Monday, September 15 - Day at sea

Monday morning we woke up pretty early – with the 3 hour time difference we were still living some where between the ship’s/Alaska time and the time back home. When we woke up we discovered that the Cruise Director did a morning show every day that went over the details of the day and gave other pertinent information. We watched JJ every morning and often referred to the information he gave. After the crazy year and half that I had it was so great to have someone tell me what to do, where to go and not to have to make any decisions. I think the most difficult decision each day was what time to go to dinner.I had ordered breakfast the night before to arrive around 8:30 so I could eat before the massage, but woke up early enough to run upstairs to the horizon court – which is the 24 hour buffet. They had a big pot of oatmeal, and that is what I ended up eating every morning for breakfast with brown sugar and raisins of course. On Monday I brought it back to the room so that I could get continue to get ready. We then went upstairs to the Lotus Spa. They led us into the nice waiting room where we filled out a bunch of information. Long story, but two week prior to this I flew home from New York City after the conclusion of the bike tour. For some reason, which I still do not know why, after I got home my right ankle and foot started swelling quite badly. On the Saturday between the trips, I went into the doctor’s to get it checked out was immediately sent to the hospital to have an ultra sound to make sure I did not have blood clots. Thankfully I did not, so they put me on water pills and the swelling went down. The first day of the cruise I noticed my leg beginning to swell a bit again, so I put that on the form. My masseuse was Wandi and she was from South Africa. She was very nice and we chatted a bit. Our cruise was the last one before the boat went on dry dock so the majority of the staff had 3 weeks off after us, including Wandi who was going home for the time. She was both excited and nervous. Wandi did a good job giving me a massage, and I have had no trouble with my foot since then. Of course as with all the other massages I have had I was left with some bruises. It is crazy how easily I bruise. After our massages, Shan and I went back to our room to get ready for the first of our Cruise Critic gatherings.

Cruise Critic is a website I found at some point early in my cruise planning/research. On the site you can join a roll call for your cruise and get to know people online before you leave. I really enjoyed getting to know this group in the weeks and months prior to the trip and was looking forward to meeting them in person. We met up in Skywalkers and walking in was reminiscent of my summer on the tour. I walked in and said Hi I am Erinn and the whole group was like "Hi Erinn – so good to meet you." I so touched when one of the couples from St. Catharine’s brought me some news paper clipping from when the tour went through. We sat down to chat for a while, but it was pretty rocky up there and Shannon was really feeling it. She went back to the cabin to lie down and I stay up there. I think I was there for over 2 hours. It was so great to have a group of people that I ‘knew” on the ship for the week. After the cruise critic gathering I went back to the room to see how Shan was doing and then grab a bit of lunch before our Pilates class. Now neither one of us had done Pilates before, and Shan had never even done Yoga. I had at least done that before and knew not to go too crazy or else I would be very sore. Shan on the other hand gave it her all. Now for those of you who have not done Pilates, there is a far amount of balance involved. It is not such a great idea to try to learn these positions on a rocking boat. I spent half the time laughing at myself and was not taking it at all serious. I think Shannon was trying to impress the cute instructor. After word Shannon needed to take a nap. Here she is recovering from Pilates.



Next we needed to get ready for the 1st formal night.

The rest of Sunday September 14

After we sailed away Shannon and I went off to explore the ship.

This is Skywalkers – the night club/disco what ever you want to call it. Some one was thinking when they designed the ship. Skywalkers is on a deck of it’s own suspended a floor above the top deck of the ship. It has a walkway leading up to it with a people moving up the middle. I enjoyed taking that up. Shan preferred to walk. The only flaw in the design is that there are no bathrooms up there, you have to go back down to the deck below.

Skywalkers offered great views and during the day it was often empty. We went up there during the sail away to watch for awhile. Shannon decided to take this picture of me relaxing. Just as I am saying don’t get my feet in there. We also sat and relaxed by the indoor pool for a while. Sadly it was too cool to spend much time by the outdoor pools.
At some point during the afternoon we finished unpacking and getting our room set for the week. Around 5 pm we headed up to the Lotus Spa where they were giving tours of the spa and at 5:30 raffling off certificates for services. We figured we could sit through the sales pitch if it meant winning something. Sadly we did not win anything, but we did decide to sign up for pilates on Monday our first sea day and spinning on Friday our second sea day. Neither one of us had ever tried pilates or spinning, but that was our mantra for the cruise – lets try new things! Of course it helped that one of the fitness instructor was pretty cute – just ask Shan about him. After the giveaways we deiced to schedule massages. That was one thing we had both talked about doing on the cruise, but had not fully decided on. Unfortunately there were not too many open spots left, but we were able to get appointments on Monday at 9:00 am.

After we left the spa we decide to go get some dinner. We had anytime dinning which meant we could eat in one of two dinning rooms anytime between 5:30 – 9:30 pm. We went to the Portofino dinning room – not sure why, I think it was the first one we found and there was not a wait. Once we were seated Shan let the waiter know that she has a shellfish allergy. He went to get the headwaiter; Andrew who put Shan on his list of food allergies and told her to ask for him as soon as we came in each time and he would make sure her food was prepared separately. I have to say I was impressed with Princesses handling of food allergies, my nephew has a peanut allergy, so I have seen restaurants handle it both good and bad. I would not hesitate to recommend Princess to anyone with dietary concerns. Here are Shannon and I at dinner.
We sat with three other couples that night. I think two of them were from Seattle or had lived in Seattle and the third was from Portland. They were very nice and the conversation never lagged. I had some sort of pasta that night – I don’t remember exactly what kind it was. The food was good and so was the service. No complaints. After dinner we wondered around the ship a bit, stopped in at the different lounges to hear the music, looked around the casino and then went to the 10:15 Welcome Aboard Show. It was at the show we found out the person who had walked by during the muster drill was the Cruise Director JJ. Over the week, JJ became a source of entertainment for us, the inside joke, the diversion, and our source of amusement. Anyone who knows me well knows I often find my comic relief in this fashion. The Welcome Aboard Show was good, it had a sampling of the shows to come, including the comedian Steve Moris who made me laugh a lot at his musical parodies. I will never sign little bunny foo foo the same again. (Yes I do often sign this song, I know lots of 2-3 year olds).

After the show we headed up to bed for the night.

Getting on the Star!!

The Star Princess was docked at terminal 30 and we had to go through the whole boarding process. Here is our first view of the ship.

We got into line and dropped off the majority of our luggage. Then we proceeded into the building to fill out some paper work ensuring we had not been sick recently. Then we waited in line until we could check in. The line kept moving, and we really did not wait that long, it just felt like it since we were so excited to be there. Once we checked in we moved toward security with a quick stop to get our first of many professional pictures taken. I was carrying our large bouquet of flowers and they were included in the picture. As we entered the ship they took our picture, a mug shot, as we swiped our card for the first time, this was for security reasons. We were finally on the Ship!! We decided to go to our room first and drop off our carry on luggage and get a vase for the flowers. When we booked the cruise we book a guarantee cabin – which as the name suggests, we were guaranteed a cabin on the boat. We joked about how we were sure we were going to be on the lowest deck, under water, in the crew quarters, but we were pleasantly surprised with out assigned cabin. We were in Baja 416 – which is on the 11th deck. The 11th deck was mid way between the Lido, deck 14, where the food court, pools and decks were located and the Promenade, deck 7, where the theaters, lounges, and shops were located. Our cabin was mid-ship, port side, basically in the middle of the ship down the left hallway. We were just around the corner from a set of elevators and a staircase. It was a great location, and if we had booked it originally, it would have cost us both several hundred dollars more.

When we entered our room, we met our room steward, whose name escapes me. He introduced himself and asked if we needed anything. We asked for a vase and he quickly returned with one for our gorgeous flowers.
Look at how pretty they are.
Only $10.
I enlarged this picture to hang up in my house.
We then wondered around the ship for a short while. The passenger muster drill was at 3:30 pm and we had to be in our rooms to get our life jackets. When we got back to the room our luggage was there and we started to unpack while we were waiting for the drill to start. Princess handles the muster drill nicer then some other cruises, they just have you go up to your muster station, not out on the deck by the life boats. They also have the room stewards go through the rooms to make sure everyone is there instead of doing a roll call. They also only have you put on your life jacket and then take it off, not stand around in them. Our muster station was in the hall by the picture gallery and Wheelhouse Bar. When the announcement was made, we headed down there and waited for the instructions. While we were standing there, the cruise director, walked by. It was the first time we saw him and I have to admit I thought he was pretty cute. We did not know at the time who he was, but soon found out.

After the muster drill we went up on the deck for the sail away. It was such a beautiful day, near 80 degrees and sunny. Here are Shannon and I on the deck.
Here are some pictures of the skyline of Seattle as we sailed away.
This is the building we went through to check in, and go through security.
At the time of Sail away the Seattle Seahawks were playing the San Francisco 49ers. As we went by we could hear the roar of the crowd. More pictures of the skyline.

Notice how short the space needle is?

Not happy with Thrifty!

We ended the underground tour right by a Starbuck’s – go figure we were in Seattle. It was not the original Starbuck’s but I figured I needed to go to at least one while I was there. So I went in and got a “dessert in a glass” since I don’t drink coffee. As we walked back to the car we came across this great little boutique – Divas Dollz – it had vintage and vintage inspired clothes, lingerie, shoes, jewelry… everything was so girly, lacy, frilly, so up my ally! I didn’t buy anything since we were short on time, but I am definitely putting on my list next time I go to Seattle. I think the Pioneer Square area is becoming my favorite part of Seattle. We then jumped in the car and drove over to Pike’s Place market to pick up some flowers for our cabin for the week. Since it was as crazy over by the market as the rest of downtown, I dropped Shannon off with $10 and drove around the block while she picked up some flowers. They were so beautiful and lasted all week. (Picture to come soon)

We then drove to the Thrifty car rental place by the piers. I had found this place in June during the crazy police chase I got caught in. I know I have not told that whole story, but I will some day. On the June trip, I had a few issues with Thrifty, it took an hour at the airport just to get the car – it was so frustrating. But after searching they still had the cheapest rate to pick up at the airport and drop off at the pier. So I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and try again. This time getting the car at the airport was a breeze and I thought the June incident was a flunk. I was wrong. We pulled into the lot and tried to figure out where to park, we finally saw an employee wave us over to parking spot. We parked the car and started gathering our stuff and the worker kept rushing us to get out. I found it a little rude, but thought, fine you can take care of the trash. We brought our luggage up to the sidewalk and Shannon stayed outside with it while I went in to pay. When I walked into the building I noticed a huge difference from when I was in there in July. There were office supplies and files all over the floor, trash all round and it was just filthy. I could not believe it. When I walked there were 5 people in line in front of me. It was then I found out that the employee outside was the only one working there and every time a new car came in to be returned she would have to run out and check it in. I waited in line almost 30 minutes just to pay. It was crazy – poor Shannon had no idea what was going on until I texted her. After I finally got through the line I went back outside to wait for the shuttle. We were a bit worried since the whole time we were there no shuttles came. In addition there were about 30 people all waiting. We talked about walking to the pier, but with all our stuff I am not sure we could handle it. Finally the shuttle came and it was so tiny – there were seats for about 10 people and 30 to fit in. I wish I had a picture of us all crammed in the shuttle. I sat down and Shannon was practically floating on everyone’s lap. It was insane. Thankfully it was a short ride and we were on our way to our home for the next week – The Star Princess.

A History Lesson

Sunday morning Shannon and I got up, packed up our room and set off to go to Pioneer Square downtown to take the underground tour. This was the thing I was the most excited about (besides seeing my cousins) on this trip to Seattle. I know I am a nerd, who loves history. :)Before we went downtown we needed to find a store to pick up a few things and for Shannon to double check that her camera memory card was working. We found a Walgreen’s and both went off to grab what we needed. As I got into line I noticed this man in front of me in line. He was wearing denim dickie overalls, a dingy t-shirt, a straw “cowboy” hat and a Bluetooth. I don’t have a picture cause I thought that might be kind of rude, but the song “One of these things does not belong with the others” was going through my head.

We then drove downtown to go on the tour. We had hoped to go on the 10:00 am, but realized we were not going to make it, so we then planned on the 11:00. It is good thing we had that option since downtown was crazy with the Seattle Seahawk, San Francisco 49ers games going on. We search all over for a place to park. The lots were charging between $25 and $40 for the day, and we really did not want to pay that for a couple of hours. While we were driving around we saw some pretty random things, people tailgating is some park not very close to the stadium, a marching band walking and playing down the street and your typical football fans. We drove around until 10:45 looking for a spot and could not find one. At that point Shannon jumped out of the car to go buy tickets and we thought we were just going to have to bite the bullet and pay that much for parking. UGH! Then as I turned the corner to go to the closest $25 lot I noticed a girl getting into her car at a meter. I could not believe my luck. She pulled out and I quickly claimed my stop. Of course I had to parallel park, which is something I don’t do too often. But I performed a perfect maneuver and made it to the tour in time to quick use the restroom before the tour started.

Pioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest section of Seattle that was once the heart of the city. When the first people came to the Seattle are this is where they settled and it was a thriving community, but soon this area was better known for its shady activities. The term Skid Row originated in this area during this time as a way of describing Pioneer Square. In 1889 the whole area pretty much burned down, which is how the underground came to be – I will get into those details in a bit. By the 1960’s the heart of the city have moved and many officials had big plans for this area, including tearing down many of the historical buildings to build parking lots and new roads. Thankfully a group of preservationists went to work to have the area designated as a national historical area and the deconstruction of the area stopped. Today this area is thriving and often noted as the center of Seattle’s night life. This was the first time I had been to Pioneer Square and I really loved this area. Unfortunately we only had the morning to be there, so it is on my list of places to return to, someday.

Here is a picture of the Pioneer Building.

A closer look at the arch.

A cool looking building in Pioneer Square.The Seattle Underground Tour started in Doc Maynard’s Public House, a restored 1890s saloon.

Here is Doc Maynard's

Here is the sign on the door.

The guides tell you a brief history of Seattle, while I remember some of it, I will revert to Wikipedia for the summary…

Seattle's first buildings were wooden. In 1889, a cabinetmaker accidentally overturned and ignited a glue pot. An attempt to extinguish it with water spread the burning grease-based glue. The fire chief was out of town, and although the volunteer fire department responded, they made the mistake of trying to use too many hoses at once. They never recovered from the subsequent drop in water pressure, and the Great Seattle Fire ended up destroying 33 city blocks.

Here is the city before the fire. Here is a plaque telling about the fire – how would you like to be forever known as the guy who set Seattle on fire. While a destructive fire was not unusual for the time, the response of the city leaders was. Instead of rebuilding the city as it was before, they made two strategic decisions. First, they ordered that all rebuilding use stone or brick—insurance against a similar disaster in the future. They also decided to take advantage of the destruction to regrade the streets one to two stories higher than the original street grade. Pioneer Square had originally been built mostly on filled-in tidelands and as a consequence it often flooded. The new street level also assisted in ensuring that gravity-assisted flush toilets didn't back up during high tide in Elliott Bay.

Here is a plaque on the actions the city took.

A picture of the construction.

To regrade, the streets were lined with concrete walls which formed narrow alleyways between the walls and the buildings on either side of the street, and a wide "alley" where the street was. The naturally steep hillsides were used, and through a series of sluices, material was washed into the wide "alleys", effectively raising the streets to the desired new level, generally twelve feet higher than before, though some places were nearly thirty feet.

At first, pedestrians climbed ladders to go between street level and the sidewalks in front of the building entrances. Brick archways were constructed next to the road surface, above the submerged sidewalks. Skylights with small panes of clear glass, (which later turned to amethyst-colored because of manganese in the glass), were installed, creating the area now called the Seattle Underground.

This is one of the Skylights.

This is another Skylight looking up from the underground.

Here it the same sky light from the side walk - the purple is pretty visable here.

When they reconstructed their buildings, merchants and landlords knew that it would just be a matter of time before what was originally the ground floor would be underground, and what was originally the next floor up would be the new ground floor. As a result, there is very little decoration on the doors and windows of the original ground floor, but extensive decoration on the new ground floor.

Here is a picture of the rebuilt city before the streets were raised. This is a bank before the streets were raised.

This is that same doorway, underground.
Once the new sidewalks were complete, building owners moved their businesses to the new ground floor, although merchants carried on business in the lowest floors of buildings that survived the fire, and pedestrians continued to use the underground sidewalks lit by the glass cubes (still seen on some streets) embedded in the grade-level sidewalk above.

This is a teller cage. We also walked through the bank vault that was used then. They claimed it is haunted, but we did not see anything. In 1907 the city condemned the Underground for fear of bubonic plague, two years before the 1909 World Fair in Seattle (Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition). The basements were left to deteriorate or were used as storage. In some cases, they became illegal flophouses for the homeless, gambling halls, speakeasies, and opium dens.

Only a small portion of the Seattle Underground has been restored and made safe and accessible to the general public on guided tours.

This is a common use of the underground – a storage area for trash.

Here are some pictures of the underground area we toured.

These are the floors that are sinking due to the fact that they used sawdust to originally fill the tide plains.

Up to the Market

For those of you who have not been to Seattle, the city is built on some very large hills, actually cliffs. To get to the Pike Place Market from the water you have to go up about a million steps. I might be exaggerating a bit, but while you are in the process of climbing it feels like a million.

Once we arrived I showed Shannon where the first Starbucks was located and then we made our way over the main part of the market. The market was much busier then the previous time I was here, I have to imagine it was due to the fact it was a Saturday and many of the locals come here to get fresh produce, fish, flowers, etc. Here we each are with the “infamous” sign.

Then we were successful in taking a picture of the two of us by holding the camera out in front.
And an up-close one of the sign. We went over to the fish stand and watched them sell and throw some fish.
Then they handed this big fish to a boy in the crowd. Yuck, I hope he washed his hands after holding this.
We then went over the pepper stand. For some reason I just love how they put these displays together. This wreath was something new, I had not seen it in June. Very cool!
Then there are all the flowers. I absolutely love fresh flowers and they are all so amazing at the market. Here is some pretty statice Here is a nice fall bouquet
And these pretty pink stargazer lilies – I took these in honor of our cruise critic group – we were named the Stargazers.
Here are a row of flowers for $5 each! The flowers are so cheap here it is unbelievable. You would pay so much more for these anywhere else. We then moved onto the fresh fruit
- quick update on the this fruit picture, Shannon and I have both gone through these pictures several times, and it was only today, 10/14 that we noticed the huge lizard eating a peach. Hmm... not sure if it was take your pet to the market day or not.... And vegetables
Pasta anyone?
As we were leaving we saw this cute parking sign.
We then walked behind the market to the fun little park I had found in June to get some great sky line pictures. Here is Shan with the city behind her.
After we left the market we headed back to our hotel. Here is our room for the night - much bigger then our cabin for the week. We then headed up towards Kirkland to have dinner with my cousin, Betsy and Rob for dinner. I wanted to take Shannon across the floating bridges, which is one part of Seattle that I absolutely love and I am fascinated by.
Evidently Tampa has floating bridges, so Shan was not as impressed. We also took the tunnel under Mercer Island – Shannon was glad she was not driving. We had dinner in Kirkland, which has a fun downtown area. We went to an Irish Pub and had a great dinner! When we got back to my cousins house we saw the nursery which is awaiting the arrival of twin boys (they are scheduled to be born this Thursday, October 16th) It was great to be able to spend time with Betsy and Rob again, we had a great time both in July and September. I hope to be able to visit them again soon – I am sure they will welcome any help with the boys.