At last, our cruise is beginning. On this, our first day of the cruise, the weather was sunny and warm again. We ate a late Hilton breakfast at 10 a.m. since we knew we wouldn’t be eating again until sometime well after our 1 p.m. boarding time. Then we arranged a 12:30 checkout and large taxi arrival at the hotel front desk.
We arrived at the cruise terminal just before 1:00 p.m. to check in, after a comfortable 15-minute taxi ride to the terminal. The lines to drop off our luggage, go though a security screening, and check in weren’t long, and we were onboard a little after 1:30. We were questioned about our 4 bottles of alcohol during the security check, but were allowed to bring them all aboard. We found our two adjacent staterooms on deck 8 and settled in, figuring out how we were going to store our clothes and suitcases, etc. so that we could still walk in the small cabins.
Then we explored the ship, unpacked more, met our stateroom attendant, Verrol, and went to eat a late lunch at 3 p.m. We ate our buffet lunch in the pleasant outside rear deck, and then returned to our staterooms to prepare for the safety drill. A little after 4:00, we participated in the safety drill by assembling at our designated muster station down on deck 6. Then at 6 p.m., our ship left the pier and we sailed out into the Swedish archipelago.
As we sailed out into this beautiful island-studded sea, we all assembled on my stateroom’s balcony to open the champagne and wine bottles and toast the start of the cruise. We stayed out on the balcony to view the islands pass by in the setting sun as we drank our wine. It was warm, sunny, and very picturesque. Sunset was not until nearly 10 p.m.
Our dinner seating time for the whole cruise is at 8:30 p.m. So after a while on the balcony, we got ready for dinner in the Reflections dining room. My dinner included escargot, fish of the day which was barramundi, and a blueberry pear crumble, all of which were delicious.
Caroline and Emma are in the stateroom with me. Caroline is sleeping on the foldout bunk over the bed that Emma and I are sharing.
Lori's Travels 