Dawn and I began texting each other at 7 AM. We decided to go to Dahlia Bakery for breakfast. Nick chose a chocolate croissant, while Bunny and I chose almond croissants. Dawn  had a tomato and cheese sandwich. The baked goods were absolutely delicious. Dawn said she had read that the owner of the bakery was an Iron Chef.

After breakfast, we met in the Westin lobby in order to board a van that would take us to our cruise ship, the Majestic Princess. Someone directed us to a van, but just as we were about to part with our luggage, we learned that the van was going to a Norwegian ship. “Sorry,” said the director. We then found and boarded the Princess van.

There seemed to be hundreds of employees at the dock, each guiding us to our next step in the boarding process. Three of us got through easily, but Nick had to run back because he had  left one of  his  carry-on camera bags on the conveyor belt! Fortunately, it was still there.

Once on board, we were awed to be in an enormous room that was filled with bright lights and colors. We were told that our staterooms were not ready  yet.  After wondering where to wait, we located a small cafe. Our first lunch on board was salami and prosciutto filled croissants, and for dessert, hazelnut mousse or chocolate mousse cake. Then we took the elevator to the pools, where we sat, enjoying the views, until our rooms were ready. We have heard that a good thing about cruising is that you only have to unpack once, and that is true. Our rooms were adjacent to each other, so after unpacking, we went out on our balconies where we could chat with Dawn and Bunny while enjoying the view.

Eventually, hunger set in. We took the elevator up to the buffet. There there were so many aisles with a great variety of foods on both sides! I thought of the old expression about a child in a candy store, overwhelmed by so many choices and wanting to try everything. Dawn and Bunny selected Thanksgiving dinner, roast turkey with  cranberry sauce. I chose short ribs, while Nick had a Mongolian stir fry. Everything was very tasty. Eventually we discovered that a chef in the dessert area  was preparing crepes made to order. Nick and I shared one, filling it with raspberries, orange marmalade, whipped cream and sprinkles.

After dinner, we enjoyed a country western show. Then we were ready to get some sleep. Suddenly, we were awakened by a voice over the loudspeaker. It was the captain, announcing that someone had been reported missing. Had someone fallen overboard? Everyone had to go back to their stateroom to be accounted for. It took about half an hour to get all the passengers and crew counted. Fortunately, no one was missing. After many apologies from the captain and our steward, we were able to get some sleep.

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