That is probably how the young men on the station thought of us as we struggled to get our heavy bags on the train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam at 9.30 on a quiet Saturday morning at the Central Station. Thankfully the station was only a couple of hundred metres from our hotel, and after a 45 minute trip on the fast train, we stepped out at Rotterdam to a taxi which took us directly to the port. Easy! Rotterdam was quiet – clearly nothing happens on Saturday mornings! And very clean and modern. Quite different from Central Amsterdam. Rotterdam was severely destroyed during the war, and while there are buildings that were rebuilt and repaired, modern skyscrapers dominate, while in Amsterdam, the more modern buildings are on the outskirts rather than in the centre of the city.

Checked in and then wandered back out of the terminal and found a lovely outdoor restaurant on the water to enjoy some food and wine! Wine will feature prominently! The chardonnay in the bar on the ship was Rosemount! As well as Chilean wines. I tried the Chilean one, but my tastes are more towards the Australian chardy.

The ship left at 4.00pm after we had our emergency drill. We spent an hour or so roaming around the ship getting to know all the guest areas.

Sail away from exciting as we headed out through Rotterdam’s massive port. It was quiet as it was Saturday, but one can imagine it as a busy working port through the week.

More wandering, more wine and dinner! I also decided to go to Mass at 5.00 – two retired priests from the U.S. Small group attended – mostly Americans. In fact, there seem to be a lot of Americans on the cruise. They are loud – that’s how you know they are Americans!