Alaskan Cruise - Ahoy!

Last minute panic about not having the right clothes to wear for the formal evenings involved an emergency shopping dash for a suit before heading for the port to catch our boat. We arrived in a taxi about 5 hours early. As soon as we got out the taxi someone took our bags, asking what cabin we were in and that was the last we saw of them until we found them in our "stateroom" later in the afternoon.
The check-in process and immigration was really quick and friendly so we were on the ship eating lunch by about 12. The ship "Serenade of the Seas" was awesome. Everything is very luxurious on board, verging on decadent in some cases with really friendly service. There are cafes, restauarants and bars serving a gigantic selection of great-looking food all day (and night long), and boy some of the people on this cruise appear to be making the most of each meal-time! Including us! There are three swimming pools, three hot tubs, a huge fitness centre, a spa, a cinema, library, basketball court, climbing wall, cigar room, nightclub with a revolving floor, casino, mini golf, and countless restaurants and bars.
On the first night we enjoyed the view as we sailed out of Vancouver, under the suspension bridge. Vicky tried out the climbing wall, reaching the top almost as quickly as some of the kids! We also played some pool on one of the self-levelling tables. They are based around a gyroscope and automatically adjust to any moves in the ship to keep a perfectly level playing surface. This gives the impression that the table is flying around with all the balls staying perfectly still, when actually the table is still but the floor is moving up and down.