We got up at an ungodly hour for us (6 am) and prepared for the bus ride to the Southampton terminal to board the Majestic Princess (pictured above). We knew to leave our "checked" luggage at the door, as the next time we'd see our bags would be on the ship, outside our cabin door.
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Neither of us had much sleep the night before, and started to get ready to leave the hotel around 5:45 am. For a change, I showered first, and started to repack my carry-on with too much stuff. It was bursting at the seams! After a quick breakfast, we made one last pass in our room, placed our checked bags outside our door, and went downstairs to await the bus that would take us to the cruise port.
Once on the bus, it took 2 1/2 hours to reach Southampton and the Cruise Terminal. Unlike most cruise terminals, this one had me remove all metal from my person (including my belt), take my computer out for separate screening, and surrender my cane while I passed through the scanner. TSA screening at JFK airport was much less of a hassle. At least, we skipped much of the line due to our needs to use canes for walking and for support.
After boarding the ship, we made it to our cabin while the cabin attendant was finishing up his work. He noted that we would need to surrender our passports, so that Irish authorities could stamp them. In the almost 30 years I've had a passport, I've never had a stamp - this would be my first. (And it could be my last, given the second passport that I hope will be coming soon.)
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Both of us were tired, so we took a nap around 3:00 pm. At 5:45 pm, the cabin attendant appeared, and took our passports for processing. A couple of hours later, we were off to the specialty seafood restaurant for the first of our dinners. The dishes were all expertly prepared, but the service was slightly too leisurely for my taste.
Shortly after dinner, we were back in our cabin for the evening. Our cabin attendant visited us 3 times in succession: (1) to tape down the extension cord that I had to use to keep my CPAP unit by my side of the bed, (2) to deliver a pair of bathrobes we could use on the cruise, and (3) to deliver a pair of shore excursion tickets not originally left in the room when we arrived.
It was a busy day, and I'm glad I can finally get some sleep.
