Northern Capitals: The Baltics Tuesday, May 01, 2018 The pilot was correct, we made up the lost time and entered Amsterdam airspace when he predicted we would be there. However, the winds were about 32 knots and only one runway was open and we were kept in a holding pattern for thirty minutes before being cleared to land. Immigration only had two desks open initially but they added three more windows and we processed through the serpentine in 45 minutes. Once we gathered our luggage we proceeded to a Royal Caribbean Welcome Desk where Fereshteh and Mo purchased transfers to the ship to join us on the thirty minute bus ride to the passenger terminal. The Brilliance of the Seas had changes made to the ship in the ten or so days before our cruise so the passengers were all logged into the terminal and given a group assignment. Some of the clerks had computer problems and people were invited (and tagged) requiring them to come back and get photos electronically tagged to their sea pass. We just asked one of the clerks whose computer was working to process our photo so we didn't have to come back. Then our groups were later called out in order to board the vessel. When our group was called we entered the ship at Deck Four and Liz and Fereshteh stopped at the Guest Services Desk to have their ship cards hole-punched to let them put their cards on a lanyard to carry about the ship. Next we went to the Windjammer Cafe on Deck 11 for lunch. We found a table for four and a waiter took drink orders Mo requested a Pepsi and after he was asked for his sail pass I alerted him to the fact that other than coffee, tea, and water beverages were charged to the room. I also informed him that gratuity charges of $15.00 per day/per person would also be added to the bill. Then we went around the buffet. Liz began with a salad bar. Fereshteh found an Indian dish and some corn on the cob. Mo had beef slices from the steamship round, which proved to be dry and almost tasteless. I had a helping of Paella but the mussels, shrimp, and scallops were dry and hard and the rice was cold. We were not too impressed with lunch. Afterward we walked about the ship to familiarize ourselves with the layout. Our stateroom (3124) and the Sarram's stateroom (3622) are across from each other separated by the width of the ship on the port and starboard sides respectively. That means we walk forward twenty rooms on the port corridor to the common stairway/elevator area and then cross over to the starboard side and walk aft twenty rooms to reach the Sarram's. We had safety drill, also on opposite sides of the promenade, at 4:15. It was cold and windy and the exercise lasted about a half hour. Afterward we went to My Time Dining in the Minstrel Dinning Room (Deck 5) where we were seated at a table for four. Our waiter, Tadium, is from South Africa and our Assistant Waiter, Francisco, is from Mexico. 145 I ordered the French Onion Soup and the horseradish encrusted salmon. Liz had the mushroom soup and the Barimundi over rice. Fereshteh also had the same fish of the day but with the French Onion Soup. We both agreed that the soup was cold, the cheese was rubbery and we wondered where the onion was. The red beans and rice served under the Barimundi seemed less impressive than the fish. Mo had a Caesar salad and shared some of Fereshteh's fish. After dinner we went to the Pacifica Theater for WELCOME ABOARD SHOWTIME Starring Crazy Circus Comedy of JEREMY & CHARLY. It was interesting. The two performers did acrobatic flips and slides over tables, chairs, and each other. Then they went through juggling routines, all fast paced. At one point Jeremy played a trumpet and then brought another to his lips and played two together in harmony. Just a few notes but I was impressed. Returning to our room after the performance, we discovered our luggage had been brought to our room. We spent about an hour putting things away... roughly. By that I mean we put the packing cubes on shelves; we did not put everything on hangers. We reviewed our documents and letters from the ship and we put papers in the safe. Liz reviewed meal times and called Fereshteh to recommend we meet at the Minstrel Dining Room (Deck 4) at eight o'clock for breakfast. Then we gave up too and went to bed. Wednesday, May 02, 2018 (Sea Day) Today we are at sea, a perfect, slow morning for a sit down breakfast. Here we learned that one of the changes done to the ship before this cruise was to replace the dinning room chairs. They are bigger; and they have no glides so they are difficult to move across the carpet. Now the tables seem closer together. One woman at our table was stuffed between the table and the window. Now I think they have copied airplane design efficiencies. There is little room for anyone. This was a first service for breakfast. It was slow, food was late and people were complaining. After breakfast Fereshteh and Liz went to exercise class. I worked on my journal for a while. Wayne, our steward from Guyana, asked about the writing and I showed him the websites for trip reports as well as for the genealogy. He was suitably impressed. The four of us got together for lunch. This time we asked for a table for four. People went to the salad buffet and I talked everyone into ordering the Nasi Goring we love from Indonesia. I enjoyed it, others seemed polite but not as enthusiastic. 146 Later we met Fereshteh and Mo for a walk on the promenade. Mo felt it was too cold so he bowed out. We walked about the deck but were getting in the way of two workmen so we went to Deck 3 and walked inside. We have to walk a “U” loop and that is about a half mile. Later Liz and I went to the Diamond Lounge for a half hour before meeting Fereshteh and Mo in the dinning room. We were not sure we could meet the early performance in the theater but we actually were able to get their as introductions were being made. HEADLINER SHOWTIME Direct from the West End & Broadway – BARRICADE BOYS – Stars of Les Miserables LIVE in Concert. The show featured songs from Les Miserables but also from The Jersey Boys, Queen, and others. The syncopated routines as well as the songs themselves brought back the 80's music. The dance steps brought back memories of that style of songs. Thursday, May 03, 2018 (Skagen On Our Own) Today we will catch a shuttle bus to Skagen. Liz and I had been here last August and today we will just go downtown and walk about. Skagen is Denmark's northernmost town and the area surrounding it. Occasionally known in English as The Scaw, it is situated on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, it is part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Region Nordjylland. It is located 41 kilometers (25 mi) north of Frederikshavn and 108 kilometers (67 mi) northeast of Aalborg. With its well-developed harbor, Skagen is Denmark's main fishing port and also has a thriving tourist industry, attracting some 2 million people annually. Originally the name was applied to the peninsula but it now usually refers to the town itself. The settlement began in the Middle Ages as a fishing village, renowned for its herring industry. Thanks to its seascapes, fishermen and evening light, towards the end of the 19th century it became popular with a group of Impressionist artists now known as the Skagen Painters. In 1879, the Skagen Fisherman's Association was established with the purpose of facilitating the local fishing industry through the Skagensbanen railway, which opened as a narrow-gauged railway in 1890. The modern port of Skagen opened on 20 November 1907, and with the railway connections to Frederikshavn and the rest of Denmark, tourism began to develop. In the early 1910s, Christian X and Queen Alexandrine often visited Skagen and brought friends from other European monarchies. They built the summer residence Klitgaarden, completed in 1914. Between the 1930s and 1950s the town grew rapidly, with the population more than doubling from 4,048 in 1930 to 9,009 in 1955. Skagen reached a peak population of 14,050 in 1980, after which it gradually declined. As of 1 January 2014 it has a population of 8,198. Thanks to the artistic community which still remains in Skagen, the local arts and crafts trade remains important to the income of the town with its numerous crafts shops and galleries. Chains such as the international jeweler Skagen Designs have branches in the town, and given the abundance of fresh fish coming in at the port of Skagen, seafood forms a staple in Skagen's restaurants. St Lawrence's Church was built just outside the village at the end of the 14th century, but after it was buried in drifting sand it was replaced by Skagen Church in 1841 designed by Christian Frederik Hansen. It was redeveloped in 1909–10 by Ulrik Plesner who also designed a number of other buildings in Skagen, including Klitgaarden and the railway station.