How great is it to simply take transit right to the cruise ship port?

Our assigned embarkation time on the MS Koningsdam is 1:20 p.m. , so we were on the Skytrain at just before noon headed for Canada Place, Vancouver’s cruise ship port.

We’ve wandered around the picturesque port before, so we knew exactly where to go to drop off our luggage (although we didn’t) and get in line for US Customs before boarding the ship. The check-in and customs were both a breeze.

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We hadn’t checked our luggage, so it took no time at all to unpack and settle in – before many state rooms even had their bags!

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I couldn’t possibly do a better tour of our cabin than this travel agent on YouTube did:

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Once settled in, our priority – as always – was coffee, so as soon as we’d done a quick check of our cabin we headed for the Dutch Café, which we’d been told was “the” place for a decent cup of coffee.

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Our next priority was completing the safety check: reporting to our muster station in the World Stage, watching the safety video in our cabin, and locating our life vests in the cupboard above the couch. On the way to our muster station, we realized that all routes leading to entertainment and dining areas lead through the casino and shops. Sigh.

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As we were watching the safety video, our room steward came to introduce himself. Gede (pronounced, as he explained, like an Australians g’day, hails from Bali. His eldest son works as a waiter on Viking’s ocean ships, so we may someday get to meet him too! Gede and Poni will look after our room all week.

“Sail away” had most of the passengers either on their balconies or on the 12th level outdoor deck watching Vancouver fade into the distance.

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Our travel agent helped us secure early seating (5:15 !) in the Main Dining Room, to ensure we have plenty of time for a leisurely dinner before each evening’s entertainment. Ted and I attended every show on both our long Viking cruises, so we’re naturally interested to see what a bigger ship offers in the way of entertainment.

That early seating time meant we were headed for the Main Dining Room not very long after the 4 pm sailing time. I’d read lots of not-very-good comments about crowding in the Lido Buffet, so decided we’d save our first experiences there for breakfast and lunch tomorrow, when we’re sailing the Inside Passage.

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Since we have a reserved early seating table, we’ll have the same waiters each time we eat in the main dining room: Suparman (pronounced soo – pahr– mun and NOT “Superman”) and Sudi. They were great, but couldn’t prevent the kitchen from delivering Ted’s steak medium-well instead of medium rare. I did discover a new favourite drink, though: the Dutch 150, which combines Dutch gin, Prosecco, and lemon peel. Yummmmm.

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Tonight’s entertainment in the World Stage was the screening of a travelogue about Alaska. We chose to skip that and headed instead for the music venues, hitting all three: Billboard Onboard featuring Diego and Krista on duelling pianos, Rolling Stone Rock Room featuring a 5-piece rock band, and B B King’s Blues Club featuring a 7 piece band which included trumpet and sax in addition to 2 vocalists. All were entertaining, and all were LOUD, at times bleeding into each other. We missed having a mellow option.

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After almost 3 hours of live music – and drinks – we needed a late-night snack to help soak up some of the alcohol. We hit New York Pizza & Deli on deck 10 for wings just before everyone else got the same idea.

And then it was goodnight as we head for Alaska. Tomorrow is a sea day, hopefully with some great scenery as we sail the Inside Passage.

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