Three is a charm. This is the third time I have scheduled a cruise that would take me to Bermuda. Covid cancelled the last attempt, and medical issues caused cancellation of the first attempt. Maybe Friday the 13th will be better.
Preparations are easy, with both of my daughters also on this trip, we all ride together to the port. To start the week with a blast, there is a scheduled launch of a Falcon Heavy to carry a mission to a metallic asteroid about 4 years away. Only a fifteen minute deviation in our plans to be able to see the launch. After having seen many over the past 35 years, they are still fun to watch.10...9...8... only seconds to go. "Liftoff"!
The skies are clear enough for the rocket, but too overcast for anyone on the ground to witness anything. The cameras at the launch site recorded little to share on the internet. Oh well, we tried.
On to port parking. It begins to rain just as we arrive at the parking lot. Fortunately it lasts only a minute. Not even enough to put on a jacket or grab the umbrella. Within a few minutes the shuttle bus is loaded and we are off to the terminal, one of the oldest at Canaveral. There are lots of passengers boarding, but lines move very smoothly. We are on the ship within about 45 minutes of parking the car.
The Windjammer is packed as usual. We luckily find a table in Chops Grille and grab a bite for lunch.
It has been a number of years since I booked an inside cabin. This one seems awful small. It really isn't, it just seems that way as this is an older ship and the cabin design is not as good as in some of the newer ships, nor as spacious as on some others.
We find a spot in the Crown Lounge for sailaway. We are joined by the others. It is hot and humid in Florida today, but a cold front is coming which will result in a high temperature of 68 on Monday. Cold for mid October. The seas are slight, less than 3 feet as we head into the Atlantic for our 2 day passage to Bermuda.
My key doesn't work on the private lounge door, after being admitted by a crew member, when I talk to the host about the key malfunction I learn that the Pinnacle level passengers are not allowed to use this lounge on this cruise as there are too many of us. A special lounge has been established on deck 5 for Pinnacle use. I do note there are about 30 empty seats at 5:00 PM, usually peak occupancy time.
Our dinner reservations were messed up by the travel agent, and we didn't catch it until today. Despite the times being correct we were booked at two separate tables. Easily taken care of at the dining room, and fixed for the duration of the cruise.
There is another rocket launch just after we sit down for dinner, but again the skies were too overcast to be able to see it. Is it a curse? Technically we haven't entered the Bermuda triangle yet.
We are seated at a private table just inside the dining room entrance. Our wait staff introduces themselves. The NY strip steak was OK, but not as good as it was on Celebrity a few weeks ago.
After dinner, we all head to the first night welcome show in the theater. The house orchestra was so so, an opinion probably influenced by all the excellent live music in the Orlando area. Dan Dan is our cruise director, a face that I have seen many times over the years. The obvious change other than age, he now wears glasses.
The comedian was good. Picked on by a group of disrespective kids in the front row he held his own well. Finally after numerous requests for them to stop and be quiet, security removed one of them. Not another word from the others.
There is little motion to the ship, more from engine vibration than from the seas. The next two days will be sea days.
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