Embarkation

Embarkation Day—July 4, 2016

Awake at 6:00 a.m., thanks to our puppy alarm, we were excited for this day to finally arrive. Heading North to Alaska for a 14 day cruise with Holland America Lines. This is our third cruise to Alaska but twice as long as previously, so we are looking forward to visiting ports that we have never experienced. 

We finished packing and getting things finished at home and left to pick up our son, Travis, who was our driver to the ship terminal and our puppy-sitter for the day and evening. We got to the terminal at around 11:30 am. Check-in and boarding went very smoothly. The crew for embarkation is very well organized, friendly, and helpful. We were on board and in our cabin before noon. Excellent progress!

First order of business was to visit the concierge, Yasmin, in the Neptune Lounge to arrange cooking classes for Sharon and to reserve some dinner times. We do ‘any time’, open-seating dining because of the flexibility, but we like to reserve a time so we have no waiting for a table at the main dining room. Grabbed a few little snacks in the lounge then headed back to our cabin to do some unpacking. 

Our cabin stewards, Bayu and Joko, introduced themselves. They will spoil us, we know. We always want to take them home with us. 

1-ish we headed to the main dining room where we had a nice lunch with two couples—one from Oregon and the other from North Dakota. It’s always fun to meet all the new people and hear of some of their travel experiences. 

After lunch we did some exploring of the ship. Since it was the Fourth of July, I had hoped there would be decorations and they didn't disappoint. This is our first time on the Maasdam. We find that it is very well appointed, in good repair. It is a smaller ship than we have been on with Holland America Line, but we think we will enjoy that. 

Muster drill was at 3:30. We used to hate this, but these days it is much nicer with not having to wear life vests and it takes much less time. When it’s over, it’s time to sail away!! 

Seattle sail away is a beautiful sight. Today it was cloudy but not raining. The city always looks pretty, even on cloudy days. Off we go to our new Alaskan adventures. We found a nice, peaceful spot on the aft deck, just below the more crowded Lido. It ended up being a very nice spot to watch the city disappear. We had a nice conversation with another couple and then some time just by ourselves in the quiet. 

Time for dinner. 7:00 pm. It seems that 90% of the ship’s passengers decided to eat at the same time. Not sure how well our reservation was going to work, we gave our names and cabin number and were told to stand nearby and wait. We were very happy when in just a very few minutes we were taken to a table, leaving behind several waiting, hangry people in our wake. Brian now calls me his ‘secret weapon’ because I had remembered and knew to make a reservation even though we are open-seating dining. Score!

Dinner took a little longer than usual because the dining room was packed and very busy. After a delicious meal, we headed to the theater to see that evening’s movie, “Call to Duty” about a Coast Guard rescue mission in Cape Cod. Hmmm. Watching a movie about a  shipwreck the first night of our cruise. Okay then! It was a very good movie but, wow, it was a real struggle for both of us to stay awake. But, we made it through. The theater was bigger than we expected. Served little bags of popcorn. Very nice. 

Bedtime. Exhausted from a long but nice first day of our cruise. Tomorrow, sea day, which we always love.