Our 2008 Return to the Pearl - May 11, 2008 (Seattle -Part 2 and Cruising)

[Cruisin' Nana]

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008, LEAVENWORTH

 

Saturday, we got up to do a short workout in the hotel gym and fuel up with the hotel's continental breakfast. We then took off approximately 100 miles northeast of Seattle to Leavenworth, Washington, a Bavarian town in the Cascade Mountains. The sky was cloudy and the temperature was roughly in the 50's. We had a fabulous, scenic drive through the Cascade Mountains, along beautiful rivers with numerous rapids, and over Stephens Pass, which is over 4,000 feet above sea level. This area of the mountains still had tons of snow along the road and on the sides of the mountains. We arrived in Leavenworth at lunchtime and found ourselves in the middle of May Fest. We ate lunch at a restaurant at the opening to the town because the May Fest parade was blocking the road. What a cute parade!! The part we were fortunate to watch had folks in Bavarian dress with all kinds of dogs, but mostly the Burmese Mountain dog. What a fabulous breed! I love my Golden Retriever and other 2 mutts, but this was a beautiful breed. Don't think they would fair well in hot, humid Houston, though. After lunch we walked to the village square and watched a Maypole dance. Now, I've heard of this dance for all my life, but had never seen it. What fun!! The dancers were dressed in Bavarian outfits and danced around the pole for a little bit. Then they each took a ribbon hanging from the top of the pole and weaved it around the pole basket-style. Then, they skillfully danced in reverse to unweave the ribbons. Next, they danced in a hodge-podge style and tangled the ribbons, then danced in reverse and skillfully untangled them. It was remarkable how easy they made it look! We walked a little bit through the village square and a few of the stores. Then we sadly made the 2-1/2 hour trek back to Seattle.

We got back to the hotel around 5:00 and found out that the GFI outlet to our jacuzzi could not be fixed, so we got a small discount for the room. Oh, well!!! We went out and searched for a medium range restaurant without having to drive into Seattle, and again ran into the issue of drive-through versus expensive. We ended up in Burien and ate at The Keg, a steakhouse. We got very little food for a big, big price, but were too tired to drive around looking for anything else. Our dinners consisted of a steak and baked potato with a small serving of bread. The bill came to right around $60. We decided to go back to the hotel and get our luggage and things prepared for our second rendezvous in the morning with the beautiful "Miss Pearl."

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008 (HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME ‘CAUSE WE’RE CRUISIN’!)

We arose early to cloudy skies and stiff cold winds. The forecast was for rain intermittent throughout the day. We ate our continental breakfast and then left to turn in our Thrifty rental car at Pier 48. We had to make a quick stop at Fred Meyer to purchase a fleece jacket for Chief and fill the tank of the car. The price of regular unleaded gas was $3.73 per gallon at Fred Meyer, which was much cheaper than Thrifty's cost to fill it at $6.99 per gallon. So be sure to fill your rental car with gas before returning it to the company. We arrived at the Thrifty lot at Pier 48 around 10:45 and found a few folks in line ahead of us. It took roughly 45 minutes to check the car back in, wait for the Thrifty shuttle and reach the Pearl.

The embarkation process was different this year from last year. I don't know if it is because last year we took a taxi to the pier instead of the rental car shuttle we took this year. Last year, porters took our luggage for us and processed them. This year, we stood in line to have our luggage processed and go through the security check. Then we went upstairs where we were directed to an NCL representative who took our credit card information, took our pictures for our room key cards and gave us room key cards. We boarded the ship, and of course, we had to stop on our way into the ship to have the first of many professional photos taken on the ship. The whole process took about an hour because we arrived at the same time as many others.

Once we got through the boarding process, we went directly to the Summer Palace and had a leisurely lunch while watching the boat traffic in Puget Sound. At 1:00, we were pleased to hear Simon Murray, the Cruise Director, was still on board when he made the announcement that the staterooms were ready for us. "SMASHING!" We finished eating and went to our balcony room located directly on the back of the ship. We walked into our room to see a breathtaking view of the Seattle skyline. We set down our carry-ons and went directly to the Garden Cafe to make our reservations for dinner at Cagney's on Monday night, then spent most of the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship. We made a few Mother's Day phone calls to our moms and then waited for the ever exciting and entertaining mandatory lifeboat drill. Everyone looks SO thrilled sitting in the Summer Palace waiting for our instructions. Once we returned our vests to the room after the drill, we went to the Sundeck to wait and watch our departure. It drizzled a little on us as we were leaving, but soon it stopped, and the sun came out. We decided to go back to the Summer Palace for dinner and then went to the Spinnaker Lounge for a couple of drinks and to watch the karaoke entertainers. Suggestion to those brave singers: Don't quit your day jobs, Guys and Girls!!! We were passing through the Straits of Juan De Fuca and saw the majestic Olympic Mountain range. Many of the peaks were snowcapped and beautiful! We stayed for a couple of hours then exhausted (or maybe it was the alcohol I was drinking), we retired to our cabin for the night.

(Continued)

[retiredAF]

Thanks for posting such a detailed review.. I am really enjoying it! We leave on 1 June and as so excited!

[Sooners]

How did ya like the aft wake facing balcony?

[neverthought]

Wonderful reviews, I read them all. Thank you so much for taking the time to share it all with us, you are a very good writer. We leave this Sunday and can't wait. Thanks again!

Neverthought

[AngandNick]

Thanks for the great review. My family and I are leaving June 8th on the Pearl and are VERY excited. We can use all the advice and information you have.

AngandNick

[judyf]

I love the details you added in your review. Need to read the rest.