Saturday, March 12, 2011
Didn’t get much sleep last night but awoke bright and early and ready for the trip to begin. We arrived at the pier around noon and it was perfect timing as our good friend, Dorothy Allyn, was being dropped off by her daughter, Becky. We met Dorothy and her husband on the World Cruise 2006 and fell in love with them immediately. Bill passed away in May, 2009 and Dorothy has not returned to cruising, until now. We are delighted that this has worked out so well for everyone.
The embarkation process was painless. We are always so amazed at the crew’s skill in handling so many personalities in a less than perfect setting. You can already see the troublemakers beginning to show their ugly heads. Our ship (793 passengers) looked like an infant when compared to the other ships in port. The 6000 passenger Oasis of the Sea is just plain humongous.
The big surprise of the day was that we had been upgraded to a Superior Veranda Suite! It is absolutely fantastic and decadent. It is located just one floor directly above our cherished #180. This suite is 60% larger than 180 would have been with 362 sq. ft.
Jen, we owe you a big “thank you” for whatever you had to do with the upgrade and also for the bottle of Jack Daniels………….Barney is still smiling.
We spent most of the day reacquainting ourselves with our home for the next 62 days. It was amazing to run into so many fellow-passengers from other cruises. Almost all the guests on the cruise are returning Prinsendam guests. We called home and read on the verandah while enjoying a balmy 76 degrees.
We went to Mass at 5:00 and met Fr. Bruce. He is from Australia and will be with us on the whole cruise. He has a very dry sense of humor.
Dinner time arrived and no bags had been delivered. We went to the dining room with some apprehension as we were concerned about tablemates, etc. We had requested a table for six including Dorothy and in a quiet location. Bummer! We are at a table for eight right inside the dining room door which makes it the loudest location possible. We have spoken to the Maître de and are hoping for a change if at all possible. We enjoy four of the other 5 tablemates and the other one wants to move so who knows what the outcome will be.
We were scheduled to set sail at 5:00 pm but the captain came on the speakers and apologized saying that it was taking longer to load all the provisions and baggage. Something about all the extras needed for the extended time…his nice way of saying we all brought too much. The picture shows many pallets of “stores”, as the Captain calls them, still on the dock at sailing time. We left port at 7 pm and the lights of the city were wonderful.
We came back to the room after dinner and the bags were all in the cabin. Guess the fact that we purchased one class of cabin, elected to upgrade to another and then ended up in yet another cabin added to the confusion. We were glad to be reacquainted with the four bags that we had shipped. Our brilliant plan to place a smaller suitcase inside another to be checked at the airport didn’t work as the two suitcases together ended up weighing nearly 70 pounds. FYI, everything having to do with a cruise ship is heavier than you think it should be! We ended up checking two much lighter bags and just carrying on one with the computer and our medicine – you wouldn’t believe how many pills two old people can consume in 62 days!
We were too tired to even begin to unpack so off to bed with the hopes of being gently rocked to sleep.
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