Friday, 26 July

I sent Walter an e-mail with a copy of our Atlantic Sky ticket, as well as a recap of what I understood him to have said when we spoke.  Walter replied almost immediately that a 12:00 pm arrival was correct, because there would be no loading activity going on at that time.  It was good to know he was checking his e-mail and was taking us seriously.

I also called ACL to ask a few questions about things related to our arrival in Hamburg.  I figured since Norton Lilly was just a local agent for Baltimore, no one there would have any knowledge about Hamburg, but that ACL might.

I spoke with a guy named Kristopher who really made my day.  He was smart and patient, and he made a real effort to explain things to me and answer what he could.  The things I took away from that conversation were the following:

• There might not be any Internet connectivity on the ship, but we could debark at the various ports (e.g., Liverpool) and contact our hotel in Hamburg to modify reservations as necessary.
• If the ship were to arrive in Hamburg at, say, 1:00 am, we would not be obliged to disembark at that point.  We would be able to sleep through the night and disembark the following morning.
• From a customs/passport control point of view, we would be treated like crew.  We would probably fill out forms and give them to the Master, and then the customs people would come on board to review things.  
• The crew would help us with our luggage.

Kristopher also confirmed that the Atlantic Sky would be pier side on Monday, 29 July, even though the interactive online website was not reflecting that.