When I got back, there was a letter in my room to meet in Voyager Lounge at 7:45 for an 8:15 departure. Luggage would be collected beginning at 7am. I pre-ordered breakfast from Primo Piatto and left my suitcase by the door while I went to get it, but it was still there when I got back. But picked up shortly after.
Soon enough I was on the bus and we were off!
We went to CBR to pick up some people and initially were told we’d go to OKW as well, but then SURPRISE!, after CBR we were on the road.
Nothing like the first view of the ship as you crest a bridge!!
We were led from the busses to the testing tents. Things are always changing, but at this point it was a rapid antigen test at the port to board. Once I swabbed myself and put the swab into the vial I was given (labeled with my name and birth date and reservation number), I was directed to tent “C like Cinderella” to wait for results to pop up on a screen - or in your email and Safe Passage account, which happened first.
A lot of us got the info at the same time and were ready to head out when Grumpy (not really but she’d make a good one) came in to yell that they were not ready for us in the terminal and they would tell us when we were released. As we were sitting back down/finding standing space, someone from Inspire Diagnostics came in and called for one family. None of us could even look at them we felt so bad as we all knew that meant someone came positive on the antigen. They’d do a PCR to verify, but if you pop positive on a rapid antigen, you’re almost guaranteed to be positive.
Soon we were allowed to go over to the terminal to wait for boarding!!
My parents were arriving later and we had discussed if I would go on board and wait or wait in the terminal. They said for me to go on ahead, so I did and went to Deck 4 across from the door to take a video of them coming in (I’ll try to put it here later - it’s on my phone and I’m on my computer). I got a good view of Captain Mickey waving people in.
Once my parents were on board we went to Cabanas for lunch
And then it was time to get in our cabins
Muster Drill now consists of you going to your station and using the app to take a picture of it, then you watch a video on your device or in the cabin . The alarms do still sound at a set time, but you don’t do the stand all mushed together with everyone thing anymore.
Sail Away was nice
but delayed as there was a “medical” situation. (I put it in quotes because we watched stuff from our verandas and there were sheriff’s cars there and someone walked out under her own power and was speaking with a sheriff as an officer brought out her luggage. She did go and sit down, then moved to the bumper of a fire truck that arrived where she spoke with them and they did things like take her blood pressure. An ambulance came and she was loaded in. I’d apparently gone inside before a family - apparently part of hers - was led off with luggage as well. But while we were waiting, we saw fish being really weird…
It was a very busy cruise - over 2000 people on board. There was a “Podcast Cruise” group from a podcast I will not say much about here because I know there are people who love them. But I can say the entitled behavior I saw exhibited by some of the attendees AND the head of the group (who almost ran us over as he was storming around about something with an officer in tow one afternoon) just confirmed my gut feelings about many of them. Enough said on that. They were also shooting stuff for “Disney 365” which I guess is a Disney Channel show? so we saw that happening a lot. They weren’t disruptive though.
The show the first night was The Golden Mickeys, but the first showing only got partway through the Best Villain section as there was a massive technological failure and Cruella’s car failed to come up. They tried to get it going again, and the assistant cruise director and a couple of cruise staff people did Disney trivia with us to pass the time until it was eventually called. (They did get it running for the later show.) Even before we left, they made the call that they would re-do it on Wednesday night, so kudos to them!
Dinner the first night was in Animator’s Palate for us. That’s where Crush goes around and talks to some tables, there is other animation going on, and then Crush teaches us all movements. Our assistant server did origami and we each got a little turtle that night!
My sister was able to get permission to eat with us - but she got a call partway through and said she had to go immediately. We’d find out later why that was…
It was a bit rocky that night as we crossed the Gulf Stream, but I LOVED being back at sea!!
