March 10 - Embarkation Day Chaos!

We awoke to a beautiful day with a nice breeze and partly sunny skies.  After a leisurely breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and were on our way.  I would definitely stay at Turnberry Isle again.

We had realized the night before that neither of us brought a travel Scrabble game ( a must for our vacations!) so we stopped at a Barnes and Noble and bought a new game. 

After dropping off our rental car at the airport we took a cab to the port.  It was around 1 PM so we thought we would be late enough to have missed the initial rush and lines of people waiting to check in.  Not so! The previous cruise had a hundred or so people with gastrointestinal problems the last day of the cruise.  Therefore, the crew went into Code Red mode and the ship had to be thoroughly sanitized before any new people were allowed to board.  While we were thankful that Princess took this stance, it was clear that the shoreside staff were overwhelmed.  New passengers were dropped off at the correct terminal but then had to walk to an adjacent building.  There were really insufficient staff around to tell people where to go or what to do, so like sheep we just all followed along with the flock.  In the second building there were no organized lines for checking on nor was there any indication where to go once you had.  At one point a female passenger stood up and was giving everyone around her information on what was happening and when we would be able to board.  It was at that point that I decided to find a Princess employee who could give accurate information.  When I showed her our cruise card, she told me that we could proceed up the elevator and board the ship.  We were on a few moments later.

The ship is in excellent shape and looks spotlessly clean.  For example, the deck chairs, tables and railings on our balcony all look like they have been recently refinished and varnished as does the floor.  Our cabin steward John just returned from his vacation.  Poor man; to come back to a ship that is topsy-turvy with cleaning and changing all soft goods in the cabins must be difficult.

We sailed late because of the delayed embarkation.  We had brought a William & Mary banner which we hung over the railing as we sailed down the channel so that our husbands could see us on the port webcam.   We were on our cell phones with them and sure enough they could see us as did my friend Judy in California!  We thought that was pretty cool!

Katie with our W&M banner as we sail away

The seas as we headed southeast were calm and expected to remain that way.  After a drink before dinner at Adagio and dinner at Sabatinis, we called it a night.

A beautiful sunset as we head east