Last night we headed to the airport for our nonstop overnight flight to London with proof of vaccination, negative covid tests, and passports in hand. We zipped through check-in and security (thank you United Global Services and TSA pre-check) and headed straight to the United Polaris lounge where we enjoyed something between a really late lunch and an early-bird dinner in the hopes of grabbing as much shut-eye as possible on the six and a half hour flight to London.

Bleary eyed but enthused, we touched down in London at 5:45 AM local time which was the mind-numbing hour of 12:45 AM at home. Although I kept my eyes closed for five hours of the flight, I did not sleep but looked rumpled and disheveled as if I’d had a great snooze. Dan did not sleep either but, as usual after a long flight, looked like he had just gotten dressed.

Once through immigration and customs, we went in search of the Celebrity cruise rep whose job it was to show us and our fellow cruisers where to board the first bus (at 8:30) for our transfer to Southampton where our ship, Celebrity Silhouette, with its crew of 1,187, was waiting for us.

The upside of arriving on the first bus was the checkin center at the dock was empty, so the process went quickly and smoothly, and we were among the first people onboard. We were seated near the lunch buffet by 11:30 waiting for our cruise peeps, Hettie and Ronnie, to arrive.

Our afternoon was spent connecting to Wi-Fi, doing mandatory safety drills, unpacking, and cleaning up for cocktails at 5:00 and dinner at 6:00. As expected, our evening meal was delicious. I decided to go out on a limb at dinner and order pork belly, a first for me, as an appetizer. The little nibbles of pork attached to the mountain of fat were delicious, as were the roasted beats and vegetable puree, but the fat went back to the kitchen and my curiosity was satisfied.

Hettie and Ronnie (who nodded off a couple of times waiting for dessert) decided to head back to the room after dinner, but Dan and I gutted it out and went to the evening’s entertainment. Celli, a pair of Polish cello players, very successfully mixed humor and upbeat cello music to the delight of the didn’t-know-what-to-expect audience.

The amateur gambler in the family ended his day-one with an hour in the casino and I headed back to the room to prepare for some much needed sleep.

Weather: 67 and sunny