This was not my first cruise with NCL and not my first to Alaska, my most favorite destination. But it was my first cruise with mobility issues. Several months before the cruise, arthritis started in my left knee and then on to my right knee. Never had this much trouble with arthritis before, but this time it came with a vengeance. Got a shot of Cortisone in the left knee prior to the cruise, but I thought the right knee was due to favoring it too much, so I didn't get a shot for that knee. So I knew I was going to have problems getting around mostly because of the right knee. With this, the thought of a getting a week's pass for the thermal suite on the ship was sounding really good but I wondered if we could board early enough to get a couple of those coveted passes. Luckily, I had my cane with me because both knees were wobbly and when they announced that people with mobility problems could board first, I grabbed my sister EL and daughter AD and we headed for the ship. We were the first group of people to board and the first thing we did was sign up for the thermal suite! Our "girls" cruise was off to a good start.

We had our first lunch at the Summer Palace by the large window with a glorious view of the Seattle skyline in front of us on a lovely, Sunday morning. Couldn't ask for anything better. By the time we finished our lunch our cabin was ready. Our balcony cabin seemed smaller than I remember, but then the last cabin we had was a mini-suite, so in comparison, the space seemed very small. And with a third person in the room, it seemed even smaller. But we found plenty of storage and closet space. Then it was time for the emergency drill. I was afraid about standing for a long time during the drill because of my bad knees. But it was different this time, we didn't have to put on our life jackets and our drill station was at the Summer Palace. That was way too easy but what a relief. We relaxed for a while and then stepped out on our balcony as the ship left the pier.

We had our first dinner at Le Bistro. It's half-price on the first night of the cruise. We then saw the "Oh What a Night" Frankie Valley tribute show which was very entertaining. After that we decided to go to bed early so that we could try out the thermal suite first thing in the morning. Read more