After breakfast at the hotel we took an Uber to the ship. We took advantage of the upsell offer to stay in the Yacht Club level. This is a "members only" section of the ship located on the 15-18 decks at the front of the ship. It includes unlimited alcoholic beverages, private pool, lounge and restaurant. We were met at the pier by a "butler" who checked us in, took our bags, and then walked us through check-in (at a a special area), gave us a glass of champagne while we waited all of 5 minutes to be called to board, then walked us to the gangplank. Yacht Club members get their cabins made up first, so at 11:45 we were all set. At the gangplank we were met by Manoz, our on board "butler" who walked us and a few others through the ship to the Yacht Club area. He then showed us to our cabin (15013) and explained how everything worked. He then walked us to the special dining room (Le Muse) for lunch. This is also on the 15th deck, but you have to go through the "regular" part of the ship to the back to get there. We had a lovely, quiet lunch (scallop and mango salad, Caesar salad, ice cream and Italian pastries). In the afternoon we explored the rest of the ship. It was a bit chaotic with everyone boarding and wandering around with their carryon luggage while waiting for their cabins to be ready. We spent some time at our special lounge on deck 15 at the bow of the ship which has a full bar and snack food out all the time. And their snacks aren't chips and nuts, but a beautiful assortment of sweets and savories. I have a feeling that we'll come off this ship a few pounds heavier unless we exercise complete self control.
Dinner was appetizers of lasagnetta and Caesar salad; entrees of salmon and beef tournedoes and dessert of tiramisu and ice cream. The only thing I don't like about the dining room is that you are put at a table of 2 unless you come with others and need a bigger table. There is no sharing of tables with strangers. We have met some others and perhaps we'll eat with them at times in the future. One couple, Sherry and Harley, retired from Texas to Costa Rica 7 years ago so that might be interesting to learn about.
We were kind of beat after dinner so we went back to the cabin and hit the sheets early. We did walk through the buffet after both lunch and dinner. It isn't laid out as well as the buffets on Princess, and there are fewer selections, but it looked OK. Well be staying in our own special areas I'm sure.
We were able to select a newspaper from a long list (4 in English) to be delivered each morning. We selected the Washington Post. They print it out with our name and cabin number at the top and bind it for delivery. They also have a "pillow menu" with about 6 types from which to choose.
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