Day 1 – January 31, 2009

The first thing we did on the ship was take part of the Treasure Hunt. Basically you picked up a card that had 10 different locations for you to find and get a stamp for. This brought you around to all the major public places of the ship and was a great way to help you get to know the ship. For me the nice thing was that the ship was similar to the Star and so I felt like I knew where most things were. Karen and I were able to find all the place and got all our stamps.

So it was time for the muster drill. Our muster station was in the Theater and we filed in. A few rows ahead of us where a couple who had just gotten married, in fact she was still in her dress carrying her bouquet. After the muster drill we brought our life jackets back to the cabin, and then headed up to the Sail Away party. It was located at the aft of the ship. Before the festivities really started I quick made my last phone calls for a whole week. When I got outside to the party I saw that Odysea was the band – they were one of the bands on the Alaskan cruise and I had enjoyed them. It does not hurt that the lead singer has kind of a Jon Bon Jovi look.

Here is Odysea performing.
A closer look. Another angle with the crowd in the background. Here is a view of San Pedro as we left. The Cruise Director staff was part of the sail away program. They announced the winners of the Treasure Hunt – which sadly was not us. One of the guys of the Cruise Director Staff looked familiar to me. I knew he was not on the Cruise Director Staff in Alaska, so I just thought he must look like someone I know.

Here is a view of the ocean as we hit the open sea. Here is another. After the sail away we went back to the cabin and unpacked, then went to dinner. One difference between the Star and the Sapphire were the anytime dining rooms. On the Star there were larger dining rooms with tables that sat 8-10 – the Sapphire had 4 small specialty restaurants. Each of them served the same menu on each of the different theme nights, but each one had specialty items that were always available. These rooms had a bunch of small tables and Karen and I ended up eating dinner alone each night. Meeting other people at diner was such a highlight of Alaskan cruise, I really missed it in Mexico.

On the first night we went to diner and on the menu was a Pina Colada soup. I had to try that and laughed when it came out in a glass with a straw.

Here is a picture of my soup (yes I know I look very tired) After dinner we went to the “Sapphire Show” which is a welcome show that highlights some of the performers and the ship’s singers and dancers. One of the singers had also been on the Star, Becky Allen, she is a great singer and I had enjoyed her performances a ton in September. I was excited to see she was on this cruise as well. Once I saw her, all of a sudden it hit me, on who the familiar looking crew member on the Cruise Director Staff, her finance Trevor – who was the naturalist in Alaska. Another Star crew member had mentioned they were dating during that cruise and it made sense that they were both now on the Sapphire. During the show I also found out that Steve Moris, one of the comedians from the Star was on the ship too – I still laugh at his Little Bunny FooFoo act and looked forward to seeing that again.

After the show we went up to skywalkers for a little while and then back to the room to get some sleep.