Today is the day we board the cruise ship. Our boarding time is 2 to 2:30. Our hotel let us stay in our room until 1, and they called a taxi to pick us up at 1:30. The taxi was right on time and took us to the cruise port. To enter the port, we had to provide our name and the name of the ship. He marked us off of a list he was holding. We then proceeded to the terminal. We unloaded our luggage and there was another person there that checked the time for us to arrive. Since we arrived right at 2, she told us to go and get in the queue to enter the terminal. We stood in this line for over 30 minutes, then they counted off a certain number of people and led us around a corner where we got on a bus.
The bus took us to another terminal. This time we had to present the sheet of paper we had received when we registered online for the rapid COVID test to be taken before boarding the ship. The sheet had a number on it that identified you. They then called you and swabbed your nose to take the COVID test. Next you went to a different area where you sat and waited to receive your COVID test results by email. After receiving your COVID results, you checked in and they made sure everything was in order and you were allowed to board the ship. The whole thing took a little over an hour.
Once on board the ship, you could go to your room. We were staying on the 8th floor in a junior suite with a balcony. The cabin is actually pretty spacious and the bathroom even has a tub. There is a sofa and two arm chairs.
After checking out our room, we went to the 9th floor to have a late lunch at the buffet. There were plenty of tables available. After lunch we wandered around the ship before returning to our cabin. At 5:30, we went to the main dining room for dinner. Then after dinner, we wandered around some more until time for the show in the theater at 9:30. It featured a comedian. Then we went back to out cabin to rest up for the next day’s adventure.
