Tuesday – August 22, 2017
We sailed away from Rotterdam, The Netherlands yesterday afternoon and cruised southward along the English Channel between Great Britain and France. Fortunately, the wind was light and the seas were calm last night.
Rotterdam marks the end of our eastward cruise and the beginning of the return westbound cruise. Or, looking at it another way, the midpoint between the circuit. The first half passed very quickly and there are several exciting ports ahead on our way back to Boston. We even travel around the northern part of Iceland near the Arctic Circle.
Because we’re heading westward, we had to set our clocks ahead one hour. Maybe I’ll catch up on lost sleep during several time changes cruising to Europe. It was a clear day with blue skies. Ships are passing on both sides of the Rotterdam because we’re in a major shipping channel.
The Irish government sent two officials onboard to stamp our non-EU passports this morning. Not a bad job. They fly to Rotterdam, work one morning, enjoy leisure time onboard, and disembark in Dublin. Similar to the Ice Pilots who rode with us from Greenland to Reykjavik. I now have an Ireland stamp in my passport in anticipation of going ashore tomorrow in Dublin.
We have a new Captain abroad because the other one retired from active duty in Rotterdam and will have an office job for three months of the year. The new Captain is Eric van de Wal and he seems happy and excited about his new position. He’s more visible than the previous captain. We saw Captain Eric in the Lido smiling and laughing with crew members.
The cruise social director, Jan, packed in lots of activities to keep us from getting too bored today. There are several lectures we want to attend, also movies, games, art auctions, Casino, gym classes, and live shows tonight.
Lectures today: excursions and sights to see in Dublin, Liverpool, Douglas on the Isle of Mann; Arctic Explorations presented by Dr. Hannesson; and The Other Side of the Moon presented by the meteorologist, Dr. Bendel.