It wasn't until I boarded the Carnival Splendor in Dover, England, that I started thinking about the formal night, and that started me thinking about my formal dress. Which was still at the dry cleaners. In New Jersey.
A few moments of distress happily led to this realization: Formal night followed a port call in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is a great city to shop in, euro-to-dollar conversion rates aside. It's a great city to eat in, or to sit at a cafe, or gawk at the architecture, or visit the museums.
And how to see the sights and be back onboard in time for the captain's cocktail party? By bicycle.
Almost everybody in Amsterdam gets around on a bicycle. It's a great way to get around quickly and really experience the town -- if you're up for the adventure.
Securing a bike is easy when you come in via cruise ship: There's a bike-rental shop, AmsterBike in the Passenger Terminal. Twenty-four-hour rates for a three-speed bike, with a luggage carrier and a bike lock, is 12.50 euros, or about $19. (There are also bike rental stores throughout Amsterdam if you're already in town and decide to go local.)
If you're not ready to tackle unfamiliar streets alone, AmsterBike also offers guided tours. For example, its three-hour Historical Amsterdam Tour guides cyclists through town. The 10 a.m. start would be good for visitors abiding by ship time.
The company's site enables people to reserve bikes and tours in advance. On my visit, a fellow cruiser and I didn't have reservations, but we were fitted with bikes and out on the street in less than 15 minutes.
From there, it's an easy 10 minutes' ride along a path to Dam Square, the heart of Amsterdam. And the rest of historical Amsterdam fans out around horseshoe-shaped canals, so it's relatively easy to navigate.
True, if you don't read Dutch or know Amsterdam well, you may have to stop often to consult a pocket map (hint: bring a map). And riding cheek-by-jowl with cars and small vans can take some getting used to if you're not an urban cyclist, and I wouldn't recommend it for small kids.
But biking is so prevalent that most drivers know how to coexist with cyclists on the roads, and there are bike lanes (and bike stoplights) on some of the major roads. On many streets, especially the small streets and by the canals, there are more bikes than cars.
We biked up and down the canals and over to Vondelpark, Amsterdam's version of Central Park. We rode back toward Dam Square and over to a restaurant on the Singel canal for pannenkoeken, or pancakes.
By then it was time for shopping. My favorite place to browse in Amsterdam is De Negen Straatjes, or the Nine Streets, which is a minidistrict of nine streets that crisscross the four canals, just minutes from Dam Square. There are boutiques, vintage clothing stores, antiques shops and cafes here. We locked our bikes on the street and strolled around till I found a replacement dress.
To celebrate my victory and my friend's purchase of a few antiques, we biked over to a canalside cafe. The place was filled with Amsterdammers, the sun was out, our bikes were standing at the ready and all was right with the world.
From there it was less than 20 minutes, via quaint side streets and the bustle of Dam Square, back to the Carnival Splendor.