2024 Bali to Tokyo- Cruise boarding day!

We boarded the bus and are on our way to the ship! There was a little confusion on the bus situation but it all got sorted. Driving through Bali, we notice so many of the same sights that we see in other countries. We drive past the local Home Depot...

the local Ace Hardware...

The local Fred Meyer...

And then there was Polo? ..... Wait, what?

Coming up, green road signs just like any other country!

And welcome to the port.

The check in process was so easy! There was literally NO lines. The luggage was picked up in our hotel rooms at 8am this morning and delivered directly to out stateroom on the ship. When we arrived, we showed our passport and got on the boat. So easy! We were hungry and our staterooms weren't ready yet so we went directly to the buffet. 

I'm happy to report, they have an amazing salad bar and lots of clean protein options. I'm going to be just fine! I am SAD to report that they do NOT have oat milk. I brought my own matcha powder but didn't think about the oat milk situation. Who doesn't carry a good selection of non dairy alternatives? My options here are soy and almond milk. Both on the allergen list for so many people! They definitely need an allergen specialist on their advisory board for food selection! 

We get to our room and it is beautiful! Walk in closet, large bathroom, plenty of drawers and spaces to get organized. We even have a butler with a pager to assist with any needs that we may have!

Out butler served us champagne to welcome us onboard!

We get unpacked and organized then head out to tour the ship. The ship is relatively small but the gym is pleasantly large and stocked full of everything a normal person needs. John on the other hand, is disappointed that they didn't have heavy enough dumbbells for his massive arms to feel much of anything during a workout. 😩🏋️

Nothing feels overly crowded here which is nice. The average guest on the ship appears to be 65+ and not likely to be visiting the gym any time soon so competition for equipment shouldn't be a problem.

 

Dinner was very nice. I've been able to find a few options on each menu that contain fish and simple vegetables.

We make it an early night and head back to the room for bed. I'm not complaining as I've really been enjoying the quiet time to read. 📖

We sleep in and don't get to the gym until after 7am. It doesn't open till 6 so our 5am workouts are over anyways.  We did have a little John drama in the gym this morning! As many of you know, when he loses something important like a key card to get into our stateroom, everyone must drop everything and help him find it before he loses his mind! I am in the middle of my workout but most stop and help as I see the Trainwreck starting down the tracks and picking up speed at an alarming rate!!! 

He has looked everywhere. We check all the machines that he has used, I have him empty his pockets, I look under machines and everywhere I can think of. We check the room again and it is nowhere to be found! 

I look in my purse and see my keycard where it should be. I look at the one on his hand which was in theory mine... The one I handed to him when he came back to the room earlier looking for a keycard to use. He thought he had mine but in fact, I had unknowingly handed his own card to him that morning. Soooo. He had his in his hand the whole time!  He just never looked at the name on the keycard 🤔 I take full responsibility for HIS lack of awareness. 😬

After everyone settles down and I accept full accountability for the debacle, we head to a lovely breakfast. I start with a fruit plate then move to protein. The smoked salmon is wonderful and the bacon is, well, bacon! 🥓 Corned beef hash was great (shout out to Aurora as she loves herself some corn beef hash!). I really can't complain as everything's fresh and the buffet is clean. The service is absolutely over the top as there seems to me as many staff as guests on this ship.