Saturday 06/21/08 – Fox Island back to Seattle and Pike Place Market
This morning we packed up to leave the Armentrouts’ home and took a few photos before Carolyn and Mark drove us to “The Harvester”, a favorite breakfast haunt of Mark’s, where we enjoyed a huge “full-on” mid-morning breakfast, and then on back to Seattle and the Mediterranean Inn (our hotel for the night), where we met up with our friends Jennifer and Ed Widener, who had flown into Seattle via Houston, after a very early start from their home in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Jennifer worked with Bob at Lynx Services in Ft. Myers, Florida, when
we lived there, and she also knows Carolyn Armentrout well, due to Carolyn also working for the sales arm of Lynx Services. We have cruised about 3 times previously with the Wideners, and it’s just great that they have been able to join us on this cruise. The six of us all went to Seattle’s renowned Pike Place Market, Bob and Mark walking there, and Carolyn driving the Wideners and me. We met up at the entrance and wandered around until we found a restaurant where Jennifer could eat some Dungeness crab that she was craving, and Bob and I could sample yet another local “brew”, outside on the deck overlooking the harbor. After sitting chatting at our table for a while, it was time for the 
Armentrouts to return home to Fox Island. Jennifer and I bade our farewells to Carolyn & Mark, and walked round the Market some more, taking in all the sights and sounds, before walking back to our hotel; and C&M drove Bob and Ed back to the hotel, so they could officially check in and get our bags to our rooms. We rested in our rooms awhile, then Jennifer walked with Bob and me to a nearby Irish pub/restaurant “T.S. 
McHugh’s”, where we had a light dinner and then returned to the hotel and met up with Ed again. We had planned to have a nightcap drink on the hotel rooftop sitting area, but it was too windy and cold when we got there, so we just had a quick look at the view of the city by night, and all 
its bright lights, and then descended to the lobby for our nightcap! Off to bed and another night with no trouble sleeping. At this point we must say a big Thank You to the Armentrouts for their wonderful hospitality since they met us at the airport on Thursday. We hope we can reciprocate in Myrtle Beach before too long.
This morning we packed up to leave the Armentrouts’ home and took a few photos before Carolyn and Mark drove us to “The Harvester”, a favorite breakfast haunt of Mark’s, where we enjoyed a huge “full-on” mid-morning breakfast, and then on back to Seattle and the Mediterranean Inn (our hotel for the night), where we met up with our friends Jennifer and Ed Widener, who had flown into Seattle via Houston, after a very early start from their home in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Jennifer worked with Bob at Lynx Services in Ft. Myers, Florida, when
we lived there, and she also knows Carolyn Armentrout well, due to Carolyn also working for the sales arm of Lynx Services. We have cruised about 3 times previously with the Wideners, and it’s just great that they have been able to join us on this cruise. The six of us all went to Seattle’s renowned Pike Place Market, Bob and Mark walking there, and Carolyn driving the Wideners and me. We met up at the entrance and wandered around until we found a restaurant where Jennifer could eat some Dungeness crab that she was craving, and Bob and I could sample yet another local “brew”, outside on the deck overlooking the harbor. After sitting chatting at our table for a while, it was time for the 
Armentrouts to return home to Fox Island. Jennifer and I bade our farewells to Carolyn & Mark, and walked round the Market some more, taking in all the sights and sounds, before walking back to our hotel; and C&M drove Bob and Ed back to the hotel, so they could officially check in and get our bags to our rooms. We rested in our rooms awhile, then Jennifer walked with Bob and me to a nearby Irish pub/restaurant “T.S. 
McHugh’s”, where we had a light dinner and then returned to the hotel and met up with Ed again. We had planned to have a nightcap drink on the hotel rooftop sitting area, but it was too windy and cold when we got there, so we just had a quick look at the view of the city by night, and all 
its bright lights, and then descended to the lobby for our nightcap! Off to bed and another night with no trouble sleeping. At this point we must say a big Thank You to the Armentrouts for their wonderful hospitality since they met us at the airport on Thursday. We hope we can reciprocate in Myrtle Beach before too long.Sunday 06/22/08 – Norwegian Pearl Sailing Day
Bags packed again, and breakfast in the Starbucks adjoining the hotel. (Seattle being the “home” of Starbucks coffee houses, there seems to be one about every second block all over the city.) We then all piled into a taxi, and somehow the luggage of all 4 of us got into the trunk, and we were off to the Pier 66 Cruise Terminal to begin the embarkation process onto Norwegian Pearl. This went off very smoothly, despite the 
huge numbers of passengers in line, and we were aboard soon after midday. Cousin Bernard and Arline (who had booked us on this cruise with them back in April ’07, when they were on the Pearl’s maiden voyage from Miami down to and through the Panama Canal, and up the Pacific coast to Los Angeles), had arrived from Myrtle Beach yesterday and stayed overnight at a hotel booked for them by the cruise line. They had boarded the ship not long before us, and we met up with them in a pre-arranged poolside area, where we waited for the 2:00 PM time when we could take occupation of our cabins. Now we were a party of 6, and as we were going to our cabins, we met the remaining couple in our 
party, who had just boarded, Colleen and Mike. Colleen is still a Lynx employee in Fort Myers, and she too has been on a couple of previous cruises with us. So all 8 of us had got together and found our respective cabins (all very close to each other) in good time for a little rest before the mandatory life boat drill for all 2300 (approx.) passengers at 3:30 PM. We 
departed the dock on time at 4:00, and stood on our balcony at the aft end of the ship, watching the wake and Seattle disappearing into the distance. For those of you who are interested in facts and figures, the Norwegian Pearl was built in 2006, weighs 93,000 tons, is 965 feet long and is 105 feet in the beam. It can accommodate 2380 passengers and has a crew of 1154. There are 12 restaurants and 11 bars and lounges, plus a casino and all the usual other cruise ship amenities people have come to expect, like a rock-climbing wall, bowling alley, spa, fitness room, library, internet café and more (Internet connection is $.75 per minute or 100 minutes for $55 or 250 minutes for $100 – we will need to post quickly!).
We walked around and familiarized ourselves with the various amenities and then all eight of us had dinner at “Cagney’s”, which is one of the “specialty” restaurants where there is an additional cover charge for the menu (in this case $20 per person). It was worth it for our first meal of our cruise! After dinner we spent an hour or two in the “Spinnaker Lounge”, listening to 1970’s music before retiring for the night. A great start to the cruise.
Bags packed again, and breakfast in the Starbucks adjoining the hotel. (Seattle being the “home” of Starbucks coffee houses, there seems to be one about every second block all over the city.) We then all piled into a taxi, and somehow the luggage of all 4 of us got into the trunk, and we were off to the Pier 66 Cruise Terminal to begin the embarkation process onto Norwegian Pearl. This went off very smoothly, despite the 
huge numbers of passengers in line, and we were aboard soon after midday. Cousin Bernard and Arline (who had booked us on this cruise with them back in April ’07, when they were on the Pearl’s maiden voyage from Miami down to and through the Panama Canal, and up the Pacific coast to Los Angeles), had arrived from Myrtle Beach yesterday and stayed overnight at a hotel booked for them by the cruise line. They had boarded the ship not long before us, and we met up with them in a pre-arranged poolside area, where we waited for the 2:00 PM time when we could take occupation of our cabins. Now we were a party of 6, and as we were going to our cabins, we met the remaining couple in our 
party, who had just boarded, Colleen and Mike. Colleen is still a Lynx employee in Fort Myers, and she too has been on a couple of previous cruises with us. So all 8 of us had got together and found our respective cabins (all very close to each other) in good time for a little rest before the mandatory life boat drill for all 2300 (approx.) passengers at 3:30 PM. We 
departed the dock on time at 4:00, and stood on our balcony at the aft end of the ship, watching the wake and Seattle disappearing into the distance. For those of you who are interested in facts and figures, the Norwegian Pearl was built in 2006, weighs 93,000 tons, is 965 feet long and is 105 feet in the beam. It can accommodate 2380 passengers and has a crew of 1154. There are 12 restaurants and 11 bars and lounges, plus a casino and all the usual other cruise ship amenities people have come to expect, like a rock-climbing wall, bowling alley, spa, fitness room, library, internet café and more (Internet connection is $.75 per minute or 100 minutes for $55 or 250 minutes for $100 – we will need to post quickly!).We walked around and familiarized ourselves with the various amenities and then all eight of us had dinner at “Cagney’s”, which is one of the “specialty” restaurants where there is an additional cover charge for the menu (in this case $20 per person). It was worth it for our first meal of our cruise! After dinner we spent an hour or two in the “Spinnaker Lounge”, listening to 1970’s music before retiring for the night. A great start to the cruise.
2 comments:
well, looking forward to seeing some photos. How did Jennifer's surprise for her husband work out? Wasn't she suprising him with an upgraded room? Expensive internet. Better get all your ducks lined up and ready before you post.
Love, Melanie
Hope all is well with the two of you. We had a lovely time while you were here and look forward to visiting you in Myrtle Beach. It's great to read your blog and view the wonderful photos. We look forward to reading more! Hope you enjoyed our fantastic weather last week!
Mark & Carolyn Armentrout
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