Setting Sail

Embarkation day was great. I woke up early and spent some time reading and writing before heading to the cruise terminal in Boston. The ride from the hotel was uneventful—especially compared to my experience with the “Massholes” on Thursday.

I’m super grateful that the check-in and boarding process was quick and efficient. I might’ve set a land speed record: I arrived at the terminal at 10:50 AM ET and cracked my first Vizzy on the ship at 11:13 AM. (I only know that because I called my mom right as I opened it.)

After that, it was a lazy day. I posted up at The Pit Stop most of the afternoon, enjoying live music from the pool deck below and meeting many of the folks I’ll be sharing the ship with for the next six days. I’ve already met quite a few really cool people I’m sure I’ll be spending more time with throughout the week.

Later, I met up with Deana, Brandon, Sara, Kim, Vickie, and Irv—aka the other Minnesotans—to see how they were enjoying their day, especially Brandon and Sara, since it’s their first cruise.

Trying to Be Sneaky

After hanging with the Minnesotans, I wandered around the ship for a while until I had the bright idea to try to sneak onto a ship tour for the following day. NCL offers a behind-the-scenes tour for guests who have reached Platinum status in their loyalty program—a level I’m technically eligible for, since I was just one day short on my last cruise.

I went to Guest Services to plead my case. The gentleman helping me was going to try and make it happen, but it turned out there were only three spots left—and lots of Platinum and higher-tier guests on this cruise—so he had to keep the remaining spaces available for them.

Side note: the crew member who helped me was what I like to call a unicorn—an American working on a foreign-flagged cruise ship. You don’t see that very often.

The Fog

After being (politely) shot down for the tour, I headed back up to The Pit Stop for another Vizzy or two. As we sailed deeper into the Atlantic, we cruised into fog so thick that you couldn’t even see the water from the ship. From the top deck, I could barely make out the aft section from the front of the ship.

Then the fog horn blew—and I nearly jumped out of my skin. It is LOUD AF. The horn continued to sound every five minutes for the rest of the night to alert nearby vessels that all 93,500 tons of our ship was sailing along in the dark and fog.

When I woke up this morning, the fog outside my balcony was so dense it looked like a wall attached to the ship. I stepped out to see how far I could see into it—not far at all. Looking straight down the hull, I could barely make out the white caps of our wake. Looking outward, there was no horizon in sight.

While I was eating breakfast on the aft deck, I watched the fog disappear in just a few minutes. As it lifted, I was greeted with a calm sea view and a gently overcast sky. So far, it's shaping up to be a wonderful day at sea.