31/8 Cruising to Alaska - Radiance of the Sea

Friday August 31^st Cruising to Alaska

We were up early and went looking for camera batteries. Simple enough but the Army and Navy store don’t open until 9.30. We decided to look for a teddy bear at the souvenir shops . . . closed. So we looked for a shopping centre . . opens at 10 or 11 L We checked out the cruise terminal and found the ship and then went back to check out.

It was an easy stroll down the hill and we were in the first 20 (half those were back to back passengers)  waiting for the boarding process to start. We sailed through that and were on board by 11. We sprawled out on deck chairs and waited for the buffet to open at 11.30. Our room was ready at 1pm but the cards would not open the door! Down to reception for new cards, change our dinner session to early, and walk round the spa so as to qualify for the draw for freebies, which we seem to have a good record of winning.

We had a small nap until the boat drill at 4.30, didn’t win anything at the spa (they gave away 2 full spa treatments worth $250 each) and went out to watch the sail away from Vancouver. There was a crush of people queuing to find their tables for dinner but we eventually were led to the table next to the Captain’s table, where there was one American lady waiting expectantly. Seems she and her hubby were booked for the specialty restaurant but she dropped in to see who else was sharing the table.  Reassured that we were not geriatrics, she went off to dinner, leaving us with the table to ourselves.

The evening show featured the comic who opens for Jerry Seinfeld, who was quite funny. Then we had a Big Choice – watch a film about the Inside Passage next to the pool or attend the first Trivia?? We proudly opted to watch the film, but it turned out to be a historical/cultural programme rather than a travelogue. And it was quite chilly out there. So we moved inside for the Michael Jackson quiz.

The pub was pretty full and we didn’t know a few of the songs but when they did the answers it seemed that nobody else knew those either. To our great surprise, we won outright with 12/15. Hannah would be proud of us. Looking at the programme for tomorrow, they have scheduled the Songs of Colour quiz, which we watched her blitz a few weeks ago. There is also a progressive quiz, the scores for which will accumulate through the week’s cruise. We will have to knock up a team in the morning.