July 17, 2010 - Embarkation

After a slightly sloppy morning, we are on board the Zuiderdam and loving every minute of it!

Mom volunteered to go down to the hotel lobby at 7:00am in order to sign up for the shuttles to the pier. To make a long story short, she went down around 8:15am and the shuttles were already booked well into the afternoon. After a bit of unneeded ado, our small army took several cabs and we were at the pier by 11:30am. There were a few long, but moving lines, and we stepped aboard around 12:30.

We split into 2 groups for lunch. Mom, Tom, Alex & I headed to the dining room to square away a few things, while the others headed to the Lido with the kids. It sounds like Mom and Tom won't have a difficult time with their gluten-free needs. If their lunch was any indication (salmon), they'll be eating as well as the rest of us!

Around 1:45pm they announced that rooms were ready and off we all went to unpack. The muster drill took place at 4:15pm, and it was a pleasant surprise to find they no longer require all passengers to wear their life jackets to the drill. It made for a nicer experience, compared to previous cruises Alex and I have taken.

Sail away was at 5:00pm sharp. We trailed the Diamond Princess from Canada Place piers. Within about 20 minutes, we were sailing under Lion's Gate bridge and well on our way.

We have early seating for dinner. Unfortunately we've been split between two tables, because the largest they have can only accommodate eleven. Maybe we should send Tom down to eat with the crew? Our two tables are adjacent to each other and perhaps in the future we'll swap seats around to mix things up a bit.

We watched mom totter off to Bingo and a show. Once out of sight, her children and respective spouses promptly beelined for the nearest bar. The nieces had a kiddie cocktail and were deposited at the kid's club. The troops then promptly beelined to the next nearest bar (I sense a wonderful trend). Kevin had a sprite, no worries - we haven't corrupted him yet.

All three young girls enjoyed the kid's club. Kevin is excited to try it out this week also (they have Wii and XBox!).

The kids were reclaimed and we headed to our wrap-around balcony to await the opening of the late-night snack. We fired up the GPS and noticed we'd just crossed into Alaskan waters. The champagne was opened (leaving a dent in the ceiling), and much celebrating ensued to the kids' cheers of "CHINA, CHINA, CHINA". WTF?

We went up for the late night snack and strapped feed bags onto the guys. With them now happily sated we all went off to bed, dreaming of whales, glaciers, CHINA (WTF?), and the like.

Tomorrow is a sea day. I wonder what trouble, I mean fun, will await us?

Moe

(Internet on the ship has been difficult!)