Check-in Time
9:30am PDT
I was impressed with how well the check-in process went. Even getting a few minutes late start, at 9:37?.
It’s a beautiful day in Seattle, smoke is much less than last night. I hope it remains that way for sail-away!
The baseball game that would not end last night made getting around about sunset and the hour afterward much easier than Terry & Rene anticipated.
From the door opening to sitting in our seats in the boarding lounge…so close we can almost touch the ship…take just over 25 minutes
Lunch – The Local
So, it turns out the warning on the doors is quite serious! Those are actually doors to nowhere…open them, take 1 step and you’re on an express elevator to the ground, three or four stories below!
The entire process of getting on the ship was very smooth, and I think the adaptations that were forced by the pandemic (for the most part) are good things to hold onto. The changes in muster drill/safety training are especially welcome.
We stopped for food and drink at the first place we came to — The Local. First up: the celebratory drink!
Here’s a shot of the Local from our seat:
I don’t seem to find the photos I took of the meals we had. I’m writing this offline, so I think I probably just haven’t located it among my phone and the SSD storage attached to my tablet.
Sail-Away
4:00pm PDT
We sat through sailaway in the Obervation Lounge, with Roxan’s friend Sam and Sam’s friend Roxanne, who are traveling with her/us this week.
A funny event during sailaway: just as we started feeling the thrusters operate, we heard a crash of several glasses breaking in the bar (maybe 20 steps away from us) Snarky me: “C’mon, they did not accelerate THAT hard!!”
Comedy Show
Maybe you’ve seen comedian Tyler Boeh on Dry Bar Comedy — he’s on the ship for an engagement that started last week. I hope to get him aside sometime this week and talk with him about the life of a comic, how it’s different on the ship than doing the normal comedy circuit, etc. I’ll post that if I get it!
Dinner – Cagneys
Cagney’s is a must do for me on every sailing. The decor of this one is swanky, much different form the decor on the Sun (almost nautical, as I remember) and on the Jewel (I remember a non-distinctive space that felt a bit crowded). It’s too cold to enjoy a meal on the Waterfront, and I’m not certain how enjoyable that would be at 20 knots, even in warm weather.
Anyway, since we’d been piecing on stuff all day neither of us felt like having the entire multi-course meal. I chose a ribeye steak as my entree, with baked potato and steamed broccoli.
Roxan chose the Jumbo Shrimp entree, which is served on a bed of mushrooms (variety), along with truffle mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.
We also had a delicious blueberry crisp dessert. The blueberries were just the right tartness to match well with the crumble crust and dip of vanilla ice cream.
Our service team was supremely attentive — I drink a lot of water and tea at meals, and there was never a time where I had an empty glass. They had just the right amount of entering the conversation to provide the service, without being intrusive. They were led by our waiter, Maye Yasay, who I wanted to be certain to recognize for keeping things moving and for a great, friendly interaction.
All in all, our first day of the trip was top-level!
and then