Day 1 - Boarding - July 28, 2019

Boarding went smoothly. The large ship was hard to miss from the Warnemünde train station.

After having a fish sandwich and calamari rings with a large ginger ale, we walked to the ship. We dropped off our suitcases and checked in. Then, we went to the Zebra Bar for an iced coffee.

At 2:30 pm, we were able to take over our cabin (11048) - it was quite far forward on the right side.

The suitcases arrived soon after and the cabin man, Eric, introduced himself. However, we didn't see much of him for the rest of the trip. He was a good spirit who kept the cabin in order (making the beds and cleaning multiple times a day, leaving papers, and folding the beds in the evening).

Emergency drill at 5:15 pm. The drill was initiated with a loud signal: 7 short blasts, 1 long blast. So, we grabbed the life jackets and went to the meeting point, which was in the Zebra Bar.

Today, I experienced first-hand that you shouldn't make fun of someone else's misfortune, as it could happen to you. On the way to the assembly point, everyone was scanned, and there were problems with Sabine. I said, "I'll write that in the logbook." After the drill, we went back to the cabin. The phone rang and someone said in English that I should go to the reception with my passport because there seemed to be a problem with the check-in. We went there and cleared it up.

After that, it was dinner time. We had the first seating at 6 pm. The meal consisted of 3 courses. Everything tasted great, and they also served fresh bread, water, and wine. During dinner, the engines started and we set sail.

Then, we went to the pool bar for a nightcap.

In our cabin, there was a letter with the following content. Since I didn't participate in the emergency drill, I should be somewhere at 9 am the next day to make it up. I was really angry and went back to the reception. The man there told us to ignore it (in English). I wasn't completely comfortable with that, so I went to another colleague. Again, no luck, as he barely spoke German, but he assured me that he would take care of it. I didn't hear anything more about it.

It's dark now, our first night begins. Good night.