crzycatldy5

We flew Southwest to Seattle. Since it was my niece's first time flying we got the early bird check in for better boarding status. We did get decent numbers but we had to circle in Chicago due to weather so with our 45 minute layover turned into us being some of the last people on the plane.
 
 

I know there will already be great live blogs from Matt and Twangster but I thought I would add my daily 2 cents since I am doing some different excursions at the ports.  I am arriving in Seattle the day before the cruise and flying out the day after so I got a City Pass to check out some of what Seattle has to offer.  Tomorrow I plan on going to the aquarium and doing the harbor cruise.  I am traveling with my 19 year old niece and figure those things will be far more interesting to her before we get on a big ship and possibly see some of the wildlife during the cruise.  I will be writing from my phone so please excuse all the typos that are sure to take place and be missed.  I can't wait to share my experience with you.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

Chihuly is my favorite artist. I look forward to going there after the cruise.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

It is finally embarkation day.  We started off at Biscuit Bitch a block over from the Moore Inn. I'm a simple gal so I got a Buttered Up Biscuit with maple peanut butter. It was pretty filling. We took an Uber to the cruise port. I had a code for a free first ride but didn't see anywhere to add the code. The ride was $10 plus tip. We chose to walk from the drop off point to the ship. It wasn't far.  We checked out the Windjammer for lunch.  We then went to the lava flow meet up where the bartender clearly did not anticipate making so many of the frozen Kraken drinks. He suspected correctly that a Caribbean cruiser was to blame. After muster we went to the spa raffle. Unfortunately a lot of people showed up and we did not win any prizes. The sail away party was a good time where we got to meet more group cruisers. It was fun today to see all the familiar shirts around the ship. It makes it feel like you have many friends. We got a little taste of the entertainment at the comedian's show. On the way out of the theater we stopped to listen to the piano player and stayed to see if our skills at music trivia were up to par. I should have jumped on a team. I knew the "hard one". It has been a other exhausting day. Thank goodness for a sea day tomorrow. 

It is finally embarkation day.  We started off at Biscuit Bitch a block over from the Moore Inn. I'm a simple gal so I got a Buttered Up Biscuit with maple peanut butter. It was pretty filling. We took an Uber to the cruise port. I had a code for a free first ride but didn't see anywhere to add the code. The ride was $10 plus tip. We chose to walk from the drop off point to the ship. It wasn't far.  We checked out the Windjammer for lunch.  We then went to the lava flow meet up where the bartender clearly did not anticipate making so many of the frozen Kraken drinks. He suspected correctly that a Caribbean cruiser was to blame. After muster we went to the spa raffle. Unfortunately a lot of people showed up and we did not win any prizes. The sail away party was a good time where we got to meet more group cruisers. It was fun today to see all the familiar shirts around the ship. It makes it feel like you have many friends. We got a little taste of the entertainment at the comedian's show. On the way out of the theater we stopped to listen to the piano player and stayed to see if our skills at music trivia were up to par. I should have jumped on a team. I knew the "hard one". It has been a other exhausting day. Thank goodness for a sea day tomorrow. 

It is finally embarkation day.  We started off at Biscuit Bitch a block over from the Moore Inn. I'm a simple gal so I got a Buttered Up Biscuit with maple peanut butter. It was pretty filling. We took an Uber to the cruise port. I had a code for a free first ride but didn't see anywhere to add the code. The ride was $10 plus tip. We chose to walk from the drop off point to the ship. It wasn't far.  We checked out the Windjammer for lunch.  We then went to the lava flow meet up where the bartender clearly did not anticipate making so many of the frozen Kraken drinks. He suspected correctly that a Caribbean cruiser was to blame. After muster we went to the spa raffle. Unfortunately a lot of people showed up and we did not win any prizes. The sail away party was a good time where we got to meet more group cruisers. It was fun today to see all the familiar shirts around the ship. It makes it feel like you have many friends. We got a little taste of the entertainment at the comedian's show. On the way out of the theater we stopped to listen to the piano player and stayed to see if our skills at music trivia were up to par. I should have jumped on a team. I knew the "hard one". It has been a other exhausting day. Thank goodness for a sea day tomorrow. 

After we checked in we went to the Market which is a few blocks away from the hotel. It is a neat place but a little too chaotic for my liking. We pre-purchased City Passes which allow you to visit 5 attractions for a lower price, now $89. We went to the aquarium today. It is small but laid out nicely.  It takes around an hour to check everything out. We were also going to do the harbor cruise today but the timing didn't work out for us.  We have 9 days to use the passes so we will add it to the list of things to do after the cruise.

 

We are traveling on a budget so I decided to ride the Lite Rail to the hotel. You have to do quite a bit of walking to get to it from the airport so it is not a good option for people with limited mobility. It did just cost us $3 a person though and took around 45 minutes to get to the Moore Inn where we are staying. It was also a bit of a hike from the train station to the hotel too. I was glad it wasn't too hot today. The Moore is a neat historic building with a theater at street level. It is basic though. There is no air conditioning so we get a lot of street noise from having the windows open. I like this place though. There are even euro rooms with a shared bathroom if you want to go really budget but we weren't that cheap.

It is finally embarkation day.  We started off at Biscuit Bitch a block over from the Moore Inn. I'm a simple gal so I got a Buttered Up Biscuit with maple peanut butter. It was pretty filling. We took an Uber to the cruise port. I had a code for a free first ride but didn't see anywhere to add the code. The ride was $10 plus tip. We chose to walk from the drop off point to the ship. It wasn't far.  We checked out the Windjammer for lunch.  We then went to the lava flow meet up where the bartender clearly did not anticipate making so many of the frozen Kraken drinks. He suspected correctly that a Caribbean cruiser was to blame. After muster we went to the spa raffle. Unfortunately a lot of people showed up and we did not win any prizes. The sail away party was a good time where we got to meet more group cruisers. It was fun today to see all the familiar shirts around the ship. It makes it feel like you have many friends. We got a little taste of the entertainment at the comedian's show. On the way out of the theater we stopped to listen to the piano player and stayed to see if our skills at music trivia were up to par. I should have jumped on a team. I knew the "hard one". It has been a other exhausting day. Thank goodness for a sea day tomorrow. 

It is finally embarkation day.  We started off at Biscuit Bitch a block over from the Moore Inn. I'm a simple gal so I got a Buttered Up Biscuit with maple peanut butter. It was pretty filling. We took an Uber to the cruise port. I had a code for a free first ride but didn't see anywhere to add the code. The ride was $10 plus tip. We chose to walk from the drop off point to the ship. It wasn't far.  We checked out the Windjammer for lunch.  We then went to the lava flow meet up where the bartender clearly did not anticipate making so many of the frozen Kraken drinks. He suspected correctly that a Caribbean cruiser was to blame. After muster we went to the spa raffle. Unfortunately a lot of people showed up and we did not win any prizes. The sail away party was a good time where we got to meet more group cruisers. It was fun today to see all the familiar shirts around the ship. It makes it feel like you have many friends. We got a little taste of the entertainment at the comedian's show. On the way out of the theater we stopped to listen to the piano player and stayed to see if our skills at music trivia were up to par. I should have jumped on a team. I knew the "hard one". It has been a other exhausting day. Thank goodness for a sea day tomorrow. 

It is finally embarkation day.  We started off at Biscuit Bitch a block over from the Moore Inn. I'm a simple gal so I got a Buttered Up Biscuit with maple peanut butter. It was pretty filling. We took an Uber to the cruise port. I had a code for a free first ride but didn't see anywhere to add the code. The ride was $10 plus tip. We chose to walk from the drop off point to the ship. It wasn't far.  We checked out the Windjammer for lunch.  We then went to the lava flow meet up where the bartender clearly did not anticipate making so many of the frozen Kraken drinks. He suspected correctly that a Caribbean cruiser was to blame. After muster we went to the spa raffle. Unfortunately a lot of people showed up and we did not win any prizes. The sail away party was a good time where we got to meet more group cruisers. It was fun today to see all the familiar shirts around the ship. It makes it feel like you have many friends. We got a little taste of the entertainment at the comedian's show. On the way out of the theater we stopped to listen to the piano player and stayed to see if our skills at music trivia were up to par. I should have jumped on a team. I knew the "hard one". It has been a other exhausting day. Thank goodness for a sea day tomorrow. 

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

Chihuly is my favorite artist. I look forward to going there after the cruise.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

I know there will already be great live blogs from Matt and Twangster but I thought I would add my daily 2 cents since I am doing some different excursions at the ports.  I am arriving in Seattle the day before the cruise and flying out the day after so I got a City Pass to check out some of what Seattle has to offer.  Tomorrow I plan on going to the aquarium and doing the harbor cruise.  I am traveling with my 19 year old niece and figure those things will be far more interesting to her before we get on a big ship and possibly see some of the wildlife during the cruise.  I will be writing from my phone so please excuse all the typos that are sure to take place and be missed.  I can't wait to share my experience with you.

We rode the Monorail to the pre-cruise meetup. It is $2.50 and it took us to the Space Needle/Chihuly Gardens and Glass/The Museum of Pop Culture. We will visit those next week using the City Pass. It was nice seeing everyone in person but we were super tired from our pre-cruise lack of sleep and day of traveling. It's time get some shut eye so we are rested to explore the Explorer. My first impression of Seattle is that it is a very artistic city. I like it here. 

After we checked in we went to the Market which is a few blocks away from the hotel. It is a neat place but a little too chaotic for my liking. We pre-purchased City Passes which allow you to visit 5 attractions for a lower price, now $89. We went to the aquarium today. It is small but laid out nicely.  It takes around an hour to check everything out. We were also going to do the harbor cruise today but the timing didn't work out for us.  We have 9 days to use the passes so we will add it to the list of things to do after the cruise.