Sometimes you have to have a little chaos....

Boarding the ship this morning was a little chaotic.  The screening is done by the port staff.  Most of these folks are retired people who work this as a way to supplement their income.  They must not have had any former teachers used to handling crowds of people. It seems that most of the passengers felt that the rules were a suggestion rather than a requirement.  Well, I got screened, and took my place sitting in the terminal. 
They gave us bottles of water and plenty of snacks while we waited to board the ship. Two ambulances showed up, and two folks didn't get to start the voyage.  I guess this was better than having an issue at sea.

The boarding process was so different from my past experience.  After being screened, you normally meet with an agent of the ship.  They take a picture if they don’t have one on file.  They give you your key card and any paperwork or customs forms.  They herded us onto the ship, and I went to my cabin. The attendant showed me where my key card was and opened the door for me.   I couldn’t believe it, but my luggage was already in the room waiting for me to unpack it. 

I’m on the 11^th floor of the ship, the Sun Deck, and at the front of the ship.  Usually, I’ve been midship and on a lower deck.  It will be interesting to see how much difference it will be with regard to movement in this location.  The higher up and the more forward or aft means more movement.  I kind of like the movement.  It’s kind of soothing as I go to sleep.  I guess it brings back feelings of being rocked as an infant.

My approximate location on the Nieuw Statendam

Another change was no evacuation drill.  I guess it is not a good thing to crowd people together in the era of Covid-19.  Each person was to go to their muster station and have their room card scanned.  They made an announcement several times about people completing this procss.  Finlly, the captain warned we would not sail until everyone had done this task. 

I unpacked and got a shower.  I then explored the ship and I watched as we left Boston Harbor.  We left about 4 hours late because the supplies were late in being stowed. The captain said it would not interere with our first port of call on Friday.

The Nieuw Statendam is a new ship.  It has updated technology compared to older ships in the HAL fleet.  Large flat screen TVs with many options for programming are in each cabin. Of course, you don't really watch much TV on a cruise.

Oprah Winfrey is the "Godmodmother" of the ship.

I sat on the pool deck in the cool watching as we sailed past the Boston’s airport at about 7:30 PM (original sail time was 4 PM). I left the pool deck right before my assigned dining time of 8 PM.  

Most people didn’t go to the dining room this evening.  My table has three folks from Western Canada and two empty chairs.  I enjoyed comparing notes on the state of the world.  It was fascinating to meet these folks.  I will be dining with them for the remainder of the cruise.  I guess we’ll find out if anyone is joining us tomorrow evening.

After a delicious dinner, I returned to my room to retire for the evening.  Tonight, our clocks will move forward one hour.  I’m glad tomorrow is a seaday and I will have time to relax and recover from the boarding process.