 2:30 p.m. Ron attended a cooking demonstration, signed up for some hands-on cooking classes and joined me for the arts and crafts class introduction.

Day 1 of 111. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
We have embarked and are situated comfortably in our stateroom. It is nice, with two beds, a couch, lots of closets and even a bathtub. We have explored the ship, signed up for some cooking classes, found the movie theater (Florence Foster Jenkins shows tonight) and had a little to nibble on. It was nice looking out the aft of the ship with the Netherlands flag flying in the breeze. From our window we can also see one of our pieces of luggage sitting on the dock (the bright blue bag). We don’t actually sail until 10:00 p.m. tonight so I am not at all worried that the last two suitcases will show up in the room. We just finished our muster drill, so all is well. If we end up on the news, look for lifeboat #8!

I got up early to use the WiFi in the lobby and see the sunrise over the beach. I am still collecting Pokémon and the beach offers some great variety compared to home. There are lots of Squirtles and Bulbasaurs and I even caught a Dratini. When Ron joined me, we walked around the hotel. It looks rather different during the day! I love using the portrait feature on the iPhone 7s.

This has been a great trip. Just a little turbulence near the end of the trip on Virgin America, but otherwise a very smooth trip. We were met at the airport by the Holland America people and transported to the Harbor Beach Marriott Hotel. This is a beautiful place. I’m hoping to see the sunrise in a few minutes. Last night, we could see a cruise ship in the distance in the dark. We think it must be the ms Amsterdam.

Here we are at LAX. We got here in plenty of time to sit and have a leisurely breakfast at Gladstone’s LAX overlooking the airplane loading zone. We had TSA Precheck today so everything was smoooooth. What a great way to begin our trip.