Alaskan Cruise - Seattle Part I

We had no mishaps;

No accidents;

No calamities;

No flat tires,

No fender benders;

We didn’t end up upside down like one car we saw.

Our parking lot was legit and shuttled us to the ship on time.

No one got sick except for minor glitches

(Unless you count bleeding hemorrhoids).

Everyone was congenial and pleasant.

No one got kidnapped or missed the boat after excursions in town.

So we have no story.

Only beautiful scenery; good food; superb company;

Our beds made up morning and night;

Entertainment, enjoyment, and fun.

   We planned to leave Thursday morning at 5. Carol & Verla arrived at 4:30 sharp. They packed all our stuff out. Nice to travel with young healthy folk. We're all useless.  We were on the road by 5:15 AM.  We did good on time, even stopping every two hours for Mr. Brachytherapy Prostrate Cancer Bearer. Oh, yes, we went to the wrong Howard Johnson. Two hours later, we were settled in our room. They advertised a pool --which doesn't open until May 31.

   Guess what I forgot? Ed's electric toothbrush. I didn't actually forget it; I thought I packed it. I found it when we got home hiding under the towel. Rude.  

  These are the three who spent $23.10 each to go up the Space Needle. They told us at the motel that it was $12/each so we all stood in long lines. When we got close enough to see the prices, DeRay and I backed out. We went to the top in 1964 at the Seattle World's Fair. Been there, done it.   

   Then we rode the monorail for $2 each way. Even at half-price for seniors and medical card holders, that $1 a minute. 

 Traffic on Friday was monstrous. Their freeways are even crazier than ours.  Of course, they have several million more people in Seattle alone than we have in the whole state of Utah.

 Saturday morning. We are excited to see our cruise ship. Norwegian Jewel. It's huge. 

 We are so touristy. 

It was a great hassle to get on the ship. I'm not sure if it was too many clothes or too much Coke but Carol and Verla went loaded down. DeRay was carrying one of Verla's sacks and left it some place. He was sure Verla had picked it up but she hadn't so I retracted our steps and a nice security guy knew exactly what I was talking about and found it for me. So far so good.  We were able to take our suitcases right to our rooms. Thank heavens. Then we went up to the Garden Room (the Lido on all the other cruises we have been on) for lunch. Of course, there was no place to sit or breathe or move. . .

The ship was 1 hour and 10 minutes late leaving and they were loading luggage right until we sailed. 

Goodbye Seattle.  

Our first dining experience. We never went back to the Azura again. It was noisy and dark. They had Freestyle Dining, with no fixed dining times or pre-assigned seating. We preferred the more upscale atmosphere of Tsar's Palace with panoramic views of the ocean. Women were supposed to wear dresses or skirts but no one did.  We somehow missed formal night so we dressed up on DeRay's birthday on Friday. Pictures later.

   This is just a ship scene. This little boy didn't want his picture taken after everyone got dressed up. The "professional" photographers on board were very annoying and thought they had dibs on picture taking. Digital cameras make everyone photographers folks.

   The towel animals on our beds each night are always a delight.
    DeRay was already topside when Ed said on Sunday morning, "I think my eye came out." Panic. They had put Ed's bed in between our beds so we had wall-to-wall beds. I threw all the covers back. I picked up Ed's bed and searched under it. He couldn't go a whole week without it; we would never get another one in. I was getting desperate. I picked the bed up one more time and that little thing was upside down under the wheel of the bed. How did it get there? God's in his heaven; all's right with the world.

Too be continued:  After a day at sea, Ketchikan next!