Cruise Ship The Amsterdam

Now everyone saw the the ship.

Georg heard Brigitta. "Father, that ship is enormous."

"Yes, it is. The bigger a ship is the smoother our sail will be."

"Sir, it also means you children will find many activities to have fun while on board her."

"This sounds like lots of fun, Father."

"Yes Kurt, it does."

"I see the rope is down; she's ready for boarding. The ship's stewards will help you find your cabins."

"Thank you for your help. Everyone follow me."

Georg led this group to the bridge connecting the land to the ship. He could see into a very large entrance in the ship's side. He thought. This is ship is granduer than I thought it would be. Everyone's going to be so surprised.

He had to stop for Maria, who had hold of Marta and Gretl's hands, to catch up. Georg gazed at the entrance as he waited. Through the large opening he could see an elegant room and at the far end a huge staircase. Now everyone in the group were also staring at it.

"Georg, even this room is elegant. Is the entire ship like this?"

"I think it is, Isabel."

They heard from the man at the end of the ship's bridge. "This ship was built to be as elegant as the Normandie. But it is also a fun ship. Now whose name was used to buy your tickets."

"That would be mine, sir; Georg Trapp."

"Thank you." He paused to check his passenger list. "There's your name. You have seven cabins reserverd. Continue inside and a steward will greet you."

All of them walked on and their eyes took in the elegance of this room; everyone was speechless.

"Good day everyone. Your looks are what I see everytime new passengers come onboard."

"Good day to you too. I'm Gerog Trapp. With me are my seven children and all the adults who lived with us."

"Sir, you will need to use an elvator to go below to your cabins. Follow me."

Immediately, Gretl asked. "Father, what's an elevator?"

"Allow me to answer your daughter. It's a question we hear all the time."

"Please do."

"The elevators on my ship are very modern. They used to look like a cage used for large animals. Ours are beautifully decorated large metal boxes which can hold eight to ten people. They are called cars. Each car is connected to heavy wire cables. These cables pull the car up to go to the next floor and lower it to go down.

"Those on my ship don't go up real fast but in the tall buildings of America they can go up very fast; going down is always a bit slower. They're not scary; but children usually hold on to the rail which is on all three sides."

"Sounds like fun, Father."

"It doesn't to me, Kurt."

"Gretl, you can hold my hand."

Maria spoke with confidence; although she was a little worried as well. This was her first time too.

They discovered all of them couldn't fit in the elevator. Again the attendant spoke. "Another attendant will wait with you as I take the elevator back up for the others."

Gretl and Maria were in the first group. Gretl spoke after they had exited.

"Fraulien Maria, he was right. It wan't scary."

"No it wasn't."

And Kurt announced when he exited the elevator. "I like elevators."

"That's good young man; you will use them often on my ship."

The attendant led them to their cabins. "Mister Trapp you've been given seven cabins; it's up to you to assign them. Your bags will be left in the passage way. You're not far from a large dining room; there are signs pointing in the right direction to follow. The ship also has several smaller places to eat; the builder has provided establishments to satify many pallets."

"Thank you for all your information. We had a small meal on the train; we'll explore the ship before we eat again."

"Attendants are in most passageways to help you find your way. I leave you now; enjoy your sail."

"We most certainly will."

"Gerog, our cabins must be in first class; come have a look at this one."

Franz held open the door for everyone to look in side. Everyone saw it contained two beds; a small table with a lamp was between them. There also was a chest of drawers for their clothes, two comfortable chairs and a bathroom.

There was no complaints as to who was paired with whom. Isabel had Gretl and Katia, Marta. Maria shared a cabin with Liesl, Louisa and Brigitta were together as were the two boys. The men were paired as they usually were; Stefan and Phillip and Georg and Franz.

They each located their bag and Georg encouraged them to put their clothes in the dresser or hang them in the small closet.

As soon as they had finished, Georg annouced. "Let's first find the dining room. I'm sure we will use it later."

And he heard Kurt tell Friedrich. "I hope the food is good. I'm already hungry."

Georg coundn't help but laugh. "Kurt, I'm sure the food will be good and you can wait awhile; we'll eat soon."

Now Georg followed the signs to the dining room as they began to explore the ship.