Our hop-on hop-off tickets we bought yesterday were good for 48 hours, so after breakfast we decided to kill some time and ride the bus around the city for over an hour. We had seen most of these areas before, so there were no shocking revelations. But it was still good to take one last look at our new friend, Vancouver.
After our bus ride it was time to go to the ship! We hired a cab to help us get all those suitcases there for us. Check in was pretty painless, although for some reason my check in must have glitched because they had to rescan my passport before getting on board. We headed straight to get some lunch at 270 Cafe (mmmm – beef sandwiches) and then up to the top deck to have a beer. Some unpacking, a short nap and our “mandatory” muster drill later and it was time to sail away!
The diamond lounge was created out of the entire upper and lower levels of the Music Hall. For any not familiar with cruising on Royal, they reward loyalty with a lounge each evening that offers some snacks and free drinks. It’s the first time we’ve ever seen such a large lounge. They completely blocked off all entrances except one on the upper level – we entered and it was a mob scene. Downstairs wasn’t as bad so we wound up there. We learned from the concierge that there are 737 diamonds, 403 diamond plus (that’s us) and 40 pinnacles on board. That means 1180 cruisers have access to the lounge, which is about 25% of the passengers on board! Chatted with a nice couple from Sydney, Australia (Jenny and Ted) for a bit. Then on to dinner – Jamie’s Italian. This is our first of five dinners in specialty dining on this first 10 night leg. We bought a five night package on each leg with our on board credit. I think we were hungry because no photos of our food were taken. We just ate – but the calamari, cured meat plate and my prawn linguini were all very good.
After dinner we spent a bit of time in the casino, donated a few bucks and called it a night. No shows tonight – but I know Kim will want to see the headliner tomorrow! Until then… 👋😎
