Embarkation in the Time of Covid

September 25, 2021

When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory. — Alan Alda

We all slept fast and woke refreshed and ready to start our Alaskan Adventure! The Holiday In Express at SeaTac provided an adequate breakfast and plenty of coffee. The coffee was strong enough to carry its own cup across the table, grab the spoon and beat us over the head with it. But that's okay. We needed the extra juice. Besides, Seattle has a reputation to uphold. It is, after all, the best caffeinated place on the planet!

In the past, cruisers could arrive at the port at their leisure, but now everything has to be timed and pre-arranged. I'd signed us all up to embark the Norwegian Encore between 10:00-10:30 AM. In order to minimize the number of people at the pier at once, we were required to register for check-in times and for our pre-cruise Covid test. 

We'd booked a private limo/van through Sabra Transportation, which arrived 15 minutes early to take us to the port. The service was fast and the vehicle spacious and clean. It was nice to have just our party on board, but even so, we were all masked up since we still had the hurdle of a Covid test to take. 

Unfortunately, our driver dropped us a couple of city blocks from where we could check our big bags at the port. Since the Encore's previous passengers were disembarking, there was a lot of foot traffic and it was hard to wrangle all the bags while keeping the eight of us semi-together. 

Me, Dad and Mom

Our first stop was near the Encore, where we could surrender our big bags to the luggage handlers who'd get them on the ship for us. There were still some carry-on's we needed to keep with us, along with Cpaps and Percival (my portable oxygen concentrator), but it was nice to wave goodbye to the biggest suitcases before we hoofed it to the testing facility in the conference center right beside Pier 66. 

A sharp-eyed attendant spotted my parents immediately and pulled them from the line, along with the DH and me. We were allowed to jump the queue quite a bit. Everyone had their CDC cards and ID's handy (I’ve had nightmares of someone losing theirs.) and we all were checked in easily except Dad. He doesn’t have an email address they could tie him to and the person working with him was hard for him to understand because she was masked and English was not her first language. The DH stepped in and handled it beautifully. 

It's so nice to have someone who keeps his head whenever there's a technical challenge. My husband never gets excited and always brings out the best in people.  

We were all shuffled off to another room to be tested and then sent to holding area to wait for our number to appear on a screen or for the result to post on our phones. Again, my parents didn’t have that kind of tech savvy, but eventually, their numbers came up on the big screen and we all got pink wristbands that proclaimed us Covid free. Woo-hoo! 

The DH and me in our new mini-suite!

We were still masked as we went to check in at the port. The agent informed us that Norwegian had upgraded the DH and I to Stateroom 9236, a mini-suite cabin amidships, with a tub/shower combination. It was a wonderful surprise, and I suspect it was because the brass at Norwegian was well aware that Princess had unceremoniously booted me from their Alaska cruise because of my oxygen concentrator. Not only did they upgrade us, everyone in our party received additional onboard credit, and champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries in their cabins! Norwegian certainly pulled out all the stops to make me feel welcome.

But it took us away from the rest of our party, who were booked in adjacent verandahs on deck 8. However, I discovered that--wonder of wonders-my family is perfectly capable of being apart from me some of the time. It worked out for the best all around.

Because my dad's use of a cane and my O2 status, we were among the first to board the Norwegian Encore. She's a beautiful ship. And a very big girl, but easy to negotiate and once our feet touched the deck, we could remove our masks! We felt perfectly safe because Norwegian insists on 100% vaccination of both guests and crew, and as far as I know is the only mainstream cruise line that pays for everyone to be tested at the pier. Very classy of them. 

Nephew and #2 Daughter

We dropped our carry-ons in the cabins and went to find lunch at Savor, one of the complimentary dining rooms. Most people head for the buffet upon first coming aboard, but it's worthwhile to ask if there's a sit-down restaurant available. Delish. Mom loved her orange chocolate mousse desert. 

We spent the afternoon unpacking bags. Our big bag was sent to Mom and Dad’s cabin by mistake, but theirs finally turned up. 

I don't know if it was because I was so tired, but when I was getting ready for our first meal in the Manhattan Room that evening, I couldn’t figure out how to work the shower. I was too fuzzy headed to realize it was European plumbing. (Smacks forehead!) 

Or it may have been the scopolamine patch I tucked behind my ear. After a world cruise you'd think I'd have found my sea legs, but no. I need a little pharmacological help to enjoy the motion of the ocean...at least at first. Once we enter the Inside Passage portion of our trip, our sailing will be smooth enough to give me no trouble.

#1 Daughter & Daughter-in-Law

We had a lovely meal that first night. Our waitress, Lee, took great care of all of us and particularly helped our D-I-L who has special dietary concerns because of a red meat allergy caused by a tick bite. She has to travel with an epi-pen in case she has an anaphylactic reaction.  Lee sprung into action and got a dietary supervisor involved immediately so the chefs at Norwegian could accommodate her special needs. In order to be certain than none of her food contained an ingredient that would be a problem and to make sure there was no cross-contamination with red meats during the cooking process, our D-I-L was given the next night's menus all week and ordered her meals ahead of time. 

After supper, we could have gone to the theater for a comedian, but the DH and I were tired enough to forego the show for our "waterbed." But before we hit the sack, we stepped out on the verandah to watch the Kitsap Peninsula fall away behind us while the waves swished a welcome against the sides of the Encore. It'd been since September of 2019 since the world has rocked under my feet. 

I felt so grateful, so blessed to be on this beautiful ship with so many of the people I love. Happiness washed over me. We'd been trying to pull this trip together for a couple of years and it was finally happening...

God is good.   

PS. The DH wants me to share that we left the door to the balcony open all night so we could hear the wonderful sounds of the ocean even in our dreams!