blog post

After all the walking we did yesterday I thought I would sleep well…it turns out that excitement is a great stimulant for keeping one awake!! I did manage to get some sleep and was awake at 5:24am – my normal wake up time. Did some shuffling with the contents of our bags, so I could put our sweatshirts and raincoats into our carry-on. The forecast was for showers and we knew we would not be able to get into our cabin until around 2pm. So we planned to have lunch and then explore the ship once we boarded.

We started off with an enjoyable breakfast buffet at the Courtyard and then ordered a Town Car for 11am to take us from the Courtyard to Pier 66. Our driver Sami gave us an interesting drive to Pier 66. It was only a 10-minute drive and he was determined we were not going to sit in traffic. So we were ducking and diving through the side streets to get to the pier and avoid the traffic. Including going the wrong way down one street that brought us right to the pier where the unload zone was!

The port workers came over and picked up our bags and we headed to the main check-in area. Got through security okay and then came across two stands – one selling Alaskan caps and one selling binoculars. When I saw the stand I realized that I had not packed our binoculars! So Brad went over and brought a pair for the cruise. On the way up the escalator to the check-in counter Brad asked me if I had remembered to bring our house key with us…umm…nope! We had no way to get into the house when we get back home as Brandon had dropped us off in Brad’s car and put it back in the garage at the house. Brad called Josh and asked him if he could meet us at Dulles airport after we land and give us the remote he has to get into our house to feed the birds. Whew!! Glad we remembered Josh had a remote!

Anyway check-in was a breeze and after we checked in we sat next to a couple from just south of Myrtle Beach in South Caroline. Turns out the husband’s great aunt is the woman who took off with her daughter and went and hid in Christchurch, New Zealand back in the 1980’s. They changed their identities and lived in New Zealand for some time before the husband found them. Apparently she has written a book about her experience and why she did what she did. It is interesting who you meet when you are travelling.

We boarded the ship and were greeted with flutes of champagne and orange juice. We then followed everyone else inside to the Carousel Bar where they had a mini “trade” show. There were tables set up with different services and classes you could sign up for on the ship. Things like Shore Excursions, wine tasting, Internet services, soda program, spa, etc. After we had a quick look we checked Brad’s carryon bag in at the bag station and went exploring the ship and to find lunch.

We walked from end of the ship to the other and back again through all the public areas we could find. We should have brought a pedometer with us. After all the walking we did yesterday and the walking on the ship we did today, it would be interesting to see how far we walked.

We found the Market Café on deck 12, which is where the buffet is and they were serving lunch. So we went in and had a bite to eat…lots to choose from including a cold banana soup. Yep we just had to try that one. It was like a banana smoothie but not as thick.  Yum!

We spent more time walking around and taking photos and just after 1:30pm we went back and got Brad’s carry-on bag and then went and found the Internet Café to find out packages, pricing, etc. We left the Internet Café and found ourselves in the hallway that led to our cabin. There were no housekeeping carts in the hallway so we headed down the hallway to our cabin. After Brad took some photos of the cabin he sat down picked up the remote and proceeded to find the football game that was on!!

I sat out on the balcony and watched the happenings on the pier while Brad watched football. Two out of three of our bags showed up so I worked at getting them unpacked and the empty bags stowed away. At 3:30pm they had the mandatory evacuation drill. So we grabbed our life jackets and headed to our muster station in the Stardust Theater two decks below. While there we met another agent, Tracey and her husband, Walter.

After the drill we took the life jackets back to our room and headed up to the Oasis Pool for the Cast-Off Party (BBQ) and grabbed some food and sat down and watched Seattle disappear. Up ahead of us was Holland America’s Volendam. She had pulled out of a dock further around the harbor from where we were. We also passed Sapphire Princess as she was backing out of her dock that was next to Holland America.

After we ate we walked around some more and met up with another agent Dara and her husband, Bob. Her parents were also on the same cruise so we got to meet and talk with them and hear some of their cruise stories.

We then had to head down to the Carousel Bar for the Norwegian Cruise Line University (NCLU) PhD@Sea welcome reception. It was good to finally meet some of the people we had been chatting with on the NCLU forums. We sat with Tony and Bret from Orlando and had a blast talking with them. After the reception we walked around the Promenade on Deck 7 the sky was absolutely amazing! It looked like the end scene from the movie Hunt for Red October where Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin are on top of the sub sailing into an inlet. The sky was dramatic and looked like a black and white print. Awesome!

We even saw a couple of dolphins swimming around. The peacefulness, stillness and beauty of the scenery and the water around was incredible!

We went back to the cabin exhausted after walking all over the ship. One thing we did discover while wandering around was 4 laps around Deck 7 promenade equals 1.4 miles.

Stay tuned for the next entry about our journey through the Inside Passage…