A local port agent arranged our transfer from the hotel, through immigration and delivered us port side to the ship.
The transfer is where the fun began. A driver picked us up at the hotel at 10 AM in his personal minivan. He didn't speak any English, the car was a bit disheveled on the inside, and the guy drove typically Chinese style: near collisions were frequent. Lisa white knuckled it for sure and Frank even yelled once: 'watch out'.
But, the guy knew what he was doing. As we approached the port, the streets were clogged with semis, scooters, and cars in our direction of travel. No problem, our driver just drove in the wrong lane, weaving in and out of oncoming traffic, for about a mile until we reached the immigration center.
At the immigration center, we were handed off to another crew who got us quickly through passport control and loaded us into their winter beater of a car. Seriously, it was barely road worthy by Midwest snow standards. But, they drove us quickly to the ship, not even stopping for guards at various checkpoints, and then handed us over to the crew--at the port right next to the ship as it sat against the dock. No cushy cruise line waiting rooms--we're on the dock next to the ship with our gear, ready to climb the ladder up and in. Yes, that's right, a ladder!
No problem though--the crew carried most of the gear, and 90 minutes after we left our hotel, we found ourselves safe and sound in a clean, comfortable, and roomy cabin aboard the ship. We have a view of the sea and the loading and unloading of the nearly 7000 containers this ship can hold--including a small load of fireworks destined for 4th of July celebrations. We are the only passengers.
After lunch, the Captain gave us a tour of the entire ship including the engine room and the bridge. Most of the officers are German, English is well spoken, and coffee is served to all in the afternoon.
Great start to this long journey. We'll be able to report just a few more times before arriving in California as the ship has no Internet or phone access while at sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment