I woke up predictably early on Sunday with that excited “we’re going on a cruise today” feeling keeping me from sleep. We finished getting our bags ready for the ship and then went down for one last breakfast at the world’s most amazing buffet.

I had arranged transportation with Pedro Pinduko who I read about on Facebook. We were going to make a leisurely drive to Rotterdam with a stop in Kinderdijk to see the windmills.

I’m so glad I found Pedro and cancelled our other transportation! Our trip to Rotterdam was very enjoyable! Pedro was personable and knowledgeable about the things we were seeing. He took us “off the beaten path” through some delightful towns instead of taking the highway all the way to Kinderdijk.

Kinderdijk was crowded but not unmanageable. We decided not to get admission tickets, and instead we just walked the paths and saw the windmills from the outside. It was a beautiful day, and we actually got hot and had to shed layers!

It was such a pleasant trip to Rotterdam! We plan to use Pedro as a guide the next time we cruise from Rotterdam!

Before we knew it we were in Rotterdam dropping luggage. The port handles checked bags a little differently than others I’ve sailed from. Instead of handing bags over to a porter you line up and they are sent up a conveyor belt directly onto the ship! It was super easy, as was check-in. Everything is done with facial recognition now, so aside from checking passports and taking the ID pictures there really isn’t anything to do. I noticed there is no longer a health questionnaire to complete during boarding. About 10 minutes after we dropped our bags we were walking onto the ship! At last we’re cruising again!

One thing I really appreciate about Holland America is the cabins are ready when you board. We went straight to our room, a Neptune Suite on Deck 7 very close to the lounge. Almost immediately we met our cabin stewards, Mash and Nyomen. They were fantastic — attentive and eager without being intrusive or annoying. As a bonus, they actually brought our luggage with them!

We went down to the Neptune Lounge and met our phenomenal concierge Kristine (more about her later), and decided to go to the Lido for lunch.

Lunch was OK. Nothing special, but we try to avoid the buffet as much as possible and it’s always crowded on the first day. After lunch we made a quick trip to check in at our muster station, we went to the gym to check out the group fitness schedule, and then went back to our cabin to get everything unpacked and put away for two weeks! Part of unpacking was also sending out our first batch of laundry. It’s a great perk of being in a suite, and Holland America does a fantastic job with guest laundry.

We sailed on time at 4:00. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had clear views of Rotterdam and the surrounding area as we left.

We enjoyed dinner in Club Orange the first night of the cruise. We had followed our next door neighbors down to Club Orange and ended up sitting with them at dinner, as well as some other meals during the cruise.

That was it for our first day. I stopped in the casino to make a small deposit, and we were happy to be rocked to sleep on a ship headed for new to us territory!