We had a restful night and enjoyed a good Hampton Inn breakfast. Returning to the room, we dealt with the "origami" baggage tags which we'd printed out back home from the Princess website. Not having a LOT of faith these would survive (they're printed on plain paper and HUGE), but it says right on them that they've been tested and found durable. Well, who are we to argue?
We get packed up and stop at the desk to borrow a stapler -- CLEARLY a request they've often had before. 18 staples later, we set out for the elevated train station which we could clearly see from our room window.
We had an easy walk ALMOST all of the way ... the last block, though, was gravel parking lot. Not fun. But there was an elevator up to the train, the machine that dispensed tickets was very friendly, and we found a pair of seats facing the aisle so we could hang onto our bags. Halfway to the waterfront a young man and his bicycle got on, and a couple stops later two young moms with 3-wheel strollers. The car was quite full, but emptied out at the downtown stop so we didn't have much competition when we reached the terminus.
Another couple of blocks to the dock, where we caught our first glimpse of our vessel. Then down into the labyrinth of surrendering our tagged bags, proving we were registered guests, getting through immigration and customs (the ship, apparently, is American "soil"), and then waiting our turn to file onto the boat. All in all, many steps and lots of wait time, though things did keep moving. We lucked out as we were ready to step onto the gangplank -- we were the first folks directed to the second entryway, so no line there! OF COURSE we were photographed commercially, and then for the ship's ID program.
We found our stateroom and poked around. Took all the reference materials out onto the tiny-but-sufficient balcony and studied up. Looked for the shore excursion tickets we were supposed to find and found none ... explored the ship and found out that they'd be delivered later. Thought we'd had enough for breakfast to see us through to dinner ... but not so. Picked up a slice of pizza, and then thought we'd get dessert from the nearby buffet ... and wound up tasting much of the lunch offering. Imagine that!
Got back to the room just in time to meet our steward, a friendly Philipina lady named Anne. She had our tickets and our luggage, explained our room and the evacuation drill that was coming, and encouraged us to contact her any time. I review the tickets and find all of ours ... and one of someone else's! Track Anne down to give it back, turns out it was for the ladies next door to us who had been searching for it. Hooray!
Next social opportunity was the "lifeboat" drill. The captain announced that the drill was coming, and shortly thereafter the coded toots were heard. Our "Muster Station" was in the art gallery -- no air whatsoever, and scads of folks leaning up against the art. We'd have been fine if they'd just told us how to put our life jackets on, but NOOOOO.... they had to read through every peril we should defend against. When the recitation finally ended, the lifejacket demo did occur, plus instructions on how to abandon a lifeboat if necessary (STEP, do not jump, into the water...). Class dismissed!
We looked at each other and promptly went out on deck and collapsed into two deck chairs while the howling mob worked its way through the elevators. It was such a lovely afternoon that we decided to sit there until we actually launched. Then we decided to sit there until we went under the big bridge. THEN we decided to sit there until we passed the end of a large island.
Meanwhile, a young lady had jogged five times around the deck (the boat is 900+ feet long), and a middle-aged couple had walked by five times as well. Now new folks were arriving, and one couple pulled our leg about being overly paranoid if we felt we had to carry the life preservers WITH us at all times. They'd have been right about that, but we made them chuckle with our confession that we simply hadn't gone back to our room yet.
There was a special if you order the DVD of this very cruise, within the first 2 days of the cruise. I wanted to do that, so went to the apparent desk only to find just order forms. Look around for Angie...can't see her anywhere. Try to remember what she's wearing, really can't. THEN I remember that she'll be carrying ... like I am ... a bright orange life jacket. Sure enough, she's easy to spot down the hall with THAT reminder.
We meander back upstairs and unpack. We'd brought the bottle of wine each which was allowed, and found out bags with matching tape on them and a card alerting us to the fact that our luggage was inspected due to "suspected alcoholic contents" and we might be contacted further if "the alcohol levels in our check-in luggage combined with our hand-carry luggage exceed the allowed limits." We're safe, but SHEESH!
We wind up catching a documentary on the Watergate years, with many of the original folks involved reminiscing about their parts in the mess, and Robert Redford contributing insights from his movie of it. Brought back way too many memories, but I will say that Jack and I considered Nixon's resignation our very best wedding present.
By now it's nearly 8P and we are thinking maybe we should get a bit more to eat. It's late for the dining room, besides we don't feel like changing and we didn't make a reservation. So back to the buffet with us, where we had a pleasant meal in an almost-deserted area with a panoramic view off the bow of the boat. Very pleasant, and now back upstairs. Was going to report flights-of-stairs because we were on the stairs all day, but just realized the FitBit doesn't know what time zone it's in, so it thinks it's already tomorrow. So it goes.
Won't have any trouble sleeping tonight. Tomorrow's an At Sea day, and as we unpacked we realized that the dressier clothes we brought just might be good enough for Formal Night tomorrow. We'll show up and see, I guess. Then a Champagne Waterfall and maybe a dance show. We're not planning to set any alarms for the morning, just wake up and stretch when we're slept out. So far ... so good!
No comments:
Post a Comment