This morning we had to have our luggage ready by 10 a.m. to be picked up by a Viking representative to be taken to the ship. Since we couldn’t get into our rooms on the boat until the afternoon, we headed over to the Centraal Station area which was bustling with tourists who had just arrived by trains. We got coffees at a pub, then waited for two of our friends so we could go on an hour-long canal ride. It was nice to see the city from the waterways, although we had a difficult time hearing the captain and the automated tour recording because so many other people were talking loudly and one little boy made it apparent he wanted off the boat. After that we grabbed lunch and then walked to our Viking ship, the Sigyn, which was located quite a walk past the train station.
We were checked into our room and found that although it is small, there are a lot of storage areas and shelves so that we could unpack quite a bit - a very well organized room. Our suitcases fit under the bed which made the room seem even bigger. There was a cocktail hour and then the official Welcome Briefing, where we met the Sigyn’s management team and learned about our river cruise plans. Next it was time to participate in a safety drill by donning our life jackets and proceeding to a specified area. Dinner was served at 7:15 p.m. in the ship’s restaurant — there were several different menu options and the food was all very delicious.
The above photo was taken from the top deck of our ship looking out to North Amsterdam while still docked. After dinner when we got back to our room, a new daily schedule for tomorrow and our excursion tickets were waiting for us. The boat leaves Amsterdam at 11:30 p.m. tonight and we are doing a tour tomorrow morning where we have to leave the boat at 8 a.m. Time to say goodnight!