To The White Cliffs Of Dover

  Dover, United Kingdom
Saturday, September 15, 2007

We woke up bright and early to get started on our big day -- the beginning of the cruise!  We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant which consisted of a full English breakfast:  scrambled eggs, sausages, shredded potato cake, bacon (half-cooked), beans, yogurt, fresh fruit, French pastries and juices.  I was just finishing my breakfast when the hostess convinced me to have a glass of champagne.  What a nice way to start the day!

We gathered our luggage and were met outside by our transportation to Dover - Glen and Bob of Woodford Chauffeurs.  We also picked up friends from our Cruise Critic roll call thread Diane & Roy, Teresa & Harold, and John & Nancy from the Luna & Simone Hotel, Barb & Bill from the Hilton London Olympia, and Art & Andrew from the Park Lane Sheraton.  Traffic getting out of the city was congested the first hour.  The day was warm, sunny and beautiful.  We arrived in Dover at about 2pm with a stop at a rest area at about the mid-point.  We rounded a bend in the road and saw our cruise ship just waiting for us.

First Sight Of Our Cruise Ship

Celebrity Constellation was built in 2002 and has a passenger capacity of 1,950.

Dock crew were standing by ready to whisk away all luggage.  We were ushered into the port terminal and efficiently processed for boarding.  Soon we had our gold card in hand (signifying Concierge Class) and were led to our stateroom with a glass of champagne.  We were met by Enrico, our cabin steward, who gave us a mini tour of our room.  We hung out in the room for a short while, read the ship's Daily and checked out the balcony.

Next on the agenda was to meet old, and new, friends at the Martini Bar.  

Pre-Sail Friends Get Together in Martini Bar

We met Cathy & Dennis on the 2005 Med cruise so we all had a couple rounds of champagne and became acquainted with their friends Rick & Laurie, and sisters Merle and Wendy.  Then it was time to meet our fellow CC posters at a Sailaway Party on Deck 10 Aft.  A few cruisers wore the nicely embroidered shirts CC poster Karen had made, Brenda provided name tags, and Terri made magnetic door signs with our cruise motto "Chasing The Setting Sun".  Thanks ladies!

We headed back to our cabin and found our luggage was waiting so we unpacked and changed for dinner.  Our table in the San Marco dining room was 556 near the head of the stairs starboard side and our dining companions were Jack & Norma from Walla Walla, WA.  The waiter's name was Wibawa and the Assistant Waiter was Efendi - both from Indonesia.  Right away Wibawa asked for, and memorized, our first names.  Thereafter he always addressed us by our names and soon remembered our likes and preferences.  For dinner, John ordered Caesar Salad, Prime Rib and a chocolate dessert.  I had Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad, Spaghetti Carbonara and Raspberry Cheesecake.  I thought the salad was drowning in dressing and the cheesecake not so great.  John declared his medium-rare prime rib to be a little too rare, but good.

We were dead tired so turned in for the evening after setting our watches an hour ahead to account for the time change in France the following morning.