“Nope”
“But...But...what if I need to...”
“You Cant.”
“Well that ain't fair, we always...”
“Well we cant this time so deal with it. It’s a good thing we..."
OK ...OK...not yet.... lets set the rest of the day...
As Seattle fades in our wake, we quickly grab our video camera to capture the departing skyline, and beautiful sail boat harbor only to discover neither one of us knows much about the settings for this camera. We eventually found that we had the wrong light setting and by the time we figured it out the harbor was a spec in the distance and we missed getting a proper shot of our departure.... Oh wellllll. We gave up and took some time to wander the ship to find... whatever.
The Westerdam is an older, smaller ship than we’re used to and has the usual layout. It is most definitely not as luxurious as we had anticipated or what we were accustomed to having sailed on the newer Carnival and RCCL mega ships. The energy level and activity on this ship doesn’t come close to Carnival or RCCL, but it is a very relaxing ship, well maintained and with and extremely friendly staff. In fact it’s so relaxing that Illy has been able to finish reading the book she brought and will now need to check out a book from the ships library [yes, there is a library]
Deck 9 – the LIDO Deck [seems like they all have a LIDO deck] hosts the obligatory buffet sporting a fair variety with a bar, small pool and hot tubs aft [to the rear for you land lubbers], a large covered pool and portable buffet mid-ships and games forward. Decks 2 & 3 - Promenade and Upper Promenade, have the only formal dining room located at the e
xtreme aft and the requisite show room all the way forward. And of course to get from one to 
the other you have to wind your way through all the shops, photo gallery, casino, and several bars. One lovely spot is the Crows Nest which is all the way forward on the 10th - Observation deck, and seems to get the most action, because of an excellent view forward. Here you also find the internet café and the library with some great seating for reading or 
just watching the passing views. And of course... there are loads of bars all over the ship albeit mostly empty. As we had anticipated, the average age is OLD, with a smattering of under 30’s and a few families with small kids which is probably why the energy level is pretty non-existent, not only in the bars but the casino as well.
Now... about our opening dialogue...
Usually we pack very lightly and leave room for tchotchkies with a plan to wash cloths halfway through the trip. Aside from our fear of not having enough cold weather gear, something told us to pack a bit heavier than we normally do. And that was a good thing...there is NO self-laundry aboard the Westerdam which is a bit annoying seeing as how the ships laundry charges $2.50 just wash and fold a pair of panties...And, you have to wait 48 hours for the turnaround. So it looks like we’ll have to sink-rinse when necessary. Good thing I brought some Woolite.
The mini tour over, we grabbed more pizza and some pasta bolognaise, which while prepared to order, was VERY bland. We headed down to the cabin and started HELLOOOO Seattle and edited the pictures for posting. We soon realized we were a running late for dinner so we hustled down to the table 7 in the Vista Dining room to find 3 lovely couples, 2 from the Denver area and one from Seattle who own a small boutique hotel there. The meal was – OK- nothing special and quite frankly a little disappointing considering all we had heard about the food. OK, we are a little spoiled and expect a little more pizzazz in food presentation, quantity, taste...Not here.
A trek through the shops to the Vista Lounge brought us into the middle of one of those hokey audience participation games... this one pretty lame, as is the presentation of the cruise director “Johnny” so we bolted to the room, finished HELLOOOO SEATTLE, added pictures to the picasa album [see Slideshow links in the panel above archives] and crashed...
Tomorrow is a Sea Day with our first formal dinner so we'll combine it with Glacier Bay, cause I cant see much happening but Boozin’ ‘n’ Cruzin’
Ciao 4 Now
Chuck and the mildly annoyed about no laundry, Dragon Lady.
Usually we pack very lightly and leave room for tchotchkies with a plan to wash cloths halfway through the trip. Aside from our fear of not having enough cold weather gear, something told us to pack a bit heavier than we normally do. And that was a good thing...there is NO self-laundry aboard the Westerdam which is a bit annoying seeing as how the ships laundry charges $2.50 just wash and fold a pair of panties...And, you have to wait 48 hours for the turnaround. So it looks like we’ll have to sink-rinse when necessary. Good thing I brought some Woolite.
The mini tour over, we grabbed more pizza and some pasta bolognaise, which while prepared to order, was VERY bland. We headed down to the cabin and started HELLOOOO Seattle and edited the pictures for posting. We soon realized we were a running late for dinner so we hustled down to the table 7 in the Vista Dining room to find 3 lovely couples, 2 from the Denver area and one from Seattle who own a small boutique hotel there. The meal was – OK- nothing special and quite frankly a little disappointing considering all we had heard about the food. OK, we are a little spoiled and expect a little more pizzazz in food presentation, quantity, taste...Not here.
A trek through the shops to the Vista Lounge brought us into the middle of one of those hokey audience participation games... this one pretty lame, as is the presentation of the cruise director “Johnny” so we bolted to the room, finished HELLOOOO SEATTLE, added pictures to the picasa album [see Slideshow links in the panel above archives] and crashed...
Tomorrow is a Sea Day with our first formal dinner so we'll combine it with Glacier Bay, cause I cant see much happening but Boozin’ ‘n’ Cruzin’
Ciao 4 Now
Chuck and the mildly annoyed about no laundry, Dragon Lady.
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