We are Back!!

Monday October 9^th,

We were up at 6:30 getting ready to head out. We were on the road at 8:05 .

 With no traffic problems we were parked and waiting to connect with Janet and Bob at 9:05. Things could not have gone more smoothly. Janet called and we headed for the drop off point. They were waiting for us. Ken backed in and we removed our suitcases and Bob loaded theirs.

We headed for the spot where we were to leave our luggage. They were not taking luggage from the embarking passengers until ten so we stood in line and visited with other passengers.

Next we headed for the embarkation area. We went through all of the security checks etc and at no time did anyone ask us about any alcohol that we were carrying. Ken could have brought a bottle of rum and no one would have known. But all we had with us was the bottle of wine that we are allowed.

Next we were moved along to the actual Princess counters. Here we received our room keys and our ship’s map. Then we were directed to the preferred passengers waiting area. Must to our surprise we were the first preferred passengers” Ken was first in line. Now that was a first!!

At noon we were allowed to board. I am certain that Bob and Janet were home long before we got onto the ship.

We are on deck eleven in room 326. We found it easily and after taking a few pictures and having a good look we headed for lunch.

The balcony is very nice and we like our room. It is not a mini but it is good. We were so spoiled on our last cruise. Kim  continues to spoil us . We received a gift of a coffee card again.

Much to our surprise the usual practice of being able to have lunch in one of the dining rooms is no more and we had to go to Horizon court for lunch.

The choices were great. They even had roast turkey and cranberry sauce. So we had our thanksgiving turkey for lunch. I headed for a window seat and we were lucky enough to find 2 seats with 2 ladies from Quebec . It was an amazing lunch. We talked and laughed and visited for more than an hour. It was a wonderful way to begin the cruise.

After lunch we toured around a little. Because it was so cool and because most people were not on board yet we were able to get pictures of empty swimming pools. Something not often seen.

We felt very much at home because we have sailed on the Star Princess before, everything looked so familiar. It felt good.

We returned to our room and discovered much to our delight that our luggage had already arrived.

There were plenty of hangers , all of them wooden and lots of them with clips for pants.

We unpacked and put everything away. We brought too many things!! I decorated our door,

 Ken called Kerri and Janet, and I put all of our papers on the wall.  The magnets certainly come in handy.

It was only 2:45 and we were done what needed to be done. Now the question was… what do we do until it is time for the Muster drill???? We could explore the ship some more or we could have a rest. It had been a long day already and so a nap was the choice.

We knew the announcement about the drill would wake us so we did not give over sleeping even a small thought. We were correct. So when the captain’s voice woke us we gathered out PFD’s( much to Ken’s annoyance they call them life jackets) and our cruise cards and away we went to the Crown Grill which was or is our muster station.

As usual getting out of there was a mob scene. But we managed to find our way back to our room. We stored the PFD’s and changed for dinner. We then headed to Skywalkers for the Platinum and Elite reception. This is something we seldom attend but we decided this would be a perfect place to be to enjoy sail away. We really like Skywalkers  and it certainly was too cool to watch sail away on the open deck.

Ken had a Mai Tai and I had a Margarita. Sail away was beautiful and we enjoyed that 45 minutes.

Too soon we had to leave and head for dinner. We have early dining and 5:30 is really too early. 6:00 would be much better. But 8:30 is entirely too late.

We are in the Amalfi dining room at table 282. It is a table for 6 as we requested but it is not a window table. It has been a very long time since we have had a window table. At first we thought it might be quiet at this out of the way table. But we were wrong. It is quite noisy and we can feel and hear the engine of the ship. We are dining with 2 other couples. One is from Langley and the other is from New York. They seem to be interesting to say the least.

During dinner I kept trying to find someone who could tell me the score of the Blue Jays ball game. I had no success. It was as if I was asking about something happening on Mars. No one could give me any information. We made our way back to our room and to my pleasure and surprise we found a station carrying the game. There was only a half inning left when we found it but it was the bottom of the tenth so I saw that hit and the error that cost Texas the game and gave it ti the Jays YEAH!!!

There is a show tonight but we have decided to skip it. The show is not until 9:15 and we know it will be the usual introduction of the cruise directors staff and a few minutes by a comedian.

Tomorrow is a formal night so we had to order our canapés ( a perk of the black card). Much to our surprise there is not a fruit bowl or a form to order fruit. I hope it comes tomorrow. We enjoy having the fruit in our room.

Our first day has come to an end.

Tomorrow is a sea day!!!