Ahoy the shore from Alaska (2nd in a series)

We departed the Grand Hyatt at approximately 11:00 AM on Sunday August 30^th. No van taxis were available but the skilled hotel porter was able to cram most of our bags into the trunk of a standard sized taxi and we jammed three passengers in the rear and myself up front with the driver—some of us carry-ons in our lap. Not exactly roomy and comfortable but the taxi ride to the pier 66 cruise-ship terminal was relatively short, inexpensive and uneventful as was the check-in process. We were on board by NOON. We entered off the gangplank onto level 7 at the two level crystal atrium (featuring a massive floor to roof video screen). To be honest, the Pearl did not make a good first impression… the décor was very loud: a cross between 70s disco meets bordello crossed with a Jetsons meets Tommy Bahamas kinda vibe.

We were informed that our staterooms wouldn’t be available until 2 PM so we had some time to kill. We immediately made our dinner reservations for the first two nights (you can make a reservation as early as 8 AM the day prior) as we knew we would be at sea those evenings. We chose La Cucina (Italian) and Cagneys Steak House for Sunday and Monday night dinners, respectively. The former has a $10 surcharge while the latter had a $25 surcharge pp. Then we proceeded upstairs to the poolside buffet. It was already relatively busy so we ate in the great outdoors table seating area which is aft on level 12 (the pool level). There you can dine el fresco on a selection of grille food like (burgers, hot dogs and fries) and soups, as well as made to order pasta. spent some time visiting the kidszone (to sign the waivers for the teen activities), touring the spa (we signed up for the $99 week long thermal suite “members only” club (the limit entry to 180 people to avoid overcrowding)) and canvassing the poolside expo exhibits (a quick orientation to all the different resources and activities available on board). Finally, we attended the “Who Wants to be a Gazillionaire” gameshow in the Spinnaker lounge.

We proceeded to our stateroom precisely at 2:00 to make a few disturbing discoveries. First, none of our luggage had yet arrived and second the room appeared to contain only two twin beds plus an upper Pullman bunk (although there were 4 of us to sleep.)

The muster drill was scheduled at 3:30. Our assigned muster station (2E) was inside the Le Bistro French restaurant. It was brief, comfortable (all arriving parties were assigned to tables to be seated) and well organized (cabin numbers were stenciled on life jackets for easy check-in to confirm attendance). The ship began to move out of dock almost immediately after the drill ended. When we return to our stateroom to re-stow our life jackets, our luggage had arrived so we did a quick unpack and then headed back up to the pooldeck in our bathing suites for the sailaway party. Both pools (the adult only and the general pool (into which the waterslide falls) were open and were busy (taking advantage of perhaps the warmest temps we would get throughout the duration of the ship.) Three of us tried the waterslide—two successfully—Ryan was unable o generate any downward momentum and basically had to push himself down using his arms on the handrail. The water was warm when you were in the pool but there was a chilly cross-wind when you stepped out onto the deck.

Following the swim/sailaway, we returned to our stateroom to dress for dinner. Still being on eastern time, we had made our dinner reservation early (5:30) at La Cucina. Service was good. The olive tray arrived first followed by the antipasto trolley (featuring salami, proscuitto, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatos and several cheeses). For the next course Ceasar salad was freshly prepared table side. For a second plate we ordered a custom pizza for the table (featuring ham, meatballs and sausage). I also ordered a pasta item (Fetticune Alfredo). Both the pasta and the pizza were delicious. For our entrees I ordered salmon sallopini while my table-mates went with pollo marsala. For dessert two of us had panna cotta (a selection of three flavours) and the other two tiramisu.

Following dinner we headed to the opening show in the Stardust theatre… a massive three level showroom with stadium style seating. The show opened with the ship’s showband and then Julie, our cruise director, made her entrance. Julie is a fellow Canadian, from Welland Ontario. Unfortunately she did not introduce her fellow cruise director’s staff. She did, however, proceed to introduce sample sets by a few of the acts that would entertain us on ensuing nights including comic Tim Kaminski, the Jean Ann Ryan song-dance troupe and a due called SkarkBait. By far Kaminiski got the most stage time, setting up an elaborate audience participation segment that was quite riotous. Following the show we found ourselves quite exhausted, our bodyclocks still being on Eastern time and so retired to our stateroom early. Turn down service had been completed when we opened our cabin door and the mystery of the missing bed puzzle was solved. There was a fourth bed hidden under one of the twin beds that pulled out into the middle of the floor between the two twins. Since it was narrower than the twin beds, we assigned our thinnest cabin-mate (Ryan) to that mattress while Claire claimed the upper Pullman bed berth. We were all sleeping soundly in no time!

More to come: day 2 and the inside passage