Taking a Moment at Sea to Remember Veterans

Day 41, Grand Asia 2017

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 – At Sea

Most sea days are about the same, with a menu of options for guest activities. Today, we had two special events.

Just before noon, the culinary staff offered a buffet of tropical fruit and fresh coconut. This wasn’t just pineapple and papaya, which we have most mornings. It included passion fruit with its black seeds, star fruit, jackfruit and others I didn’t recognize. Meanwhile, a chef donned snorkel goggles and employed a cleaver to open coconuts. Lines were long, and the fruit and coconut water were delicious.

Earlier in the morning the Amsterdam hosted a Veteran’s Day/Armistice Day/Remembrance Day wreath ceremony. A number of veterans are on our cruise, and everyone was glad to honor them in the ceremony led by members of the clergy on the cruise. At 11:11 a.m. the captain sounded the ship’s horn to start a 2-minute period of silence in remembrance. Holland America gave each of us a commemorative poppy lapel pin, and most passengers were wearing them today.

At 2 p.m. we set the clocks ahead an hour. We have bounced back and forth, time wise, with this hour for the past few ports. They like to match ship time with the local time. When we set the clocks back, it is at 2 a.m.; we set them forward at 2 p.m. I never like to set the clock ahead – I feel like I am losing an hour of my cruise. As we started and will end in San Diego, I guess it all comes out in the wash.