Sunday 9 June 2013 - The Big Day!

The morning dawned - and as usual, Oriana had sneaked in past me as I lay dozing. Slowly the others arrived - Queen Elizabeth first, as the sun was rising.

 

She was later followed by Silver Cloud.

All the while, the sparkling new Royal Princess was lying quietly at Ocean Terminal awaiting her very first fare-paying passengers - among them me! Since our cruise this time was only two days, and we therefore had little luggage, we decided to do it by ferry and foot! Funny - it didn't look that far from Town Quay to the Ocean Terminal but it sure seemed like it by the time we reached to dock gate and had to show our tickets! Naturally, with the Duchess of Cambridge performing the naming ceremony in five days time, security was starting to bite.  The ferry allowed me the first proper look at the ship I was about to board though.

First impressions - she was big - very big. At 141,000 grt though, not the largest ship I will have travelled on since Queen Mary 2 is slightly larger, and Independence of the Seas is quite a bit larger again, although I have only looked over the latter on a day visit. I suspect it is the fact that every outside cabin is a balcony is what makes her look so solid.

Boarding was a bit chaotic for no apparent reason, except that when you move up to the far end of the Ocean Terminal ready to go through security following check-in, you cannot hear the tannoy announcements at all. Once boarding started it was quite slick - once through the scanners, ship security staff were lined up with portable barcode scanning machines which also took your photograph. Once that was done it was straight on board via the promenade deck. Cabins were not ready so we went up to the buffet for a quick bite to eat before exploring the ship. That will come in the next instalment!