Itinerary
Monday 27th May	-	Harwich
Tuesday	-	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Wednesday 29th May	-	Harwich

This cruise was sold as a promotional "sampler" but it was far too short; it was over before we had a chance to settle-in. At more than 69,000 tons, this was the biggest ship we had been on up to this time - she was even larger than QE2 - and I think I found the ship slightly intimidating. She was brand new and still in "shake-down" mode and it seemed to us that service in her 2-sitting Dining Room was a bit hurried and the waiters were so keen to please that they were intrusive.

The Pool & jogging track		Viking Crown Lounge Deck 11		The Centrum 7 decks high		The King & I Dining Room		Promenade Deck 4

The interior was so full of glass, brass, marble, mirrors and "art", I wrote in my diary, "It looks like a pools winner has gone into Maples and bought everything in the store!" Somewhat over-awed, Dad called it "Splendid of the Seas"; I thought it rather vulgar and dubbed her "Glenda of the Seas"!

Tuesday 28th May
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mind you, this didn't stop us having a lovely day in Amsterdam, where John acted as our official tour-guide for a walking tour of the city, which included lunch at the American Hotel.

The Art Nouveau American Hotel		Canals & bicycles!		Statue of Rembrandt		Rembrandtplein		Zuiderkirk

To be fair to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, perhaps we were just not ready for a modern ship like this. Seven years later, Andrew & I would travel on her near-sister ship, Grandeur of the Seas and would have quite a different impression of that ship, and a wonderful holiday. Just goes to show!

Cruise Mileage: 226 nautical miles
Total Mileage to date: 52,598 n miles