Monday, September 22, 2008

The Cruise Begins







I'm writing this on Monday, September 22, Day 4 of our 65 day trip. I'm including some pictures of our adventures so far. [Sorry, there seems to be no way in this program to put the pictures in order]

Before the ship even left the dock in Seattle we had a lifeboat drill. Everyone was required to put on a lifejacket and assemble on deck by their assigned lifeboat. They even took roll to see that no one skipped the drill. Our boat is B07. I hope it's a good one. I looks like it might be watertight.

I have a picture of us leaving Seattle with the Space Needle in the background and another one of us leaving civilization behind, literally, in our wake. The next picture is our stateroom, Number 6151.

We were eating our first dinner in the dining room as we left Seattle. You can see Alki Point in the background. On Sunday it was a "Formal Night" were we got dressed up for dinner. There are only five or six Formal Nights so we can be comfortable the rest of the time.

We were only one day out when someone had a medical emergency bad enough to require a helicopter rescue. It was very dramatic as a Canadian military helicopter came in and hovered over the bow of the ship. They let down two men and a stretcher then hovered nearby while the patient was strapped in. Then they came back, pulled the men and the patient in the stretcher up a wire to the helicopter and flew off. After that it was back to normal life on the ship, from extravaganza stage shows to tai chi sessions.

The Weather is cloudy, about 50 degrees and surprisingly calm seas. We have about five more days at sea before we reach Japan. (The stop in Russia has been cancelled.) 

I'll post some more when I find the time in our busy days.

PS: No pirates so far.


4 comments:

Rebecca said...

Wow!! This looks great. I'm glad that the sea rescue wasn't for the Gordon men. I got a letter from David. He seems to be doing well. Have a great time. You can put the pictures in order if you click & drag, but it is a drag.

bigkathleen said...

How fabulous! We love seeing this, and getting your forwards from David. Please give our regards to Bob, and keep the posts coming!
Much love, Kathleen and gang.

Cyberwife said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cyberwife said...

Dick,
Thanks for getting this going! Isn't the world of online communication great. I hope you are both having a wonderful time. Grandpa, I miss our email sessions! Take care and I can't wait to read and see more.
Hugs,
Randi