We were up early to eat breakfast, our last meal in the hotel room. Last minute packing took longer since we were having to combine what we brought with us, along with a few extra items we purchased. Checking out by 8:45am, we discovered that our bill had been adjusted to correct the food pricing errors. Also some local phone calls had been charged at $1 each, and that had been removed. Paying the difference we owed, we were on our way.
The Uber driver, Jose, was a much better driver than the crazy ride we had here 10 days ago. We got to Pier 26 by 9:15am. The instructions we had gotten were to wait on the outside of the terminal for Jonah to escort us inside. At this point, they were still doing the zero clearance, and we had to wait about ½ hour.
Just as she promised, Jonah appeared and greeted us with hugs. She helped with a couple of bags, then led us through the terminal where the in transit folks enter. Of course, we had to put everything through xray, and once again, I set off the alarm. A pat down search was necessary, even though I told them about my new knee. It could have been my back brace, so I took it off, and they were satisfied. About the same time, we had noticed a single fellow tag along behind us as Jonah led us inside. No one stopped him, because they assumed he was with us. No, he was taking advantage of the situation, thinking he could sneak on through. How dumb is that? Without going through the check-in process, he would not be allowed on the ship. He made it all the way up the escalator to the second floor of the terminal, when Jonah approached him and sent him back down the elevator. She knew every one of her 168 in transit guests, and he was not one of them. We also asked Jonah if there had been many Covid cases on the cruise we missed. She said there were 16 crew members and perhaps three passengers. The crew members would be taken to the N. Amsterdam, while the other couple would go to where we did. She also said that the crew members were allowed to leave the ship today……first time in a long time.
We spotted Susie, who was in a wheelchair due to a fall last night, and Woody who was already in his electric wheelchair. We found Barb doing internet in a back room, freezing, but covered up in a shawl. With her mask, we almost did not recognize her. We stayed in this room for ½ hour until we were let back on the ship.
The Guest Relations Manager, Janine, was waiting for us as we boarded. We thanked her for all of her help, then waited mid ship for the elevator. That's where we met the new General Hotel Manager, Rene. Mustafa must have gone home. The Front Desk Manager, Mattias, also greeted us, while other crew members helped us with our belongings.
At our room, there was a homemade life preserver hanging on the door, made by Jonah saying Welcome Home. Where she found the time to do this, is a mystery. Inside our room, was a Happy Birthday banner over our headboard, and a large cake for my belated birthday. Wow, sure never expected any of this. Finally we had double the amenities, since we had missed the last cruise, and were starting this one. Lots of Coke, more sparkling wine, and even a bottle of JD were left on the desk. We had trays of food with desserts. This was one welcome we will never forget. Koko, our room steward, came in to see what more he could do for us. Everything was just like we left it, except it was clean….very clean we suspect.
We spent the next 2 hours putting all of our stuff away, as well as re-arranging the shelves and cabinets. We had no idea how much we had brought with us, and naturally, we did bring back some necessities like two large jars of peanuts. Some of the bottled soaps and shampoos had leaked, but were contained in ziplock bags.
The internet was not working, so we went down to the Front Desk, which was crazy busy. That's where we ran into Howard and Gyl who were recently on Crystal's world cruise. What a story they had to tell about being taken off in the Bahamas, then ferried to Ft. Lauderdale. Lucky they found space for them on this ship, so they don't have to go home. While we chatted, it became clear that the internet was down. Someone said they were working on it.
Good time for lunch, we went to the Dutch Café for ham and cheese sandwiches….fries on the side. The fries are served in the Pinnacle metal swirled cups now, and hot as ever. Two Heinekens were refreshing. No dessert, since we had already sampled the birthday cake. Andre, the bartender here, asked where we had been hiding the last 10 days. Guess he did not know we had been taken off. When we explained about one of us failing the Covid test, he assumed we may have been quarantined on the N. Amsterdam. No such luck. He was very interested in my symptoms and how quickly did I recover. Quick enough, but still not 100%.
Back to our room, we relaxed on the veranda in the warm sun. Now was a great time to open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and sip away. Sailaway was delayed from 4 to 5pm, due to a late arriving flight. We did not attend the 4pm Mariner Reception party as we don't feel we are up to be mixing in a crowd just yet. We did notice that the N. Amsterdam had slipped into the port briefly around 1 or 2pm, then unloaded and re-loaded crew members, then silently exited.
We finally left around 5:15pm to choppy waters. The Captain said to expect rough seas tonight due to the winds. As soon as he turned the ship heading east, it was downright cold.
Koko, our room steward, gave us two Club Orange deck blankets, and we gave him the rest of the cake. Surely he can share it with his buddies. We had two really full bags of laundry, so handed those to him. He and Faishal are the best.
Dinner for us was in the Tamarind at 8pm. Not sure what the dining plans are for the group, we shall find out tomorrow. All of us have the President's Club perk of 10 specialty dinners each, so we might want to use more of those than eat in the main dining room.
So good to be back "home", but you know what? We will miss our walks around the waterways watching all of the birds and other wildlife.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Report # 47 Marriott Hotel Enroute To The Nieuw Statendam Wednesday - February 2, 2022 Cloudy And Cool 72 Degrees .......Day #11
