North to Alaska: Part One - The Cruise Ship

 Roger and I had never been on a cruise before.  We had heard about them, of course, a lot, but the desire to go on one had never really been there.  I guess it's retirement? Who knows. But we thought going to Alaska (something else we hadn't done yet) would be a good test of our endurance and an opportunity to see some amazing sights - as well as eat a lot of food!

 We flew to Seattle, Washington on the first leg of our trip.  Here is the departure area as we board "Rhapsody of Sea", part of the Royal Caribbean fleet line and our home for the next seven days.  Below is our view of Seattle as we leave port.

 If your are going to go on a cruise, we would highly recommend the Jr. State Room (especially if you are going on a cruise that doesn't allow a lot of time deck side).  Very comfortable, lots of room and best of all a balcony from which to view the scenery.  I'd be hard pressed to go any other way.

 Also very important:  Know where your life boat is!  That's ours:  #16.

 Our ship was not the largest one we saw as we traveled north, but it did host two pools; one inside and one on the top deck.  Kids got out immediately upon boarding to have fun in the sun.  Sadly, there was really only one other day that proved conducive to swimming outdoors, though we saw a few try from time to try as we hurried by to get out of the wind.

 This is the Alaskan tour.  You risk not getting a lot of sun, but as seen in the next blog, the sights certainly make up for it.  Luckily, however, we did have sunny days for at least half of the tour and when we didn't, there was plenty to keep one occupied inside.

Roger enjoying the view in our normal outside attire.

 As far as entertainment, they had a bit of everything.  Formal dining, Broadway shows, charity runs, shopping, bingo, contests, shuffle board, movies, lectures, dance lessons, a gym, bars, water aerobics, and even scrapbooking and jewelry making for those who had time. 

 And don't ever forget the food on a cruise.  Pretty darn good and plentiful.  I guess the diet starts tomorrow (ha ha ha).

 So that's the ship.  Next blog will be the really good stuff:  Alaska.  What an amazing place.