Special Assistance

In my younger years I was a bit of a rebel. I liked breaking the rules. But these days I’m a bit more compliant. I read and follow the instructions. So in the past, when the instructions on my cruise boarding pass indicated that I should arrive for boarding between 2 and 4 PM, that’s the time I showed up. And then I had to wait in line for several hours to board the ship.

I didn’t want to do that this time. My knee was just not ready for several hours of standing. I had spoken to the customer service folks at Carnival weeks prior to cruising and they indicated that I should just tell one of the porters that I needed special assistance and they could direct me to the right place.

 Because I needed special assistance to board, we decided to go to the dock early rather than wait until 2. As expected, the porter had no idea where I needed to go. He only knew that it was someplace inside the terminal. So going early was a great idea. We avoided the line that usually snakes outside the terminal where you stand for an hour or more before going inside to stand for another hour or more. (Because you don't really think anyone can just stroll up to the front of that line and butt in front of people who have been waiting for an hour, do you?) But at 11 AM the line was inside.

I asked the first official looking person I came to where I needed to go to get special assistance. “Up that ramp past security” was the reply.  After clearing security, we went up the ramp and asked the next official looking person. She took us over to a short line of two or three people, then she snapped her fingers and a young man with a wheelchair appeared out of nowhere. I sat down and we waited behind the two or three people in front of us. When it was our turn, I was wheeled up to the counter and we completed all the necessary forms, had our photos taken for the card keys and we were off. He wheeled me right onto the main deck and told us that our stateroom would be ready around 1 or 2. When I said I didn’t need the chair on board, I thanked him and he took the chair and went off to help someone else.

It must have been 11:30 and we were on board. Granted, we couldn’t go to our stateroom, but we were on board. Hassle free. Hours before we would normally have turned up at the dock. Time to have lunch. Time to relax. Pull up a deck chair and let the holiday begin.

From now on, I’ll be turning up at the dock around 11 AM no matter what the instructions say - even when I no longer need special assistance.