The third day of our trip, we boarded our cruise ship, the Norwegian Bliss. At 9:00 AM, we had to catch a shuttle from the hotel to the port. I got up early, got our bags and everything we had to have ready assembled and had a little breakfast. Took a large shuttle bus to the port. The driver was fairly interesting, he chatted about what’s interesting in Seattle for tourists.
We were not supposed to begin boarding the ship until noon, but Jane thought we were supposed to pick up some scooters that we had rented for her mother and me at 10:30 AM. Turned out that the scooters weren’t supposed to be picked up until 11:30 and since we weren’t allowed to go inside the terminal until our boarding time, we had to stand around outside and wait. It was a little bit chilly and a little bit breezy in certain spots. We got our scooters and headed for the line to get into the terminal for the security check and boarding. Since we were on scooters, we were able to bypass this line that was snaking through a labyrinth of posts and ribbons. The ship was fully booked with 4,000 passengers trying to get on board. I don’t know what time they started, but boarding was to have been completed by 3:30 because the boat, er ship, was to sail at 4:00PM, so it was crowded. One thing about the scooters is that they gave us some shorter lines. Once we got through check-in, we were directed to a special ramp for people with wheelchairs and that sort of thing. That shortened our boarding time a lot, I’m sure.
I guess there are some small advantages to being a little handicapped. And that’s what I am, I’m — a little handicapped. I get a little bit breathless when I climb up the steps to get onto a bus, but I can do it. I can walk a mile in a day (but I feel exhausted). I can’t walk a mile at one time unless I wanna hurt and be exhausted. Anyway, we got to the boat and found out that we weren’t going right to our cabin. We had to go to our assembly area first to check in. The assembly area is where passengers are to go in the event of an emergency. The ship’s crew wanted everyone to have that assembly area as the first thing they remember about the boat. Our assembly area was 4G at the front of Cagney’s restaurant on the 8th (I think) deck. I guess I learned something going there, although I had to ask Jane at least once for a reminder about the location.
We (believed we) had to kill some time before the room, er cabin, er stateroom was cleaned and ready, so we went to the buffet. Keep in mind that the ship is around 400 yards long, our cabin is all the way aft (an aft-facing balcony), and the buffet is all the way forward. It was a madhouse because everyone was thinking the same as us, let’s kill some time by getting supper. The staff tried to help us find a seat, but we finally found our own. The food at the “Garden Cafe” buffet is free to all passengers, but nothing to get excited about in terms of quality. It’s just barely warm enough to tolerate. After we ate, we relaxed a little, then headed to the room, er, cabin to settle in. The weather was tolerably cool in Seattle, and we had a balcony facing aft, so I sat out there and watched Seattle fade in the evening. As we got farther out and underway at full cruising speed (about 20 knots), the boat started to rock just enough for me to notice, and I lay in bed and read. My cold was now in full bloom, my nose running like a pair of 1940s nylons, and my nose was so stuffy, I couldn’t breathe comfortably. I didn’t sleep well. I think about 3 hours all together, even though I was exhausted and napless. That was the day.
