Our plan was to get on the boat as early as we possibly could, and that is what we did. We were on board in time for lunch in the dining room. Although, by the time we got there all the 2-people seats were occupied so we had to share, but that was bearable. On the first day of a cruise, everyone shares experiences of cruises past, and these stores contain tidbits of information of fancy rooms and odd itineraries.

Our room is not fancy. On my previous cruises we had a balcony (veranda in cruise-speak), but only because of good deals (Cruise 1 was a repositioning cruise) and post-COViD perks (Alaska 2022). This time is bare-bones fare: no perks and a windowless room. I’ve heard these rooms in the centre of the ship are better for motion-sickness, and I will report back on how that goes. I remember, however, when I was motion-sick on my first cruise, it was soothing to lie on my bed and gaze out the balcony window at the horizonless Pacific Ocean.

The library on board has improved since last year. Now there is an actually collection instead of six or eight random books propped up on shelves. There are many copies of many books nicely organized. There are, also, reading chairs next to windows. Oh! There’s also a new art room, again with a nice view, but also nice big tables. I will have the opportunity to learn orgami and creative calligraphy. There’s something with doodles AND adult colouring tomorrow, but Mum has reminded me we have to get of the ship and look at Astoria, too, so my participation might be limited.

The rest of the day in bullet points:

• We sang along to Sweet Caroline at the 4pm leaving party when the boat is supposed to leave.
• The boat actually took off around 5ish while we were at a raffle draw for gift certificates to the spa (we didn’t win).
• Supper was good and I’m all set to have surprize non-dairy desserts for the duration of the trip. THE BEST DESSERTS ARE SURPRIZE NON-DAIRY DESSERTS.
• Mother and I both enjoy the Billboard-branded music bar, which is a piano bar, with 2 (two!) pianos.

Now we’re off to arrive in Astoria tomorrow sometime. So in the meantime: nowhere.