It is still hot in Florida. I have jokingly been telling people I need to go to Greenland to cool off. Norway was cool but I expect Greenland to be much colder.
Packing is a little different. No swimsuit, a thermal insulated jacket, only long pants. A hat that will keep my ears warm. I forgo the suit, tie and dress shirts. I had enough of that on the Queen Mary 2, and formal nights on Royal are optional.
The alarm wakes us at 3 AM after three hours sleep. The house is secured and the driver arrives just before 4:00 to take us to the airport. Already busy, we check our luggage at the curb and proceed to security. TSA precheck really helps today. Maybe 20 infront of us instead of hundreds.
Cleared with little delay. There is always some because of all the foreign objects embedded in my body precluding me from the metal detectors and body scanners.
After breakfast and the expected wait we board the plane.
The flight to Boston is smooth and ontime. As we are on our final approach we can see the cruise ships in the harbor. Dr. Google has advised that a cab is our best option to get to the ship.
The streets by the port are very crowded. We are dropped off and met by someone to take our luggage. It is only a hundred steps to the terminal entrance.
We are spoiled in Florida with our modern cruise facilities. The terminal in Boston is in a centuries old freight warehouse, passengers are dropped off and picked up on the street.
We are early, but not the first. Some passengers arrived before 8:00. Intercruise workers are very nice, but highly disorganized. The day is not going as planned.
The Jewel waited an extra hour for customs agents to board to clear the ship when it arrived. This delayed disembarkation from the previous cruise.
It also was the day for an extensive coast guard inspection. A procedure that can be randomly scheduled without notice, or with several days notice as this one was. No one can board until the inspection is complete, and the Coast Guard has given its blessing to sailing.
About 1:45 passengers start getting emails that the inspection is complete and boardind will commence shortly.
Waiting passengers have been grouped by boarding priority. Those with special needs are first, followed by suite, pinnacles, "Key" passengers and then everyone else. Key passengers have paid extra for a number of perks including early boarding.
We are amongst the first to board, and head to the Windjammer for late lunch. Ironically we share the elevator with the coast guard. Having completed their task they are headed to lunch also.
The head chef prepares a special gluten free lunch for Lynn. I have a slice of roast beef and a few fries. Much better than the filet of tenderloin on QM2.
We head to our cabin, and find our luggage on the way.
Knowing this was not going to be a cruise to bask in the sun on balcony, I let Royal assign my ocean view cabin. Their choice: 3504, deck 3 all the way forward, under the backstage of the theater. Will the noise from the theater reach us? Time will tell.
Being a relatively late booking, some of my choices were limited. If we wanted early dining, we would have to share a table with others.
Table 449 is a table for 8, only one other couple arrives. Service is slow as always on the first night. The crew has had an exceptionally tough day given all the disruptions to the normal process.
About 6:00 we finally are underway, about an hour and a half late.
My southern fried chicken was good. We finish in time to catch the comedian in the theater at 7:15. He was also good, but in a diffetent way than the chicken
It was a long but good day. Need to set our clocks ahead one hour, robbing us of an hour of badly needed sleep.
The seas are 1 to 2 meters as we head north into the North Atlantic.
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