Boarded the ship today and soon we’ll begin sailing across the Atlantic to the USA!…

Alternate view of our balcony cabin.  We’re always OK with the small space since we only sleep here.

This was our first time sailing from Southampton, and we had no idea what to expect. As I write this from our hotel room, we’re hoping the Wi-Fi on the ship will be active at the time of boarding, enabling us to complete today’s post, including a few photos of the ship, Celebrity Silhouette.

With approximately 2900 passengers booked for this cruise. Check-in may be slow but nothing compared to the bigger ships with several thousand more passengers. We have avoided those vast ships.  

However, with our Elite(priority) status, we can get into a faster-moving queue, which considerably speeds up the process. The porters take all of our bags away at check-in, leaving us to carry only a computer bag which we don’t want out of our sight and the blue cloth bag containing a camera and a few other essentials.

Another cloudy, rainy day in Southampton harbor.

After boarding, most often, we head to the cafeteria or Cafe al Bacio for beverages. This is when socializing begins. Onboard the ship, we don’t dine as early as we usually do when preparing our meals. Depending on how much fun we’re having elsewhere, we strive to be seated at a shared table by 7:30 or 8:00 pm.

Generally, we won’t receive our luggage to our cabin until close to dinner or after that. Thus, we’re wearing clothing suitable for tonight’s dinner in the main dining room, not dressy but less casual than we might wear on any day. 

The muster drill transpires today at 3:15 pm when emergency instructions are delivered by ship staff. Each cabin has its designated muster drill area, outside on the deck, in a restaurant, or at the theatre.

The lounge area is on the same level as our cabin. It’s unlikely we’ll ever sit here.

Once the muster drill is over, which usually requires about 40 minutes, we are free for the remainder of the evening when the fun picks up where we left off, mid-day.

We check-in for the cruise and boarded the ship. The check-in process was seamless, with no hitches whatsoever. Within minutes of arriving at the cruise terminal, our bags were whisked away.

Tom went to the internet cafe and set up both of our accounts, and now with a good signal, we could finish today’s post. Thanks for your patience in the late posting.

Each day, we’ll be back with more photos and updates on the cruise and the ports of call we visit.

Back at you soon. Have a fantastic weekend!