Our 2008 Return to the Pearl - May 11, 2008 (Seattle Leg of the Trip)

[Cruisin' Nana]

First, let me say this was a very awesome cruise, but please allow me to get the negative out first so I can elaborate on the positive. We had a balcony cabin that was sandwiched with another balcony between mini-suites on Deck 9 along the back of the ship. There was apparently one, if not more smokers, in the cabins above us. So to whoever those smokers were, I hope you enjoyed your nice clean balcony because you covered ours with ashes, cigarette butts and trash. We had to clean off our railing and chairs every time we wanted to use them and were constantly tracking ashes into our cabin from the deck of our balcony.

Now that is out of my system, let me proceed with the account of our wonderful trip. I hope you enjoy it!!

Last May, we took the brand new Pearl for our second cruise to Alaska and loved her so much that we had to do it again this year. And she is just as fabulous and beautiful as the first time! We had a wonderful stewardess and steward, Rosalie Lusterio and Guillermo Lopez. They took very, very good care of us and were SO friendly! Unfortunately, if you are cruising during the next two months, you will not be able to enjoy Rose as she was leaving the last day of our cruise to go home to the Phillipines to be with her family. She was SO excited as it had been 10 months since she had seen her 4-year-old daughter. We hope you have a wonderful vacation, Rose, you deserve it!!!

Before we left on our cruise on the Pearl last May, I won 2 free airline tickets on Continental in a contest. This prompted us to take advantage of NCL's Cruise Rewards Program where we paid a $250 deposit during that cruise towards our next cruise (this one) and got $100 onboard credit towards the cruise we were on. Earlier this year, Chief and I decided to buy a third ticket for our flights so we would have plenty of room on the plane. It was a huge pay off for us because both our flights from and to Houston were completely booked.

Note for everyone interested in the Thrifty Car Rental arrangements at the pier. We rented the first car at SeaTac and returned it to Pier 48. We did not have to pay a return service charge for a one-way rental. It was the same for when we returned: we picked up the car at Pier 48 and returned it to SeaTac without paying a return service charge for a one-way rental. I’ll elaborate more later on renting from Thrifty.

FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008

 

We left Houston at 7:40 a.m. Our extra seat seemed to upset the apple cart for the flight attendants. Understandably, they had to check our boarding passes to make sure we were not pulling a fast one. Although, the attendants were rather snippy through the whole flight, it really didn't matter, because we were quite comfortable with our 3 seats. As we were flying into the Seattle area, we saw four beautiful snow-capped mountains (volcanoes - Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood) sticking far above the surrounding mountains. It was a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight!

We arrived in Seattle around 10:30 a.m. The weather was beautiful and mostly sunny with the highs in the 60's. Quite a pleasant change from the 90 degrees weather we left in Texas. First, we noticed that the trees, bushes and flowers were in beautiful full bloom. Spring hits Houston around February and we were already well into summer here. I loved spending the two days going through Spring again and seeing all the different beautiful flowering plants in the Seattle area! We lived in West Seattle for 4 years in the late 70's to early 80's and I had forgotten how truly beautiful it is.

Once we gathered our suitcases, we picked up our rental car from Thrifty Rental. We actually signed the contract at the desk in the baggage area of the airport and then was shuttled to an off-site area to pick up the car. This process took roughly 45 minutes from the time we got to the desk in the terminal to the time we actually left the car lot. After picking up the car, we ate lunch at Denny's nearby. Then we tried to check into our hotel, the Fairfield Marriott at SeaTac, but they said our room was not ready. We left to go catch the Southworth ferry from West Seattle, across Puget Sound, to the Southworth area just east of Port Orchard. Of course, we got lost getting to the ferry landing, but had a beautiful drive through West Seattle to find it. What gorgeous homes and yards!!! We got in line to wait for the next ferry to pick us up, and I felt so at peace with the breeze from the Sound blowing through the car window. The ride across the Sound was not long - maybe 20 minutes - and we drove straight to our destination: A lot that was for sale we found on the internet last year after our cruise. The price was unbelievably great for a lot only 300 yards from the Sound, but after checking into it, we found out it was for recreational purposes only. Apparently, the perc test showed it could not accommodate a septic system. However, it was wooded and beautiful and SO close to the Sound! We drove a little bit around the very quaint area, then drove back to the ferry landing and caught the ferry back to West Seattle to try to check into our room again. This time it was a go. After dropping off our luggage, we went in search of dinner.

One huge thing I’d like to tell about that you may want to keep in mind when planning the financial end of your trip. We are not seasoned travelers, so we were unaware of this. Thrifty rental car company put a hold on our credit card while we had the car for the amount of the rental plus 15% or $250, whichever is the greatest amount, so we had a $250 deposit pending on our credit card. This pending charge was supposed to drop off our account when we turned in the car and paid for the usage (it did fall off at some point during our cruise). When we checked into the hotel, they also put a hold on our credit card for the amount of our stay, plus an additional amount for "incidentals" - even if we had planned to pay in cash when we checked out. So after we checked out and paid for our room, we had a double charge (pending and actual) on our account for a few days. The pending charge dropped off sometime during our cruise.

We noticed that there is no range between drive-in restaurants and expensive restaurants around SeaTac Airport, except for Denny's - it's either one or the other. That's why we drove to Southcenter Mall (south of the airport) in search of the Cheesecake Factory. We had a lovely dinner, then drove back toward the hotel. We stopped at a small lake, Angle Lake, on International Boulevard, hoping for a walk, but there was no walking trail around the lake. We stayed only a few minutes, then went back to the hotel room. When we initially made the reservation, we thought it would be lots of fun to have a "jacuzzi" room, which has a two-person jacuzzi within a few feet of the bed. Well, I guess the reality of it is if a couple has been married for almost 35 years, the "cutesyness" of it is somewhat lost - especially after a day of travel. We returned to the room around 8:00 (which is 10:00 p.m. in Houston) and about an hour past my regular bedtime. Chief, being the sweet guy he is, allowed me to be the first to use the jacuzzi. I couldn't wait for those soothing jets of water massaging away the stress of traveling. After filling the tub, I pushed the button to "Calgon, take me away" and nothing happened. We turned on the timer and looked for every possible switch or button, but nothing happened. After a thorough search of the room, Chief headed down to the desk to report the problem and also to let them know we had no washcloths, also. Meanwhile, I simply soaked in the huge hot tub of water, then got out and got ready to go to bed. The assistant manager had to come to the room to ascertain that we were not idiots and that the tub definitely did not work. There were no more jacuzzi rooms, so we had the choice of staying where we were or move to a regular king-size room across the hall, either way with a $10 discount. We chose to stay where we were. They were sending a maintenance guy to the room the next day to try to find the problem.

(Continued)

[Sooners]

we thought it would be lots of fun to have a "jacuzzi" room' date=' which has a two-person jacuzzi within a few feet of the bed. Well, I guess the reality of it is if a couple has been married for almost 35 years, the "cutesyness" of it is somewhat lost - especially after a day of travel. [/font']

 

LOL...you are cracking me up! Does Cheif know you wrote this?:confused: :D

[ute_fan]

What a wonderful review! We sailed on the Pearl last year too and had hoped to do a return trip this year, but it didn't work out for us. If you end up doing another trip to Seattle, we enjoyed Sharps Roaster (or something like that) not too far from Seatac on International Blvd. last year when we were there.

[Cruisin' Nana]

LOL...you are cracking me up! Does Cheif know you wrote this?:confused: :D

 

 

Yes, he made a little face, but no comment.

[judyf]

Nice review, I'm enjoying it.

[bubbachief]

What a wonderful review! We sailed on the Pearl last year too and had hoped to do a return trip this year, but it didn't work out for us. If you end up doing another trip to Seattle, we enjoyed Sharps Roaster (or something like that) not too far from Seatac on International Blvd. last year when we were there.

 

 

I second the comment about Sharps. Reasonable and food good.