Geezerville at Sea: On The Westerdam

Today we boarded the Westerdam. The process was not too painful...lots of walking and lots of finding stuff. We found the important stuff early--the Lido buffet on Deck 9. That was our first stop while they were getting our rooms ready. BUT--I saw a woman who already had her cruise card so I asked her where she got it, and she said it was in the mailbox at her room, Guess what--our rooms were ready but "they" did not tell us. We found our room and sure enough, there was an envelope in the mailbox with 2 room keys in it. It always helps to talk to other folks.

We still had to wait for our luggage, as that was no where in sight. BUT, we had eaten so it was time to explore. I found the spa, which was number 1 on my list and bought a spa package that includes the indoor hot tub that can be used everyday we are on the ship. YAY. I also made a commitment to acupuncture treatment on my back. I'm a happy camper. I have no idea what the other DrC did, but I think it was sleep.

Dinner on the 3rd floor dining room. We have a table for 8 with some very interesting many-time cruisers so the conversations for the next 3 weeks will be very interesting. In addition, there are 2 engineers at the table, and a couple of teachers. Should be fun. Dinner was great in so many ways--first it tasted good; they were able to accommodate my low-sodium diet without any notice; and I did not have to cook it. From there we went to the Jewelry store as they were giving away some diamond studs, and Karen and I had already put in our tickets. Sadly, we did not win. We left before they tried to sell us anything else.

It's now 10:20 and we are still in port. We were supposed to sail-away at 5 so something happened...I have no idea what and I don't really care. Both of us are already in ship mode--which is a nice place to be. We have a great cabin with a large balcony, 2 reclining lounge chairs on it and right now a fantastic view of Mt. Rainier, the huge volcano that dominates Seattle. 

The last cruise, about 3 weeks was ago on a 164 pax boat. Westerdam is a ship with about 12 times as many pax. From what I can tell, she's well organized. I'll find out more about her, in the days to come. In the meantime, remember, we're all in this together.