Zaandam Sails

(click on photos to enlarge them)

August 31, 2002...Richard and I began our Alaskan adventure by awaking this morning before the 4:15am alarm. Too excited to sleep, I guess. All the packing was done except for last minute items. The cab arrived at 4:45am and we got to the airport and through  the check-in procedure without a hitch. Our Orlando airport is one of the smoothest run in the country, if not the world. The biggest problem was the number of cases we were traveling with. Formal night on the ship meant a suit for Richard, dress shoes for both of us and extra stuff in the main case. Then there was a duffle bag for shoes and coats. We needed a personal bag for me as a carry-on, Richard's laptop, the digital movie camera, and a roll-on bag for my digital and Advantix cameras and film. 

Our flight left at 7am. It was a Continental 757 and had decent legroom for our first junket to Houston. The 757 is not a favorite. I find it very uncomfortable, although Continental did a good job on the interior. The Houston hop was a chocolate donut snack! At Houston we changed to a 737 for the non-stop flight to Vancouver. This was our first meal. 

In Vancouver we went through Canadian customs, then US customs, then into a boarding rotation for the MS Zaandam. Once onboard, we stowed our carry-ons in our stateroom and went immediately for food. It was after 4pm and I all but inhaled the salad I chose. But dinner was at 6 and we didn't want to over eat. Nice touch - our checked-in bags went straight from the plane to the ship so we didn't have to worry about those. The coach ride from plane to ship was 45minutes.

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Over Vancouver   Logging is definitely a major industry    
I got some fabulous photos on the flight from Houston to Vancouver. It was a wonderfully clear day. These are the best aerial photos I've ever taken. Of course, the view was great too. These were all taken with the digital camera.

The ship was half an hour late pulling out. We were on deck for this event, then went below for dinner. We chose the early seating at 6pm because neither of us like eating late and then going to bed. We were the only ones at the table. We slept through the open water from Vancouver to the Inside Passage but when we awoke, we were surprised to find that we were still in open water. I learned later that there was a medical emergency which caused the ship to make an unscheduled stop.

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Richard and Jo In line at customs Our Zaandam stateroom bath room dining room Promenade deck