Today did not start well. We were on the bus by 7:40 but it did not leave at 8:00 because some people hadn’t shown up. The dispatcher finally gave the driver authorization to leave at 8:30. I saw that we were heading out of the city, and then I dozed off. I woke up 20 minutes later and went to the bathroom. As I walked there I noticed the bus was on some serious curves, and I wondered “What part of I-95 has these curves?” When I got back to my seat I looked around and I saw we were on the DC Beltway approching I-270! That seemed odd, but I knew we had another stop so I figured we needed to go up 270 to get there. And then…we drove past the exit for 270. I ran up to the driver and said “Are we supposed to be going south?” She said her directions said 95N to New York, and the only sign she saw was 95N to Baltimore. I said “uh…that’s where we needed to go.” And then I went back to my seat…but we kept going south!

I went back up to the front and said “Do you need help getting turned around?” So I guided her onto River Road…and she tried to go left instead of right as I’d indicated. So she backed up on the roadway and then went right. She had mentioned she was supposed to take exit 6 to Wilmington, and I explained how she needed to take the left side ramp before the Delaware Memorial Bridge. When I got up to go back to my seat, a guy sitting up front whispered “can you come back for Wilmington?” I laughed, and he said “no, I’m serious.” So I stayed awake all through Maryland. A tried to call the cruise line and the bus company but got nothing helpful. At that split, I was back up front but didn’t say anything. She made it okay on her own, but then I had to direct her to the bus station too - and I’ve never been there! She had a terrible time negotiating turns, and drove up on the curb a couple of times. This woman was clearly in the wrong job! Fortunately one of the people we picked up in Wilmington guided her to the New Jersey Turnpike and from there she was fine…except for missing a turn trying to get to the port in Bayonne.

After all that, check-in was a breeze. We slipped our “water” bottles (one with vodka and one with rum) past security and got on board. I led us to the rooms and we sat down for a bit. Next, we took a bit of a walk around, then came back to the room. Just as we were taking a short nap, an announcement came on for the muster drill. So we put on our lifejackets and went to our muster station, etc. Then we came back to the room to finish our nap.

Dinner was fine. It took a couple of minutes to get my vegetarian menu, and it took a long time to get my soda. (I got the “soda package,” which is unlimited sodas for $5/day…they are $2.50 each and I usually drink at least two a day, so it’s a good buy for me.) For dinner I had a fruit soup, a small plate of fruit as an appetizer, some salad, and very tasty tempeh in peanut sauce. I got two desserts - cheesecake, and lychee ice cream which I shared with A.

Next we went to guest relations and complained about the bus. They’re going to follow up with us after they tell the head office. So we went back to A’s parents room and shared some champagne and conversation before bed. Then I took a shower (in our room, of course) and got water all over the place - the shower head kept wanting to point out into the rest of the bathroom. I didn’t know the hose was twisted, but when I got out I told A and she fixed the hose. So now I’ve been writing this, and I’m going to bed - oh, before I forget - lots of motion on board, very noticeable rocking of the ship no matter where you go.