Adventures in the Great Northwest

Washington / Vancouver / Alaska - page 12

Open Sea! (August 29)

Left:  Okay, technically this is still Vancouver.  In fact, it's right next to the Pan Pacific Hotel where I spent the last two nights.  They're about to board my ship, the Diamond Princess.  There's another cruise boarding from the same place, and I was desperately trying to find the right line.  I did.  Still, it was like a cattle call.  Moooooooooo!

Right:  Ah for the spaceous Motel 6, this was to be home for the week.  My first cruise, I wasn't sure what to expect.  This an "inexpensive" interior room.  I figured I'd go on deck for views and air, spending little time here.  It all worked out.  In fact, one of the channels on my TV was a 24 hour camera to the fore!  I'd turn it on at night so if I woke up I could tell if it was daytime yet.

Left:  Two swimming pools, this one with a roof in case it rains or gets too cold to use the outdoor one!  This is on deck 14.  Decks 4 - 16 are accessible to passengers, plus a sky deck, 17/18.  I never saw access there, not knowing of it.  I could have had a tour (for a fee) - I passed.

Right:  This was by the open air pool, right next door.  It was not only sunny, it was downright warm.  Just like in Kubota Garden, I was dressed too warm.  Hey, this is an Alaskan cruise!  I had nothing cooler, so I went to the on-ship clothes store, ready to pay through the nose.  Good news, prices were downright reasonable!  Bad news, we hadn't set sail yet so the store wasn't open.  As soon as it was, I made my purchase.  That was the end of the shirtsleeve weather.

What a festive atmosphere!  Of course, between the great weather and the raffle in which you had to be present to win, attendance was high!  All rooms were filled so, assuming there weren't too many singles paying double like me, there were over 3,000 people.  Sometimes it's expensive being antisocial, but the discounts due to the economy were so big, I couldn't pass it up.  The best prize in the raffle?  A half hour of internet access, otherwise charged at $22.50!  Like Neil Young said, "They give you this, but you pay for that."

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