Vacation, part two- Alaskan Cruise

Something I forgot to mention about Seattle- they give jaywalkers a $100 fine. There's also a $100 fine for picking leaves off the trees, and if you throw a cigarette butt on the ground, that's a $1000 fine! They really want to keep the city pretty!

We boarded Friday August 14, had lunch, and then a lifeboat drill. Lunch was a buffet at the Windjammer cafe.
This was Linda and my room. 170 square feet, and she said it's bigger than cabins and bathrooms on other ships she's been on. We didn't spend huge amounts of time in the room, but we did want a window.
This is a waterfall between the elevators on the 4th deck.
Manda and Steph's room had a different window, and theirs had a windowseat.
The view once we were at sea.
We chose My Time dining, whcih meant we could make a reservation each day for a different time. It worked out really well. The first night I had fresh tropical fruit, chicken, and a strawberry napoleon.
We went to check out the ship afterdinner. The spa is on the pool deck, and we got their schedule of seminars. Then we went to the game room and played a board game for an hour or so and people watched.

Saturday was an At Sea day. Steph and Linda went off to the 7 a.m. stretch class. We met later in the lounge and went to breakfast. Then I went to the spa with Steph for an Accupuncture seminar, and later I went to a digital photography class.

We had lunch in the dining room- we ate all our meals in the dining room, except for port days when it was closed for lunch and we went to the Windjammer. Manda and I went to a scrapbooking class, which was really fun. In late afternoon, I went to the spa and had accupuncture on my knee! I couldn't believe the difference it made!

Accupuncture doesn't hurt. The needles are like fishing line, and you feel the tap of the introducer against your skin. Renee, the Aussie accupuncturist, placed the needles, then put a heat lamp on the knee for a half hour. The needles were removed, she massaged the knee a bit, and I was off to dinner. She recommended water aerobics and a hot tub a couple times a week.

I met up with everyone else and we headed to dinner. Chilled pear soup, ceaser salad, and grand marnier souffle! Fabulous! There was always 5 or 6 choices for each course. We were always assigned to the same waiter, and his assistant. Steph told the assistant waiter the first night that she is allergic to wheat. Every night, when the asst brought the rolls, she'd smile at Steph and say, "None for you, sweetie!"

Every night we'd get a copy of the Cruise Compass, the ship's newspaper. It would list all the activities for the following day. You can be busy from dawn til midnight, or you can sit in the lounges and read and watch the ocean- your choice. We did some of each.

I'll be back later with part 3.