Crossing the Atlantic

We left Ft. Lauderdale on Holland America's Zuiderdam around 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 11 on our 28 day Transatlantic and Baltic cruise. We'll be spending 7 days crossing the Atlantic Ocean to our first stop in Praia di Vitoria Terceira in the Azores. As I write this we are on day four of the crossing and are easing into the relaxed rhythms of sea days. We spend the day relaxing, exercising, learning to play bridge, reading on our verandah, enjoying the good food and cocktails, going to shows and going to the casino. I've been going to a tai chi class in the morning but missed it today as we've started a 3 day process of losing an hour each day so we'll be in the correct time zone once we get to Europe. Essentially we will have three 23 hour days in a row!  It's making getting up in the morning a bit more challenging!

So far the crossing has been pretty smooth. Today we had 6-8  feet swells but that's the worst we're going to have according to the captain. From a toasty temperature of 97° when we left Ft. Lauderdale, it's dropped to the high 60s where we'll stay for the rest of the trip to the Azores. It's been partly cloudy each day, but we may hit some rain on Thursday as there's a low front in the Atlantic that we'll cross through.

Other stops on the first leg of our cruise include Cork, Ireland, Falmouth, England, Cherbourg, France, Brussels, Belgium and finally Amsterdam, Netherlands. We arrive in Amsterdam on 5/25 and continue on for two more weeks to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Estonia, returning to Amsterdam on 6/8. We are staying three extra days in Amsterdam and return home on 6/11. We'll be posting photos and updating the blog about our adventures, so follow along with us!
Our Signature Suite is very spacious and well appointed. 
We believe these were the northern lights ftom Saturday's solar flares.




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