A quick note - this and the following missives will be coming to you courtesy of satellite WiFi, which is to say that there may be some variation in time schedule. I will try to get one off each day, but you may occasionally receive two on one day and none the next.
A better sleep last night, arising around 6:00. We repack our luggage and head down to the Cucina restaurant again for the included breakfast. On offer was a "full Scottish breakfast" which is like full English, but with Haggis instead of blood pudding. We both chose this option and it was very good - not gourmet, but satisfying.
Today we head to Edinburgh's Waverly rail station, a few blocks downhill from the hotel or a short cab ride, and board an 11:30 ScotsRail train to Dundee. Trains are all on schedule and we arrive in Dundee at 12:35 PM. Scenery was nice and the train very comfortable. Upon arrival, we catch a taxi at the station for the short trip to the dock for boarding our home for the next 12 days - Ms Magellan (here, the name of the ship is pronounced with a hard "g", as in gale.) This ship is a part of the Cruise & Maritime Voyage (CMV) line. As we are to learn, the passengers are overwhelmingly UK citizens. A nice change from Americans everywhere. The most frequent question to us on the first day is "what about this Donald Trump?" All seem to be heartened when we profess our preference for Hillary and our disdain for the Donald.
Our cabin is surprisingly spacious, with a nice window/porthole, and a queen size bed. Bath is small, but to be expected. Our first quest is to move our meal seating back to 6:15 from 5:45. Mission accomplished, we then agonize (kidding) over the decision as to whether to purchase the unlimited alcohol package and forbear having to charge each and every drink to our room. A quick calculation and assessment of our potential intake and we opt for the package. Our livers may not thank us, but we are on vacation!
Prior to sailing at 5:45, the all-ship lifeboat drill was conducted. We assembled encapsulated in our bright orange vests as instructed, followed by a trek two decks up to stand by our assigned lifeboat.
Our first meal at the Kensington restaurant. As we sit down, an announcement comes over the loudspeakers: we are hitting 40 knot per hour winds and things could be a bit choppy. We are instructed to hang on "to something firmly fixed to the ship" should we venture out on open decks.
We are at a 4-top table, and the couple we are dining with are from Dundee, Scotland. They can look from their home windows to the harbor and see the ships coming and going. We discover that this is their 15th cruise. She a retired civil servant, and he a consulting environmental engineer. The dinner this evening was varied, but not too memorable - a sea bass for Deb and a lasagne for me. The mushroom soup was a bit bland and the dessert cheese selection meager. Things will get better, or not; time will tell.
We repaired to a bar for a nightcap and to correct the liquor package on our shipboard cards. Deb's was charged twice and I was not allowed to partake, an obvious error since a requirement of the package was that all cabin members must participate in the package. This was corrected and we trundled back to our cabin for the night. In bed by 9:40, missing out on a lot of boisterous nightlife in the show lounges and bars.
