Embarkation Day!

We took an Uber over to the cruise terminal. While he drove us, calmly sitting on the right hand side of the car as if it were the most natural thing in the world, I was grateful not to be navigating the drive myself. Staying to the left is hard enough as a pedestrian where the stakes are low! 

The GPS ended the route in the middle of a round about that was easily a quarter mile from the cruise terminal. After a brief exclamation of confusion, our driver proceeded to the drop off zone at the cruise terminal designated for ride shares. I felt very grateful he didn’t just drop us off in the road with all our bags to walk! 

Nearer to the cruise ship, excitement was high. We used the baggage tags Bryan had printed at home, and proceeded through the check in and security process. In about half an hour, we were on the cruise ship and more than ready to find something to eat. 

After a quick, appreciative glance at our balcony view, and a selfie to show we had made it aboard, we headed off to the Lido deck where I braved the buffet. I say “braved” because there is no posted info about alergens, and it can be pretty difficult to guess what has butter in it. 

I did just fine, however and we enjoyed some tasty lunch. Then we got the app out and ordered me a fruity mocktail called a Sunshine Daiquiri. 

Because the medallion (on my right wrist in the photo above) you can order from anywhere in the ship and they bring it to you. Pretty fancy!

Next, hearing the overhead announcement that there were only 45 minutes left to complete our safety requirements, we went back to our cabin and watched the video, and then walked down to the muster station and checked in with a tap of our medallions on the screen. For Covid safety and convenience this completely beats “mustering” with hundreds of other people. 

We watched the tug boats getting us ready to go, and then enjoyed the sail away from our balcony. 

Bryan finally got his birthday cake, as I ordered us room service. After all, it is complimentary! 

We stayed out on the balcony for quite a bit, enjoying the view. Much to my delight, we saw a pod of porpoises. I made a mental note to tell Desmond that we seem to be on the “porpoise side of the boat” (a family joke we have from our frequent crossings on the ferry). 

We had time to watch the sunset before going down to the dining room for our six o’clock dinner. Ahhh… so relaxing!

We had a few more minutes to kill before dinner, so we ended up listening to the band playing some lively music while I stitched together a little video of the animals we saw during our zoo trip to send to Desmond. 

At the dining room, they completely ignored the reservations and table assignments that had been previously made before sailing, and a harried hostess grouped us with seven other passengers and sent us off to be seated. 

These seven Australians were delightful table mates. Cary and Barry introduced themselves right away and were clearly so excited that cruising was opening up again as they are avid cruisers. They gave a glowing report of many cruise itineraries, including the around the world cruise. A surreptitious glance at the medallions around the table confirmed that all our tablemates were Elite level cruisers meaning they had taken 15 or more cruises. Pat and her husband were more soft-spoken. They also had wonderful experiences of past cruises to share. Bridget was looking forward to cruising soon with her neice. It was fun to hear them talking and sharing, and we joined in easily. 

We both ordered the Tandoori chicken and Bryan asked for a little taste of the short ribs, which yielded an additional dinner plate, much to the amusement and cheers of our new friends. Later I asked Manny, our waiter, if it would be safe for me to have a bite of his beef, which resulted in yet another plate of short ribs being delivered (that would not have had the possibility of touching up against the milk-laden whipped potatoes). He assured me I did not need to finish it all. I thanked him and enjoyed a few bites. 

There was nothing on the dessert menu that I could have. Manny brought me a fruit plate which I nibbled on while Bryan ate his Chocolate Loveboat Dream. 

We asked if we could have the same table, server, and table mates for the remainder of the cruise - however they were unable to guarantee this. I find it odd as COVID conscious as the cruise seems to be, as it would mean less close contacts than new table mates each evening. We all agreed to show up and see if they would seat us together tomorrow. 

After dinner, we walked the boat exploring and circled the promenade a few times before returning to our room and calling it a night.  

Desmond had asked how many times around the promenade is a mile, so we took this picture to send him in the morning. 

Our cruise is off to a great start!