Rotterdam repositioning cruise

From the moment the MS Rotterdam left Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, we moved into another world, a world of opulence in which the rich and famous indulged. Betty and I were sailing on the flagship of Holland America Line with 1,250 other guests, all bound for an exciting 23-day adventure.

The meals on our ship were always delightful and varied. We usually ate our dinners in La Fontaine, the formal dining room. It was thickly carpeted, had a full wraparound ocean view and offered white linen service. Lots of waiters were on hand to politely take our orders.

Lunch was usually up on deck 8 in the Lido Lounge. It was a buffet with a wide range of tasty entrées, bakery goods, ice cream and mouthwatering desserts. A barbecue was available on the Lido Deck under a full skylight by one of the pools. We ate there when we wanted burgers, hot dogs, pastrami sandwiches and the like.

The ship’s newspaper arrived at our stateroom door every evening to help us plan the next day’s activities.

We liked attending the morning guest lectures. One speaker had a great slide presentation showing how he had located sunken treasure from gold-laden Spanish galleons. Another, Edward Peck, a former U.S. ambassador and a spellbinding speaker, explained how the U.S. State Department works at home, at the U.N. and abroad. He had served with four U.S. presidents and knew people like Bill Clinton and Colin Powell.

Activities never ceased. Throughout the day, all kinds of contests were held: golf putting, shuffleboard, “guess that tune” and more. Playing bridge or gambling in the ship’s casino was popular with many guests.

As an added treat, the dessert chefs put on a fabulous food display featuring amazing large ice sculptures of birds plus fruit carvings and chocolate creations of all description.

Betty and I never missed the nightly stage show in the Queen’s Lounge, a 2-story theater at the bow of the ship. This venue offered a variety of shows: a magician, a ventriloquist, a banjo artist, singers, dancers, two Broadway-type stage musical shows and more.

With all this, Betty and I still enjoyed many hours in our stateroom reading some great books from the ship’s library. It was quiet and peaceful, and we could look out our large picture window at the endless ocean and follow the diminishing wake of our giant ship.

After sailing across the Atlantic for six days, we arrived at our first port of call, the Azores, a small group of islands that stand alone in the Atlantic about 800 miles west of Portugal. From Ponta Delgado, the capital, the bus drove our group around the city and up among the 3,000-foot peaks and lakes. The mountains were covered with lush, green foliage.

In the lower elevations, the city parks were ablaze with pink and blue azaleas. We saw and toured low-roofed greenhouses used for growing pineapples, a cash crop ideal for the volcanic soil and climate.

Lisbon, Portugal, and Cádiz, Spain, both ancient cities, face the Atlantic. They have a long history of discovery and fighting battles on land and at sea. Fishing and trading were always important, and nowadays they can add olive growing and tourism.

Our ship sailed past the Straits of Gibraltar at about 11 p.m. The captain joined many of us on the open deck and pointed out a particular group of lights and a shadowy outline in the distance. That was Gibraltar.

Barcelona is Spain’s largest seaport and features La Sagrada Familia, the famous church designed by Gaudí. We all marveled at its tall steeples that seemed to flow and drip like melted wax. I saw it in 1952 on my first trip to Europe. Skilled craftsmen were adding mortar to stone then. . . and they’re still building it. They hope to finish it in the next 10 years.

By far, the most opulent city we toured was Monte Carlo in Monaco on France’s southeastern coast. Many millionaires and billionaires enjoy very exclusive living there as well as a tax-free status. Lots of luxury cars, a dazzling harbor full of white yachts, and mansions perched on the steep hillside make this a striking place to visit.

Betty and I had been in the famed Monte Carlo Casino years ago out of curiosity. These days it costs €10 (about $13) just to enter the first gambling room, and it costs more as one enters rooms farther inside where the high rollers are playing.

We skipped the casino and chose instead to stroll through the central part of the city, admiring “the most expensive real estate in the world,” to quote our guide. The blue wisteria we saw draped along the walls of some of these mansions was breathtaking.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (1350) is still tilting, as it has been since the day it was built. World-class engineers finally figured out that shoring up the tower with soil underneath one side and adding lead weights on the other would stabilize it. Hopefully, this loveable tower has been saved.

The birthplace of the Renaissance in the 10th century, Florence, Italy, is famous for its cathedral and Michelangelo statues. The huge, nude statue of Michelangelo’s “David” looked down on us in the Piazza della Signora, only now it’s a marble copy; the original is inside a building nearby, protected from weathering and vandals.

In Rome we headed first for the Colosseum. Famous for its popular gladiator battles and brutal scenes of early Christians slaughtered by wild animals, it is surprising how much of this enormous stone structure still stands after almost 2,000 years.

Perhaps the high point of this whole trip was our visit to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Only four days before, we had seen on TV the new pope, Benedict XVI, celebrating his inaugural Mass, and there we were, standing in line where the crowds had been. Even after having visited St. Peter’s on three other trips, I’m still spellbound by this majestic House of God.

Dubrovnik, Croatia, situated along the Adriatic coast, was a new place for Betty and me to visit. This old city is encircled with a marvelous, 25-foot-tall, gray granite wall, matching granite buildings and granite-paved streets.

Our guide said, “There was much bomb damage here during the recent Bosnian War,” but we couldn’t see any battle scars. Perfectly restored, it is now in mint, like-new condition. We felt like visitors in a time capsule programmed for medieval times as we followed our guide around this charming city.

Our stop in Venice, Italy, was brief, just enough to get a city walking tour around St. Mark’s Square. The interior of St. Mark’s Church is beautiful now with the restoration completed. Betty and I had lunch in a side street, and I took pictures of gondolas gliding slowly under the Bridge of Sighs.

Venice marked the official end of our ocean cruise.

We had found the 4- to 10-hour shore excursions from our cruise ship very brief for sightseeing and wished we could have stayed overnight at many ports. But we realize that owners of ocean liners would find it cost prohibitive to tie up for extra days.

The bus we boarded in Venice took four hours to reach Stresa, Italy, an attractive resort in the Italian Alps beside Lake Maggiore. The pace of life is much slower there, and we found it a good place to unwind.

Our hotel, La Palma, situated right on the shoreline, had beautiful garden plantings in front — bright-colored azaleas and tulips almost three feet tall. In the evenings, quiet moonlight promenades along the lake make this site a honeymooner’s dream.

Our three nights in Stresa came and went almost too fast. On the last morning, we boarded a bus to Milan to connect with our flight.

Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; phone 800/322-6677) packaged this repositioning cruise-tour and called it “Explorers Transatlantic.” The total cost, including airfare, taxes, travel insurance, one night in Miami and three in Stresa, Italy, was $3,279 per person (after our Vantage discounts). We paid for our shore excursions separately at the end of the cruise.

We flew from San Francisco to Miami on April 10, ’05, and the next day left for Ft. Lauderdale to embark ship. We flew back from Milan to San Francisco via New York on May 2.

This was a super cruise and we had super service — pampered all the way. Our stateroom, on deck E (first level for passengers) in the center of the ship, was spacious and comfortable. We would highly recommend Vantage Travel and Holland America Line. The Rotterdam is a beautiful ship.

DON MAYNARD
Walnut Creek, CA