November 23 - Embarkation -- Arrived at the port about 12 noon, but it would have been better to arrive an hour earlier. That way we would have avoided such long lines and been able to get to the dining room before 1:30 for a nice lunch. Drove up to the longshoremen who take the bags you want to have transferred to the ship. No tip required - it's their job and they are well paid for doing it properly. Then we drove into the parking garage, got our ticket that we stowed away in the car in a place we would find it easily upon our return, and memorized the section we parked in. Then we carried the luggage we were taking onboard with us and some drinking water. You show your ticket, fill out a form, and go up to the window clearly marked with your deck's name such as Riviera. The line was shorter there than at the window marked Express check in. Show your paperwork and you are pointed toward security. This is where the hold-up is and this is why you want to carry water with you. It took us a long time to get up to the spot where you put all your stuff in the x-ray machine even your cameras and film. You walk through the security check and if you don't beep you won't be stopped. If you beep they figure out what caused it and make you walk through again. The water we brought kept us from buying the outrageously priced $5 water bottle they sell in each cabin.

Then you find your cabin, unpack your bag, get organized, and meet your room steward. This is your new helper who keeps your room clean and will do whatever you need within reason. We asked him to please remove the $5 water bottle, take away the 2 robes in the closet, and put an egg crate mattress pad on the twin beds that were pushed together to make a double bed. Later we asked for 5 more hangers and should have asked him to remove the bowl of fruit because we needed the table space more than the fruit. Yes, it was a small cabin with a balcony - but the two of us managed just fine. The luggage hides away under your bed and our snorkel gear tucked away under the desk. Our laundry bag stuffed away behind the chair. We brought a hanging shoe bag with clear compartments that open at the top of each spot meant for a shoe. This is where we put all the supplies that can clutter a room. This was just one of the great ideas I learned from cruisecritic.com and God bless the person who came up with this brilliant idea.

For lunch we ate in the Lido buffet for the first and only time of the cruise. Icky - too many dirty hands touching food and then putting it back when they change their minds. (Yes, some people do that.) If we had arrived earlier, we could have had a nice lunch in the dining room. A lady we met later in the cruise thinks she got sick from eating the mushrooms in the tossed salad at this buffet. Apparently she had a bad reaction to the raw mushrooms that had turned brown. Read more