We arrived in Seattle to meet 2 other couples, which were close family members. We met in the Airport Radisson. Lovely accommodations that were dated and slightly aged, but clean. We brought 4 pieces of luggage which were hard for us seniors to negotiate to the airport shuttle area, but we did it! Our excitement was very high as 2 of the couple had never "cruised" before. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel (quite expensive and not worth it, IMO). The hotel shuttled us back to airport where we found our HAL group for the shuttle to Pier 91. We deposited our carry ons and we were off without a hitch.

We could not believe the size of the ship at our first glimpse of it!! The trek into the terminal wasn't too forbidding and there was help all along the way for us "newbies". We checked in and had a little "wait" time but not too long. The embarkation pictures is what hinders the progress but it was one of our favorite of the cruise. They got all 6 of us in a very flattering pose and the quality of pictures are terrific....don't neglect to take the pictures.

We went right to our cabins, took pictures, left our belongings and went to the Lido deck for lunch. It was a little crowded but we found seats together, ate our lunch and just enjoyed the fact that we were finally, after all the planning and excitement, on board!! Read more