Cruising the Baltic Sea
On July 8, 2000 Laurel and I went to the Baltic Sea area on the
ms Maasdam, a ship in the
Holland America fleet.
This was my first time in a European country. But Laurel, who has been to various planets and solar systems, also enjoyed the area.
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This was actually a bonus vacation for me. Back when I was working in the real world, Laurel (who had twice the vacation time as me) was planning to go, but by herself. Once I left my job, however, I couldn't resist joining her.
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One of the highlights was that the ship never seemed crowded, no matter where we went.
Other highlights: a large bathroom; playing Tennis on deck; being allowed to walk on the forward part of the ship; having a small couch in the room; white nights; talking to people in other countries without knowing their language (they spoke theirs, we spoke ours); just getting off the ship at most ports and wandering around by ourselves; since we only took the ship's tours on two days, we were never pressured to get up early any other morning.
More highlights: Singing along in the Piano Bar; great food in an artistic dining room; flaming desserts; French hot chocolates (hot chocolate with Cointreau); an espresso bar; being a Dutch ship, there was chocolate all over the place;
Even more highlights: Being rocked to sleep every night; incredible food; slow dancing in the Crow's Nest bar; candles in our room; having a cigar and Port on the Lido deck; by being "volunteered" to help in the juggling show, and by finding "Mr. Maasdam," Laurel became a pseudo-celebrity on the ship; winning some money in the casino; the Indonesian show - the crew, who were Indonesian, presented a show with music and dances from their culture. It was the best show the ship had.
