The Staff Deck

As the Noordam left the Ft. Lauderdale harbor, Robin and I searched for the access to the bow of the boat so we could have a good view. It seems the bow of the boat is for crew and staff only. It also seems that if you ignore staff who say you can't get there, and if go through several heavy metal doors and up some hidden-away steel staircases, you eventually go through the tiny Officers Club Bar and onto the deck at the bow of the ship.


Robin impersonates a Noordam staff person.

When we left the bow, we had to go back through the private officers club. Too bad no one was there. I wanted to ask the Captain about the stripper pole (for pole dancing) in the middle of the tiny dance floor (I'm not kidding), and when the music starts.

Or maybe it's just to hold onto while drinking in rough seas.

Ah, The Worst Part Of The Cruise Is Done

Getting to the pier and onto the ship is the worst part of going on a cruise. But that's done now. Fortunately, we knew from experience that we did not have to wait at the hotel with the horde of other passengers for our assigned, noon-ish bus. Instead, we jumped in a cab around 10:30 AM and took it straight to Pier 26. Even with the glitch of computers going down at the Holland America check-in, we were roaming around on the M.S. Noordam by 11:00 or 11:15. Staterooms weren't ready until 1:30 or 2:00, so we toured the ship and had lunch.

This ship is similar to last year's, but a little bigger, nicer, and more options for eating 24 hours a day. We've been onboard for four hours and I've had five meals. Just kidding.

We have a good strong Wi-Fi signal in our room. That's good because the Library, a Wi-Fi HotSpot, must be at least a three or four minute walk from here.


There's something fishy about the bar next to the pool on the Lido Deck.

Helvetica

On the flight from Houston to Ft. Lauderdale, we watched a movie on my iPhone (I've downloaded four full-length movies to my 8 GB iPhone, and I still have almost 4 GB of storage available).

We watched Helvetica, a documentary about the ubiquitous font named Helvetica. A very interesting movie if you're involved with typography and design. And, as Sarah Palin might say, in addition to being ubiquitous, it's everywhere.


Helvetica from the Hilton in Ft. Lauderdale.