Our arrival at sunrise
We ate quickly and started that usual turnaround day process when a cabin change is required, walking back and forth from our old cabin to our new cabin to see if it was vacated by its prior occupants yet. Luckily, they left early, by 7:45am (yay), and in just two trips, one for hang up clothes and one for my suitcase, I was moved out of one cabin and into another. I quickly unpacked and then sat on the bed as G did the same, and by shortly after 8am it was all done. Easy peasy.
In transit passengers were held in O’Malleys for nearly an hour until we were walked off the ship and, this time, had to enter the terminal and go down the escalator to do the facial recognition immigration. Except it would NOT recognize me regardless of what I did (really, saying I looked like I was rode hard and put away wet after the weekend was not an exaggeration!), so I had do an in person check in with a very friendly and social immigration agent.
Walking back on the ship, right in front of me it was immediately obvious that in transit guests who were still leaving the ship weren’t being routed into the terminal for immigration. They were simply re-entering our line. Hmmmm. Not my problem to fix but it was clear it was eventually going to be someone’s problem to fix, as they were counting passengers going through immigration and that number wasn’t going match the number of in transits. It was soon caught and tempers got a bit heated and…oy vey, just get me back on the ship and away from that!
I de-camped to the beautiful Terrace Deck with a cup of decaf coffee to unwind until the Botticelli Dining Room opened for lunch at noon. G had not returned to the ship with me but was in search of Mountain Dew, though I really didn’t know where he was going to find it. There was nothing but a liquor store within walking distance of the port but he was lucky. They had single 16 ounce cans of Mountain Dew and he bought enough to last him until Hawaii. He found me at lunch (no small feat…the Botticelli Dining Room was a zoo).
I had to do some solitary time in the cabin after lunch to unwind. Embarkation days are very, very people-y. But we were still around the Neptune Pool for the sail away party at 3pm, ready to join the fun. It was a stunningly beautiful day, sunny and dry with just a little chill in the air.
Our new cabin is an inside on Lido Deck forward, which feels totally different from being on Riviera Deck aft. We haven’t been in a Lido Deck cabin since right after the start up on the Majestic Princess in August 2021. We were on the deck over the bridge, which is just steps from our cabin , for sail away which was delayed nearly an hour. We stayed out there until we passed the breakwater and then went to the Elite Lounge which is held in Skywalkers this cruise. More memories; we’ve done lots of Elite Lounges in Skywalkers on the Emerald Princess over the years. There must have been 25 dolphins frolicking behind the ship today as we sailed into the ocean with the expansive views of Long Beach and the SoCal coastline in the distance.
The Medallion app system went down this afternoon (I had noticed the WiFi wasn’t working) and it really wreaked havoc with Michelangelo Dining Room traditional dining table reservations. Really wreaked havoc. We weren’t personally affected since we already had our table, and the system was eventually reset which straightened everything out, but it was a rough start to the cruise.
I ordered the macadamia nut flourless chocolate cake for dessert tonight. Flourless chocolate cake was once my favorite dessert but in recent years has been a disappointment. Well, this was, without a doubt, the best dessert I’ve ever had on Princess, and that includes MTG luncheon desserts. And hopefully it will be on the menu next cruise also!
I had a tough time finding the national championship game on my iPhone tonight, and even tried the Spanish channel feed, but the servers were all full. Finally I found it on the ACC Channel and we had it on during dinner. We finished dinner at halftime and then moved to our cabin for the second half. It was on MUTS but, again, people-y. I needed to withdraw from the forced socializing the day had brought. I seriously wanted Indiana to win that game (being a B1G team), and, Lord have mercy, what a second half! Thrilled to see Indiana finally get their turn.
Tomorrow: No football and lots of Hawaiian cultural activities. 😆
