The day dawns with a mix of sun and clouds. It rained over night, but when we awoke, the sun was trying to chase the clouds away. The Independence of the Seas and one of the Oceania ships has docked at the cruise pier terminal. We can’t see the Quest from this side of the hotel, so we are just going to assume it has arrived as well.
We hit the gym, shower and repack our bags preparing for our morning walk. The skies keep darkening with nasty, black clouds and we are keeping our fingers crossed we don’t get doused on our walk.
As it turns out, all works out perfectly. We wander down to the pier around 11:00. There is hardly anyone here and check in is a snap. We sit in the waiting area for maybe 15 minutes before they start the boarding process. We take our complimentary photo (it’s free – what the heck) and walk aboard our home for the next 2 weeks. It’s a lovely ship, we really like this R class size and shape. Recently refurbished, everything looks and feels new, and all is very tastefully done. We head up to the buffet for lunch and end up sitting outside at the patio, where we are served by wait staff. Nice way to start off our cruise!
The day sort of meanders by, as we explore the little ship. We know where all the venues are already, so we just wander, hit the cabin, unpack our bags, go to the muster drill and then to the Cruise Critic meet and great where we reconnect with Chris and John from Montreal, whom we’ve sailed with in 2010.
We end up having dinner with Chris and John, chatting the evening away. Then head to the lounge for the welcome aboard show, and up to the “living room” lounge for drinks and entertainment. It’s a lovely, small, personal ship – and all the staff are friendly and accommodating. So far, so good, and we are very much looking forward to our 2 weeks aboard.
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