We boarded our boat at noon for a 4 PM departure. The cabins were not ready so off we went to the Lido deck of our ship, the Zaandam (from now on referred to as the Jean-Claude). We definitely got introduced to the party atmosphere aboard the boat, with a band playing, people chatting excitedly and waiters bustling about offering beverages.
Jean-Claude is a big boat. It has four restaurants, one cafe, four bars, two theaters, two stores, two swimming pools, two hot tubs, two stores and one casino. The cafe looks especially inviting, with some very comfy chairs in front of big, clear windows. In the cafe they hung a picture of the ship's godmothers: the Olsen twins.
Jean-Claude is also very hygiene conscious. Everywhere on the boat they have hand washing stations, a.k.a. Purell dispensers. There are videos on how to wash your hands, and in the public bathrooms they have signs suggesting you use a clean paper towel to operate the door handles.
After some Alaskan beer (don't ask me what brand, I never found out) we proceeded to the restaurant for some lunch. Long lines, lots of different food choices but nothing spectacular. I ended up getting a soda card, a get 20 for the price of 18 deal kind of thing. Bad decision, which I blame on the Alaskan beer, as there is no way Sharon and I will consume this much soda during the trip.
Eventually the captain announced over the P.A. system that our cabins were ready and we proceeded downstairs. Our cabin is on the 6th floor, port side and has its own verandah with a chaise lounge. a chair, and a small table. Add to it a bed, a sofa, a desk, a TV and a DVD player and we are set. On the bed, by the way, was a present from Expedia: a $50 gift certificate to be converted into a soda, coffee or cocktail card: the cocktail card won.
We spent that afternoon and the whole of the next day exploring the ship and enjoying what it had to offer. There is always something happening: exercise classes, Wii games, trivia contests, classes in using PCs and so on. Sharon and I are lazy folk though, and preferred hanging out at the cafe, reading and enjoying the view.
That night we enjoyed our first on-board show, "Love on Broadway." Four singers and six dancers performed reasonably well. As usual I was impressed with Sharon's theatrical knowledge. We had no program, but Sharon was able to identify all but 3 of the songs. I was impressed, Sharon was disappointed she missed the three.
First night dining involved waiting for over one hour for our table since we did not have reservations. They gave us pagers which allowed us to wander about the ship. Of course, not trusting the system, we wandered only as far as the first bar where I made use of my cocktail card. One vodka martini later we were back at the restaurant's waiting area and entertaining ourselves by judging how "smart casual" the attires of our fellow travelers were. Sharon drew the line at jeans, I though jeans were ok unless they were worn with sneakers. Still, jeans, sneakers and t-shirts must have been ok, because we saw a few of those sitting at the restaurant.
We retired to our room later in the evening, only to find artistically folded towels on our bed; this one looked like an elephant. Apparently it's a ship tradition and they even have a book on how to do it. In the end we got five towel origami animals:
For entertainment, Sharon had a hot stone massage. I wandered around the boat and held my tongue whenever one of the many bands on board asked what the passengers wanted to hear next. I always wanted to reply, "The Morning After."
Wildlife sightings: 4 indeterminate marine mammals.
Pictures can be found here.
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