Day 2 - Alaska

Still being on Winnipeg time I was up at 6 am today, looked out the window to see a new ship had arrived in port right across the street from the lovely Marriott Waterfront. I slept like a baby; the beds were large and incredibly comfortable. After a quick shower we headed downstairs to the deli in the lobby for a deliciously simple breakfast of sausage and egg muffin accompanied by a bowl of fresh fruit. For the two of is it cost $16 which wasn’t bad in comparison to the bistro and surrounding area diners.


We decided to head over to Pike’s Place Market after finishing our meal for my morning Caramel Macchiato. To my surprise it turns out that this particular Starbucks was in fact the first Starbucks to open, ever! What a special treat, the staff put on a real show, with one in particular standing on a platform basically entertaining all of us with interesting Starbucks trivia. The building itself was over a 100 years old with the original flooring. And they still use the original machines, not the automated ones you see in all the other stores. This requires them to make each espresso shot individually, takes about 10 times as long but was well worth the wait. Chris and I both picked up travel mugs emblazoned with Pike’s Place, The First Starbucks Store.

It was a fairly easy process getting over to the boat; we paid $7 each for a shuttle to Pier 91. And I have to say that I could get very used to the service you receive everywhere you go here. It seems almost everyone you come across from the hotel staff, serving staff and cruise line employees are so incredibly friendly and seem genuinely happy to see you. Our luggage was collected directly from the shuttle and magically appeared in our cabin by about 2:30 pm. We boarded the ship at about 1:00 pm and grabbed a bite to eat on the Lido Deck, what a choice of foods there were. I can see why most folks gain weight on these trips! Thank goodness for the all the stairs you can climb getting from deck to deck.

An afternoon nap and a hot shower revived us and we were off to dinner in the Main Dining Room. We opted for the Open Dining plan and I’m really enjoying it. You can eat anytime from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm. We showed up at about 7:00 pm and were given a beeper and sent to the lounge to wait for a table to come available. We were seated by 7:30 pm in this very elegant dining room. Our servers were so charming, and dinner was fantastic! I started off with Scallop Ceviche, then barbeque pork ribs with buttermilk mashed potatoes and finished off the meal with Apple Strudel with vanilla cream sauce. We decided to skip the show tonight and went for a walk on deck instead.

It’s 10:00 pm and I am totally exhausted. Our cabin is spacious and comfortable and I am looking forward to a good night sleep so I can take advantage of all the activities tomorrow for our day at sea. Perhaps Tai Chi on deck or a digital photo class.

I’ll let you know what I decide tomorrow night 