Embarkation Day: Liberty of the Seas

Embarkation Day could not have gone more smoothly yesterday!  We managed to catch an elevator down at the hotel, then retrieved our big suitcases and waited in the lobby for our Uber. I chatted with two women who were about to take a Princess cruise, also to Norway. Our Uber driver arrived just before 10:00 for the VERY brief drive to the cruise terminal. We dropped our bags and as we are suite guests, were ushered directly to Security (we were the only ones there) for bagchecks, then were seated in the suites area by 10:13, when this photo was taken of me acquiring a pastry. You can see how empty the area was at that hour.

At 10:30, we were able to board the ship. We checked in at our muster station and headed to Schooner's for the traditional embarkation day adult beverages.

We stayed there until time for our noon reservation at Chops Grille. It's at the opposite end of the ship, so we walked through the casino, which is HUGE and very fancy. I think it must have been the major focus of the recent "glow-up" Liberty received. We enjoyed lunch in Chops, both opting for steak salads, and Charlie also had the mushroom soup to start.

Our suite was ready by then, and Charlie found our bags already in the hallway. We have one of the L-shaped suites, with the sleeping area on the short leg. The balcony is large and has both two padded loungers and a table with chairs. We probably won't be out there much while at sea, given the temperature and wind speeds, but we'll enjoy it on port days. Our bathroom is huge, with a tub/shower, so no skinny capsule shower, thank goodness. We even have two sinks!

After unpacking, we rested for a bit, then headed up to the suites lounge about 4:30. It was surprisingly unpopulated, as we were expecting lots of Pinnacles to be there. That may be the case next week when the transatlantic cruise begins, but we will be in a junior suite then, so can't go to the suites lounge.

Dinner was at Giovanni's, and we had a nice two-top, next to a group of four Texans, two from just outside Houston and two from Brenham. We did not bring up politics and neither did they, thank goodness!  We both had salads, then I had the garlic shrimp with mashed potatoes and Charlie had the chicken piccata. No pics, because we've enjoyed (and shown photo of) both dishes before. 

We lost an hour last night, so now we're seven hours ahead of Texas Time. We managed to sleep until almost 7:30 in this new time zone! Charlie seems to have developed a cold, alas, so I fear my turn is coming.  The sea is somewhat rough this morning. We could tell as soon as we awoke, and are definitely holding on as we move around the cabin. The shower has lots of handholds, which were needed! We have a coffeemaker in the room (as well as a teakettle), so Charlie didn't have to in search of coffee.  Here's a short video showing the sea's movement. It doesn't look dramatic, but we're feeling it.

Here are some photos of the ship's position this morning, as we head toward Stavanger, Norway, where we dock tomorrow morning. 

We are about to head down to the theater for the Top Tier event. It will be interesting to see if attendance is lower than usual, given the time change AND the rough-ish sea.  Thanks for reading!