Day 20 (May 22) Amsterdam Day 2

Today is turnaround day for the ship in which many of the existing passengers would depart and be replaced by new passengers. In fact, in our room location, we were only one of four rooms who would not be checking out.  Our canal boat wasn't scheduled to depart from in front of the passenger terminal until 9:30am, so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  We waited for the 9:30 canal boat which did not arrive until 10am.  We rode it to the next stop where we got off and transferred to the Red bus route which we rode for an hour in the loop it makes and came back to our starting point at the Gassen Diamond Factory where we had a nice tour and demonstration of polishing diamonds and building Rolex watches.  We then got back on the green line canal boat and rode it back to the cruise terminal.  Another couple from the ship joined us at our table and we chatted about cruising and cruising tips all the way back to the ship.

On the way onboard we got our picture taken by some departing Indonesian crew members who thought it to be funny we would sit in the shoe!  We had a bid shoe to fill.  They were also quite amused that we would ride a motorcycle!

With a 3pm onboard time and a mandatory safety drill for the new guests we took the opportunity to head up to the Crow's nest to score a good seat for the outbound scenic cruising narrated by Ian Page.  The Captain came on the PA system and announced we would sail an hour late due to some late arriving passengers.  While waiting the ship The World which is a condo ship that constantly sails the seven seas.  Prices of the condos start at $1,000,000 plus annual condo fees!  We have seen the ship previously in Turkey on another cruise.

As we sailed out the canal we got to see lots of rural scenery, but the real treat was passing through the locks that separate the North Sea from the canal system.  The lock was so large we had at least 30 feet of side clearance and a great deal of length clearance.  There were also hundreds of onlookers watching our departure. The lock gates don't swing to open or close, rather they slide perpendicular to the length of the lock.  Last, the sea water is about 8' higher than the canal system.  

Coming back to the room, we discovered that as Collector Voyage passengers we had a special opportunity to book certain excursions before today's newly boarded guests plus there was a nice little additional sweet treat awaiting us.  Our chocolate was missing from the turndown, but Angela secured some from our stateroom attendant.

We attended Ian's location presentation on Norway ports of call before watching the Moby Dick movie 'Into The Heart of The Sea'. We then retired for the night shortly after midnight.