Embarkation – Lisbon

Morning comes too early! I felt as though I had only dozed (again and again and again) before my 4:15 wake-up call came. The 5am Hoppa bus got me to the airport promptly.

I had been given the option of an upgrade to business class for £80 and enthusiastically took it up, thinking of all the benefits. In the end the only benefit was using the business class lounge – sitting in comfortable chairs with very few people around, and a serve-yourself free breakfast. 

Because we were bussed to the plane (and from it in Lisbon) I missed out on flashing my business class boarding pass and heading down the short queue; we all queued together. Even the seats seemed exactly the same as in economy class, the only difference being that the middle seat of 3 was planned to be empty. We had a proper breakfast rather than a snack pack. Although my suitcase had a priority tag on it, it was one of the last on the conveyor belt. I think in future I’d save my money and go economy for short-haul flights, but it was a good experience.

A taxi was waiting to take me to the ship. Unfortunately at check-in I must have been in the boarding queue of a trainee, as she took twice as long as those around her, but I can’t complain as my documentation told me that boarding time was 1pm, and I was on the ship by 11.45. Then to my delight I found I had been upgraded. I had booked an oceanview stateroom, but was given one with a verandah, midships, so close to stairs and lift. It’s a lovely spacious room, with both a bath and shower in the bathroom.

I explored the ship and generally settled in. This is only the second official voyage of the ship (other than positioning trip and Christening voyage), so everything is very new and still sparkling. Glass seems to feature heavily in the decor, very reminiscent of Lalique. See the staircase, and the detailed glass medallions.

Even some of the seats seem more like sculptures, and I loved the sunbeds for two.

After the mandatory lifeboat drill, I met up with a group from Cruise Critic, an internet site. I’ve been using the site for ideas for several years and thought it was about time I went to a get-together. They were a friendly bunch.

My dinner reservation for the evening was in the french restaurant, but I bypassed the snails and frogs’ legs in favour of the dover sole. Delicious.

One of the stewards told me that this is a noisy ship and you can hear people talking from two cabins over. That does not bode well for Diane who loves peace and quiet! I’ll keep you posted.