DAY 115---VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA

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We finally got docked by 5:30 yesterday after the Holland America and RCL ships sailed.  It is 57 degrees and overcast skies this morning.  Very light rain also.

LAST NIGHT:

                                  Cocktails in the Mariner Lounge with Karen & Burt Schraga.

                             I coat our filets with lemon pepper before the chef grills them.

                                 Karen ordered this interesting looking "harvest salad".

        Always a great time at dinner with Burt and Karen.  Charlie & Joan Davis stopped by our table for a little chat after they had finished eating.  Charlie tested positive for covid the day after I was and released from isolation the day after me.

        After dinner I raced to the theater to get our back row seats.  Good thing we were on the back row as the comedian was terrible and we left about 10 minutes into his show.  I went up on deck 12 to take some night photos.

Docked next to us is the Royal Princess.  3600 passengers and 750 crew members.

                                     As we are in Canada the ship is flying the Canadian flag.

TODAY:

                                     The fuel bunkering barge showed up at 7:30 this morning.

  

          At 10am Paul, cruise director, made a PA saying all passengers must clear with US Immigrations in the cruise terminal sometime between now and 4pm today.  That way we will not have to clear tomorrow in Seattle or in San Francisco on Thursday.  So Rebecca took her shower and we proceeded to the terminal with our passports.  Long walk but lots of guides directing us and very organized.       

        We cleared and were back on board in less than a half hour.

                       A new Holland America ship arrived sometime last night or this morning.

                                                  The terminal is called "Canada Place".

Lunch in Compass Rose today for a change.  Caesar salad and grilled salmon (medium rare).  We also requested the chef prepare us some country fried chicken thighs for tonight's dinner.

                                             The garbage barge showed up this afternoon.

        We will be flying back here to Vancouver on September 20th and boarding the Mariner again.  We will be doing the last Alaska cruise of the season then some cruises out of Los Angeles to Mexico.  Total number of days on these cruises are 43.  We are so happy that our son Jeff will be joining us on our last 9 days of cruising.

        Originally the "all aboard" time was 6:30 as we will be sailing at 7pm.  But Paul updated the all aboard time to 5pm instead.  He said it was so the ship's clearance could be completed prior to sailing.  It should be a lovely sail out as we will be passing under the Lions Gate Bridge when exiting the harbor. 

        We probably will miss it as planning cocktail hour at 6pm followed by dinner in Compass Rose at 7pm.  We want to see the show at 9:15 in the theater as it is featuring singers, Mark Preston and Michelle Murlin.  I missed Mark's show earlier due to being in isolation.

        It is a short sail down to Seattle tonight.  We are to be docked by 7am tomorrow.

        

DAY 114---LATE ARRIVAL IN VANCOUVER, BC

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We arrived at Vancouver at 4pm which was an hour early.  We have to sit out in the harbor for an hour or so until two cruise ships sail so our pier will be open.  It is partly cloudy and 61 degrees.

LAST NIGHT:

                                               Analiza and Dara waited us in Sette Mari.

Oh, my, another huge veal parmesan with two different kinds of spaghetti sauces.  One is a Filipino style.

TODAY:

               Sailing in the Haro Strait past Victoria which is on the other side of the ship.

                                                            Vancouver in the distance.

                        Now in sight is the Lions Gate Bridge which we will be passing under.

                                                   On the right is the famous Stanley Park.

                                        Stanley Park with downtown Vancouver on other side.

We arrived an hour early and there are 3 cruise ships docked at Canada Place.  The Captain made a PA saying two of them will be leaving and then we can dock where they were.

There are Holland America, RCL, and Princess ships docked where we will be after two of them depart.

        Cocktails at 6pm in the Mariner Lounge.  Dinner will be in Prime 7 at 7pm.  Tonight's show is featuring Lance Montalto, a comedian/musician/entertainer.  We will attend but on the back row in case we need to leave early.  We will be here over night so I will go ahead and publish this.  More photos tomorrow.

DAY 113---ASTORIA, OREGON

NOW TO VIEW MY JANUARY AND FEBRUARY POSTS YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK ON THAT MONTH SO THOSE POSTS WILL BE DISPLAYED.

TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT.  THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED.  ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM.  I RECECOMMEND IT.

We were docked in Astoria by 9am today.  No rain in sight so far and it is 60 degrees at noon.  We sailed up the Columbia River slowly for nearly 2 hours before arriving at the pier.  Astoria is in Oregon but on the other side of the river is the state of Washington.

LAST NIGHT:

We had cocktails in the Mariner Lounge followed by dinner in Compass Rose with Mario and Carlos as our waiters.  This is fresh black mussles (got them in San Diego) in a white wine cream sauce with tomatoes and scallions.  They were SO DELICIOUS!!

We both enjoyed the veal piccata with lemon-caper butter sauce with polenta.  This was also very good.

I had this New York cheese cake.  Again good.  It was the best dinner we have had in a long time.  Don't get me wrong, all dinners are good but this one was exceptional.

I was the first one to enter the theater for Michelle Murlin's show.  We wanted to be on the back row on the left side as it only has two chairs.  Trying to not be close to others for a couple more days.

          Richard brought my ice water.  After dinner I stop with drinks and switch to ice water.

                                                     Not many showed up for the show.

 Sorry but Michelle was a "screecher".  We did not enjoy her show and I walked out before it ended.

Two lovely and very nice couples:  L to R  Jimbo and Mary Ann Todd and Mary Pat and Jay Silberman

TODAY:

                                Passed big logging facility while sailing up the Columbia River.

                                                Sailing up the Columbia River to Astoria

                 Approaching our dock we passed what appears to be a fish processing building.

                  A large ocean going fishing boat docked next to the fish processing building.

Shortly after we arrived at our pier the ambulance showed up.  Paramedics boarded with a stretcher.

                        This is the 4.1 mile long Astoria-Megler Bridge across the Columbia River.  

                                                                Place for small boats.

                                          View from deck 12.  Not sure what the building is.

                                                The small crane is used to move the gangway.

                                     Looking across the Columbia River to Washington state.

                                  They held the weekly crew emergency drill this morning.

        Rebecca is doing her nails this afternoon.  I will be getting my hair cut at 4:15.  I hope the F&B went to town to get some Makers Mark bourbon since the ship is out of it.  There were many new crew members who came on board when in San Diego on Monday.  Many of them are Brazilian.  The ship will begin its Alaska summer season when this world cruise ends in San Francisco on May 5th.

        During lunch I asked Alin, the Sette Mari maitre'd, if the chef there would make me a veal parmesan this evening as we plan to dine in Sette Mari.  He said I would have it.

        The show tonight is one of our favorite production shows, "Blazing Boots".  I will try again for the back row.

        We will be sailing again at 6pm.  Our next port is Vancouver, BC.  We won't be arriving there until tomorrow at 5pm and will overnight there.