Day 1: Boarding the ship!

Finally - Day 1 of the Alaskan cruise had arrived! After we'd gone through customs, Marsali, Taryn, Novya, and I found ourselves waiting impatiently in the docking area. Novya got her camera out and took a photo of Marsali, Taryn, and me waiting, as you can see on the left.

Then, Marsali and I looked through her mama's Alaska coupon book. Taryn rolled her eyes; she is not a shopping kind of girl! We proceeded to ignore her, drooling over all of the things we could buy (at discounted prices!).

Yeah - here we are on the ship! After we set down our luggage, we rushed to the window, looking at the other cruise ship in port. We decided to get a photo in front of it:

We soon found ourselves going through the obligatory safety routines - the lifeboat drill, checking to make sure the life vests fit, etc. You know, everything the Titanic didn't do! Marsali, Taryn, and Novya helped me into a life vest, but it wasn't a great fit...

Once I'd gotten that heavy thing off, we headed up to the Observation deck to explore our new surroundings. We found out that our ship was called the Westerdam, and Marsali was telling us that we were in for a treat. She's sailed on the Westerdam three times now, and it is by far her favorite!

Alas, the sky was darkening, and it soon began to rain. We headed inside to our room. But look what Marsali and I found on our bed! Marsali's mama had bought us matching bags to store our cruise souvenirs in. I smiled when I saw that they were adorned with Le Tour Eiffel and the Arc du Triomphe. Ah, to be reminded of home!

Taryn got a present, too - her very own Rebecca Rubin doll! So, we spent the rest of the evening playing with American Girl dolls. Marsali was nice enough to lend me one of hers, so I could join in.

Once the adults had everything unpacked, we got into our PJs and snuggled down into our sleeping bags. It wasn't very long until we were snoring away, dreaming of what our first full day at sea would be like...

See our full album here: Boarding the Westerdam!

~Sophie