Our plan had been to roll our luggage to the coach station as it was just two blocks away on the same street (Buckingham Palace Rd.) as our hotel, but when we added a third large suitcase, plans changed. For about £5.50, we had an Uber take us and spared the wheels on our suitcases on the rough sidewalks. Those kinds of decisions are not only smart, they are a must if we’re going to continue to travel.
Sure enough, we were numbers 1 and 2 in the first bus, but things started filling up right after we arrived. Lesson of the day: get there before the time in the travel summary. Life is a lot easier and, besides, it’s fun to talk with your fellow cruise guests. Plus, we were unburdened of our large luggage right away and it was sent ahead on a truck (but we followed its progress with our Air Tags). It was about 20 minutes ahead of us and our suitcases were waiting outside our cabin when we boarded.
I had remarked to G that surely the traffic would be light on a Sunday morning but I’ve been a small town kid my whole life so what do I know? It was bumper to bumper for an hour heading the opposite direction into London. Yikes!!
Check in at the terminal in Southampton was nearly a walk on for Elites, with slight waits for other passengers. Still, we didn’t board the ship until precisely 1:30pm and I avoid the buffet at all cost on Embarkation Day, so we skipped lunch and figured we’d be more than making up for it in the weeks to come.
I am not a fan of the chaos of Embarkation Day, so I guess it’s no surprise that I hid in the cabin unpacking my toiletries until I needed to check in at our muster station, which, as I’ve mentioned, is at martini bar Crooners and there I stayed until it was time to go to dinner.
Meanwhile, G was out and about dealing with the minutia of sorting out our dinner reservations and checking on on board credits. He had cruised so much without me that’s it’s interesting to see how administrative duties have shifted. I have gladly turned these things over to him.
I chatted with the nicest couple in Crooners until it was time for dinner (G had texted me the dining room and table number), and wore the same clothes I’d been living in since Wednesday to dinner at 5pm. Our waiter is Peter from India and his junior waiter is Matthew from Zimbabwe (I don’t believe we’ve ever had a waiter from Zimbabwe) and let me say that I am giddily turning over to Princess every aspect of food procurement and preparation for the duration of this cruise. Especially the “what do you want to have for dinner tonight?” part. Seriously, be kind at home and don’t tell the cook to prepare whatever they want. It’s crazy making after 40 years.
Antipasto
Vegan potato salad…good
Vegan pasta…delish!
No dessert for me tonight. Too darn tired.
Surprising for embarkation night was the performance of production show Sweet Soul Music, large parts of which were shamelessly lifted from the defunct Motor City (G was dying when I was naming the upcoming songs through most of the performance, so familiar am I with both shows) but we love that music so all was good.
But that was as long as the evening lasted. I eschewed unpacking my large suitcase and simply pulled out a clean shirt and undies for tomorrow. Our cabin (we’re in a mini suite, which I call a semisweet) looks like a tornado went through and we are not as familiar with how to best store things in this room. But that’s an issue for another day, hopefully tomorrow. We have to move clocks ahead an hour tonight, so it was time to call it a day.
A tiring though exciting day. We are here. Good things await.
Life is good. :)
