Day 1

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Arrival at the Ship
The day started early with a 6:15 AM flight so we had to leave the house for the airport at 4:00. The airport was surprisingly busy for that time of day, but all went well and our flight boarded and left on time. The flight was not too crowded to Minneapolis and we arrived on-time. The connection to Vancouver was more crowded but it too went smoothly. Having gained two hours in time zones, we arrived late in the morning. Luggage was collected and we went through Canadian customs. The cruise company collected us and our baggage and transported us from the airport to the port, where we went back through US customers before boarding the ship.

Vancouver itself is preparing for the Olympic games in Feb 2010, so everything was spruced up and looking clean. There is an impressive display of the five Olympic rings near the airport, which apprarently is even more impressive at night when it is lit up in different colors. It does seem to be a crowded city with a large number of high-rise condo buildings. The guide commented that 30% of the population is Asian and it was apparent as we drove through town looking at the shops and people. But we were delivered to the port and were able to process in to the ship and pass through U. S. customs around 1:00.
We got a lot of use of our new passports in just a short time.

First order of business after we found our cabin was to explore and find the buffet being served in the Panoramic Lounge. This was the first of many tasty meals with large variety of things to decide upon. And the panoramic view of the city was impressive as seen from the water. There were a lot of sea-planes coming and going, probably at least some of them giving tourists an interesting view of the city and that part of the country. The weather was great (no rain) so we had a very good view as the ship departed (see the picture).

Life Boat drill is required before they could sail, so we all reported to our Muster Station with life vest in hand. We never went to the boats themselves but did sit comfortably in the lounge and were told what to do if it is every needed. But we all know how to put on our life jackets anyway.

We were delayed departing due to a late flight arriving and then once we were at sea they had to sop when a couple of people fell and hurt themselves. So 20 miles from Vancouver we had our first departure. The Canadian Coast Guard came out in a hovercraft and transferred the injured people to take back to shore. All this was unfolding beneath our balcony. It is sad for these people but it provided an unscheduled event for us to watch.

For the first dinner we avoided all the fish options and had a good old fashioned Prime Rib with baked potato and corn-on-the-cob dinner. There were lots of options for appetizer, soup, salad, and deserts as well. We intend to explore many of the different dinners, but the first one was a classic Midwestern dinner. We are at a table for 8 but only 4 other people showed up for dinner. One couple is from Calgary and the other from Florida. It was very interesting meeting them. The woman from Florida had also been a computer programmer in the Air Force. Both couple are older than us and retired and have been on many cruises and had many interesting stories to share. It gave us some thoughts to future trips for ourselves.

But after such an early start for the day and actually being two hours later than the clocks showed, we zonked off comparatively early the first night.

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Photos

Vancouver Skyline
Vancouver Skyline as we are departing