The Rosenblog: Day 7: Sailing for Adventure

Saturday, July 18, 2009
Today was the big the day, the day the cruise portion of the trip began. But the ship didn't board until the afternoon, so we had some time to kill. Apparently from their room, Sarah and Steve watched our ship sail in early in the morning. The perks of being on an upper floor with a good view... We all met for breakfast at some reasonable hour (though apparently Sophie had breakfast #1 sometime earlier). It took Steve a few tries to get it right - he had forgotten Sophie's cup so he went up to get it. When he returned without the cup, he remembered that was why he went back to the room in the first place (apparently on his first try he was distracted by cleaning up the room service dishes from Sophie's first breakfast or something...). Anyway, he came back eventually with the cup and breakfast proceeded as normal. I can't really remember what I had - probably scrambled eggs and bacon, like I always get. Too bad it wasn't the same bacon as on the BLT from dinner the previous night. Sarah was right - that was some FABULOUS bacon.

Sophie enjoys Breakfast #1

After breakfast, final packing and reorganization took place yet again before we all met yet again in the hotel lobby. I was most happy to be done using the elevators from Hell. Because of our massive amounts of luggage, it was obvious we wouldn't even all fit in 2 cabs. But because the cruise terminal was so close, we loaded up 2 cabs with the luggage and one person each. Dad and Steve were the designated cab people and Sarah, Sophie, David, and I walked. Before anyone asks, the terminal wasn't quite close enough to walk to with that much other stuff. Sophie, looking cute in her sail-away outfit, decided this would be a perfect time for a nap. Silly baby.

All packed and ready to go, with some of the luggage...

Sophie sleeps through the registration process

The check-in procedure was pretty simple and streamlined. We went through security, customs (US this time) since once we sailed out of Vancouver, we were done with the Canada portion of the trip, promised that none of us were sick, and got our room keys, etc. They made Sarah take Sophie out of her stroller for the trip through the metal detector. Normally this isn't an issue, but once again, don't wake a sleeping baby! Fortunately, she fell back asleep. This whole process was the first of a million comparisons between Princess Cruises and the Disney Cruise Line. Sarah and Steve have taken many, many, many Disney Cruises but had never, until this time, cruised on another line. Apparently, Disney has a nicer cruise terminal. We also saw more Amish people - not the same people from the train.

We found our stateroom, at the very end of a very long terminal. We had one of two family suites on the ship - basically 2 bedrooms with a living room and a large balcony. One of the bedrooms was separated with an actual door. Sarah's gang took that room. We let Phong, our cabin steward know that the beds needed to be rearranged (David and I were in the room with a king bed and Sarah and Steve had 2 twins), but everything looked good. Because we were the very first room, our balcony faced both the front and side of the ship, which would make for some good views (but no protection from the wind). We explored for a little while before all meeting up for lunch - pizza and burgers by the pool. After that, our bags had been delivered so we all unpacked our belongs.

Our suite on the Diamond Princess

Sarah and Steve enjoying the balcony

It doesn't take Sophie long to get into the cruise relaxation frame of mind

When we returned to the room, we saw that Champagne had been delivered - one of many perks for booking a suite. We had a toast on the balcony before it was time for the muster drill. I was expected the drill to take place out on deck somewhere, everybody all squished together with their life jackets on. But instead, we were directed to the theater and given our safety demonstration. We learned that if someone falls overboard, shout MAN OVERBOARD regardless of it is a man, woman, or child. I guess that means that if I shout "woman overboard" they won't take me seriously? Anyway, we then put on our life jackets and I took the obligatory life jacket group shot. Sophie's was more like a papoose-type contraption. She didn't put hers on. Bad Sophie.

Orange is such a becoming color...

Sail away was at about 5pm. We watched from our balcony. I taught Sarah and Steve about MOTO as we were sailing away. David has the habit of saying things that incredibly obvious and this was getting to me on the train portion of the trip. When he said things like this, I would say to him MOTO - Master of the Obvious. Now, as we were sailing away, I was explaining this to the others and I used the big green suspension bridge we were about to sail under as my example. David would say something like "That bridge is green." It got to be a bit of a running joke throughout the trip and just one more way to deal with things...

As the ship departs the dock..

Goodbye Vancouver!

MOTO - David's green bridge

After getting ready for dinner, we made our way down to the Vivaldi Dining Room for our 5:45 seating. Our table was right next to the window - yay for us! We met our waiters, Rui and Nelson, cousins from Portugal. After our introductions were made, Rui explained the menu to us in painful detail. He, for 7 nights, went through every single item on the menu. Usually, each item was described as "very, very good." I had a beef dish that was overcooked, a theme with the beef on this ship. I should have ordered it very rare to get it medium. Oh well. David had Fettuccine Alfredo. Remember this, it is very important. Dinner was very filling (I think your body knows to expand stomach capacity on a cruise - normally there is no way I could possible eat that many courses on a regular basis).

Sophie's favorite game - running inside and outside 9 billion times. It's even better with a flyaway shirt...

David decided to explore the ship that evening - his plan was to meet other people his age and stay out until all hours. Sadly for him, most of the cruisers on this trip fall into the "grandparent" category, so I don't think he'll have a lot of luck. Sleeping arrangements were a bit awkward for us - David and I were in the bedroom and Dad in the living room on a sleeper sofa. In reality, though, it's just one big room. Dad has a bit of a snoring issue and I am a light sleeper. Sigh. Before bed, though, Sarah and I filled our our free canape order for the next day (chocolate covered strawberries for us) - another suite perk!! We had an assortment of pretty treats today. We also ordered a bowl of fruit. That turned out to be a bad idea. More on that another day...