Finished unpacking
I stayed out on the deck to look back as we left Vancouver behind us.
Back in our cabin the other suitcase had arrived in the cabin and after unpacking we went for a wander around the shops and the Atrium. A very loud jazz band was playing there to a small appreciative audience. This ship may be a sister ship of the Coral Princess but she didn’t have an International Cafe which was a very big disappointment.
We sat on our balcony for a while admiring the passing mountains until the sun was no longer on the balcony. The ship was travelling at almost 20 knots and according to the TV information channel there was a relative wind speed over the decks of a almost 44 knots. Definitely time to go inside.
Dinner in the Provence restaurant
We left our first laundry drop in the room and headed off for dinner in the Bordeaux. The queue stretched around the Atrium. As we neared the restaurant after about 10 minutes, a maitre d’it invited passengers willing to share to follow him into the lift and go upstairs to the Provence where there were spare tables.
We were seated with four ladies from various parts of Canada. In conversation we learnt that the schools were already out for Summer in Canada. This went some way to explain the number of kids on the ship. We also learnt that one of the Canadian provinces was trying to have a shorter Summer holiday. Historically the long holidays allowed the kids to help on their parent’s farms. This was becoming less and less of a requirement. One of the issues that had to be addressed was that the schools were not air-conditioned. This would be a big problem as July was usually hot.
We showed the ladies how to use their smartphones to connect to the ship’s on board website. This would allow them to access the daily programme, their bills, book restaurants etc.
For this first dinner I had spring rolls and Gravalax as my two starters and then a cumin flavoured chilli con carne. Back on our balcony I could see the Holland America ship sailing along to our side as the sun was setting.
From the Captain’s Log
In the late afternoon two British Columbia Pilots boarded the Island Princess and at 15:51 the bridge team completed all pre-departure checks. At l6:2l we had started singling our mooring lines. The mooring decks had reported ‘all lines onboard’, at 16:27.
Island Princess thrusted off the berth before moving ahead into the bay. Various courses were set to pass under the Lions Gate Bridge and into the Strait of Georgia. Shortly afterwards we rang ‘full away on passage’ to the engine room and set an appropriate speed to arrive at slack water off Seymour Narrows later that night.
Noon Position: Canada Place Cruise Terminal East Side
Temperature: 22°C (72°F)
Wind: South Westerly Gentle Breeze
Barometer: 1020 mb
Sky: Partly Cloudy