January 5th, 2013
We made it to the ship via an airport shuttle bus that our friend Karen arranged, to bring Garry, Linda, Barry, Karen and me. The van was crammed to the ceiling with luggage, and thank goodness he could use the 4th row of seats. We embarked quickly, as we are now 4 Star Mariners from all our cruising, which meant we got priority boarding. But all this meant was that we got in a very long line as there are plenty of loyal HAL cruisers. What a difference from last year - arriving and seeing so many familiar faces, both guests and crew. It is really like coming home - which is what the large sign on the ship says "Welcome Home". We are delighted with our cabin, and this year we configured it differently and it is far more spacious. Believe me when I say that with all 6 bags in our cabin and clothes everywhere, everyone wonders what they were thinking to bring so much. However by careful organization and planning, it all fits somewhere and before long you feel like you can survive the small quarters of the ship quite nicely. We love our table at the early dining session, and Leslie, another friend who is at our table was waiting for us all, looking her usual fabulous self. For those blog readers from last year, she has a reputation on the ship as being an amazing dresser, and was invited to put on a fashion show that I modelled in. No sooner was she aboard, then the crew asked her to put one on for them in their quarters. We had a lively discussion, several toasts, then it was early to our cabins to try and sort out the piles of clothes and find room for the 6 pieces of luggage, under our beds. As I lay falling asleep, I felt like I had never left the ship, and the sounds of the sea, and the ship sent us off to sleep on this wonderful 2nd voyage.
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