Cruise Day 1 & 2

We have met up with the family and had the most amazing evening at Parker Rooftop in Vancouver.  We thought that we would start off the Festival of Shaz in style.  The whole party of 7 in a private balcony on a very sunny evening in Vancouver.   The food was spectacular the cocktails delicious, and the company so so good.  We had lots of laughs, stories and birthday wishes - because yes I have more birthdays than the Queen.

Only one more sleep til the cruise - we are all very excited and a bit nervous not knowing what to expect.  John and I have cruised once about 30 years ago on a much smaller ship.  Jenny and Neil are the seasoned cruisers, Jen is organised with staplers and luggage tags, lanyards and the like.  Aunty Fi has been on a few cruises, Mum and Sue are the Cruise Virgins.  We have an 11:30am boarding and prior to a day and a half on the ship, Sue John and I have a quick walk around False Bay, Downtown Vancouver.  Below are some snaps.

Then it is time to board the ship, this is going to be the hard part.  It involved a lot of walking which was difficult for mum, so we managed to get her a wheel chair which we had to wait about 20 minutes for.  At the time it seemed a pain but I think it saved us an hour of queuing elswhere as the whole party were fast tracked through the wheelchair queue.  We didn't need to look at signs, because our "wheelman" Ricky had it covered.  Mum was thrilled, big smile on her face.

Once on board, we start exploring.  It is a real party atmosphere - line dancing, people in the pool already.  It was a fabulously sunny day, the Vancouver Harbour looked spectacular.  Mum had a twinkle in her eye, she was engrossed with the line dancing and was taking it all in.  We departed at 4:30pm and were very quickly out of the harbour and on our way.  Our rooms are great, a lot more spacious than I imagined.

It has a bath, with shower in it.  Quite a spacious bathroom.  A Walk in Robe and oodles of storage.  A little lounge area and a balcony.  Excellent choice Johnny!  When booking the cruise you are offered this drinks package and that dining package, but all of it requires you to eat a shit load more and drink $100 a day.  So we have not taken any packages and poaying as we go - not sure if that is going to be a good decision or a bad one.  So far I think it is the right one.  Lunch is held in various places but for a group of 7, the Windjammer restaurant on deck 11 is the go.  It is a buffet style with all cuisines covered and soft serve ice cream which Mum LOVES!

Once over the embarkation and seeing our room and having lunch with the family - I am having a ball.  This is exactly what I wanted to do for my special birthday.

Dinner is booked for 7 pm in the restaurant which is the restaurant included in the naked package.  Mum and Aunty Fi arrive 45 mins late after a hurry up from Jen as they were so busy yacking they lost track of time.  We have Manualito as our waiter and we have lucked out.  This guy is so good!  John orders a peanut chocolate bar for his dessert and Manualito says "not a good choice" John enquires why?  Manualito says "because I want you to enjoy your meal". Enough said.... The food is excellent, great to break bread with the familya nd share stories and reminisce.

We wake up to a very rainy, misty and cold day - this is a sea day.  Jen and I did a Sushi making course, which was fun.  Most of the entertainment was the guy across from Jen, who had no clue.  If the chef said put the shrimp white side up, he put it white side down.  I got the giggle, which meant Jen got the giggles and she had to keep making escuse why we were laughing, she would suddenly blurt out "The Chef is so funny", this would make me laugh even more.  Needless to say our Sushi was perfect but you should have seen the train smash across the table!

Yep, we made that. It was bloody delicious.  It was rather a rough day and poor Suzie was not faring too well, so she had a quiet day in her room.  There is a lot of mooching around, breakfasts take 2 hours with lots of laughter, lunch is another 2 hours and dinners the same.  Jen and I went to the Spa and John joined me later.  So all massaged and relaxed, another lovely dinner, 80's music trivia, and ABBA night it is off to bed.

Tomorrow we will dock at Sitka at 2pm.  Hope the weather clears.