Seattle and Vancouver

She Said

We made it on the ship! 

Blaise may or may not participate in the blogging this trip or perhaps intermittently.  Right now he is fighting day 2 of his first-day-of-vacation headache. It is usually gone by day 2 but not this time.

Overview of Trip

I haven’t really talked much about this trip so before I get into what is going on, here is an overview:

Thursday, September 12: Fly from D/FW to Seattle

Spend the day in Seattle

Take a train at 7 PM to Vancouver

Arrive in Vancouver at 11 PM

Friday, September 13: Embark Celebrity Solstice for a 10-Night cruise to Hawaii

Saturday, September 14: At Sea

Sunday, September 15: At Sea

Monday, September 16: At Sea

Tuesday, September 17: At Sea

Wednesday, September 18: At Sea

Thursday, September 19: Hilo, Hawaii (The Big Island)

Friday, September 20: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (The Big Island)

Saturday, September 21: Lahaina, Hawaii (Maui)

Sunday, September 22: Lahaina, Hawaii (Maui)

Monday, September 23: Honolulu, Hawall (Oahu)

We get off the ship here

Tuesday, September 24: Oahu

Wednesday, September 25: Oahu

Thursday, September 26: Oahu

Friday, September 27: Oahu

Saturday, September 28: Oahu

Sunday, September 29: Leave Oahu

Monday, September 30: Arrive home

An aside - As I write this, I sit in the Sky Lounge listening to music trivia thinking if I had Suzanne Hogg or Dana Manry with me, we would win this shit - every time!

Thursday

Our flight left at 6:20 a.m.  The day before the flight Blaise was convinced we could park the car at some TexRail parking lot near the airport for free.  He swore Brandon told him about that. My solution was Uber but $26ish was too hefty a price for my retired recently extremely money-conscious husband.  I told him if he could confirm our car would not be towed from the TexRail parking lot we could do that, otherwise, we were going to schedule an Uber. Really?  Who is going to let you park your car for 2.5 weeks in a parking lot for free? I got home from the office Wednesday to find that he could NOT guarantee our car would still be in the lot without ticket or tow.  Uber it was.

Carolyn, our 4 AM Uber driver was lovely.  It was an extremely clean black Cadillac with comfy leather seats.

Made it to Seattle around 8:30 am.  Found our luggage even without a single sign or announcement regarding which carousel to go to.  There were about 100 of us wandering around trying to figure out which carousel they were going to pop out of.  By the time we figured it out, all the luggage had already been pulled off the carousel and were lined up on the floor.

We then took the train to a station near the King Street Station where we were to catch the Amtrak to Vancouver later that day.  The plan was to check our bags and then wander around downtown Seattle all day.

We got off the train from the airport with all our luggage - 2 nearly 50 pound bags, my purse, and a carry on. We went up the escalator to the street level.  Blaise has GPS/Google open on his phone to get us to the Amtrak station. We see a sign on the street with an arrow and the words ”Amtrak Station.” I suggest we follow the sign but Blaise is insistent that Google is not sending us that way, it is the opposite direction and we need to follow Google.  I’m not too keen on this but having only 2 hours of sleep the night before, I am more compliant than I should have been.

So we head off in the opposite direction of the arrow.  Quite literally. Uphill. And we walk. And we walk some more.  15 minutes into this effort of pack mules, I say, “It should not be this far!”  You see, I had looked all of this up before we left and it appeared, the walk should have been 5 minutes or less.  Blaise said, well it said it was 0.9 miles from the train station we just left to King Street Station, where we were going.  I was stunned! I told him there is no way that could be the case and that it was not that far. He said we go up and turn on 16th Avenue.  I look at the upcoming intersection - 10th Avenue. What?! I said “No way!” He tried to encourage me by telling me every cross street was an even number so it was only 3 blocks up.  Let me remind you, we are still walking up hill with 50 pound bags. I am beyond not happy.

We get up past 14th Avenue and I ask him exactly what he put into Google.  He looks and says “Amtrak King Street.” I said no, you can’t say that - the proper name of the station is King Street Station and the word Amtrak is NOT anywhere in the name.  He changes it, and lo and behold, it takes us back the way we came.

At this point, I am worried about blisters forming on my hands from the handles on the luggage.  I suggest an Uber. He says we’ll be fine because we will be walking downhill now. We stand there for a few minutes (not speaking)  so I can recover my breath (I have asthma, you know) and because I am using great restraint. I say OK, we’ll head back but I reserve the right to call an Uber at any time.

We make it back to our original train station where I suggest, AGAIN, we follow the sign because he is still questioning the sign’s veracity.  This time he concedes. We walk past the train station we left, at this point probably 45 minutes to an hour earlier, and what do we find directly behind that train station?  A building with a big sign on the top saying “King Street Station.” Did I mention directly behind the train station we left an hour earlier? Blaise and I didn’t talk much for a while after that.

The elusive King Street Station

After checking our bags with Amtrak, I decided I could either have a shitty day being pissed off about this debacle or put it behind me and enjoy the day.  I choose the latter. After a 10-minute rest at the very lovely King Street Station, we headed out to find Pike Place Market and some lunch. While the walk there was about a mile, it was rather lovely not carrying luggage.

We wandered around the market for a while then stopped and ate at a place called Athenian in the market.  We wanted to share some fish and chips. We had our choice of cod, salmon, or halibut. We chose halibut. It was absolutely delicious.  The tarter sauce was probably the best I have ever had and the fish was fresh, just as you would expect in Seattle.

View at Lunch

We wandered around the market for a while longer.  We purchased fresh figs and lavender shortbread cookies.  I could have purchased so much more but after lugging that luggage all over the place, I wasn’t too keen on carrying even more stuff around.

We wandered back to King Street Station, making some stops here and there at various stores.  We were both pretty tired after having little sleep the night before and from the ridiculous schlep from earlier in the day so we just relaxed for a bit before we had to get on the train to Vancouver.

Ceiling of the beautifully restored King Street Station in Seattle

Built in 1904-06, it was purchased by the City of Seattle for $10 in 2008, and finally restored to its former grandeur in 2013.

Train to Vancouver

The train ride was 4 hours long and fairly uneventful.  We ate in the bistro car. I had clam chowder and Blaise just had coffee.  I thought I might be able to sleep a bit because the seats were pretty comfortable but that didn’t happen. So I broke it to Blaise we were not going with our original plan of getting off the train, walking to another train station, getting on another train, getting off that train and then walking to the hotel.  I had already done the research and the cab ride was about $13 from the train station to the hotel. He whined a bit. I reminded him he was retired and I was working and I had determined I can afford the $13 cab ride as opposed to schlepping all that luggage at 11:30 at night in the dark in a city with which we are not that familiar. 

After we made it through customs and passport control, we walked out and the taxi stand was right there.  Ten minutes and $9.75 later, we were checking into the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, ready for a good night’s sleep.

The Hotel and Friday Morning

The hotel was lovely.  When we checked in, the guy said if we were catching the cruise ship the next day, as long as we called them by 11 AM, a bellman would pick up our luggage from our room and deliver it to the cruise ship free of charge.  After the day we had, I was in!

View from Window of Hotel in Vancouver

The bed was comfortable and sleep was easy!  At 10:50 the next morning, the bellman picked up our luggage and we headed out to find breakfast.  When we walked out of the front door of the hotel, we discovered why the free luggage delivery - the front of the cruise ship was staring us in the face.

View of the Celebrity Solstice as we walked out of the hotel

We had a lovely breakfast at a place called Scuzzi, a small mom and pop place serving lots of Mediterranean fare and a few other things.  They had the fluffiest scrambled eggs I think I have ever had. They were delicious. Their menu said their lasagna was world famous. I am a sucker for a good lasagna (not the kind absolutely smothered in sauce) so maybe the next time we go.  The place seemed to have a bunch of regulars - a couple times while we were there someone walked in and the owner, dressed in a suit vest, no tie, and a fedora, told them “We have your table ready.”

While at breakfast, Blaise asked me if I packed his Kindle. Crap!  I did not. Yes, I do all the packing. I am particular about it and it is easier for me to simply do it all than argue and carry on about how Blaise packs.

I get on the phone and find a bookstore about 3 blocks from there, even though Blaise swore there was no way there would be a bookstore anywhere near us since they are damn near obsolete.  McCloud’s Bookstore was quite a place. We were greeted with “Can I direct you to a particular pile?” Piles of books. Everywhere. At one point, Blaise knocked down a pile of books with the bag he was carrying (our small carryon bookbag)  and the guy behind the counter recommended he keep behind the counter to avoid additional book tumbles. I guess it might have disrupted their organization of the books. This guy clearly did not know my husband. There was zero chance Blaise was handing that bag to anyone he didn’t know.

Blaise found a book - The Expats by Chris Pavone.  Glory Be! It was not a technical book. Maybe he truly IS retired.  We purchased it and we were on our way.

McCloud's Bookstore

On the Boat

We embarked the ship around 1:30ish.  It was a rather smooth process. The only complaint is the signage was not really great so we did wander a bit after we checked in looking for security and the way to ship.

Our cabin was quite a surprise.  We splurged for a Sky Suite this time since we were going to be at sea for 5 days.  It is the biggest cabin on a ship we have ever had! We booked this cruise through Online Vacations and one of the reasons we got a good deal on it is because we did not get to select the cabin number.  I was nervous about it, but now I think perhaps they should pick the cabin every time. It is on the corner on the back of the boat and it seems bigger than the Sky Suites we have had before (only twice - also got a good price on those).  The cabin is very secluded. You have to use your card key to get in one door that leads to an alcove with only the doors to two cabins. Then you use your card key to get into your room.

Our cabin

Our balcony

Perks for this Cruise

We really did get a good deal on this one.  We have unlimited free internet, prepaid gratuities, the premium drink package, and $1500 onboard credit.  With all those free perks, I am not sure what we will use the onboard credit for but we’ll find something I am sure.  We used it to purchase 2 excursions. We are renting a car in Maui so we don’t need to purchase one there. Having done that, we still have about $1,000 left of onboard credit.

Dinner

Suite folks have their own restaurant - The Luminae if they choose to use it, and that is where we ate last night.  Our amuse bouche was a ham and cheese croquette with aioli. Blaise had the pork belly for appetizer and turbot (fish) for his entre’.  I had the burrata with pesto and crostini for appetizer. My entree was a mouth-watering filet mignon, medium rare, and dessert was a chocolate ganache tart.  Very delicious. Blaise did not have his typical cheese plate for dessert. Just coffee.

Today (Saturday, September 14)

Today is wet and rainy.  Sea is a bit rough, but not too bad.  We are still in the Sky Lounge watching the sea ahead and listening to one of the better performers I have heard on a cruise ship.  He has a great voice! Just him and his guitar.

Not sure we will have much to blog about in the next few days.  I hope all is well with you. We are finally entering the relaxed zone.

Blaise is still fighting his first day vacation headache on day 2.  No blog from him today. You just get me.