Again, we were up at 7:00 and enjoyed coffee on the balcony till nine, then off to the breakfast room for a late breakfast with Bert and Laverne. Spotted LeVerne and Carole walking down the street below on their way to the Anne Frank museum and invited them up after their tour. They stopped back at 10:00 and came up for a visit and breakfast, which I swiped for them from the breakfast room.

  

After they left for their own hotel, we packed our bags and checked out at 11:00. Our stay at the Nadia Hotel was absolutely wonderful and we would recommend them to anyone (if they can handle the stairs). The location was perfect, the staff was extremely accommodating and the room prices were very reasonable. Great place! They even called taxi's for the four of us, which arrived after 20 minutes or so.

  

Loading our luggage, it was a ten-minute drive by car to the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, where we were to board the Celebrity M/V Century for our 12 night Baltic cruise. The luggage handling and check-in was a breeze, except that Lee left her purse at the security station and had to run back for it. We were aboard by 12:15, stuck the Scopolamine seasickness patches behind the ear (just in case), received the passkeys for our stateroom and were enjoying a welcome aboard champagne with Bert and Laverne.

After a while, we decided to make our way to our cabin #9246 on the Vista Deck and check it out. It was actually more than we had expected with a big bed, lots of storage, a desk, sitting room with a sofa bed and an extra large veranda. The veranda had been advertised as being 42 square feet rather than the 125 square feet it was. Bonus! And, my luggage was delivered by 1:30 with Lee's appearing at 3:30. No lost luggage this time.

Carole and LeVerne arrived on board shortly after we did. Denise and Bruce also made it after their long flight so all eight of the Cruise Buddies were present and accounted for. Meanwhile, we went for a buffet lunch with Bert and Laverne that was more than necessary but will probably be the theme of the cruise.

We were back in our stateroom waiting for the 4:00 lifeboat drill when there was a soft knock and some folding money started to appear under the door. As it turned out, it was LeVerne shoving the bill but not without a story. I had lent them 20 Euro so they'd have enough for the taxi ride over but as it turned out, they didn't need it. It seems he tried the same trick earlier prior to arriving at our cabin, but what he thought was 9246 was 9046. Good thing nobody was home or he'd have lost the cash.

After the lifeboat drill, everyone met in our stateroom for the ship's 5:00 p.m. departure. After watching the castoff, we all went up to Deck 11 for a welcome reception and an $8.95 plus tip drink, but we did get to keep the souvenir glass.

      
      
      

Back to our stateroom after watching the Netherlands slip by the channel we were in for a little R&R before dinner at 8:30 p.m. Just before dinner, we entered the sea lock near IJmuiden in the waterway connecting Amsterdam with the North Sea. The operation took about 20 minutes, then into the North Sea for what I would consider the official start of our cruise.

      
  

At 8:30, we joined our cruise mates in the Grand Restaurant for an informal dinner. We drew table 611, our designated dining table for the cruise that came with Feliciano our waiter from Goa, India and Joey, his assistant from the Philippines.

      

After five courses and an after dinner coffee, we went back to our stateroom, picked up some U.S. cash and down to the Fortunes Casino. No luck there, so back to our cabin for a bit of reading then off to bed at 12:30 a.m.