Sunday, May 13, 2012

Cruise Vacation - Day 3 (Saturday, 12 May 2012)


We started the day in Oslo, Norway in our room at the Scandic Sjolyst Hotel.

We got dressed, packed our suitcases, and went down for breakfast at 8 a.m. I retrieved my iPhone from the desk, fully charged. I checked my email and Facebook on the hotel computers, and went up and watched TV and read until 10:30 a.m. We took everything down to the hotel lobby, which was packed with tourists waiting for their sightseeing buses. We checked out, and had them call a taxi, which came within five minutes. The taxi ride to the cruise ship terminal was only about three miles and cost 170 kroner (about $30).

The taxi dropped us off right at the baggage area of the terminal, and we handed over the bags there. Then we checked in at the security station, received our room key cards, had our picture taken, and boarded the Vision of the Seas cruise ship at about 11:30 a.m.

We went up to the Windjammer Café on Deck 9 for lunch right at 12 noon, and enjoyed salad, fruit and bread. We were able to go to our cabin 3006 at 1:30 p.m. and settle in. At 3 p.m., we went to the Legacy Family Tree meet and greet on Deck 5, and met Geoff, Ken, Dave and Luc from Legacy, plus the travel agent Christy, and a number of other cruisers, including geneabloggers Kay Haden and Donna Peterson.

The lifeboat drill was at 4:30 p.m. – we’re assigned to lifeboat 2. After that, we went back to the cabin and unpacked the suitcases which had arrived while we were at the Legacy meeting. The cruise ship departed Oslo at 5 p.m. – the maneuvering engines in the bow are right below our stateroom.


Then it was time for dinner at 6 p.m. – the Legacy group – 170 strong – was assigned to Tables 18 to 42 in the Aquarius Dining Room. Our assigned table was 32 with Sandip, Edvin and ??? as our waiters. Linda explained her allergy problems to Sandip and Edvin, and they reviewed the menu and suggested the Top Sirloin steak for her. Our table-mates this first night included Ken and Diane, Bruce and Patsy, Virgil and Kay, and Dennis and Barbara. I had the top sirloin steak also. Linda asked for a rarer cut twice…

After dinner, we went to the Masquerade Lounge and caught the end of the first show. Then it was down to our stateroom, a check of the TV news, and to bed by 9 p.m., since we were still not on a good sleep schedule yet.

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