Sailaway and our first evening on board

As we left Canada Place, there was a yoga class being held on the furthest point of the pier, and in the harbor a man on a small boat serenaded our ship with first the Canadian national anthem, and then those of the US and England played on a saxophone. The quality of the performance degraded a bit with each progressive song, but it was good fun.

Canada Place in the foreground - the cruise ship pier

We sailed out of Vancouver Harbour along the edge of Stanley Park, in amongst float planes landing and taking off. Vancouver, when seen on a sunny day from the ship with the sail-type roof of Canada Place, the cruise ship pier, in the foreground is a spectacular thing. We were on an upper deck, and Joel, a native Vancouverite who works in the Passenger Services Department was up there on his break, trying to get in a last minute phone home. He became our personal guide, pointing out the various things we were seeing along the way.  The ship passed under Lionsgate Bridge and we were on our way.

North Vancouver

Our next stop was the Elite lounge for pre-dinner drinks. If there has been any disappointment at all, it was this lounge. There is no lounge with expanisive views on the top of this ship; no Skywalkers at all. The Elite lounge was held on one side of the Explorers Lounge on Deck 7. While there are windows on one side, it is completely lacking in the kind of views Skywalkers provides on the Emerald Princess. This, coupled with the fact that, on average, this ship is filled with what are fairly novice cruisers who aren't eligible to attend made the lounge seem pretty dull compared to what we enjoyed all winter.

I was still in my traveling clothes, although G had changed into shorts during the afternoon. We decided to swing by the Bordeaux Dining Room to see what kind of wait there was for a table for two for dinner. Headwaiter Roberto told us that we could have one right away, and insisted we be seated dressed just as we were. This was a good thing, because I have a feeling that if I had gone back to the cabin to change, I would have been asleep in five minutes.

Although we had a table for two, we were seated inches away from an older couple and, of course, struck up a conversation with them. They were from upstate New York, had just celebrated their 50th anniversary and this cruise, as well as a 7-night land tour of Alaska afterward, was a gift from their four kids. We had a wonderful meal (served by waiter Tee from Thailand) talking with them. So, a table for two turned into a table for four, but we were happy.

After dinner we returned to our cabin and were met by a gorgeous view of Georgia Strait, interspersed with small islands. And sitting on the balcony enjoying it all is where I began to type today's blog entries.

The view that got my attention after dinner

G left the cabin to go to the 8:30am Welcome Aboard show, but there was no way I was going to leave that balcony. It got dark around 9pm, and after G returned we continued to sit out there until the air cooled enough to chase us in.

We were asleep about two minutes after our heads hit the pillow.

View to the east at sunset, with the Volendam in the distance