The Noordam: The Ship and Our Stateroom
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This will be the second time that Fred and I have cruised on Holland America. In 2009, we took the sister ship of the Noordam, the Oosterdam, on our cruse from Fort Lauderdale, through the Panama Canal and to San Diego. Not only are the Oosterdam and Noordam "sister ships," but they are almost identical. So much so that once we learned where our suite was, finding our way around the ship was ridiculously easy, since the layout was virtually identical. The decoration (which you will see later) was different, but the decks, location of the amenities, stairs and elevators and all the rest of it was the same.

Getting to Fort Lauderdale  

On Tuesday morning, the three of us got a ride to the airport from Paul and we were on an 8 AM flight to Fort Lauderdale. We got a taxi to the condo and were settled in there shortly after noontime. We had a few things to pick up, so Ron Drew let me come by his office to borrow his car, and we did those errands without any problem. Fred and I played frisbee in the afternoon, and for dinner we took Ron and Jay down to the Floridian.

Getting to the MS Noordam  

On Wednesday, Ron came by on his lunch hour to give the three of us a ride over to the port.

As do all the cruise ships, the Noordam was sailing from Port Everglades, which is south of the 17th Street Causeway- about two miles south of the condo, as the crow flies. In 2009, the Oosterdam was docked at the south end of the port, but this time the Noordam was waiting for us at the north end- right by the Convention Center and very easy to get to.

We pulled right up to where we could drop off our big bags (including the box in which I had brung enough Diet Sunkist to last for the five weeks we'd be gone).

We said goodbye to Ron so he could get back to his office, and we made sure our luggage was in the right spot for them to bring aboard. (It was delivered about two hours later right to our suite.) Then we stopped to take a few pictures.

Greg and I and the Noordam

The picture at left that Fred took of Greg and I is a good one to show the location of our suite. As I said earlier, Greg had gotten us the best suite in the category we'd booked, and you can see its balcony clearly in this picture. The deck just above my head is the Verandah Deck, and the one just above that, deck 6, is the Upper Verandah deck. We are in stateroom 6052, and its verandah is on deck 6 just where deck angles inward as you move from the bow to the stern. You can see the double door out to the verandah, and the second window looking out to it (which turned out to be right at one of the two desks in the suite). If this is at all confusing, I'll show you the same picture with our verandah marked if you will click here.

Just before we headed in to the building where check-in was located, I snapped a picture of Greg and Fred with the Noordam in the background.

We went through the check-in process and got our ship cards and then headed over to the escalator up to the gangway level. There, we crossed the gangway to the ship, and as we were walking across I took a picture looking forward along the port side of the ship towards the Everglades Inlet and the tall condos on the north side of it. You can see that picture here.

Settling In  

We got on board about two o'clock, and the ship wasn't scheduled to sail until about five. We hadn't had any lunch, and on embarkation days the Lido Restaurant (the main buffet) is open all afternoon, so we went up there to get something to eat. It was just the three of us this time, and so this was the first of many meals we would take together in the next four weeks. We did a little exploring just to verify where everything was, and then went back to the suite to get ready for the mandatory life boat drill on the Promenade Deck, four decks below us. The drill is held once everyone is aboard (or supposed to be aboard- I learned later that a few people were on a delayed flight into Fort Lauderdale, and didn't arrive until just before the ship sailed, which must have been nerve-wracking for them). When we got back from the drill, we went out on the verandah to admire the view looking north towards Fort Lauderdale, and we watched as the crew brought more of the ship's supplies on board. (Greg mentioned that he hoped that this time, they hadn't left the wasabi sauce behind (as they had on the Panama Canal cruise- he had to do without it for the first week of the cruise). Fred snapped a picture looking towards the 17th Street Bridge, and you can see it here.

I wanted to be up on deck when the ship sailed (well, "steamed" is a better term, but "sailing" sounds so nautical) out the inlet, but we had time to head up to check out the gym (on the Lido Deck, Deck 9 Forward) before that. While I did some weights and cardio, Fred and Greg did some yoga. Greg also went to buy his spa package- he likes the whirlpool and the private spa area- before we went back downstairs to change to get up on deck for our departure.

We Set Sail  

The ship's horn blew a little after five, and we slowly nosed away from the dock. The ship was already pointed out of the harbor; it must have been interesting to see the sail-in this morning, since the captain would have had to turn the ship 360 degrees when he came into the harbor and then back in to the dock. (We would have a chance to see some interesting maneuvers during the cruise.) As we headed out of Everglades Inlet, I took a series of pictures as we came away from the dock, headed through the inlet (with folks from the condos and homes that line it blowing the traditional air horns as we passed) and started out into the Atlantic. If you will click on the little thumbnail images below, left to right, you can see this series:

Of course, we used my camera to record all three of us up on deck as the ship sailed:

As I guess is true for all harbors, Port Everglades employs a number of harbor pilots who are intimately familiar with the harbor, its layout and its idiosyncracies, and they also know the current status of any hazards or obstructions. When a ship enters a harbor, one of these pilots is ferried out to be with the captain and advise him as necessary; when a ship leaves, the pilot is on board already, and is ferried back to shore once the ship has cleared the harbor. The Noordam had a pilot on board when we left, and as we came out into the open ocean, the pilot boat came alongside to pick the harbor pilot up from a hatchway near the waterline. As we headed out, we passed a 40‑foot catamaran; they must have had a great view. By six o'clock, we were well away from the harbor, looking back at Fort Lauderdale (and the United States). If everything goes as planned, we won't see the United States again until the afternoon of June 5th- five weeks hence. And we hope that when we do, it will be after seeing a lot of amazing places.

We were almost out of sight of land when we went out on the verandah to watch the sunset before dinner. Fred got the very nice picture that you can see here, and if you look really closely at the horizon, you can just barely make out the taller buildings of Fort Lauderdale. As darkness fell, the ship began its long northeasterly course, gradually getting further and further from shore and further and further north, as it arced around to finally head eastward to the Azores.

Our First Dinner Aboard the Noordam  

We headed back to the suite/stateroom (I think I'll call it a "suite" from now on, not because it sounds better or conveys more size, but simply because it's four letters shorter, and I plan on using it a lot.) to change for our first dinner in the Vista Dining Room. We had not selected a set dinner seating, but rather a plan by which we could show up when we wanted to and either sit by ourselves or let the maitre d' assign us to a table with other guests, which is what happened this first night. We found ourselves at a table of ten: the three of us, two other couples, and one more couple and a friend of theirs who were traveling together.

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Greg, to his credit, began immediately talking to the couples nearest him, and one of them in particular- the couple traveling with a friend of theirs. The couple was Jim and MaryEllen Schembri and their friend Sally (last name forgotten). Greg drew Fred and I into the conversation with them as well, and we learned quite a bit about them that first evening. They are retired and well-off, with homes in Aspen, Scottsdale and Michigan, and they have three grown sons who are all doing well themselves. Greg could tell that they were open-minded, and they seemed like really nice people.

I have only a single movie to record our meeting, although the movie doesn't concentrate on the folks at our table but rather the Chiluly-type glass sculpture on the ceiling of the dining room right above us. But you'll see Jim in the movie- he's wearing a light-blue striped shirt- and MaryEllen is the classy woman sitting to his left. (Their friend, Sally, is sitting to MaryEllen's left, right across from me.)

Greg happened to mention that he and Fred were learning bridge from me, and MaryEllen and Jim immediately picked up on that; they, too, were wanting to learn more about the game so they could play with some Scottsdale friends of theirs. We arranged to meet each morning of our sea days across the Atlantic, and I could teach/mentor/help the four of them (Greg, Fred, Jim and MaryEllen) as they played. This turned out to be the most enjoyable part of our trip across the Atlantic, and we all looked forward to our three-hour sessions each morning.

(I should point out here that we became quite friendly with them, culminating on spending the entire day with them in Barcelona when we took a day trip to Montserrat. We have their contact information, and have added them to our email correspondent list. I hope that we will stay in touch and perhaps play bridge again together one of these days.)

After dinner, Fred and I did some walking around the ship, and then joined Greg in the piano bar for a while. We even played a game of checkers in the Explorations Lounge before heading back to the suite where we began our nightly routine of downloading our pictures to the laptop and reviewing them. It was a very good first day for our cruise, and we are looking forward to a very enjoyable crossing.

This Evening's Towel Animal  

When we were on the Oosterdam in 2009, we found that each evening our cabin steward would leave on the bed a "towel animal," and this is, apparently, a tradition on this ship as well.

Your Guess?

These animals are made out of medium-size towels; usually just one, but sometimes two or more. Something new this time is the addition of the little paper eyes, which certainly help in identifying the creature- but not always. Tonight's animal was one such case. We were not sure what it was supposed to be, but perhaps you have an idea.

I noted later during the sea days that there was a demonstration of the creation of these animals, but it occurred while I was playing duplicate, and so I didn't attend.

It was interesting to find one on the bed each evening; some of them were very creative.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	The Noordam: The Ship and Our Stateroom
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