When Rain Became Our Best Cruise Companion on the Rotterdam

When I woke up on day three of my Holland America Line cruise aboard the Rotterdam, I could hear it before I even opened my cabin door—a relentless patter of rain hitting the windows. And I'm not talking about a gentle drizzle. I'm talking about the kind of rain that sounds like someone's up on the pool deck with a fire hose, just going to town. My heart sank. This was supposed to be my perfect sea day, the one I'd been planning to spend in the spa, maybe lounging by the pool with a good book and a piña colada in hand. Instead, I got what the captain would later call "a bit of weather" over the PA system. I call it the day my cruise plans got absolutely soaked—literally and figuratively. I shuffled down to the dining room for breakfast, still in denial that the weather would actually ruin my plans. I mean, it's just rain, right? How bad could it be? Turns out, pretty bad. The Rotterdam was rocking more than I expected, and my first clue that this day was going to be different came when my orange juice started sliding across the table like it was playing some kind of liquid hockey game. I watched it nearly take out a woman's toast before a crew member swooped in with that practiced…