Embarkation Day - Adventure of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Cruise - April 12, 2024

 Having been so tired the night before, we went to bed early and thus were up early for sunrise this morning.  We could see the first light of colors from our hotel room window as we were getting ready and then headed out to watch from the river bank.  It was such a peaceful sunrise.

Our stay at the Courtyard Inn in Titusville has really nice.  Staff have been friendly.  The place is quiet and clean.  The front desk found us some toothpaste when we discovered we hadn't replenished from our last trips and would likely be a bit short this week.  And breakfast at the Bistro was really good.

Paul had a breakfast sandwich and I had avocado toast (with roasted tomatoes and arugula plus a hard-boiled egg on the side).

After breakfast, we relaxed in the room, watched the cruise safety videos so we would be ready to stop by our muster station after boarding, and packed up.  Our arrival time was 10:30 a.m. but they asked us to come a bit later due to an annual coast guard inspection.  Paul wanted to make sure we got a parking spot he liked so we still headed over to the port fairly early with plans to just take our time admiring and photographing the ship before entering the port building.  The car is charged up to 90% from the hotel and the port is less than 20 miles away so we didn't need to stop for charging before parking.

We arrived at terminal five at Port Canaveral about 10:50 a.m.  The Disney Wish was docked at Terminal eight right near us.  Further towards the Atlantic, the Allure of the Seas was docked at terminal three and the Carnival Liberty was docked at terminal 1.  We found a nice covered end spot with a view of the ship and then walked up to the top level to get a better view.

We entered the terminal at 11:06 a.m., quickly moved through security and check-in and were in line waiting to board at 11:12 a.m.  The area with seating had already filled up so we were in a standing line.  With the Coast Guard inspection, the ship had not yet cleared yet.  Shortly after we got through, they stopped letting people into the terminal building and we could see the line build up outside and continue well into the parking garage.  That line would persist for quite some time.

About 11:50 a.m., those in the priority lounge were released to board and we finally stepped on board the ship at 12:16 p.m.  I think we arrived at a good time to make it as painless as possible of a process given the Coast Guard inspection.  

Our muster station (C10) was on the other side of the ship, so we crossed through the interior to the port side of the promenade deck, checked in with the muster station attendant and were ready to enjoy our cruise.

We have started making a tradition on Royal Caribbean ships with Johnny Rockets to have embarkation day lunch there.  It comes with a small fee that we discovered has gone up but the peace and quiet are well worth that small fee.  The temperatures were quite comfortable with a breeze making for a really nice lunch

Paul found his first car on the ship outside the arcade

After lunch, we played a round of mini-golf.  Most of the course is up a level but there is a unique hole towards the end where your ball spirals down a deck to finish the last few holes.

The cabins still weren't quite ready so we meandered down to the promenade deck and ultimately to the dining room.  I had discovered in the app that our table number was listed and we wanted to find it.

Our cabin is the third window from the right in the middle row.

See that table for two right up against the window?  That's ours!  We were beyond thrilled and couldn't have asked for a better location.

What a gorgeous three-story dining room!

First drink of the cruise, a Coconut Mojito at Boleros as we waited a few more minutes for our cabin to be ready.

An announcement at about 2:05 indicated cabins were ready so we finished our drink and then headed up to find our cabin.  Paul was pretty excited to have this view out our cabin window.  We had booked a Promenade Interior cabin.  We wouldn't have views of the ocean but we would have some great people watching views.

Here is a tour of our cabin.

Our suitcases still hadn't arrived by the time it was time to sail away so we headed out to the helipad before even getting to unpack.  Sail away was a bit windy but otherwise a beautiful day.  The Disney Wish was parked right in front of us.  In the distance, we watched the Carnival Liberty turn around and leave first.  Then as we were starting to leave, we could see the Allure of the Seas start to leave as well so we followed them out.  Meanwhile the Disney Wish was still in the middle of traditional muster drills.  We could see all the passengers packed on deck.  I'm so glad all the other cruise lines have switched to an eMuster drill.

I love having access to the helipad for the best forward views on a cruise ship!

SpaceX Ships Megan and Shannon, dragon capsule recovery ships equipped with a medical center and helipad.  We forgot to go up on deck later that evening to see if we could catch a glimpse of the rocket launch.

Can you see the Allure of the Seas in the distance?

Disney Wish

We walked the promenade back towards the aft to see if we could get a glimpse of the Wish leaving but it was still back at the dock.  The Adventure of the Seas has a really nice wrap around promenade dock (that does require some stairs in the forward where you go up a deck).

Our suitcases were waiting for us when we returned back to our cabin so we unpacked.  There were only about half a dozen hangers in the closet so we called our cabin steward who brought us more.  Finally being all unpacked, we felt the cruise was really beginning.

I love this window seat!

After relaxing a bit, we dressed for dinner, stopped by the Crown Lounge for a drink (and some really good fried shrimp), and then headed down to the promenade deck to catch the sunset before finding our table.

Dinner was really nice.  Food was a bit slow coming out but our servers were pretty attentive and the Head Waiter seems very enthusiastic in meeting passengers and finding me some good food to eat with my dietary restrictions.  And we really appreciated having our own table.  The assistant waiter also seemed to handle well drink orders which was a nice contrast to the Freedom of the Seas last year where every order for a Chardonnay came back as something else (first a Pinot Grigio, then a Riesling).  

After dinner, we walked the promenade where we didn't really find any music we enjoyed, then stopped at the Champagne bar for a drink, before grabbing a latte and a couple water bottles on the way back to the cabin.