November 28 - SailAway Day

 For future reference, if you click on the pictures, they should open a bit larger.

Last night was interesting.  In the afternoon, I had a little trouble plugging in the charger for my smart watch.  The first USB port didn't seem to work so I tried the one right next to it.  Nothing, until I noticed a little black switch right above.  As soon as I turned that on, my charger started.  This isn't common in the US, but OK, just go with it.  At bedtime,. I turned off the TV right above the charger thingy and there is this big light outlining the television on the wall.  Hmmm.  Michael was asleep so I hesitated to turn every switch I could find to turn this off.  I gave it a bit of a try, but then just thought, meh - I'll treat it as a nightlight.  Here's a picture of the light.

Around 1:00 am I heard Michael get up to visit the bathroom and I told him my dilemma about the light.  He couldn't figure out how to turn it off either.  In the meantime, I remembered that I had a sleep mask so I pulled that out, and no more problem for me!  In the morning, I noticed that little black switch again and the light dawned.  I turned it off and bingo!  Apparently, that switch had nothing to do with charging my watch (just lucky timing) and in the daytime I didn't notice the light come on.  Needless to say, I felt a bit stupid.

In the elevator as we were leaving I didn't notice the big "Wet Paint" sign and brushed against the back wall to let another couple on.  The man alerted me and then everyone tried to assure me that the 2 brown streaks on the back of my shirt looked fine.  I knew they were just being nice, so I changed in the bathroom before leaving the hotel.

Our room was an "upgraded" one due to our Marriott status, but we were right near the elevator which we listened to most of the night.  I suggested to the front desk in the morning that they eliminate that room from their upgrade list.  Actually, I did the same to the General Manager when he was helping us later with our Uber request (they had to do a deviation to the route).  We also mentioned about that light switch and he admitted he didn't even know about the light!

We got to the port around 11:15 am for an 11:30 am scheduled boarding.  (Our Uber driver told us in all seriousness that the government has been able to control hurricanes and other weather for at least 50 years which is why bad weather always hits poor areas.  But that's another story).  Boarding did not go well.  We were told that the Coast Guard required a ship's drill when they arrived (maybe they meant inspection) and that delayed things for everyone.  We had to wait in a huge line and didn't get on board until nearly 1:00 pm.  I think some people hadn't done the online check-in so they took much longer.  It only took us about 3 minutes once we got to the desk.

A small part of the check-in line

We found Jan and Tom in a lounge, stowed our carry-on bags in our cabins even though they weren't actually ready for us yet, and headed up to the buffet for lunch.  It was pretty crowded, but we managed to snag a table for 4 from a couple who were just leaving.  You aren't allowed to serve yourself at the buffet and I don't know if that is just today or a regular thing.  On prior ships, that was done if there was an outbreak of norovirus or during the early sailing days after Covid, but we haven't seen it on the last couple of cruises we've done this year.  

During lunch, a crew member came around to offer reservations tonight in the Red Ginger, the Asian specialty restaurant.  They had availability at 6;30 so we accepted.  We'll meet in Jan and Tom's cabin (larger than ours) for a pre-dinner cocktail from their complimentary bottle of champagne.  We didn't get one, so maybe it's only the larger cabins.  On Regent, every cabin gets one, but we never drink it, so we just turn it back in.  But now that we have to pay for every drink, we'll take advantage this one time!  😊

While waiting for the all-clear on our cabin, we wandered around the ship.  In the main dining room, who do we run into but Pam, the Head of Entertainment for Regent and Oceania.  We had dinner with her and Andrew (the Cruise Director) while on the Regent Voyager a few weeks ago.  She was talking with the current Cruise Director, Peter Tredgett.  She's a lot of fun and we reminisced a bit about our dinner.  She suggested that we should have dinner with Peter too.  (Probably more of a request to him since it was from his boss.)  I made sure to mention that we were travelling with Jan and Tom so we'll see if we all get an invitation.

I only thought about taking pictures in the main dining room.  Maybe tomorrow, which is a sea day, I'll try for more pictures of the ship.

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The decorations have started

The Grand Dining Room.  The plates are upside down until just before service begins.

This cabin is definitely smaller than what we have had on Regent, but we'll make it work.  We got everything put away and had a little time to hang out.  We met our room steward, Monjay from the Philippines who had a great idea about putting our suitcases away.  The beds are just a bit lower than most so these big suitcases wouldn't slide under.  He suggested we open them up and slide them in that way.  Duh!  Problem solved.

Off to Jan and Tom's big cabin for our champagne and a few light appetizers before heading to Red Ginger for an excellent dinner.  The waitstaff were all great.  Our Balinese waiter was surprised when we recognized his name as meaning first-born son.  He had a good sense of humor and we enjoyed his service.  

Off to the cabin for, hopefully, a good night's sleep - especially without that huge light!