Day 01 - Embarkation Day

 At long last our 2024 Alaska trip departure day arrived.  Our pastor and friend Ronal picked us up before 8am on a wet, cold, and drizzly morning.  He dropped us off at the Courtyard Hotel on the West Valley Highway where we waited for about an hour for our 9am shuttle bus.  Alan, from Travel with Alan, was there to herd the two busloads of travelers making the journey north to Vancouver, Canada.


The ride north took us on I-5 through the heart of Seattle as I-405 was closed for repairs.  We made a stop in Lynnwood to drop off Alan and pick up 4 passengers.  A second stop was in Bellingham at the King Street McDonalds for a  restroom and snack break.  Our final stop was at the border to clear border security into Canada.  After the border crossing, it was a slow drive to Canada Place in heavy traffic.  At the pier, the check in process was quick and efficient and we were onboard by 2pm after 1/2 hour process including pre-clearance back into the US.


Boarding the Koningsdam was like coming home.  We sailed on this ship's inaugural voyage 8 years ago.  We met Vanessa who was our Front desk manager on last year's Grand South America cruise in the Zanndam.  We first met Panca on the inaugural voyage in the Tamarind and have sailed with him several more times over the years. Both people remembered us and we shared many good memories.  The ship is virtually full according to Panca.


Our inside stateroom 4168 is located aft on the port side.  Like most staterooms on this ship, it's definitely on the small side, but is quite serviceable for us especially since we're only on board for 3 days before starting our land tour.  We met our stateroom attendants, Komang & Galih, and they offered to make chocolate available each night even though it's not part of the regular routine.  We completed watching the safety video and checked in at our muster station.  The new method of doing the safety drill is a pleasant change from the old days of huddling together out on the deck. Following this we made our dinner reservations for the next 3 nights.  Combing our loyalty status and the promotion which is part of our tour package gives us 3 free dinners in specialty restaurants this cruise with no dinners in the buffet.  This is a radical change for us!


At 3:15pm the Konigsdam left its berth and soon we were under the Lion's Gate bridge and out in the open waters of the Georgia Straits.  We came back to the room and unpacked before our Tamarind dinner at 5:30pm.



The Tamarind is our favorite shipboard restaurant on any ship we've sailed on.  Tonight's meal did not disappoint us at all.  It was lovely eating Pan Asian cuisine while watching the wake view off the stern.  Maria, our server, was good and not over attentive.  After dinner we enjoyed walking around the ship enjoying the views and chatting with people.  








We located seats in the Crow's Nest and watched the world go by.  Just north of Campbell River in the dark, the southbound Celebrity Solstice, HAL Nieuw Amsterdam, and Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas passed us on our left.  The lighted ships were beautiful to watch.

Solstice

Nieuw Statendam

Brilliance of the seas

And so, day 1 ended.  It was a good day.  We received our Skagway disembarkation packets and our stateroom attendants came through with chocolate for us.  Tomorrow is our only sea day and there are a number of Main Stage presentations about Alaska.  


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