Day 1 ~ Embarkation

 "Only those who wander find new paths." ~ heard from Torstein Hagen (AKA Uncle Torstein!)

The DH snapped this picture of the San Pedro harbor at dawn. As you may have guessed, we're larks, not night-owls.

I woke up around 3 and could not get back to sleep. I'm so keyed up about this trip! We're very excited about the changes in itinerary. The only thing that can stop us at this point is Omicron raising its spiky little head. I'm not afraid of catching it because I fear I'll be ill. I've been vaxxed and boosted and I take zinc and extra D daily. If I test positive, I doubt I'd have any symptoms. But a single positive can get us tossed from the ship if it comes up before we shove off on Wednesday and today, we began our testing gauntlet. 

We behaved like we were in witness protection last night, not even going out to get supper. (Kinda figured we'd have more than we want to eat once we board the Star.)  

Our travel buddies-Kristy & Dave

Our friends Kristy and Dave still hadn't received their test results by the time we hopped on a shuttle to the terminal. Their doctor called, sending their hearts racing, but it was only to say she still didn't have anything to tell them. But Viking was able to accommodate them at the pier with a rapid antigen test, which they passed with flying colors!

We arrived at the terminal around 10AM, but they were still disembarking the passengers from the Panama Canal segment and couldn't let anyone new on until everyone was off.

We were greeted warmly by the crew as we boarded and were directed toward the theatre where we were given a private safety demonstration. You know how the muster drill goes--Here's how to put your life jacket on. Don't go back to your cabin if you're not there already. Abandon hope all ye who enter...no, wait a minute that's not right. Anyway, after that we were shown to our cabin and asked to watch a safety video on our tv before we gave our first saliva sample of the trip. 

Then we were invited to remain in our stateroom until 9:00am tomorrow morning so we can test negative twice before we're released into the general population of the Star. This was not an onerous request. For one thing, we were greeted by a lovely lunch with an awesome dessert tray that had already been delivered to us. 

Plus it gave us a chance to unpack the mountain of luggage we schlepped and shipped here. Amazingly enough, we found a place for everything in our deluxe verandah cabin, even though I was sure there wasn't as much storage space as we'd had on the Pacific Princess in 2018. 

We split the smallish closet roughly 50-50, but the DH very gallantly gave me all three drawers while he used the collapsible bins we brought for his things. He also took the shelf that runs along the top of the closet because he's the only one tall enough to make use of the space. 

I'm feeling so very blessed tonight. After two years of delays and deferments, this voyage is a dream realized. And the best part of it is that I get to have this wonderful adventure with the love of my life, my dear husband, best friend and lover. 

He's just the best!