Morning in Amsterdam
Our original plan called for us to do some sightseeing in the morning and then head to the port. But we had seen most of the sights on our list of things to see and the weather was drizzling again, so we called an audible. We ate breakfast in the hotel again and then hung out in the hotel room for awhile. Then we took our luggage downstairs, checked out and attached our new printed luggage tags with a stapler borrowed from reception.
Passenger Terminal Amsterdam
Janie called an Uber to take us to the port. The ride was short and the driver dropped us off directly in front of the baggage drop off at Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. We dropped off our luggage inside and checked in for our cruise. The person manning the counter seemed new and struggled with the check in, which was odd, since we had already done all of the paperwork and should have just had to scan our passes in the Celebrity app. This unfortunately was a harbinger of issues with Celebrity Guest Services. We cleared security and were directed to the Concierge seating area, which was underwhelming. The area was advertised as a perk of being upgraded to Concierge class and supposedly offered 'refreshments', but it was the same rows of plastic chairs as the regular area and the only refreshment was a water cooler that was empty.
First Drinks and Opus Concierge Lunch
Our boarding number was four, so we were quickly called to board the ship. The ship was handing out glasses of Kir as we boarded, so we took them up on that. Since it was too early for the buffet or the concierge sit-down lunch, we chose to tour the ship and get ourselves our first drinks on our premium beverage package. J. R. had a Jameson in the Ensemble lounge while Janie had another glass of Kir. Janie wanted to check out the spa so we went there to take a quick tour. She thought the Persian Garden would be interesting and relaxing so we signed up for three passes for the week. Janie got a quick neck and shoulder massage while they were running our cards. Becca and J. R. passed on the massage as Becca was still recovering from shoulder surgery two months prior and J. R. has been dealing with shoulder, neck and arm pain of his own.
By now, it was time for lunch, which was in the Opus dining room. We were seated quickly. J. R. opened with the butternut squash soup and followed with Moroccan Braised Short Ribs. Janie also had the short ribs while Rebecca opted for the Roasted Salmon. Chocolate cake and warm apple pie were on the docket for dessert for the women.
Opus Lunch Menu
Guest Services Debacle Part 1
Following lunch we had another drink and then our room was ready so we went down to drop off our carry on luggage. Our issues with Celebrity began here as the paperwork in the room and on the door was for another guest and was in Spanish. We were supposed to have an invitation to a "Celebrity Connections" group meeting but it was not in the room, there was no information regarding how to use the wi-fi package we had purchased and only Janie and Rebecca's excursion tickets had been provided.
J. R. braved the long line at Guest Services to return the materials that were not ours and to ask about the other issues. The conversation with the GS agent was like an Abbott & Costello routine.
J. R.: "We only received two of our three excursion tickets in our room"
Agent: "You only have booked two excursions"
J. R.: "No, we have tickets for both excursions but only for two people, my wife and daughter. I don't have mine"
Agent: "I show all three guests on each excursion"
J. R.: "Yes, but I don't have my tickets"
Agent: "You should have two sets of three tickets"
J. R. (Showing the tickets again): "But I don't. I have two sets of two tickets. Can you print my tickets?"
Agent: "You want your tickets reprinted?"
J. R.: "Um, yes, since they weren't provided,"
Agent: "One minute"
She went to confer with someone else and it seems the issue was she didn't know how to print just one person's ticket. She must have been told to print all three because she did that and then threw away the other two. J. R. then asked how to access the wi-fi package and the agent informed him he had bought a three-device package, which he already knew. He asked her again how to use it as there was no information in the room and she said just to log in with his account number. J. R. had tried the reservation number already as well as his Captain's Club number but neither had worked. She then told him to use his account number. He asked her where he could find that and the other representative said it was the number on the SeaPass card. This really could have been avoided by putting some documentation in the stateroom or her just saying "use the number on your SeaPass card".
He asked about the Celebrity Connections meeting and the agent knew nothing about it and said it was not organized by Celebrity, despite the email confirming it coming directly from Celebrity. J. R. decided he would try his luck with the concierge later.
J. R. needed another drink after that so we all headed to the pool bar and to check out the Solarium. Rebecca decided she would be spending a lot of her cruise in there with the adult hot tubs and the pool. On Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, the Solarium is open to age 16 and up, unlike the adult pools on Disney that are 18 and up.
Muster Drill in Blu
Our security drill was in the Aqua class restaurant, Blu, and since we were not Aqua class, this would be our only time to see this restaurant. They played the same security video as Royal, which we had just watched in our stateroom while waiting for the drill.
Sailing Away From Amsterdam
After that it was time for sail away so we headed up on deck to watch us leave Amsterdam. Jelte had described the canal that had been built to connect Amsterdam to the sea and our ship made a long journey, finally arriving at a lock at the end of the canal. Having grown up near a lock and dam, J. R. knew how they worked but it was still fun to see the ship enter, especially seeing how little space there was on each side. It was windy and cool so we didn't wait around to see them flood the lock or our sail out in to the sea. We did hang out for the first time on our verandah and introduced ourselves to our stateroom host, who had another couple listed in our room. We have to assume they were upgraded to another class and were probably going through the same issues we were. He promised to make sure we got all of the information we were supposed to get and would avoid giving us any more Spanish-language daily papers, since they weren't of much use to us.
Lock On North Sea Canal At I'jmuiden
There are four locks of various sizes at the North Sea mouth of the canal. When the north canal lock was opened in 1929, it was the largest canal lock in the world. A new lock is currently under construction.
Conciege and Ensemble Lounge
J. R. went to go speak to the concierge, who was friendly and promised to help. She was aware of the Celebrity Connections meeting and said she would have the invitation resent, but it still never came. J. R. reached out to another guest who was in the group to find out the date, time and location and we decided we would just crash the event and show the email we had received confirming our invitation. We skipped the first evening show, The FlyRights, since "Soul, Motown and Swing" were not of interest to us. So we instead took advantage of our drink package and headed down to the Ensemble Lounge for some alcohol for the adults and a virgin pina colada for Becca.
Murano
We had taken advantage of a special first-night offer to dine in one of the specialty restaurants, Murano, and it was a good decision. The service was excellent and the food was superb. Janie opted for a warm goat cheese souffle and the Murano lobster while J. R. went with creamy Maine lobster bisque as his starter, along with the pork belly, while Becca opted for the porcini and morel risotto. The two of them shared the Chateaubriand for Two as their entree. Janie's lobster dish was prepared table-side and they also made a production of carving the filet which was cool. Dessert was a Valrhona cocoa cake.
