Embarkation Day, Anthem of the Seas

Our embarkation experience was amazingly smooth!  We left our hotel room at 9:30 and walked down eight flights of stairs with just our backpacks.  We checked out and retrieved our stored luggage, then walked for a short distance (maybe 10 minutes), rolling our bags to the cruise terminal.  We dropped our bags with a porter, went through Security (no line), checked in (passport check), and were seated in the suites area by 10:05.  

At 10:30, we were guided on board and handed glasses of champagne upon entering the ship.  Nice! We checked in at our muster station, then retired to the pool deck for our now-traditional piña colada and Bloody Mary.

At noon, we had reservations at Jamie’s Italian.  We enjoyed our appetizers of garlic rolls and tomato bruschetta.

Charlie enjoyed his salmon and veggies entree, but alas, my “Caesar” avocado salad was completely tasteless.  It was so bad that even I, AKA Ms. Timid, told the manager when he stopped to ask if we were enjoying the food, NO, that the salad had nothing Caesar about it! The dressing seemed to be mashed avocado, period.  I told him it had zero flavor. Oh, well, can’t win ‘em all.

Our cabin was ready when we finished lunch, and three of our bags were waiting for us. (The fourth showed up a little later.)  Our “grand suite” isn’t very.  It feels very tight, especially after our last two suites.  We do have a big bathroom and a large balcony that wraps around, which is nice. 

After we unpacked, we explored a bit, trying to get our bearings.  The suites lounge is one floor and a LONG, narrow hallway away, right at the back of the ship.  The concierge, Lorena, was very helpful, getting my phone onto the ship’s WiFi after consulting a tech person. There’s no bar in the suites lounge, so at Happy Hour the poor waiters have to take orders, make the drinks in a back room, and then make the rounds. Not very efficient!

Dinner in Coastal Kitchen felt familiar, and Charlie pointed out that it’s just like the one on Ovation of the Seas, our Alaskan cruise ship back in 2019.  We enjoyed our first dinner, starting with the lobster-hearts of palm-pineapple salad in a citrus dressing.  We both had the ribeye with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and spinach.  Charlie tried the Boston cream pie for dessert.

This morning we walked around the ship, encountering only a handful of other people, clocking our 30 exercise minutes and getting our bearings.  The similarities to Ovation of the Seas are striking! Here’s Charlie, trying out a photo op perch in the 270 (a large auditorium).

As we headed to breakfast in the suites lounge, the captain announced that a rescue helicopter was arriving for a medical emergency.  We had a pretty good look at it, but only managed to get one photo as it flew away.

This morning we have our Top Tier event, then will have lunch at Chops Grille.  Tomorrow is our first excursion, Taste of Spain and Betanzos in the La Coruña port.  Here’s our location as of 10:30 Monday morning.  More tomorrow!