Cruise Report - Day 1

Day 1

We started the day surprisingly well rested.  I had slept like a log!  We ate breakfast in the Holiday Inn dining room then returned to our room to finish our last minute packing.  By 10:45 or so we headed down bags in tow to find out if our taxi was there.  One was indeed waiting and whisked us to the port by a bit after 11.  After turning all but my backpack over to the porters, we went in and quickly got through the embarkation process (the only glitch was we weren’t told BOTH of us had to fill out health forms—I filled one out for both of us (there were multiple name lines but apparently all but the original name were for minor children) and we had to redo with two forms.  We were on board exploring shortly and soon made our way to the Windjammer.   

Windjammer Buffet

I sampled some fruit and had a roll with carved roast beef and tried several desserts.  DH had a hamburger and fries and then vanilla ice cream.  We continued our exploration, primarily of the upper decks.  At 12:30 we went back to guest services (we’d been there earlier and were told they weren’t open yet) and placed money on our Seapasses.  After exploring further (about 2 p.m.) we returned to deck 12 to the Crown & Anchor lounge to see if any other Cruise Critic members were there.   

View of the Crown & Anchor Lounge

 Most were not, but we met Carrie (kyrn) and her husband as well as Dave & Karen.  We chatted for a while before returning to our room.  At some point we met our Steward, Rolando.  We asked him for an extra blanket and some ice and they were both in our room after we’d been gone again for a short time (lol maybe the extra tip helped but then again he may well have been just as eager to please).  We went to the muster drill at 3:45 and were stationed right by the gangplank.   

Lined up for muster drill

People in center not on board yet

A huge senior citizen group came on while we stood “in formation.”  Obviously for some reason they were allowed on well after the cutoff time (lol maybe they used choice air).  










 I did wonder if they might be the group sponsored by a CC member (who posted a while back on the roll call) leading a large group.

After the muster drill we returned to our room and one of our bags was there (we had five checked… DH keeps saying I took everything but the kitchen sink…my philosophy was as long as it didn’t make us check an extra bag (we planned 2) I’d take what I wanted).  Our steward soon brought another… then another and apparently went looking for the last two.  They all arrived shortly but we discovered one had been damaged (the top handle was broken on one half…we had yet to figure out if they would do anything about it but we took pictures just in case).  All our belongings were fine and we got everything put away in the closet and drawers, etc. out of sight and suitcases all fit under the bed.  I will have to try to remember to take pictures tomorrow.  Our unpacking was sporatic because we kept wanting to go look out the balcony once we set sail.  It was fun to stand and watch all the people on the dock waving us off and then to see them grow smaller and smaller.   

Still very close to the dock

Underway. :)

Bon Voyage! :D

Soon we went under a bridge leaving the Vancouver harbor.  It was amazing to watch how close we seemed to be to the underside of the bridge even from down on deck 9.   

You can barely make out the bridge on the right

Getting bigger

Closer....

Still closer....

Almost....

Nearly there....

It is getting close!

Only a little more....

Will we fit?

Underneath!

We made it! :)

The stage of the Aurora Theater

After that we just alternately watched and unpacked until it was time to get ready for the evening.  About 7:15 we went down to deck 6 and went into the Aurora Theater (balcony) to check out the show.  It wasn’t busy at all so we walked around a bit before going down to deck 5 and getting seats in the back row.  Because we had dinner at 8:30 we had to leave early.  The Royal Caribbean singers, dancers, and orchestra were enjoyable.  The comedian (Oren) was funny for the bit we heard.  Now we definitely know not to sit in one of the first rows—you can get picked on.  Before the comedian came on the cruise director spoke to us and acknowledged all the people on board celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.  The longest married couple had reached 64 years!  He asked for advice for the 10 honeymooning couples on board and the husband said “always let her get the last word in” and something to the effect of “always let your last two words be ‘yes dear.’”

After leaving the theater we went to deck 4 and were escorted to our table in the Cascade dining room.  We were sitting with six other people—a couple from the UK and 4 people (possibly an adult child and spouse with one set of parents) from Los Angeles.  Dinner was good.  I had the kiwi, pineapple, and strawberry starter and the pork medallions.   

A yummy starter....

The mushroom sauce is on the side but I did like it.

DH had a Caesar salad with thousand island instead of Caesar and prime rib.  For dessert I tried two… the strawberry pavlova (delicious!) and a sponge cake with grand mariner sauce called Savarin (it was okay…I'm  not sure what I thought of grand mariner though).   

Strawberry Pavlova

Savarin

We left dinner about 10:30.  After we changed into warmer clothes we went down to deck 5 and walked entirely around.  I’d thought we’d been around the whole deck earlier but apparently we hadn’t been aft.  When we went back around to the bow (actually up to dec 6) DH spotted a lighthouse from the helicopter pad.  So far we are very much enjoying cruising but I can easily see how people need a vacation after they come home.  

Next up... day 2. :)