Sara Hammerzmith

The next morning we made it to port and got checked in, had our picture taken – you know the full drill. Waited patiently in the waiting hall to be allowed boarding and then went on the boat. I quickly located my cabin which held the perfect spot – just one or two rooms down from the hallway with the elevators. Perfection! I was in one of those lovely shared cabins together with three other lovely ladies, one actually just came to collect a pillow to stay in her friends cabin, but the other two were lovely. 

After this, I headed off to the buffet called Windjammer and they legit had anything you could ever ask for. I was even reluctant at first, is all this TRULY for free? The only cruise I had really been on prior to this was Sabaton Cruise, and NOTHING comes for free at that one, on the contrary, please sell us your kidneys and first borns and then maybe you’ll get some food. Maybe. And when you do, it’ll give you stomach issues (my first Sabaton cruise…)

In a little bit we were asked to partake in a security drill and once it was over I head up to the top deck to watch the views. And it was.. Surreal. You know that feeling you have when something feels so extremely out of reach but yet, somehow, out of nowhere, you are simply THERE? All of a sudden you are just standing there on deck 12 looking over the ocean as the ship sets sail from Port Everglades, the sun warming your face and you are just being overtaken by gratitude and instant happiness. How did I even end up here? Sure, I know how – enter a waitlist, book a room, get on a flight, but how on the Earth did the universe grant me this?

Before I get way too ahead of myself in the mysteries of the Universe, let’s just continue onwards shall we?

After this I headed down to the Alhambra theatre and got myself a comfortable seat a bit up – to tell you the truth – something I do a lot is traveling and making decisions without an actual budget. So in all honesty – I was rather burnt out when getting on this boat so it was nice getting to spend the first show just sunk down in a comfortable theatre chair, and for the first time ever, get to witness Leaves’ Eyes live! It was an extremely enjoyable show and I’m so happy I finally got to see them.

After the show I went off to explore the ship a bit. It’s a huge ship, and it felt even more huge than it probably is. Walking down the Royal Promenade, I sometimes purely forgot we were on a cruise. It felt like I was walking in that high end shopping mall we visited in Milano all the way back in 2013. Strange how resemblances just catch on like that, huh? 

Rest of the evening was in fact spent exploring a bit more. Independence of the Seas is, as most cruise ships, massive as hell. I’ve already mentioned the Royal Promenade to you, but there’s also a deck dedicated to more active activities like wall climbing, and my own personal weakness – an arcade hall. And an entire casino. So much to do, so little time. Eventually we went to bed and got up again at 3 am to watch another band…

…And that was the second punch in the gut. I was absolutely not prepared for this being a 24/7 (sort of) cruise. Upon reviewing the time schedule I looked at in disbelief, took a deep breathe and pretty much accepted that I might die now. But if I do, at least I’ll die happy right? 

Relatively early I went off to bed and then up again to catch Amberian Dawn at the dashing hour of 3.00. But I wasn’t really having it, I went there in my pyjamas and took one of those comfortable seats, only to discover that the schedule was running late. And I was already practically sleepwalking, and I found myself going between sleeping and being awake all the way until they started.

But I wasn’t really awake then either, haha! I know I heard ”Cherish My Memory” which is at the time my favorite song by them, but I also remember sleeping every other song, or such. So, make that a first – sleeping partially through a show.

After that, I headed back to bed for a few hours of sleep. Next show I had planned wasn’t until 13 the next day, Alestorm, but obviously one goes up a little earlier for breakfast and more exploring. 

// Sara

This entry was posted on January 9, 2021 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.