Once we were announced in the main atrium (Jocelyn had no idea what to think of that, hearing her name announced and seeing cast members clapping) – we headed straight for the elevators and took them all the way from deck 3 up to deck 9. It was time for our first trip to Cabanas! It was raining quite hard this day, so even deck 9 was quite wet despite being covered. It was also understandably busy up there, as the staterooms were still not open to guests. We found a table outside, and Luke sat with Jocelyn while Mom and I went to grab food first. Basically every time we went to Cabanas, I’d grab two plates – keeping one empty and all the food on the other,. Then at the table I’d do up Jocelyn’s plate – it was much easier than taking her through the buffet with us – this was one of those times when it was nice to have three adults to wrangle one child during the week. At a few meals her and I just shared a plate – neither of us are big eaters.
Yes – Jocelyn wore her giant tiara throughout the entire check-in process and beamed at every cast member who called her a princess…
I didn’t take a picture of her plate, but she had fries and ketchup, and penne with tomato sauce. She probably had bread as well… And a giant cup of apple juice. Jocelyn definitely helped me with those chicken fingers on my plate as well…
Nothing exciting, but from the top going clockwise – cornbread, penne with alfredo sauce (and you can see where Jocelyn’s penne with tomato sauce was sitting), grilled chicken, asparagus, chicken finger, mashed potatoes, focaccia bread, turkey and gravy (?? I think?), more chicken fingers. Most people were excited about the mountains of shrimp and crab legs on the buffet at this time – I actually don’t eat any type of fish, and my husband is allergic to shellfish – so you won’t see much of that in this report.
All of this was just ok. None of it was a standout, but it filled me up and was fine.
We went to the bathrooms on deck 9, and Jocelyn was so excited that she could reach one of the sinks without me holding her up. Honestly – having one lowered sink in each bathroom was a standout for her all week…
You can see how wet the deck was behind us – the Sail-A-Wave party ended up being delayed to the evening because of all the rain.
Someone had posted in the WhatsApp chat that rooms were available, so we were in our stateroom for the first time by 1:50pm. We had booked an inside stateroom midship on deck 6 – we were nice and close to the elevators/stairs and I loved the deck. It was 3 floors down to the main atrium, or 3 floors up to the pool deck/Cabanas – such a great central location.
We hung out for a bit, but none of our checked bags had arrived yet. We decided to split up and go check out some things. I know Luke went to get a good coffee from Cove Bar (I didn’t step foot in there once all trip, as I don’t drink coffee), and I have no idea where Mom went. Jocelyn and I went to check out the open house for the kids club. I didn’t plan on sending her there often during the cruise, but she is a daycare kid so she’s used to that type of atmosphere.
The kids club (I think it’s called the Oceaneer Club?) was adorable! She loved it!
I was fascinated by the handwash stations – those silver things. The kids stick their hands in and it automatically has a timer and shuts off itself once their hands are clean. They also had these by the check-in, so every child had to use them before entering the club.
The doors are bathroom stalls! So cute!
When we checked in and signed her up for the club, they put a magicband on her wrist. They told me if we took it home at the end of the cruise, there would be a $25 charge applied to our account for it, but this charge is waived as long as you return it before disembarking. That seemed fair to us.
Jocelyn and I met up with Luke and my Mom at the muster drill, and Luke showed us pictures of his coffee (since you have to pay at the Cove Bar, they do fancy artwork on top – I’m sure there’s a proper name for this art but I have no idea what it is…). It looked cool, and he said the coffee was significantly better than the free stuff on deck 9 that they were passing off as coffee 🤷🏻♀️
The muster drill seemed to take forever – we were on time but dozens were not. C’mon people, it’s not that difficult! While we were standing there waiting, we left the port of Vancouver and began sailing away. We also had a great view of seaplanes landing while we were waiting for the late arrivals at the muster drill.
