Come with me on our journey to Alaska

Our friend John, was very kind in driving us to the Port of Vancouver from our house, which is about 25 minutes away. Also called Canada Place or The Sails.

We left the house at 10:15 am, however wouldn't sail until 5pm. But, we were able to board at 11:30, so by the time we went though the normal procedures to get on board, we arrived early to explore the ship, avoid the crowds and enjoy lunch!

Our room was the very last cabin on the Promenade Deck (my favourite). So, we just had to leave our room, and instantly go through another set and we were on the back deck of the ship with a wonderful view, and there was a couple of benches there, so we just felt like we had our own balcony, and a beautiful view from our room.

Tom with a some coffee in the Lido Cafeteria

It was a beautiful day, with a temperature of about 75C. We just took pictures here and there.

This is the top deck where they had tables and chairs set up for a sail away party!

Kids playing basketball on the ship. We were up in what is called Club Hal, where the kids hang out, all supervised so parents can enjoy what they love to do while on board. They had game rooms up here for all ages, pin ball machines, toys, and other fun things for children to enjoy and make new friends with.

The outdoor pool on the Zaandam and below, the Sails where we are tied to port.

Our home away from home! Very roomy and very comfortable, fantastic mattresses, and when the ship is moving, we are just lulled with very gentle rocking. We look right out on the back deck.

Our bathroom was very roomy, as we ended up with an handicapped size washroom, which was nice! The walk in shower is behind those curtains on the left.

We have set sail and just about to go under the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver. Tom is watching.Below, we sail past our condo building which is the highest and middle one on the right!

One very happy couple, enjoying the view from the back of the ship after waving furiously at my sister Roxanne, who was watching on the web cam, but couldn't see us!

We met up with Lucky, our Cabin Steward who we also had on the same ship the Zaandam on our cruise to Hawaii, last Christmas. Lucky has become a very good friend of ours and we stay in touch when not taking cruises. He had just been notified of being promoted to Supervisor of Cabin Stewards, so Congratualtions Lucky! It was good to see him again!

We sat out on the promenade deck just outside our cabin and enjoyed he scenery as we sailed away, celebrating with a scotch for Tom, and a rum for me. The sail away party on top of the ship was crowded and noisy, so we opted to stay where we where. We also sailed away from Vancouver 15 minutes early. Then we went up for dinner of delicious prime rib and sat with a couple from New Zealand. After dinner we went to pick out some reading material from the libray for those lazy at sea days. We enjoyed a wonderful sunset and also met our new friends (all shown below), that we hit it off with right away, Ken and Linda from New York. We would spend some fun times on board, with many laughs and giggles and much getting to know each other over delicious meals and adventures. You will eventually see more pictures of this fun couple, and some other wonderful friends we have met and exhanged emails with throughout this journey.

Ken is retired, from engineering, and Linda who has the greatest laugh ever, is a nurse and also works with the fire department. They were leaving us in Steward and travelling by land on their journey home, but we we're lucky to have been able to spend a fun week with them, and hopefully will meet again in the future.

This was pretty much our first day. The next day was spent at sea as we sailed to Ketchikan, Alaska. A distance of 344 nautical miles, sailing an average speed of 14.0 nautical knots.

More on day two, spent at sea either later today or tomorrow.

I ended up coming home with a cold and very sore throat, so I think I'm going to do a day here and there, depending on how I'm feeling. I got the laundry all finished. Batman meowed and cried when we came home and I was beginning to think he was sick...and he may be, but he's settled down a little more and we will wait and see. He follow's me everywhere, slept right by my side last night, which makes for a crowded bed! I went down to collect our mail yesterday and Tom said he cried and cried until I returned. If you don't know what I mean by a cat crying, it's a very loud yewl sound and quite upsetting to all hearing it!!

Keep tuned!! I'm heading back to bed for now!