Kninja Knitter

Today we boarded the ship! It’s been pretty low-key, but still full of interesting moments. My driver who transported me from the hotel to the ship spoke very little English, but he was very curious. He ended up asking me lots of questions using his phone and a translator app.

Travel Tales

I was impressed with the port’s process for checking in passengers. I received a numbered card when I dropped off my bags, and I waited until my number was called to proceed through security to check in, followed by passport control. That meant that I spent far less time standing in line, which I greatly appreciated! Following that process, we were taken outside to a shuttle bus to take us to our ship. Here’s what she looks like in Lego form:

I confirmed once my luggage was delivered and I unpacked everything, I left a whole pack of things at home. 😒 My eyeglasses (backup for my contact lenses), my knitting tools, and most of my needles intended for the new projects we were planning for the knitting portion of this adventure. Tomorrow on our tour, I’ll see what I can pick up to fill the gaps. I have scissors and a darning needle, plus two of the recommended needle sizes (of five).

For the first time in my cruising experience (this is my fourth cruise), I attended a Catholic Mass. Today is Ash Wednesday, so it was particularly poignant. Of course, Catholics generally observe abstinence from eating meat as well as fasting for this day… but there are a couple perspectives that suggest we get an exception here, lol. (That’s called dispensation, by the way.) And the priest who is saying Mass throughout the cruise provided an alternative justification for dispensation as well. Needless to say, I neither fasted nor abstained from eating meat. Today was the Welcome Aboard Steak dinner, after all!

I haven’t checked out all the decks and their various amenities yet, but I covered a lot of ground! I enjoyed a beer and the view from The Crow’s Nest on deck 10, and then I ventured down to the Sea View area on deck 9 to watch the sunset.

One of my fondest memories of my first cruise (over fifteen years ago) was of the piano bar. On my last cruise (with Celebrity) I was very disappointed that they had eliminated the piano bar from their entertainment options. Well, Holland America has taken the opposite approach and offers “dueling” pianos. Alfredo and Ellie are talented young musicians. I was pleasantly surprised that they played two of my three requests in their final set, and while they couldn’t perform the third, they picked another song by the same group. The duo did a great job throughout. I’m looking forward to hearing more from them.

It’s past time for me to get to sleep! So I’ll wrap this up… more to come tomorrow! And I’ll leave you with a picture of my yummy steak dinner:

Knit on. 🧶