How I fit a 7-day cruise into 21 hours!

Just thought I'd give a quick review of my NCL fam on September 23. Brynna and I headed over to Vancouver on Friday morning, checked into our hotel and proceeded to the Coliseum for John Mayer's soundcheck. Unfortunately I couldn't go in as I wasn't a member of the fan club but I sat outside enjoying the sunshine and listening to the music through closed doors. After we met up with Teresa and went to a wonderful pasta dinner. The concert followed and was enjoyed by all. John Mayer was great but Sheryl Crow rocked. The opening band, Marjorie Fair, had a cool name (lol) but were kind of blah.

After a very, very short sleep we were up between 5 and 6 the next morning to get ready and get to our bus before 7. Too early! The bus ride was fairly noneventful although we had to sit at the border for at least half an hour before they processed us and let us through. Once we got to Pier 66 (downtown Seattle) we checked in and waited for our VIP boarding. It was definitely nice getting on before the masses and getting a chance to hit the buffet before everyone else. We enjoyed a nice lunch on the back deck, overlooking Seattle.

Since we were allowed in our cabins at 1 pm we headed down to the 4th deck where we had been upgraded from an inside to an outside. Brynna showered while I explore the cabin in great detail. I then had a seminar from 2 - 4 which included a scavenger hunt (in which our team came in 3rd and I won a bottle of champagne!). This was followed by a cocktail party at 4 with much free rum punch and appies.

I then decided to go up deck with some others and enjoy the sailaway while Brynna napped. It was so warm and sunny, I actually got a bit sunburnt. Twas much fun dancing to all the favourites, Ole Ole, Dollar Song, YMCA, etc. Once it got very cold and windy I headed inside to save a table for Brynna and I in Dazzles where karaoke was to take place. Brynna managed to get in 2 songs, New York, New York and White Houses. She did very well with both and I enjoyed listening to her. We then met up with Liz and Sherry and after a quick 10-minute change into our evening attire, had dinner in the Seven Seas Dining Room. I had bruchetta, tortellini soup and chicken parmesan with fettucini followed by a too-die for tiramisu cheesecake. Brynna and I then took off to go to the comedy show which was hilarious. The shops were now open so we perused everything but declined to buy anything. We did, however, spend some money in the casino. I pretty much broke even and Brynna lost her money but thoroughly enjoyed the game where the quarters are constantly being pushed into a tray, don't know what it was called but was great fun for her. We managed to crawl into bed around 2 am.

I got up before 7:30 and headed out for breakfast with the ladies in the dining room again. It was not too bad, good coffee however. Picked up Brynna at the cabin, dragged everything out and disembarked fairly easily. Even managed to get through customs with my hard-won champagne!

Nice to do a one-day cruise (or booze cruise as I'm sure most people thought of it!) but I do thoroughly enjoy a 7-day cruise where I can get to know the ship and those who work on her. Looking forward to December 16th!