Holland America Statendam 12/6/08

We got off the Carnival Splendor yesterday around 11am without any problems. Since we were one of the last ones to get off, our luggage was the lonely ones waiting for us. Then we made our way to the courtesy shuttle to the Statendam which immediately left as soon as we were on it. Our embarkation was easy and painless even though I was anxious and worried since we didn’t have our documents in hand and hoped they had it for us.

We had lunch on the Lido deck and then wandered around the ship until we were allowed in our staterooms and unpacked our luggage. We were supposed to leave at 5pm but there was a medical emergency so we were delayed. Apparently this poor lady fell because when they took her off the ship on a stretcher, her right foot was all wrapped up and laying on a pillow. They took her away in an ambulance and her husband and luggage was loaded into a van. What a horrible thing to happen right before you leave on a cruise! At least it happened before we started and she wasn’t in some foreign port. We stood out on the front of the boat with Jackie (the Internet Manager) and her parents. All of them were so nice and fun to chat with. While we waited, I got a beautiful picture of the sunset as a plane was landing in Ft. Lauderdale.

For dinner, we had a big table for 8 but only one other couple showed up. They are Yanos and Helena from Michigan (but were originally from Poland and had beautiful accents!). We had a great time at dinner so it will be nice dining with them for 14 days.

After dinner, we went to the Welcome Aboard Show which was short and then went to the movie theater to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I like their theater because they even supply popcorn!