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A Alaska cruise (Sea Princess) from a newbies eyes


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Sea Princess July 23rd through August 2nd. (Our first cruise!!)

 

Thought I would tell you about my cruise. (this might take a while) Here is the first day.

 

Day one.....

After a drive from hell through San Francisco we finally saw the ship in the distance. We pulled up to the front of the pier and it was HURRY UP QUICK Move the suitcase run UGH... Bye Saz.....Sheesh. Poor Saz. (Saz is my buddy who dropped us off)

We dropped our carry on's off and went up and had a quick lunch. We grabbed our camera from the room and went to the top deck where we waited to shove off and go under the golden gate bridge. As soon as the ship started to move I grabbed myself a HUGE pina colada and settled myself on the railing to watch Alcatraz go by. A picture dude came by and took our picture with Alcatraz in the background. It was totally freezing to death as I stood there with my foo foo drink.

As we got to the bridge people were standing on it waving goodbye to us. You should have seen the ship full of people waving back to the people on the bridge. It was fun. In the back ground a band was playing happy music and people were dancing. Did I mention that I was freezing to death?

As we passed under the bridge the ship honked it's horn. Its incredibly loud OMG I almost peed my pants loud. We laughed ourselves silly over that horn.

We went back to the room and put all of our 5 bags of luggage (plus 2 carry ons) away. (Yes we totally packed tons of things :o ) We then went exploring for a while. Very pretty ship.

At 5 we went back to the room to get ready for dinner at 5:30. We sat down at our table and waited to see who would join us. We had requested a table for 4 but got one for 10. The first couple was this little tiny full of life older couple. The second couple was very quiet and didn't seem to happy. The third couple was another older couple (heck they were all in their 60's,70's or 80's. The last couple was a very pretty woman who walked up with a combo Kramer/Al Bundy man. He was completely pissed off that he did not have a table for 6 and stormed off to give the waiter a piece of his mind. The honey and I looked at each other and thought oh great.

As we sat there the boat started to rock and roll a bit. I could feel my head swim every time it moved up or down. I was super worried that I was going to end up sea sick it was moving so bad. Another lady (al bundy/kramer's wife Barbara) and I kept looking at each other like UGH.

I decided on this trip I was going to try all new things to eat regardless of if it sounded like something I liked or not. After all I could send it back if I wanted to so why not!

After dinner we walked around a bit more and I located the smoking areas. (Yes, I am a horrible smoker woman :eek: ) By this time the ship was really moving wierdly making my head feel really bizarre and I wanted to go lay down. (around 9:30)

After taking showers in our tiny tiny little inside room (and yes it was tiny!) we got into bed. Wait I forgot to mention by this point I had to hold myself up in the shower we were moving so much. And I was totally terrified that this was normal for a ship.

When we laid down you could literally see our feet go up above our head and then our head go above our feet. Over and Over and OVER again. I figured this would be the test to see if I got sea sick or not.

Around 2am the boat started rocking worse and we woke up. Side to Side, Up and down, Roll roll roll. We were not able to sleep. But I didn't get sea sick!!!

 

More tomorrow when I am rested up icon_smile.gif

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Sea Princess July 23rd through August 2nd. (Our first cruise!!)

 

Thought I would tell you about my cruise. (this might take a while) Here is the first day.

 

Day one.....

After a drive from hell through San Francisco we finally saw the ship in the distance. We pulled up to the front of the pier and it was HURRY UP QUICK Move the suitcase run UGH... Bye Saz.....Sheesh. Poor Saz. (Saz is my buddy who dropped us off)

We dropped our carry on's off and went up and had a quick lunch. We grabbed our camera from the room and went to the top deck where we waited to shove off and go under the golden gate bridge. As soon as the ship started to move I grabbed myself a HUGE pina colada and settled myself on the railing to watch Alcatraz go by. A picture dude came by and took our picture with Alcatraz in the background. It was totally freezing to death as I stood there with my foo foo drink.

As we got to the bridge people were standing on it waving goodbye to us. You should have seen the ship full of people waving back to the people on the bridge. It was fun. In the back ground a band was playing happy music and people were dancing. Did I mention that I was freezing to death?

As we passed under the bridge the ship honked it's horn. Its incredibly loud OMG I almost peed my pants loud. We laughed ourselves silly over that horn.

We went back to the room and put all of our 5 bags of luggage (plus 2 carry ons) away. (Yes we totally packed tons of things :o ) We then went exploring for a while. Very pretty ship.

At 5 we went back to the room to get ready for dinner at 5:30. We sat down at our table and waited to see who would join us. We had requested a table for 4 but got one for 10. The first couple was this little tiny full of life older couple. The second couple was very quiet and didn't seem to happy. The third couple was another older couple (heck they were all in their 60's,70's or 80's. The last couple was a very pretty woman who walked up with a combo Kramer/Al Bundy man. He was completely pissed off that he did not have a table for 6 and stormed off to give the waiter a piece of his mind. The honey and I looked at each other and thought oh great.

As we sat there the boat started to rock and roll a bit. I could feel my head swim every time it moved up or down. I was super worried that I was going to end up sea sick it was moving so bad. Another lady (al bundy/kramer's wife Barbara) and I kept looking at each other like UGH.

I decided on this trip I was going to try all new things to eat regardless of if it sounded like something I liked or not. After all I could send it back if I wanted to so why not!

After dinner we walked around a bit more and I located the smoking areas. (Yes, I am a horrible smoker woman :eek: ) By this time the ship was really moving wierdly making my head feel really bizarre and I wanted to go lay down. (around 9:30)

After taking showers in our tiny tiny little inside room (and yes it was tiny!) we got into bed. Wait I forgot to mention by this point I had to hold myself up in the shower we were moving so much. And I was totally terrified that this was normal for a ship.

When we laid down you could literally see our feet go up above our head and then our head go above our feet. Over and Over and OVER again. I figured this would be the test to see if I got sea sick or not.

Around 2am the boat started rocking worse and we woke up. Side to Side, Up and down, Roll roll roll. We were not able to sleep. But I didn't get sea sick!!!

 

More tomorrow when I am rested up icon_smile.gif

 

So far, I am completely entertained by your recount of the first day. :) Can't wait to hear more. That is after I go take a Bonine, as your description of the ship rocking and rolling has me a bit queesy in the tummy. lol Rest up and tell us more when you can. :D

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It is normally much smoother travelling South along the Left Coast than it is travelling North.

 

It is almost always rough outside the Golden Gate, where you go through an area known locally as the "potato patch". That is where the currents from the San Francisco Bay collide with the ocean currents.

 

The Japanese Current flows South along the Pacific Coast.

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Sea Princess July 23rd through August 2nd. (Our first cruise!!)

 

Thought I would tell you about my cruise. (this might take a while) Here is the first day.

 

Day one.....

After a drive from hell through San Francisco we finally saw the ship in the distance. We pulled up to the front of the pier and it was HURRY UP QUICK Move the suitcase run UGH... Bye Saz.....Sheesh. Poor Saz. (Saz is my buddy who dropped us off)

We dropped our carry on's off and went up and had a quick lunch. We grabbed our camera from the room and went to the top deck where we waited to shove off and go under the golden gate bridge. As soon as the ship started to move I grabbed myself a HUGE pina colada and settled myself on the railing to watch Alcatraz go by. A picture dude came by and took our picture with Alcatraz in the background. It was totally freezing to death as I stood there with my foo foo drink.

As we got to the bridge people were standing on it waving goodbye to us. You should have seen the ship full of people waving back to the people on the bridge. It was fun. In the back ground a band was playing happy music and people were dancing. Did I mention that I was freezing to death?

As we passed under the bridge the ship honked it's horn. Its incredibly loud OMG I almost peed my pants loud. We laughed ourselves silly over that horn.

We went back to the room and put all of our 5 bags of luggage (plus 2 carry ons) away. (Yes we totally packed tons of things :o ) We then went exploring for a while. Very pretty ship.

At 5 we went back to the room to get ready for dinner at 5:30. We sat down at our table and waited to see who would join us. We had requested a table for 4 but got one for 10. The first couple was this little tiny full of life older couple. The second couple was very quiet and didn't seem to happy. The third couple was another older couple (heck they were all in their 60's,70's or 80's. The last couple was a very pretty woman who walked up with a combo Kramer/Al Bundy man. He was completely pissed off that he did not have a table for 6 and stormed off to give the waiter a piece of his mind. The honey and I looked at each other and thought oh great.

As we sat there the boat started to rock and roll a bit. I could feel my head swim every time it moved up or down. I was super worried that I was going to end up sea sick it was moving so bad. Another lady (al bundy/kramer's wife Barbara) and I kept looking at each other like UGH.

I decided on this trip I was going to try all new things to eat regardless of if it sounded like something I liked or not. After all I could send it back if I wanted to so why not!

After dinner we walked around a bit more and I located the smoking areas. (Yes, I am a horrible smoker woman :eek: ) By this time the ship was really moving wierdly making my head feel really bizarre and I wanted to go lay down. (around 9:30)

After taking showers in our tiny tiny little inside room (and yes it was tiny!) we got into bed. Wait I forgot to mention by this point I had to hold myself up in the shower we were moving so much. And I was totally terrified that this was normal for a ship.

When we laid down you could literally see our feet go up above our head and then our head go above our feet. Over and Over and OVER again. I figured this would be the test to see if I got sea sick or not.

Around 2am the boat started rocking worse and we woke up. Side to Side, Up and down, Roll roll roll. We were not able to sleep. But I didn't get sea sick!!!

 

More tomorrow when I am rested up icon_smile.gif

 

Hope your second day was better.....:):):)

 

Bob

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Day 2....

 

After getting dressed we decided to go up to the buffet for breakfast. The whole time I was so thankful that I hadn't got seasick. The boat was still rocking and rolling pretty darn good. It made it difficult to walk in a straight line and I kept hearing people comment that they had never felt rocking like this before.

Once we got to the buffet and grabbed some breakfast we went looking for a place to sit. Let me tell you wobbling and carrying a tray of food and a cup of coffee is not an easy thing.

We had to walk around several areas that were roped off due to people being sick. Seriously if you feel sea sick maybe the best place for you is not in the front of the ship with the rocking and the smell of food everywhere. There were these roped off areas all over the ship and all you had to do was look around to see green people. Again I said thank you that I didn't get sea sick!

After breakfast we went to the smoking area and just as we sat down BOOM!! CRACK! the whole ship shuddered. The honey and I looked at each other like OMG we just hit something. Of course there were many other people looking at each other the same way. Turns out we hit a giant swell that actually went over the top of the ship.

Think about that.. over the TOP of the front of the ship!! The people in the buffet had a nice view of water rushing down the windows.

We took a lttle more time to explore the ship and noticed that over half of the people on board had these little circles behind their ears. We learned later that it was for sea sickness. We made a game of seeing who could count the most circles on their side.

Today was the first day and we were going to go meet our roll call group at tea at 3:30. I was looking forward to it.

However.... because we hadn't slept the night before we decided to go lay down for a few minutes at 1:30. We didn't wake up until 4:30 so we totally missed the tea.

We got ready for dinner and went down to the dining room. As a table we were more talkative. Turns out that the Al Bundy/Kramer type dude was actually pretty darn nice. Poor guy and his wife both had those circles behind their ears....*snort.. ahem....

What amazed me was two of the couples all ready remembered everyone's names! I am soo bad at that so it amazed me.

And can someone tell me how a dinner can last that long? Over 2 hours! Did I mention they had creme brulie and I ate 2 LMAO!!

After dinner I wanted to go to the casino for a bit. The honey HATES gambling with a passion but he went up for a little while with me. What a small casino. I was really shocked at how little machines there were on board. I guess in my head I was expecting more then 30 machines. It was kind of disappointing since I like to gamble. However I did win $30 during the short time we were there.

We walked down the stairs and found this little area with a piano in it. No one was really there so we plunked ourselves down and looked out the window for a while. Then a piano man showed up. (Larry)

This guy was funny as hell. We laughed and laughed. At one point a kid walked by and Larry says "Where are you going you wretched boy?" The honey and I laughed out loud at that. Larry kept telling people who were walking by. "SIT down!"

There was a large family group and it's members kept showing up. After about 5 of them showing up at odd times Larry stops playing and asks them how many more are coming. They said something I didn't hear and he said "good god are you people mormans?"

The honey and I looked at each other with giant eyes and open mouths and didn't know if we should laugh or be offended for the morman people. We chose to laugh. (sorry morman people!)

There came a point when about 5 woman with walkers decided to walk in front of the piano when Larry was singing. He stops playing, looks at them, says "Good God" and starts playing Chariots of fire. Funny stuff there!

However... it was at this point when we realized that we couldn't leave without getting some kind of a comment. It was late and we were pretty tired. We whispered back and forth for a bit and waited until he just started to sing and ran. LMAO!! Seriously we ran to the elevator that he couldn't see, went down a floor, walked back to our side, went up a floor and totally avoided him. Such cowards aren't we.

Actually we are because we totally did the same thing every time we saw him playing from that point on lol.

After a nice (OMG I AM FROZEN TO DEATH) smoke we went back to the room for the night.

 

More soon 330qn0k.gif

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Day 3..... at sea still

 

Around this day I could see the honey beginning to fidget a bit. He is used to being busy constantly so this relaxing few days at sea were beginning to take it's toll on him.

But!! It was finally sunny and finally the ship stopped rocking so much!

Today we decided to try a few of the activities on board. We started out with a jeopordy game. We met a really nice couple and they joined our team. Again they were older. Turns out this Alaska cruise was mostly older people although they did say there was 300 children and teens on board. We totally sucked at jeopordy by the way lol.

We then went upstairs to watch a movie under the stars... although technically it was a movie under the sun. It was still cold and I noticed peope had these blankets so off I went to grab us two. I brought them back to the chairs and proceeded to unfold them. What in the heck kind of blankets are those anyway. The stupid thing was a 3 foot by 3 foot square. So either your feet were warm and your top was cold or your top was cold and your feet were warm. We made a mental note to grab two blankets each the next time we watched a movie.

When the movie was over I took a look at the honey. oh oh.. Bright red. I looked at myself and I was pretty darn red too. We laughed and turned in the blankets.

Around this time we could see some whale spouts off in the distance. It was kind of cool to see.

We looked at the paper and noticed we had time to play bingo before dinner. So off we went. We purchased the cards and two daubers only to realize when we got in to the bingo lounge we didn't actually need the darn daubers. Live and learn right. We lost at bingo. Seems like we are losing at everything we try on this ship... well except me and the one casino trip.

It was formal night so we went upstairs to go get dressed. I showered first since it takes me longer to get ready. I slipped my dress on to quite a few comments of ummm can you close the top a bit more.... that's a lot of cleavage... Typical but irritating at the same time.

At this point he grabs his suit pants and proceeds to try to put them on. Fail. See for the last three months I have been telling him to try on his suit. The last time he wore it was almost a year ago and he has been out of work for the last 8 months. I don't know about anyone else but when you have 24 hour a day access to a fridge and all the snacks in the house you tend to gain a bit of weight. Well he had never tried them on and now here it was formal night, with me all dressed up and him trying in vein to button those pants. I admit to being disappointed while at the same time highly amused. I knew we had to tell the tablemates we weren't coming so I headed off to the elevator to let them know. Lucky for me I ran into one of the woman at the elevator. I let her know we wouldn't be at dinner so they wouldn't have to wait and went back to the room.

Once there I changed into something more comfy and we headed off to have pizza. I have to admit it felt kind of strange walking around in comfy clothes while everyone else was all spiffy and having their pictures taken. We did have a really good view of the champagne fountain though.

Pizza was excellent even though we did have to wait a bit. By the time we were done it was fairly late and the paper said that the clock would be changed back an hour that evening. So even though we gained an hour we decided to head upstairs to bed. After all tomorrow was Ketchikan and the honey's dream of fishing in Alaska for salmon.

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Thanks for the next two installments, still very entertaining. :)

 

One thing I might mention, the sea princess has but half a regular sized casino. They cut it down when it sailed with mostly UK passengers on the Caribbean itinerary so they could set up the other side with tables for cards and games (as I guess UK residents are big on things like this we were told). Still fun, but yes I agree, quite small in comparison to any of the other ships in this class.

 

Keep up the good work, we are awaiting day 3, 4 etc. :)

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