Alaska Cruise I

Today's the day we boarded our cruise ship to Alaska.

We had a relaxing early morning in the hotel. Once again, we made ourselves a cup of Starbucks coffee using the sachets provided by the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver. Our view of the marina, the bay and the mountains made for a pleasant morning. After catching up on all the necessary e-mails, we wandered over to the White Spot restaurant in downtown Vancouver for breakfast. It was only two blocks from the hotel.

We were given coupons for the White Spot on our Vancouver Trolley yesteday. This gave us 50% off one of our entree's. The ambiance and the food were good.

After breakfast we returned to our hotel, where we checked out and caught a cab to Canada Place where our ship, the Celebrity Millennium was berthed. We would normally have walked, but because a section of the promenade was under construction, we would have had to carry our cases up two large flights of stairs.

We arrived at Canada Place at noon, perfect timing. We put our cases directly onto the moving belt to load them onto the ship. We did not need a porter to assist. Getting through American immigration was a breeze. The agent was very friendly.

After a few minutes wait we checked into the ship. The lady checking us in, a native of Vancouver was extremely friendly and helpful. We even spent a few minutes discussing some aspects of the city. She confirmed our upgrade to a suite. Thanks to Andrea at Frosch Travel in Houston. Well done!!

As we were about to leave the ships check-in, a crew lady approached us with our room keys and told us that she would like to offer us complimentary dining this evening at the ship's fine dining restaurant, the Olympic. What a pleasure. It is definitely a major benefit to stick with one cruise line or group in order to achieve Elite status.

We boarded the ship with no wait at all. The staterooms were not ready, so we went to the Waterfall Restaurant, where we were able to sit outdoors, enjoy the weather, the sights and have a light lunch salad.

The afternoon was spent exploring the ship. Our Sky Suite is, for us, the perfect stateroom; not cramped, but not too big either. We met our room steward and our butler, both of whom are very hospitable. We sailed out of Vancouver an hour late because the ship took longer to refuel than anticipated. We sailed past Stanley Park under the huge Lions Bridge on our way to the inside passage to Alaska. Exciting!

We went to the Olympic restaurant for a delicious meal. Yummmm! We both had rack of lamb, done to perfection. The service was amazing.

The "Welcome Aboard" show was the usual mix of talk and entertainment. The one aspect that we found particularly appealing was the teaser for the production show tomorrow. The singers and dancers were very good.

We eventually only got to bed after midnight, tired but looking forward to a fun, entertaining and educational cruise.