Alaska 2016 Day2

It's now our day of departure.  We awoke early, and set out to explore a little of downtown Vancouver.  The streets are already busy at 6:00 am.  Cars are moving and the locals are filling the nearby cafe we found.  The Brekka Cafe makes wonderfully decadent sweet treats from donuts and scones to cakes and pie.  Their teas and coffees were good as well.

After whetting our appetites we strolled back towards our hotel.  It was interesting to see the similarities of Vancouver and Washington, D.C.  The homeless were up and about and quick to ask for money.  They were not aggressive about it and took our "No Thank You" with a shrugged and quickly moved to the next likely mark.

Back at the hotel we touched base with many of our customers and made sure all of their needs were being taken care of and we reminded them to meet us in the lobby at 10:45 in order to meet the buses to the port.

By 10:40, everyone was in the lobby and I felt bad for any incoming guest as we pretty much filled the lobby.  We moved out in groups of ten Marianne made sure everyone had their boarding passed and passport easily available.

Check in at the Royal Caribbean was slow and they could have used a bit more air conditioning as the 2,500 passengers lined up to get checked in.  Next we went through U.S. Customs and Immigration.  This a little different as we would normally do this at the end of a trip not the beginning.  If you were a U.S. citizen it went quickly as they had six kiosk open but if you were not then you had one kiosk and you waited and waited.  Finally as the non U.S. citizen line began backing up due to manpower and computer issues they finally added another two kiosk.

Things went smoothly after that and we were on board and with beer in hand we moved about the ship exploring its hidden secrets.  It had been awhile since I've been on a Royal Caribbean Ship and I had forgotten the little treats, i.e. shuffle board, pool tables, ping pond and good food.

As promised we had access to our cabin at 1:00 pm and we managed a short nap before the muster drill.
Dinner was a grand experience but I personally think the portions could be a little larger.  After dinner the ladies of our group found a fantastic young piano player in the schooner lounge and spent the rest of the evening singing and making merry.