Waiting

We had a five hour wait until the ship would be ready to receive us on board but the weather was beautiful so I didn't have to wait inside and could take some photos of the ship tied up at the dock.

965 feet long

 Our cabin would be at the very back of the ship on the vertical stern

There was a long line of people waiting for the shuttle buses which had to be procured at short notice to take passengers to Kemah to pass the time. Some waited two hours and had less than an hour in Kemah before lining up for a return bus. We are glad we stayed where we were in air-conditioned comfort in the Cruise Terminal.

There were delays between buses

We were being joined on this cruise by some friends from Chicago taking their first ever cruise.
Friend Cindy and daughter Alice and son Daniel were flying into Houston today and had received notification of the delay. We would meet them on the ship no doubt. We communicated via text.

I spoke to some of the passengers just off the ship from their cruise and they said they had rain most days which is a hindrance on land or sea on vacation. I kept my fingers crossed (which makes typing difficult) that we would have better luck this time.

The clock kept ticking and "soon" (i.e after 5 hours) it was time to board the ship, knowing that it would be squeaky-clean and ready for us.  As suite passengers we were among the first onboard.
My first task was to run up to the top deck to a place called the Sanctuary and book ourselves in for the week (I"ll explain the Sanctuary later with photos/pie charts and graphs) and then join Carol in our cabin where our luggage would already be waiting, given the delay in letting people onboard.
I also had to book a table for 5 for our first dinner (complimentary) in Sabatini's Italian Restaurant on the ship. I booked it for 9.30 pm as we would be leaving the dock at 9 (in the dark)

Here is our cabin for the week...

View from the living room  with wet bar on left. There was a fridge with free drinks in it (beer, spirits and soft drinks)

 Living room seen from bedroom

  Bedroom

Bedroom desk area with bathroom door on right. Bathroom had jacuzzi bathtub, glass rain shower and  toilet in separate room so that two people could use the bathroom at once. At right is a TV on the wall.

A fresh flower arrangement added a nice elegant touch

Outside was a large balcony (18 feet by 8 feet) with teak furniture

Soon after boarding at 5.30 the sun set. Those who lived within driving distance of Houston were still arriving, having been informed of the delay

 Close to sail away time, after our Muster Drill where we learned what to do in an emergency, the Captain is on the bridge preparing to take this 113,000 tonne ship out to sea

This is the smoking section near the Tradewinds bar up on deck where I will spend a lot of time this week.

With everyone onboard and having dinner we pushed away from the dock at 9 pm- 5 hours late. Our room steward Miguel (from India) brought us small bottles of Korbel champagne to toast our voyage. It was 9 pm and he had been working since 7 a.m and hadn't had his "lunch" yet he told us. He was too busy cleaning the ship-any surface that a person might touch.

So- let's go to sea!