I explained what would happen this morning when we were gathered together and escorted off/on the ship. Royal has their part running like a well-oiled machine. Today, we found out that passengers are like wrenches that are thrown into the engine.
One idiot. That’s right. There were twenty-eight of us. Twenty-seven showed up on time (8:45 a.m.) and got everything taken care of. One idiot didn’t arrive at the lounge until 9:45 a.m. They took care of him quickly and then escorted us out “now that we were all together.” I tell you, it’s a good thing Christianity tells us we shouldn’t clobber other people because I sure wanted to clobber him.
We left the ship to clear customs. OMG. Easy-peasy. I had heard about it before but I’ve never seen it in action. You don’t present passports to customs anymore. All you do is look at a screen and the computers check you in/out by facial recognition. Very “Big Brother” like. Neat as all get out, though.
From there, we were walked right back on board the ship and taken back to the lounge where we first assembled. They asked us to wait until 11:00 a.m. to go anywhere on the ship because they were spraying it in order to sanitize it for the next group of passengers. They began to board at 11:00 a.m. and we had the run of the ship. We were also told that we could go to our rooms if we wanted even though the new passengers are not allowed in the hallways until 1:30 p.m. That’s when rooms are ready.
It was a relaxing afternoon. After dinner, I went to the ice show (again). This was the best performance this week. And they did it on a ship that was rocking. Speaking of rocking, I will be rocked to sleep tonight. The seas are “moving” and the ship is going back and forth. Ah, there you have it: the cruise director just came on the intercom to say that the 9:15 p.m. ice show is cancelled tonight because the movement of the ship has exceeded the safety limits for them to perform.
As I said, I’m going to be rocked to sleep tonight. Sweet dreams, all.
P.S. Tomorrow we’re back to Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean’s private island. We’ll see what ship is next to us this time. Earlier this week, it was the Enchantment of the Seas. I’m guessing one of the big ships this time. We’ll see.