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Friday – Embarkation

Board Train at 12:45 PM - Depart at 1:15 PM

Board Ship at 5:45 PM - Sail Away 8:00 PM

Daily Program

All Aboard!

We got back to the airport a little early.  Our cab brought us directly to the cruise train depot.  Dropped our bags off with the HAL staff and walked over to the terminal for a snack.  We looked up to see the train.

Had a little bit of a seating problem.  As the train is set-up with all dining cars, and hence the tables fit parties of 2 or 4.  As a group of 5, we did not easily fit.  The seats we were assigned were supposed to be across the aisle from one another, however this was not the case.  HAL should make sure the people giving the seats out at the terminal know where they are located, or at least have a seating chart.

When got on the train, we were notified that the car we were "assigned" on our boarding card was not being used, and we needed to sit in another car.  As it turns out the original car was just not going to be serving meals.  Once we were under way we could move to the other car.   I move right away as I didn't want the sit down meal.  I grabbed a sandwich from the Tiki car.  The meals were not too pricey, especially considering they had a captive audience.

Everyone else in our party joined me later.  A few other cruisers moved to this car, but it was far from crowded.  The Tiki car had the bar and an upstairs.  My girls loved the upstairs sitting area and spent most of the trip up there with grandma.  A few other kids onboard also seemed to like it too.

The Ride

The first 20 minutes or so of the trip are far from scenic.  The train travels through the parts of town the chamber of commerce really doesn't like to show off.  Now this is typical, because next to the train tracks is usually not prime real estate except for industry.

Once you get out of town the sights do get to be amazing.  The trip is narrated as you go.  Unfortunately the car we had moved into did not have the speakers on.   Of course, we didn't know that until my wife came back from the original car.  They did get it fixed a little later.

As we were told before, for about half the trip the train and the highway follow basically the same path.  The bus would have been an hour faster, but I still feel the train was worth the extra time and money. 

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The narrative was very informative about the various things we were seeing and the related history.  The other nice thing was the notification of when the good photo locations were coming up.  Did not see any wildlife, but the scenery was just so amazing. 

The pictures really speak for themselves.  The best place to take your pictures if from between the cars to avoid the reflections from the windows.

The Pier

The train dropped us off right at the dock and  it was a short walk to the check-in terminal.  Internet pre-registration is getting popular as the lines were almost as long as the non-internet cruisers.  The internet line did move a little faster though.  It still took about 15 minutes before we got to the head of the line.  We had our pre-filled in forms, passports, and credit card ready.  Whole process took about 5 minutes once we got to the head of the line. 

Next it was to the security line.  It was really long.  I understand the need, but how about more than one machine and scanner for all of us.  Then a quick stop for the welcome aboard photo and onto the ship.  We were scanned aboard then escorted to our cabin.

When we walked in our suite was already prepared for the evening.  Our cabin steward was there within a very short time and asked how many bags we were expecting.  Our suite was great, and probably more than we needed, but what the heck, you only live once.  Detailed Suite Information  Quick check and my tuxedo had been delivered by Cruiseline Formalwear- fit perfectly.

The first night my youngest was sleeping with grandma in her cabin.  So we headed down to check it out.  I had gotten them an ocean view cabin on the main deck.  The cabin was plenty big enough for the two of them.  Detailed Cabin Information

We were greeted in our cabin by a bottle of wine from our travel agent - Thanks Tina!  We also had a bowl of fruit,  excursion tickets, and various information sheets.

Time to Explore

We were starved and ready for dinner, but the train gets to port too late for early seating dinner.  And since lifeboat drill was coming soon, the had stopped all food service so you would not be in the middle of a meal.

In our room was the information sheet for the Club Hal telling us where to register our kids.  So we headed over to check it out and sign them up.  They made sure we read the rules on the back of the sheet.  They also put wrist bands on all the kids that told which life boat station they were assigned.  If your child was not using Club Hal, they would need to go to the front desk to get one.  I liked this as kids could be anywhere, and should the worst happen, the crew would keep them with you.

Then we went back to the room to await the life boat drill.  The drill did not take too long, and the weather was cool so it was not uncomfortable (considering you're wearing a life vest).

Safety drill was the last thing before we ate.  Off to the Lido.   Seemed everyone had the same idea, as the line was quite long when we got there.  A few people were complaining, but I explained how unhappy they would have been to leave their meal half eaten to attend the safety drill, they got back in the spirit.   It really took about 15 minutes, but lines seem longer when you're waiting on an empty stomach.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the food here.  In general, I do not like buffet's as the food tends to be of a type or quality that doesn't meet my needs (ok, I'm finicky).  The extra effort they spend, especially on the presentation of the entrees was well received.  I had both the Salmon and the Pork and enjoyed them very much.

We also discovered the location of the Ice Cream Bar which we would visit often.  During dinner it also is the dessert station.  Ok, so I had to eat two, plus some ice cream!

Since is was too late for the show, we spent a little time exploring and then off to sleep.  We were all very tired and I wanted to get up early for College Fjord.

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