This morning we woke up knowing this was the day we were to get on the ship. We were all so tired and ready but it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
After breakfast we all boarded the bus once more for a tour. The first stop was Tian'anmen Square. There were lots of people there with heavy police presence. They told us we were getting a group photo made there and I was glad. Of course once the picture was made we were told it would cost us 100 Yuan -- about $16 USD. It did come in a book so I purchased it.
After this brief stop we went to the Forbidden City. This place is HUGE! I can't remember how many acres it covered but it was a lot. They said it had over 8,000 rooms in it. Evidently the Emperor had lots of concubines and needed lots of rooms. The tour was entirely too long and to much walking and too many people. Of course I was anxious to get on the ship. I think we stayed there about 2 hours and it was all outside and very cold.
Once this tour was over it was time for lunch. They took us to a restaurant where they served us Peking Duck among other things. The duck was good I thought. Some of the other foods, not so much. They served everything on a lazy Susan again. This restaurant was in a very touristy place with lots of shops and a Starbucks. Unfortunately we were only there long enough to eat. A few of the people were able to pop into Starbucks and get something but others were not so lucky -- Pat and Terry.
It was then time to get on the bus and head to the ship. It was about a 2 or 3 hour bus trip to get there. They did stop midway for a restroom break. Once to the ship there was a line outside the building but it moved very quickly. We first had to go through security which was very easy. The longest line was to check-in and it didn't take that long and once we got up to the counter I think they were quicker than any cruise that I had been on. Then off to the ship -- or so we thought. There was one last step. We had to go through Chinese Immigration. They weren't too friendly. The way the guy was looking at me I didn't think he was going to let me out of China but he finally waved me through.
There wasn't too long of a walk to get onto the ship. The last stop before getting on was the dreaded photo. I haven't even gone to look at mine yet. I am sure I won't buy it. This ship is bigger than any I have ever been on and it is beautiful. There are also lots of elevators which I am glad of. We are at the Aft end and it seemed like a very long walk to our cabin. Once we opened the door we were pleasantly surprised. It is very nice. We booked a suite which has lots of amenities. Each cruise line has different types of amenities for its suite passengers. This one included the first set-up for the mini bar free. There were lots of little bottles of liquor, beer, water, etc. We had our cabin attendant to trade all of them in on Diet Cokes. I think we got about a case which should last us just about the whole cruise.
Our cabin attendant is May. She came in and talked to the 4 of us telling us what all we needed to know about the suite amenities and who we needed to contact for what. In all of my cruises I had never had anyone to personally take out the time to tell us anything like that. I usually had to read up on things and figure it out for myself. She is excellent!
Soon after we boarded we had the dreaded lifeboat. It really wasn't that bad. Our muster station was in a club where we carried our life jackets and sat and listened to a presentation through a speaker. It was very orderly and people were actually listening. They covered more than what is usually covered in a life boat drill. After the presentation we were instructed to stand up and put our life jackets on and make sure we knew how to do it. Once we were satisfied, we took the life jackets off and were dismissed.
It was time for dinner. Pat and I took the life jackets back to the cabin while Mary P and Terry went to the restaurant and figured out where our table was. We have always had problems with our dining messed up so we didn't know what we were to expect. When Pat and I got there they were already seated. We were pleasantly surprised. It was a table for 4 right by the window and we weren't crowded in with other people. The food was excellent and the service was probably some of the best we have had.
As we were finishing dinner we looked out the window and there was a smaller boat coming straight for our ship. I guess it came to pick up the pilot but it was a bigger boat than they are usually on and it was going very fast. In fact it felt like they bumped the ship. We figured the pirates were coming to get us!
We didn't go to the show. We decided to go back to our room and unpack and get out laundry ready to send out. We had lots since we had been away from home almost a week.
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