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| Deck plan
in hand, our explorations began at the "pointy end" of the
Upper Promenade Deck (5) where most of the public rooms are located.
First, the balcony of the Queen's Lounge. (That's Beatrix, not Liz.)
My husband ogled the sound board before ogling the light fixtures -
heroic statues of almost-naked women on either side of the stage.
The silver ladies are pedestals for art-deco lamp bowls. Balcony
seating is theater-style.
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| Wrapped around the Atrium is the Ocean Bar on the
starboard, the boutique on the port. There's plenty of room for
dancing on the glass dance floor of the Ocean Bar. There's plenty of
opportunity to spend money in the boutique, which was open in the
evening with a 10% in-port surcharge tacked on.
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| Looking up at the Astrolabe
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Inside the Atrium is something called the Astrolabe. Some people
might call it a Rube Goldberg clock. From the top of the construct,
a representation of the heavens, to the carillon on the bottom - on
the Lower Promenade Deck - there's always something going on with
this intricate time machine.
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| Artist's
conception
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| Casino
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More intent on seeing the rest of the ship than contemplating the
passing of time - which was - we forged on to the Casino, portside.
Though empty, the Casino looked small and the tables appeared quite
close together. Even the craps table seemed built to a smaller scale
than most. The slot machines are arranged in small banks, beginning
at an interior bulkhead.
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Annexed to the Casino is the Sports Bar, smack in the center of
the ship. Several small TVs and one huge one are the focal points.
Of course we had to stop to see how the Yankees and Mets were doing.
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| Piano Bar
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On the other side of the Sports Bar is the Shopping Arcade toward
the bow and the Rembrandt Lounge and Piano Bar toward the stern. The
dance floor in the Rembrandt Lounge echoes the color scheme of the
ceramic bench on the Lido Deck but the upholstered furniture is a
study in incongruity. The chairs in the Piano Bar reminded me of the
multi-color knit Rasta' hats we see so often on gentlemen in the
Caribbean.
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| After negotiating around the third elevator/stairway bank,
one can pick the quiet portside or the less quiet starboard,
where the Explorer's Lounge is located. The quiet parts are
two meeting rooms, the Half Moon and the Hudson, the puzzle
corner, and the luscious Erasmus Library where the reading
table is a work of art. Maybe, keeping with the Erasmus theme,
the Rembrandt/Piano Bar should have been called "In
Praise of Folly"?
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| Dining room ceiling
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| LaFontaine Dining Room
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| Finally, the upper level of the La Fontaine Dining Room, where
the Art Deco theme rose again to the ceiling and then slid
down the curved brass staircases. Louis Comfort Tiffany might
not have used the same colors but it gives a Very Tiffany
feeling. No chandeliers in this dining room, just Art Deco
lamps.
Down the stairs to the main dining area on the Promenade
Deck. The center of the room is a fenced-in platform area for
about half the people at a main-level seating. Every table has
a view of the sea beyond. Or, in the case of this inspection
trip, heavy industry.
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Back on patrol, we discovered that you can't get there from
here on the Promenade deck. The galleys stop all passenger
traffic. Up the down staircase, down the up staircase, take
the elevator? We chose up and walked down the grand staircase
in the Atrium. The Queen's Lounge is forward, just after you
pass the photo gallery.
| Mariner'sNote
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| Amsterdam
didn't leave the pier at Baltimore. From the port to the
open ocean is almost 200 miles, close to nine hours even
at top speed.
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The Main Office and Shore Excursion desk are in the Atrium
Lobby. Here comes the fun. Walk aft just a bit on the portside
to the Internet Café and adjoining Java Bar. I counted 9
computers (two more than the press release advertised) and one
printer. We didn't take time to send any e-mail.
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| Past the Java Bar, we walked into the very spiffy
alternative restaurant, the Odyssey. We overheard an official
tour guide explain that one can only dine there once unless
there are open tables. We really liked the fellow who asked if
he could get reservations for that night. We'd have been right
behind him.
On the other side of the ship on the Promenade Deck (4)
there's a real movie theater, the Wajang Theater, and a small
video arcade with 11 machines. Didn't look at though HAL was
expecting a lot of kids on Amsterdam.
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| Table things in Queen's Lounge
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We trekked back to the pointy end to find out what
those weird blue perpetual motion machines on the tables
in Queen's Lounge were. We'd seen them from above. After
passing more almost-naked ladies holding lamps, we got
next to one of the devices. It was blue and the silver
parts were moving.
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| Dolphin ice sculpture
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Dolphins are a continuing theme throughout Amsterdam.
Fincantieri, the builder, gifted Amsterdam III
with a stunning crystal piece of dancing dolphins. The
ice sculpture outside the dining room was an echo. The
little dancing dolphins inside the silver spheres on the
lounge tables were a piquant and humorous reminder. How
many people remember the song "Everyone's Dancing
on Blue Dolphin Street"? The dolphins were dancing.
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The occasional wild colors, sometimes funky décor, and
unexpected, edgy contemporary art work took away from the
accustomed HAL comfort space that reminds us of the days when
Dutch ships plied the China Trade.
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