Background:  We are boarding our ship, “Constellation” today. It is the newest ship in the American Cruise Line fleet, launched earlier this year. It is my understanding that our trip is the fourth trip since it was launched so it should have that “new car smell” to it. Hopefully the “bugs” will have been worked out on the last trip! The ship only holds 175 passengers so it will be the smallest ocean-going ship we have traveled on. Yvonne says it will seem more like the river boats we have sailed on in Europe. None of us have traveled with American Cruise Lines before. They focus on cruises on the east coast, Mississippi river, Puget Sound and the Columbia River out our way.  Interestingly one of their ships stops in our town (Poulsbo) during its summer cruise around Puget Sound.

Real time:  We were able to sleep in this morning as we plan to check out of the hotel at 10AM and head directly to our home for the next ten days, the “American Constellation”, the brand new ship of American Cruise Lines. We will be boarding any time after 10:30 which is early for cruise ships. The reason is we plan to leave Boston at 1:30 PM.

This will be a totally new adventure for all of us as neither of us have sailed with this company and we do not know what to expect in terms of accommodations, service, and quality of food and tours. Stan selected it because of its itinerary, exploring the coastline of Maine, something none of us have done.

Our boarding pier was at a small local marina rather than the normal big cruise terminal. Once on-board we quickly learned that the staff was quite young and for many this was their first experience working on a cruise ship. Even the cruise director looked like he was 25 years old. What they lacked in experience they made up with enthusiasm to make sure our every need was met. I certainly hope this attitude continues throughout the trip. We did learn that we only have 110 passengers on this particular trip, a fairly light load.

Our rooms were not quite ready and they invited us to go to the lounge where there were snacks, soft drinks and even Sangria. We decided to wander around the ship to explore our new surroundings. Everything was new and shiny, as you would expect. A very pleasant surprise was an upper deck lounge that had lovely “Florida” type furniture and color schemes. On the same deck was an outside patio with more of the rattan furniture with bright colored cushions. We all felt it was dramatic. The top sun deck sported some lounge chairs and a small putting green. There is a small but well equipped exercise room and a free laundry area. There are several small lounges available for games and/or reading and a “tiny” library with a few books. There are also two computers available for use in one of the lounges. There is NO gift shop! When it comes to amenities this ship resembles a river cruise ship more than an ocean liner.

Our rooms are quite large by cruise ship standards with a nice balcony with chairs and a table. There is wireless on-board BUT I soon found it difficult to log in and the staff did say they are still modifying it to give proper coverage and service. Oh oh! Blog entries may become sporadic. In fact I am composing this entry off-line hoping I can publish it when we get to our first port of call-Bar Harbor.

There was a brief safety drill, shown on the TVs in our room so we did not have to muster as we do on bigger ships. Before we knew it it was time for lunch which is served every day at 12:30. Breakfast is at 7:30-9:00, cocktail hour at 5:30, and dinner at 6:30. At 10AM the crew wanders around the ship with fresh cookies and there is tea time at 3:30 if you get hungry before dinner. Lunch today offered two appetizers, three choices of entrée and two desserts. All were deemed very good. An interesting approach to lunch and dinner is we will be given a menu for both at breakfast and asked to make choices so the chef can prepare the proper number of dishes. Another interesting touch is that they offer 1/2 portions for dinner if you wish. This makes a lot of sense to us as it saves food from being wasted.

We attended a briefing at 3:30 where we met the heads of the various departments and the tour director explained the tours that are being offered this trip. Surprisingly, even though this is an expensive trip there is an additional charge for tours. Some high-end cruise lines include tours at no additional cost.

By the time we unpacked and grabbed a quick nap it was time for cocktails. After leaving Boston we ran into some 6 foot seas and fog and some people reacted to the conditions, including Cindy who chose to skip both the cocktails and later dinner.

Dinner was excellent. I chose the seafood platter which include a 1 pound+ lobster, shrimp, boiled potatoes and corn. After two days of Lobster in Boston, Yvonne chose a tenderloin medallion with a lobster cake side. Cheesecake and red velvet cake were offered for dessert. Ample selections of wine and beer were offered with the meal. Both lunch and dinner were an excellent food start to the trip!

There was a special presentation made by the activities director featuring a film on Maine. She also told us about several book selections that we might consider reading about the area, promising to give us copies of her suggestions. The video does promise that Maine will indeed be spectacular when it comes to scenery. There was another cute twist to the entertainment. The staff offered root beer floats, ice cream sundaes and popcorn to keep us occupied while we watched the film.

Thick fog, fog horns and a night time lightening and thunder storm ended our first day of this new adventure. Hopefully you will read this blog tomorrow when we land at Bar Harbor, Maine where we will be visiting Acadia National Park.