The Baltic - First Days Are Tough

May 14, 2018

So let me begin by saying, long distance travel can be brutal. I know, I know…first world problem. Mostly I make note of this so that A: I remember next time I think I want to book a trip and B: so that I can refer back to the first day and hopefully, at the end of the trip declare that it was all worth it.

We left our beloved Maui at 10:30pm on Friday night. Packed into an Alaska Air 737 bound for Portland, Oregon. 737s are my absolute least favorite aircraft to fly on. I’m sure I slept, but it was the pillow-around-the-neck, no, try the head on the fold down tray, no, lean on husband, no, nothing works attempt at sleep. We arrived Portland at 6:30am neither rested nor refreshed and about to spend 6 hours waiting to board our flight to Amsterdam via Delta Airbus 330. Fortunately, we discovered some comfy chairs with ottomans where we could catch a few winks. 

The flight to Amsterdam was about 9.5 hours - cramped but comparatively comfortable. I think I did get an hour or two of cumulative sleep and arrived in the Netherlands completely sleep deprived and nearly delirious. Customs was easy, the airport transfer was chaotic and the ship boarding was appalling. Organization was non-existent and having had next to no sleep was not helpful in navigating the labyrinth of Holland America’s shore crew.

We finally arrived safely in our stateroom which is small but comfortable. We are conveniently located on the sun deck where one can walk, play basketball or shuffleboard. We are at the end next to the door to the outside, have a window that looks out onto the deck and only two decks from the Lido deck with pool and dining. We slept, went to the muster drill and sat on the observation deck as we sailed out of Amsterdam to the North Sea.

By now, I’m an emotional chocolate mess - missing my kids on Mother’s Day, despising my husband for nearly everything imaginable (and I admit most of it was imagined), irritated that many people around me were foreigners speaking another language - oh dear….

So today is a new day. The jet lag is beginning to wane, the sun is shining and the day at sea will help me settle. The seas are calm, the weather is pleasant but cool and the adventure is about to begin.