We board the ship.

The first cruise day is usually a write-off.  Usually you can't get on the ship until after noon. Seabourn lets you on just at 12:00 noon but this cruse was with Silversea and they said don't show up until 2:00 PM.  

Considering that you normally have to check out of your hotel by 11:00 AM you really can't do too much the morning of the day you start the cruise.

Our ship was docked less than a kilometer away...an easy walk but because we had five suitcases (one each  for clothes, one each fairly large carry-on and one just for shoes alone as we need hiking shoes, rubber boots, runners, etc.) and it was pissing down rain it wasn't a good option.

On cruises like this a lot of passengers book their pre-cruise hotel rooms with Silversea. Being that we were coming six days in advance we did not do this.  We did book at the Sheraton , though, which was one of hotels Silversea uses for pre-cruise bookings.

Silversea had a bus taking the people, who had booked their rooms through Silversea,  from the hotel to the ship and we enquired what they would charge us to go with that bus.  $89.00 each - US dollars! $188 USD total or almost $250 CAD for a ten minute ride - fucking robbers!

We thought about taking a taxi which would have been max $20 CAD but we we're told that we would still have a ten minute walk from the security gate (as taxis could not go past the security gate) to the ship . So we decided to go on the Silversea bus. This turned out to be bullshit as it was only about a three minute, easy walk from the gate to the ship.

So we got to our cabin and were very pleased with it.  Apparently this ship was renovated recently when it was converted to an expedition ship and our cabin was once two separate cabins.  So it is quite large now with a very good sized living room and dining area.

Behind the wall beyond the table, just to the right as you enter the cabin, is a three piece bathroom.

We also get a  large flat screen TV. And even on a cruise you can't escape all the Trump nonsense.

The other half of the cabin contained a private bedroom

with a huge walkin-in closet

and another three piece bathroom. Having two full bathrooms was a very nice feature.

Before we can sail away we all have to attend a lifeboat drill.

Later we get introduced to the expedition team. These are the guides who will be with us on excursions to explain things.

The theatre is decent but does not contain enough seating when everyone shows up (which is rare).  There's a lot of white hair on this trip.

In order to leave the harbour a pilot ship needs show us the way.

And the video below shows the weather we're having as we depart.

Some additional shots as we leave St. John's.