Embarkation

            Wednesday, 30 Jan 2019 – At about 9:45 AM, we left Jon’s house for El Segundo, CA, to return our rental car.  Just as we finished checking in, our taxi driver arrived and drove us to the cruise terminal in San Pedro.  Although we boarded the ship at about 12:15 PM, our cabin was not ready so early.  So, we went to the Terrace Café for lunch.  We recognized one of the waitresses, May from the Philippines, and the lobster cook.  Two other waitresses and one waiter remembered us also, but they did not look familiar to us.  By 1:30 PM, we were safely in our cabin and starting to put away our clothes.

Old Décor - 2018

The ship had undergone refurbishment in dry dock since our last cruise and our cabin looked significantly different.  The pristine, antique mahogany furnishings had been replaced with modern, very light gray furnishings.  We would have preferred the old furnishings, but that’s the price of progress.  We do like the larger TV screen, which increased from about 19 inches to 36 inches.  The DVD players and library have been replaced with on-demand movies, although the selection is not nearly as extensive. 

New Décor - 2019

We were unpacked by 4:45 PM and also met our cabin steward, Sabio, from Goa, India.  At 5:15 PM, we participated in the mandatory lifeboat drill and then enjoyed lobster for dinner in the Terrace Café.  Since we were too tired to dance, we retired for the night at 9:30 PM.