Sunday 17th May

Today is Cruise Day. We checked out of the HoJo at around 1030 and took a cab to The Norwegian Sun which was berthed at Canada Place East. The check-in passed very smoothly even though there were many hundreds of people there. We went through the usual fingerprinting, photo and green-form routine and eventually boarded the ship at around 12 noon carrying only hand baggage as we left our suitcases at check-in for delivery to our ‘stateroom’ later.

Our stateroom was not ready for occupation until 2pm so we went to ‘The Garden Café’ for lunch. This is a huge buffet and the food choices were endless. On the way there we passed the Fitness Centre - a large fully equipped gym with a big poster outside telling us that most people gain 7-10lbs during a weeks cruise. NO WAY! That prompted me to select from the salad buffet for lunch. (I won’t mention the rocky road ice cream for dessert!)

Our cabin is very nice - compact but more than enough storage space. Twin beds are against each wall with a window in between. Small but adequate shower-room again with plenty of space for toiletries.

We spent the afternoon wandering around this huge ship and we, like the other 2000+ passengers, are still trying to find our way around. There are 12 decks, and our cabin is on Deck 6A. There is a large casino and already there are lots of people there playing blackjack etc, and the machines - it seems to me such a waste of time when there is so much scenery to see and this lovely ship to explore. There is also a shopping mall with all sorts of temptations to encourage us to spend money.
The ship sailed at 5.30pm and that was exciting!

There was a ‘Sailaway’ party with a live band around the ‘Aft’ Pool and that was fun. There are 2 pools and several Jacuzzi’s. It was hot this afternoon and several brave persons were swimming, but not for much longer, I shouldn’t think, as we sail north and the temperature drops. There are a couple of interesting channels on our TV (as well as several satellite channels) - one showing a live webcam, and the other a bit like the ‘where are we flying over’ screen on an aeroplane - showing exactly where the ship is and other information such as current temperature, sea condition etc.

We sail until 6.00am on Tuesday when we dock at Ketchikan so Monday will be a full day at sea. We have booked a shore excursion in Ketchikan to include a Nature Sanctuary, Eagle Centre and see a master totem pole carver at work.