Our last morning in Sanur starts pretty much the same as our first morning a week ago – up early and out to walk the beach promenade which is even worse than last week if that is possible!  Even more jam packed and unbearable than before with hordes of people who don’t have a clue how to ride a bike…riding bikes!  Wobbling all over, on the wrong side of the path, videotaping on their stupid phones while almost running us over.  Ugh.  We don’t even bother walking very far, just to Luhtu for our last iced cappuccino (note to self – ask for it with sugar) and then back to the villa for our last outdoor shower and to wait for Marcos (Nyoman’s friend) to come pick us up and drive us to the pier.

Marcos arrives early – man after our own hearts – and we are off in a jiffy.  A very quick ride this morning – not even 20 minutes – and Marcos is depositing us at the entrance gate where we walk a few yards into the port and deposit our luggage with the porters.  Then it is through security, showing our Indonesian visas, scanning our bags and going upstairs to find our designated waiting section for 11a boarding.  As we find our seating area (noticing along the way that there are a lot of people sitting in the 2p and 3p areas – I mean, I know we were early, but only by about 15 minutes – what were the others thinking though – 5 hours early?  Oh, and the waiting area is essentially outside – under a shed roof kind of area.  Ugh.) we also notice that they are already letting the 11:30a group board.  Hmmm….it is only 10:45 at this point – that’s nice (for the super early people too)!  Sadly, for us though, that is where the “nice” part ends.  We get to our fast pass boarding person who checks our passports and tickets, then sends us over to another area because we are back-to-back and need Sri Lanka and Indian visas.  Not to worry – we’re prepared.

Unfortunately, Celebrity was not prepared.  Sri Lanka visa – check.  Indian visa – check, but with our old passports.  Knowing how India can be about these things, we have gone the extra mile to check with the consulate to ensure that our 10 year paid for visas are still valid, even though they are attached to our old, expired passports.  The consulate has confirmed the visas are still valid, we just need to have the old expired passports with us when we travel – check.  But this confuses the folks taking our information and we need to get the Documents Officer involved, who tells us we need to have visas on our new passports.  Nope.  We do not.  Haggling and consternation ensues as we show the D.O. the consulate confirmation which she barely glances at and does not take with her as she leaves to have a phone discussion.  We wait.  After a long while, she finally comes back and says it is ok and she will keep the old passports; of course, not a problem, that’s the idea – just make sure we get them back (confidence level at this point is not high)!

Finally checked in and allowed to board, the rest of the process is simple, if not a little unorganized.  No one tells you what to do, where to go, where your stateroom keys are located – we’ve just checked in with our paper boarding passes (because suddenly the Celebrity app which had our electronic boarding passes and scannable code has blocked the boarding pass – it is greyed out and won’t open).  Ah well – we’ll figure it out, heading straight to the cabin, which is ready (no one told us that either) and our keys are waiting at the door.   The cabin is wonderful – the ship was recently refurbished and everything has been updated and very modern.  Glass fronted storage cabinets, minimalist furniture, but ample storage and of course, the enormous full aft balcony.  Hopefully it won’t be too intolerably hot and humid to use the outdoor space.

Bags dumped, we head up to the Ocean View café for lunch – a ton of choices, lots of different stations positioned all over the dining area which is a little confusing – you just have to troll the whole venue to figure out where things are located.  Not crowded – at the moment – but it is still early. 

The afternoon is spent wandering around the ship, getting re-acquainted with Millennium since we’ve not been aboard her for almost 9 years.  Plus with all the changes, it is hard to remember what was what back then.  The bags come fairly quickly and we are unpacked in no time, and our first bag of laundry prepared.  Eventually we head to the gym, which isn’t busy because it is day 1 – we’re sure it will not stay that way – and then to the sunset bar (without our Mark!!! Boo Hoo!) which is – yes – crazy busy – then down to the calm of our cabin for sail away. 

Showered and refreshed, we hit the Rendezvous bar for before dinner drinks, listening to Christine, an excellent solo guitarist, then to the CF that is the Metropolitan dining room.  First night – we get it – the lines!  We’re in the reservation line, because we’ve made reservations for the entire cruise – but the rest of the ship….well….not so much!  And no one understands or can figure it out.  Poor Maja, the sweet hostess from Croatia, is having a time of it! She sees we are back-to-back, with reservations, and practically swoons!  Adorable.

Dinner is good – decent selections – wait staff attentive.  Seating is a bit congested, but there is enough separation between the 2-tops that it doesn’t necessarily invite conversation – although maybe it was just the people we sat next to, or our general leave us alone vibe.  LOL. 

After dinner we grab to-go drinks from the bar and head to the cabin for the evening – the show as a combo of 2 of the guest performers who will have solo shows which we will attend, so tonight will be a peaceful cabin evening for us.