I do have to say the staff was doing everything they could to make the lines go as fast as possible they had people bagging in the self check out lanes – including the store manager – kudos to his great example.
Heath Candy and Peanut Clusters
Coconut Delights - in dark chocolate- also available in milk chocolate.
Gift boxes which include a "Made Especially for you by Erinn's Edibles" tag inside.
Family favorite Meringue Cookies - loved by everyone, even my cousin's dog who was fed an unknown number on Thanksgiving by my young niece. Opps.
The 2nd cake.
Skywalkers offered great views and during the day it was often empty. We went up there during the sail away to watch for awhile. Shannon decided to take this picture of me relaxing. Just as I am saying don’t get my feet in there. 
We also sat and relaxed by the indoor pool for a while. Sadly it was too cool to spend much time by the outdoor pools.
At some point during the afternoon we finished unpacking and getting our room set for the week. Around 5 pm we headed up to the Lotus Spa where they were giving tours of the spa and at 5:30 raffling off certificates for services. We figured we could sit through the sales pitch if it meant winning something. Sadly we did not win anything, but we did decide to sign up for pilates on Monday our first sea day and spinning on Friday our second sea day. Neither one of us had ever tried pilates or spinning, but that was our mantra for the cruise – lets try new things! Of course it helped that one of the fitness instructor was pretty cute – just ask Shan about him. After the giveaways we deiced to schedule massages. That was one thing we had both talked about doing on the cruise, but had not fully decided on. Unfortunately there were not too many open spots left, but we were able to get appointments on Monday at 9:00 am.
We sat with three other couples that night. I think two of them were from Seattle or had lived in Seattle and the third was from Portland. They were very nice and the conversation never lagged. I had some sort of pasta that night – I don’t remember exactly what kind it was. The food was good and so was the service. No complaints. After dinner we wondered around the ship a bit, stopped in at the different lounges to hear the music, looked around the casino and then went to the 10:15 Welcome Aboard Show. It was at the show we found out the person who had walked by during the muster drill was the Cruise Director JJ. Over the week, JJ became a source of entertainment for us, the inside joke, the diversion, and our source of amusement. Anyone who knows me well knows I often find my comic relief in this fashion. The Welcome Aboard Show was good, it had a sampling of the shows to come, including the comedian Steve Moris who made me laugh a lot at his musical parodies. I will never sign little bunny foo foo the same again. (Yes I do often sign this song, I know lots of 2-3 year olds).
We got into line and dropped off the majority of our luggage. Then we proceeded into the building to fill out some paper work ensuring we had not been sick recently. Then we waited in line until we could check in. The line kept moving, and we really did not wait that long, it just felt like it since we were so excited to be there. Once we checked in we moved toward security with a quick stop to get our first of many professional pictures taken. I was carrying our large bouquet of flowers and they were included in the picture. As we entered the ship they took our picture, a mug shot, as we swiped our card for the first time, this was for security reasons. We were finally on the Ship!! We decided to go to our room first and drop off our carry on luggage and get a vase for the flowers. When we booked the cruise we book a guarantee cabin – which as the name suggests, we were guaranteed a cabin on the boat. We joked about how we were sure we were going to be on the lowest deck, under water, in the crew quarters, but we were pleasantly surprised with out assigned cabin. We were in Baja 416 – which is on the 11th deck. 
The 11th deck was mid way between the Lido, deck 14, where the food court, pools and decks were located and the Promenade, deck 7, where the theaters, lounges, and shops were located. Our cabin was mid-ship, port side, basically in the middle of the ship down the left hallway. We were just around the corner from a set of elevators and a staircase. It was a great location, and if we had booked it originally, it would have cost us both several hundred dollars more.
Look at how pretty they are.
Only $10.
I enlarged this picture to hang up in my house.
We then wondered around the ship for a short while. The passenger muster drill was at 3:30 pm and we had to be in our rooms to get our life jackets. When we got back to the room our luggage was there and we started to unpack while we were waiting for the drill to start. Princess handles the muster drill nicer then some other cruises, they just have you go up to your muster station, not out on the deck by the life boats. They also have the room stewards go through the rooms to make sure everyone is there instead of doing a roll call. They also only have you put on your life jacket and then take it off, not stand around in them. Our muster station was in the hall by the picture gallery and Wheelhouse Bar. When the announcement was made, we headed down there and waited for the instructions. While we were standing there, the cruise director, walked by. It was the first time we saw him and I have to admit I thought he was pretty cute. We did not know at the time who he was, but soon found out.
Here are some pictures of the skyline of Seattle as we sailed away.
This is the building we went through to check in, and go through security.
At the time of Sail away the Seattle Seahawks were playing the San Francisco 49ers. As we went by we could hear the roar of the crowd. 
More pictures of the skyline. 
