Sailing from Florida - Day 4

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Sunday, March 4^th



Today is “Boarding Day” for the cruise. We stayed in the Fairfield Suites last night and it was nice. This seems to be the high-priced season for Florida hotels since it cost quite a bit more than last May. But Janet found some discounts on the internet, and it is only for a little while, so we can overlook the price.



Two especially good things about the hotel is that we can park the car here for free while we are on the cruise. They also have a shuttle (reasonably priced) which takes us to the ship today and will bring us back at the end of the cruise. So that solves a couple of problems. They also have a simple (but warm) breakfast, so we started the day with full stomachs. Of course we do not expect to have any problems finding food the next 7 days.



The cruise line spent a couple of extra hours disinfecting the ship before we boarded. It is good to feel safe but it meant a couple of hours sitting at the cruise terminal waiting to board. But they were pretty well prepared for the crowd of people and everyone was fairly cooperative, so it wasn’t too bad. We each had a book to read and Janet had brought some knitting to pass the time, so it was fine. We sat for a couple of hours in the nearby convention center and met some fellow cruisers. A couple form Wyoming and a family group that are all travelling together. Finally we were able to board and a pleasant consequence was that our luggage had already been delivered to our cabin.



The cabin seems a little larger than ours on the Grand Princess. Certainly the furniture arrangement is more convenient. The bed is against a side wall whereas last year it was under the window. Although we have a partially obstructed view, we actually can look out the window instead of having to climb on the bed to look out. Also the closet is much larger and we seem to have more shelves and drawers, so our first impression of the cabin is very positive.



One of our first stops was to visit the Internet Café and get signed up for 250 minutes of time. As you can see from this entry, it worked and we are “in business”. Then we went back to our cabin to collect our life vests before the “Life Boat drill”. There is a little congestion in the elevators with everyone coming aboard, or exploring the ship, but that seems to be fairly normal on a new cruise. Then afterwards it was time for our first meal.



We have signed up for the 6:00 seating and will be eating in the Botticelli Dining Room. Our cabin is near the bow of the ship and our dining room is the stern. That may not be our only form of exercise, but each day we are going to get to walk almost the whole length of the ship (surely that qualifies us for dessert each evening). We are at a table for 8 but only 4 others showed up this evening, a newly retired couple from Pittsburgh and a set of friends from Florida and Massachusetts. They all seem very nice. This evening we both had the Prime Rib, along with appetizers, soup, salad, and dessert. Somewhere Ray Gillespie (one of our travelers on the UK cruise) would be pleased to know that they still have the Princess Dream Love Boat dessert, and it still is delicious.



After dinner we went to the Princess Theater for the welcoming session. One couple at our dinner table have never cruised before, so we talked them into coming along and they learned a lot about what to expect this week, along with an hour of entertainment.



There was a weather front move through Florida during the afternoon and dropped the temperature from the low 80’s down to somewhere probably in the 60s. However it included quite a bit of wind, and the ship is sailing along this evening wrestling with the wave effects from those winds. Therefore we are having a bit more motion than we remembered, but hopefully that will pass soon.



Tonight we lose an hour on the clock, so we will close now. This wasn’t the busiest day on this trip, but we have gotten started and are off on a fun cruise.

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