"Brother.... I think that"s the estate over there." Pointed his 15 year old sister, Emilia.
George looked at the name carved on top of the estates gates, and nodded in agreement.
.
[The Bay-Caronian s.h.i.+p Station]
Those were the words carved on it.
The entire place looked like a regular stone estate of some n.o.bleman.
But what was weird about it, was that it had very little buildings within it, compared to those if actual n.o.ble estates.
There were 2 ma.s.sive 3-storey buildings and 1 security building within it.
And at the front of the largest building, was a ma.s.sive line which seemed to be going at a very fast pace.
It seemed like there were many front desk boarding workers to handle these matters.
Nonetheless, It was only 10 A.M in the morning.... so even if the line moved at a snail"s pace, they were still somewhat sure that they would be attended to before the end of the day.
.
There were numerous lines in total, and at the sides of each line.... were signs that showed people were to stand.
For example, there were more than 5 signs (5 lines) that said words like:
[Economy Cla.s.s
One-Way trip (Carona to Baymard): 175 Copper Coins
Two-Way Trip (To Baymard and back): 380 Copper Coins
Total Trip Time: 2 and a half days]
With these words, everyone knew what they could afford, and lined up behind those.
.
George and Emilia lined up behind one of the Economy lines... and 1 hour later, they were both standing in front of a front desk worker.
"How may I help you today esteemed guests?" Asked the charming lady, who was dazzling them with her smile.
She wore a light bluish s.h.i.+rt, black blazer, black pants, and looked very professional too.
George smiled awkwardly, as he had never witnessed such polite customer service before.
Most people in Carona were polite, but not as professional as these front desk workers.
These ones made him and his sister blush helplessly.
.
"W...we would like to go to Baymard please..." George said shyly.
"Alright.... but do you have any specific day and time you would like to book?"
"We want to go anytime today if possible", he replied.
"Sure... let me check that for you alright?" The front desk woman said, while looking through the room plans before her.
.
In essence, since they didn"t have computers yet.... each front desk worker was given a certain boarding portion of the s.h.i.+p to handle.
For example, economy cla.s.s took up 3 s.h.i.+p floors.
So this front desk lady only handled the left hand side of one of the floors.
In this way, they wouldn"t be confused or rebook another room within another section for guests.
It would be very awkward, if 2 separate guests got booked for the same room during 1 trip.
Hence once booking was done, they were to highlight the room on their residence plan green.... and immediately write down the name of the person who just got the room.
.
Also, front desk workers were given 8 sheets of the same residential plan..... which signified all trips within the entire week.
So if all rooms within their sector gets booked for today"s trips..... then they could quickly find out from the other desk workers if they had any more available rooms as well.
And if not, then they could just book the guests for the next day or any other day within the week.
.
"Alright!
For today (Monday), we have only 2 time frames for departure: 10 A.M and 3 P.M.
You"ve already missed the first one, so you"re only left with the last time frame now.
On my booking sheets so far, I only have 1 more double bedded room available.
So if you all don"t mind sharing a room, then this will be great for you.
But if you mind, then I can quickly ask another front desk staff if he/she has an extra room on her room plan for today.
And if you they don"t have any extra rooms available, then I can also book you for any of our next available trips at:
• Thursdays; 9 A.M, 2 P.M and 6 P.M.
• Sat.u.r.days; 9 A.M, 2 P.M and 6 P.M
So... which option have you both decided on?"
"We"ll share the room!" They said at once.
After all, that was their original plan.... as they didn"t have enough money at hand anyway..
After settling all that, they paid for their room immediately and even got a written receipt back as well.
"Alright..... please can you spell out your names for me?"
"_"
.
The boarding process wasn"t that long, as the lady quickly wrote down their names, room numbers and other important information on an already blank ticket.
It was similar to a blank cheque... only that this one was a ticket, and was much more thicker in size compared to a cheque.
.
The ticket was light blue and had sketches of a s.h.i.+p and waves on its right side.
And to its left, there were words and empty s.p.a.ces that needed filling.
[s.h.i.+p Name:__________
Pa.s.senger Name:____
Boarding Time:_______
Date:____
Time:____
From:____
To:_______
Room:____ ]
And after filling in the blank s.p.a.ces, the lady quickly placed 2 stamps on their tickets, and handed it back to them.
.
"Do you all have any other baggage?
If so, then you have to check it in now instead."
"No miss.... this is all we"ve got." George replied.
"Good
"Your s.h.i.+p will be arriving in a few hours time, so in the meantime.... you all can go to the gate area, and when it"s time to board, your s.h.i.+p name will be called out instead".
.
Listening to the lady, they followed the signs above each room.... and soon stepped into a ma.s.sive waiting hall which had numerous benches and seats within it.
They waited for their s.h.i.+p to arrive, and even took turns in taking little naps, so as to pa.s.s the time quickly.
And just like that, it was already 2:05 P.M.
Boarding time.
.
"Now boarding for the s.h.i.+p: "Oasis of the ocean".
Customers should come up to gate 4 according to our instructions:
First cla.s.s guests!!
Those above 60!
Those with severe injuries!
Business cla.s.s guests!
Economy guests!!
..... "
.
On queue, the duo soon rose up when Economy cla.s.s was called.
And when they saw the ma.s.sive s.h.i.+p before them, they became utterly speechless.
"This.... this..... is this real?"