Sunday, January 16, 2022 -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL

And so it begins.  

We left the house in plenty of time this morning.  We were assigned a check-in time of 1:40 but didn't want to take any chances of being late, so we started out at 11:15 for the 65 mile drive to the port and our favorite parking lot.  For a while, we were really glad we had because there was an accident on the Florida Turnpike and we sat motionless for too long.  Eventually, we cleared the accident site and traffic roared past us as if we were parked; we were going 75 mph.

Arrival at Park 'n Go was uneventful and we were soon on our way to the cruise terminal.  There was no wait to enter the building itself once we showed our boarding passes, vaccine cards and PCR test results, and passports.  Of course, that was just the beginning of what we call The Dance of the Passports.  Once inside, we had to show everything again and then had to clear security and the baggage scanners.  We got caught bringing an illicit multi-outlet strip which the X-ray found but D couldn't despite all his searching.  MA suggested looking in another pocket of the rolling carry-on and there it was.  And then it wasn't because it was confiscated. 

We finally got in line to check in.  So much of the procedure has changed with the advent of COVID; the process was almost hands-free.  We were issued computer-generated boarding passes [not to be confused with the ones we printed at home] which had bar codes and looked like receipts from Burger King. When our pictures were taken "for security purposes," we had to remove our masks and align ourselves with the camera.  The process was smooth, but there was still a lot of "stand and wait' before we started the trek to the gangway.  We had yet to receive key cards and MA was concerned but D assured her that the keys would be waiting in the mailbox outside the cabin.  

D dragged the carry-on -- which we received on a previous HAL cruise and call 'the jet ski' -- MA's bag and a bag of library books up the gangway where we were greeted and then let loose to find our way to Deck 7 and our room for the next 4 weeks.  Gone are the days when a cabin steward escorted you and shlepped the hand luggage as well.  

Once in the room, we relaxed a bit and shared a Diet Coke from the mini-bar.  Even though we have a beverage package [more about that later], we were too tired too search for a bar,  Rested and refreshed, D unpacked the assorted carry-ons and stowed stuff knowing that we would fine tune to closets and drawers as we sailed.  We've done this enough, though, that there will be little change.

The muster, or lifeboat, drill has evolved, too.  When we first started sailing, passengers assembled in front of their lifeboats while an officer checked off names and enforced quiet with the charm of a POW commandant.  As things changed, there was more talking in the ranks and less attention paid to the speech which told passengers how to stay alive in an emergency.  Today, we were required to play the safety video in our cabins and them report to a muster station which, in our case, was at the other end of the ship.  The reward for watching the video was having the television unlocked for the duration of the cruise.

On the way back to our cabin, we paused for a libation in the Ocean Bar, our usual pre-dinner hideout.  We relaxed with a Tito's vodka and a Coke Zero and just enjoyed being on a ship again.  By the time we returned to the cabin, our 3 suitcases were waiting for us.  Once again, D unpacked and stowed stuff.  [As the day ran its course, there were a few tense moments when we couldn't find or remember where he'd put things but nothing was lost for too long]

D went to the front desk to inquire about the return of the outlet strip and was told, eventually, that security had it and would return it at the end of the cruise; we could request an approved "extension cord" from our cabin steward.  The steward arrived shortly after we called for him and returned quickly with an outlet strip; stowed the luggage under the bed; and took a bag of laundry.  As frequent sailors, we get free laundry service and take advantage of it.  D jokes about needing only 3 of anything -- one to wear, one in the laundry and one in reserve.  That philosophy makes it easy to pack light.

We skipped the pre-dinner drink since we had had it earlier and went to the main dining room [MDR] for the late [read 8 pm] seating.  We had requested a 4-top, a table for 4 for the 2 of us so we could invite people to join us for dinner later.  The table was by the window but there was nothing to see except reflections from the dining room. 

As the waiter was introducing himself and taking our order, 2 friends from previous cruises appeared like magic to surprise us.  They, too, had requested the 4-top-for-2, and somehow ended up with us.  As things developed, they moved to the 2-top next to us so we could talk if we wanted to or but each couple had more elbow room.  Dinner passed pleasantly and we made plans to meet for Team Trivia tomorrow.

Back in the cabin, we stashed some more things before MA began to read and D wrote up the day's activities.

Tomorrow -- A Day at Sea, Gala Night and a Discussion of the cabin