Saturday, August 14 (Day 18) - Embarkation Day!

I know, I know - I've been getting a little long winded again haven't I?
I'll try to pare everything down a bit...again:

Early morning: Rainy but I ran anyway - got a close up of the White Cliffs of Dover and saw the ship we'll be sailing on for the next week - the Ocean Princess!

Mid morning: Constance and I walked up the pedestrian shopping street to a little coffee shop called Costa Coffee. Constance ate a croissant; I had an egg sandwich which was loaded with butter - I am amazed at how much butter the British use!

Late Morning: Walked along the seawall again; regatta going on; food booths; craft booths; sweet booths; hat booths; booths booths booths! We didn't buy anything, thank you very much.

Late late morning: Walked, sat, coffee, shared a scone. Just wandering to kill time because, according to our paperwork, we weren't allowed to board (or should I say embark?) until 1pm.

The morning dragged on forever!

We took a cab to the cruise terminal a little before noon - way early in true Holck fashion - and discovered that they began boarding early. Before 11am in fact! Ach - so much wasted time!

The boarding process was surprisingly quick and easy. There were no crowds and they were incredibly organized. We were on the ship in no time and found our room:

Upon meeting us, our Stateroom Steward (we're so fancy), Marlo, quickly offered to change our bed into two twins rather than force us to suffer sharing one.

The gigantic mirror makes the room look much bigger than it actually is.

We then walked around the ship which took all of 10 minutes because the Ocean Princess isn't one of these large ships you think of when you think of cruises - they call the cruise we were on "small ship cruising" because the vessel holds just under 700 passengers (not to mention the over 300 crew members!) whereas the larger ships hold over 3000 passengers (and goodness only knows how many crew members!).
 
Regardless of how small the ship was to some (we overheard one woman commenting on how everything seemed so miniature - clearly, she had been on a few cruises in her life), it was still all new to us and we were pretty intrigued with every nook and cranny...but mostly the view of the cliffs (again):

There'll be bluebirds over

The white cliffs of Dover,

Tomorrow

Just you wait and see...

~Vera Lynn

 
Brevity, Maile, brevity...
 
Dealing with Dinner: Because it's a smaller ship, they have two - and only two - seatings: 6:15 and 8:15. Constance and I found ourselves in the 8:15 seating which, of course, for these two old ladies was far too late! We were told to talk to the maitre d' upon arrival and he would take care of it. Well. We were apparently not the only ones who wanted to change our dinner arrangements. We went to the dining room and upon telling the host what we were there for, we were led to a row of chairs where another couple was waiting to speak to the maitre d'. I suddenly felt as though I were back in the 5th grade waiting to be called in to the principal's office. Not that I was ever called into the principal's office. Long story short, he could not accommodate our wish to eat earlier and so we were stuck to the 8:15 seating. Who knows what kind of trouble being out that late will bring?!
 
BUT before all that, it was happy hour somewhere, so Constance and I got as dolled up as we dared and went up to the Tahitian Lounge for a cocktail!

Before Constance's cocktail arrives...

And after Constance's cocktail arrives...

and me and my Manhattan!

 
Having dinner at the 8:15 seating was not terrible - after a cocktail in the Tahitian Lounge, nothing can be that bad. Constance and I had a table for two all to ourselves (we don't like to be forced to socialize with others), but our table was situated extremely close to a table of six so it was little like we were with them...but not really. It wasn't until the end of the dinner when we were having dessert that Constance began making conversation with the couple closest to us. They were the oldest of the three couples at their table - which wasn't very old as the other two couples couldn't have been more than 25 years old. The couple Constance chatted up was probably in their forties. Interestingly enough, we never saw them at dinner again - we think the difference in age between them and everyone else at their table made them a little uncomfortable...well, either that or Constance said something terribly offensive.