Sunday - Embarkation Day

We woke up this morning and looked outside while holding our breath that the fog was gone as predicted. Then we were able to breathe a sigh of relief as it was gorgeous blue skies, and no fog in sight! We got dressed and walked over to IHOP as we were staying at the Hilton. While at breakfast we made the decision that we would go back to the room and try to get a parking spot at the parking lot my parents used last year as we didn't really feel like waiting for the shuttle that we were currenlty booked to take from the hotel. After calling around and talking to my mom, we found out where Lighthouse parking lot was and at 9ish we were on our way to the parking lot. We found it quick and they had openings, phew. We had one of the first spots by the gate. The bus made it over to us and we were on the shuttle in less than 2 minutes. We got to the terminal and were in line at 9:45. They opened the doors at ten and we made it through security, then to the check in line to get our sea pass card. We were sitting in the waiting area by 10:30ish and about five minutes later they opened the doors for us to begin boarding the ship.

Once on board we decided to look at a ship layout to get a handle on the ship. It was relatively light crowds as we were in the first group to board. We first went to the royal promenade and found someone that was selling the beverage packages. We got signed up for a coke pass on ians card. I honestly don't think we will do it anymore in the future. We hardly drank any sodas while on board. We mainly drank water, tea or lemonade which are all included. We of course had coffee too as they had a nice cafe with unlimited coffee set up for 24 hours a day. This became one of our favorite spots on the ship.

After exploring the promenade we made it up to the windjammer for a yummy lunch. When the clock finally rolled around to 1:15ish we decided the rooms were probably open and ready for us to go to. Our luggage was dropped off quickly. I had us unpacked by 2 if I remember right. Might have been closer to 2:30. Then we chilled on the balcony for a bit before it was time to go for the muster drill. Thank god, wearing the life jacket is no longer required. It was fairly painless. While standing out there waiting we saw the conquest head out at 4. Once the capt. dismissed us we ran by the room to get our cameras and headed up to the pool deck for sailaway party.

We decided to hit up Johnny Rockets for dinner this first night. We had a st.louis burger which had bacon, lettuce, and some yummy sauce. Ian got a chocolate malt of course and I had a flavored soda. You get unlimited onion rings and fries. We didn't make it to the show tonight as we were kind of tired. We went to the room after dinner and just relaxed on the balcony.