Once the Uber dropped us off and the luggage was handed off to the porters, we began embarking on the ship—the one thing I wouldn’t say I like to do.
Start
We got in the line to go into the building. We were given two options: the blue lane or the green lane.
Blue Lane —
If you didn’t order a medallion beforehand, this was the line you needed to in.
Green Lane —
If you ordered your medallion beforehand, this is the lane you needed to be in. This is the lane we were in.
They kept telling us to have our passports out, everyone we passed. It wasn’t essential that quickly. They didn’t allow you to escape, as the lane moved swiftly.
Passport and Medallion
The passport went just fine. However, I have a clip for my medallion; I don’t like the landward around my neck. However, in my backpack, I have 2 of these clips. I somehow picked up the wrong one when they asked for my medallion. Of course, my wife was not having it. However, after looking in my bag, I found the correct one where I had placed it. It was in a different location than the rest of the medallions. I was in charge of the rest.
That was lucky. We then proceeded to the staging area. Then we were let on the ship.
Ship
Once on the ship, we went to the muster check-in. I mean, come on, people do it. After that, we went to the dining room. However, we were on board the ship a bit early, and it wasn’t open yet. So we headed to the buffet. Right as we sat down, they announced that the rooms were ready.
We ate lunch and then went down.
Documenting
Since it went so fast, I had no time to document it on video. So I decided to go down and that afterward. I got off the ship pretty quickly. I went out about 1:30 p.m., which was way busier than when we arrived.
I went over to the other side of the street and started to film, then made my way back into the terminal, and they kept asking me where my passport was. I told them I had already been on the ship. I think I said that to about 20 people.
While filming, they told me I couldn’t film or video in there and made me delete the videos. I guess it is the first time for everything. I have done this on several sailings, and no one ever has said anything to me.
Maybe it was because I had no luggage, and it was sticking out.
Thoughts
The embarkation went smoothly. I think it went smoothly because we arrived a bit early and were able to get in quicker. I think the time was set for 11:30 a.m. However, since no people were getting off, it made it so we could get on earlier. I don’t think the crew was expecting that.
Other than that, it was a smooth process