"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #2 Enroute to the ship and the sail away September 25, 2016 Sunday Sunny & 80 degrees 47 Pictures

Our journey began even earlier than expected when we had a knock on the front door at 4:30am. Yes, it was our driver, who decided to get a quicker start, since he had another couple headed for the Oakland Airport. Lucky for them, we were ready to roll. Despite their complaining, they arrived right on time for their flight, and so did we by the time we reached SFO. Of course, it helped that today was a Sunday, and the traffic was light.

The domestic terminal at the SFO airport has had some significant remodel work done in the last year. We did not recognize the kiosks, where check-in was almost 90% guest activated. Even the luggage tags were printed for us to attach to each bag. The good news was that we both got TSA approved check-in. Even the security area was completely new, and surprisingly quick.

We had plenty of time for a nice breakfast with lots of hot coffee. Then it was time to board by 8:15am. The almost fully loaded plane left on time and landed in Seattle shortly before 11 am.

This time the HAL rep actually had a sign with our name on it at the baggage carousel. That was a nice feeling to be led to a waiting bus for the transfer to the pier. We found it curious that only a handful of us were on that bus. But we would soon realize why that was the case.

Lucky for all of us the day was close to perfect weather wise. Once the clouds cleared away, Mt. Rainier stood tall on the horizon, covered with snow and glaciers, according to our chatty bus driver. And it is still an active volcano, making it even more imposing and potentially dangerous.

At the pier, we did not have to lug our bags into the terminal. They were taken directly to the ship, where they would go through xray, then delivered to our room later. We had filled out the mandatory health form on the way over, so after passing through the terminal security, we were led to the check-in desk. This was where we found out that many of the passengers boarding today were only sailing for one night to Vancouver or three more days to San Diego. Tonight, there would be a total of about 550 guests onboard. By San Diego, the ship will be fuller with a total of 1200 passengers. So we guess tonight will be "hardy-party" time for many.

Once on the ship, it was like coming home. Gerald B., the Mariner director, greeted us, along with Henk, the hotel director, and his wonderful wife, Christel, the guest relations manager. We also met the new dining room manager. Gerald went in search of the cameraman, but had no luck. He promised he would catch us on the next cruise.

Even though it was only noon, our room was ready for us. Really ready this time. Head housekeeper, Shiv, had seen to it that our every request had been met. Even nicer, one of our room stewards, Alim, from the world cruise, was still here. He was knocking on our door minutes after we arrived, making sure we had everything. In addition, we had gifts…..lots of them. For President's Club amenities, we had been gifted a beautiful flower arrangement, two bottles of liquor, champagne, and additional shipboard credit from Captain Fred. Henk, Christel, and Captain Fred had sent a personalized card as well. Our travel agency added another bottle of sparkling wine, a 7 x 10 complimentary photo, a Pinnacle Grill lunch, dinner, and a Canaletto dinner for two. This was part of the perks for this particular voyage. Yep, this is going to be a nice cruise for sure.

Since the luggage had not shown up yet, we headed off to a gathering in the Piano Bar, hosted by our travel agency. How nice to see many familiar agents, especially our agent Debra. We spend hours on the phone every year, but seldom get to visit in person. The hour went by all too quickly. They all had to leave when the muster drill was announced for 3:15pm.

Drills are run differently compared to the past. Now we have to go to our room, and wait for the proper call to our muster stations. By now, the luggage had been dropped off, so that gave us something to do while we waited. It's so easy to unpack for this trip than a grand voyage. Finally, we have cut back enough that we had tons of space left over in the closets. We had run into our British buddies that we see on most every world voyage. They admitted that they brought one bag each, and intend to buy new things along the way. That's going to be a lot of fun, since they are staying onboard from now until next April.

The drill went by quickly, as Captain Fred expedited the process. He is a take-charge fellow. The only other ship in port, the NCL Pearl, left ahead of us, and we followed in their wake. The back pool deck cleared fast when we began to hit those stiff cool breezes.

We did not dare indulge with a cocktail before dinner, because we never would have made it. The upper dining room was practically empty at 8pm, as was our table for eight. Another couple from Alabama joined us by the names of Annie and John. The four of us had a very nice dinner with excellent service from waiters we already knew. The only thing we need to remember is to order our soup very, very hot. Even though they serve the broth separately, it was still lukewarm. Good, but not hot enough.

Dinner was over by 9:30pm, and we headed straight for the room. It had been a very long day, and we had run out of steam. Vancouver is such a wonderful walking city, we needed to rest up for the hike tomorrow.

Bill & Mary Ann

The ride from the airport