Embarkation and Day 2

Embarkation turned out to be a fairly easy process. I woke up at the wee hour of 6 o’clock (That’d be 4 o’clock for all the American readers.), trekked to the ship, and waited to pass through security. Although the line looked long from a distance, people moved up quickly. Upon boarding the ship I had to pass through 8 “checkpoints.” These stations were just making sure that I’d paid all of my money, didn’t have any trip delays, and other general information. After that I was able to check out my cabin, #4151. My checked luggage arrived about 5 minutes after I did so I went ahead and started unpacking. Luckily, both of my suitcases fit perfectly under my bed. After getting settled in I left the ship to find my dad and get some lunch. We considered a few different places, but eventually decided to try some local subway. Then we walked down to the harbor front and back to the ship. I told him a final “farewell” and got back on the ship.

My roommate had arrived by the time I got back on the ship. Her name is Alison and she is from Baltimore. She seems pretty cool. I think we will get along fine. Me and a few of her friends went up to the top deck to socialize. I’ve met quite a few people, but I’m having trouble remembering everyone’s name. The muster drill was a pain. We had to stand in rows on deck 5 for almost an hour. After the drill was over we were ready to set sail. Although parents were not allowed very close to the ship, I could see my dad waving to me just outside of the pavilion. I stood outside watching land get smaller and smaller until we were finally completed surrounded by ocean. I was pretty exhausted by that point so I headed down to my cabin and went to sleep.


DAY2
Day 2 was the first day in a long time that I have actually eaten a real breakfast. I had a pancake, some mixed fruit, and scrambled eggs. It was delicious! So far, all we’ve down today is attend multiple lectures on rules. Most of the information was just common sense: Don’t plagiarize, don’t steal peoples stuff, etc. At 11:30 I went to deck 6 for lunch. It wasn’t quite as good as breakfast, but it wasn’t bad. The rice curry was REALLY good. After lunch we had another 3 hours of lectures. I was hoping to buy a few shirts today, but the store is closed until tomorrow. We lose our first hour tonight. I’m already tired as it is so hopefully my first day of classes wont be too bad. I know this has been said in every other blog, but it’s really funny to see people trying to walk straight while the ship is rocking. Luckily, the rocking doesn’t seem to be affecting me too much. In fact, I enjoy the rocking! The water is a gorgeous crystal blue and we’ve had mostly smooth sailing these past two days. There is an “activities fair” tonight. Next blog will be about my first day of class and the activities I decide to join.