June 16/17

June 16, Southampton. The beginning of cruise #4 aboard the brand new Royal Princess. I wasn't the first person on board, but was certainly in the first hundred or so, maybe even the first fifty. My walker and main suitcase were at my cabin before I got there, but my carry-on was a no-show. One of Mark's suitcases showed up about an hour later, and he arrived about half an hour after that.

Our cabin is one of the ADA fully-accessible ones, and is hugely spacious. Instead of a closet and dressing area like most cabins, we have a large bathroom with roll-in shower and grab bars everywhere, and in the main part of the room, a triple wardrobe with tons of hanging space and a set of shelves. For each twin bed, there is a nightstand with 4 big drawers and a shelf. There's a desk area with a fridge and 4 more drawers. Mark and I are so used to making do with small amounts of storage space that we are positively rattling around in here. 

Oh, I forgot to mention the balcony which has an ingenious ramp arrangement so you could get a wheelchair out there along with the 2 comfortable chairs and a little table. The whole cabin is wider than usual to allow space for a wheelchair to maneuver. And, instead of a small sofa/sitting area, there are two chairs and a little table (which we immediately shoved under one end of the desk area). There is a gigantic flat-screen tv with the most minimalist remote I've ever seen. It will take us all week to figure that one out.

We did some slow exploring and had lunch at the Horizon Cafe on Lido Deck. The pool area is lovely and has a nice variety of seating options from lounge chairs to tables and chairs, to big round booths to couch and easy chaIr groupings. We walked past the SeaView area which sticks out beyond the side of the ship and has a glass floor so you can look down to the water. There's not enough money in the world to get me out there!

The buffet area at Horizon is just as crazy as the one I've already ranted about on the other ships. It does have multiple lines, but at least they don't go in circles. However, at the very aft end of the Horizon, there is a nice outside area with variety seating again and its own set of coffee/tea machines. When/if the temperature warms up some, that should be a nice spot.

About mid-afternoon, we connected with Jeff and Mike and their friends Roy and Janet, at Crooners which is one of the bars at the Atrium. Mark and I invited them to our cabin after the Emergency Drill to share our balcony and bubbly while we sailed down the Solent. We were a bit disappointed that there weren't more people quayside to watch her go for the first time.

The evening began back at Crooners Bar on the top level (Deck 7) of the Atrium which is a truly spectacular space. I cannot begin to do it justice in a description. I would recommend that you go to www.princess.com and view the videos of the Royal Princess. The decor of this ship is several steps up the ladder of sophistication from other Princess ships that I've been on.

June 17 at sea. Well, I'm back in isolation in my cabin again after another flare up last night after dinner. Medical reports at three ships in a row! Someone at CDC is going to have fun tracking my peregrinations over the past several weeks from the forms I've had to fill out. At least here I have a window with real daylight and passing ocean to look at. I certainly wouldn't have been spending time out on the balcony today as it is very chilly and windy out there. In the morning it was solid grey overcast, but in the afternoon it got sunny, but still chilly. Also this time I have Mark to talk some of the time and to run errands for me if necessary. Supposedly I will be free again tomorrow morning, although I will be missing the first formal night's dinner in favor of lasagna from Room Service.

I forgot to update about our missing suitcases. Mark's second bag turned up just before the Drill, but my carry-on was still missing. So I started a complaint to Passenger Services. I got the expected answer of "we are still delivering bags, madam." By the time we had sailed, I was moving into harassment mode. Fortunately, I got a lovely young lady named Annabel from the Philippines at Passenger Services to work on my dilemma. She certainly went above and beyond for me harassing the Security Department, the manager for our floor's cabin staff, etc. and going after them multiple times that evening and reporting back to me. Eventually the silly thing turned up, tag less, sitting in a hallway somewhere. My name was in several places inside, and they had been pretty well sensitized by Annabel to look for my name, so it got to me okay.