Seattle Mariners Baseball

Hubby loves his baseball. Like, really loves it. He is so full of joy each summer when we get him to a Seattle Mariners game. We've been several years in a row and he is always talking about things as firsts. First game, first time watching a certain other team, first daytime game, and today was another first.

It was the first time he's been in the stadium when they've closed the roof. Usually the weather has been pretty good for baseball. Just look how beautiful it was yesterday.

But today it started raining during the game, so they started closing the retractable roof. First time hubby watched it happen! I tried to take a video of it, but it moved sooo slow I just waited until it was completely closed and then snapped a picture.

And food was another thing. He likes trying everything they have to offer. I just have to not think about what we're paying and let him have it.

Jalapeno cheese dog

Philly Cheesesteak

$2 special on Cracker Jacks

Just look at all the food venues. Here's a link to the list in Google docs. It'll take him a lifetime to get to all of them. 

Golden Princess to Alaska - Disembarkation Day

In the past we’ve gotten to and from Vancouver a variety of ways. Some years we drive our own car, sometimes we fly, sometimes we take Amtrak, and just a few weeks back we used a rental car. While we don’t necessarily like riding a bus for a few hours, today it should have worked out best to use the Princess transfer from Vancouver to the Seattle airport.

Since we were making no stops in Canada before crossing the US border we were able to be on the coach that collected our luggage and sealed it in the compartment under the bus. It was nice not to have to pick it up in the cruise terminal. We also didn’t have to go through Canadian customs at the port because as part of this program (I think it is called Direct to Bus or Direct to US?) we had already filled out our customs form and turned it into Princess a few days prior.

Here is a copy of the disembarkation times for the different groups in case you’re interested. And if you’d like to see the log of the cruise, you can find that here.

Boy, I'm thankful we weren't flying out today. In the past the bus ride always has had us in Seattle by 1:00 in the afternoon, even on a bad day. On a good day we could be there by noon. Neither one of those things would even come close to what we experienced today. While we disembarked the ship close to our scheduled time of 8:30 am, we were taken into the terminal to wait in a line. For a full hour. Only six or seven chairs available for more than 60 people. Did I mention we had to wait at least an hour?

If that was our only delay we still could have made good time to Seattle. But we ran into an even bigger delay at the border. How big of a delay? We're talking a good two and a half hours. Just waiting for our turn. Here's something to know if you're taking the cruise line transportation to the US - scheduled bus services, like Greyhound or the Bolt Bus or Quick Shuttle get priority. So even though you might be the second bus in line you might wind up being the seventh bus to get processed. Yeah, so there was that. 1:00 in Seattle? Nope. How about 2:00 or 3:00? Nope and nope. Let's try closer to 4:00. That's seven and a half hours from the time we walked off the ship instead of the four hours we are used to. Ugh. Next time no more bus. We're going back to Amtrak.

Actually, we would have done Amtrak today but hubby has a Mariner’s baseball game tonight. He’s a big baseball guy and he likes it when he can get a game in when we go to Alaska. So if we have to move mountains to make it happen, we will. Just wish we could have moved the bus faster!

So goodbye to Alaska for the year (or at least for now) and hello to Seattle. Mariners, that is.

Island Princess Resources

If you want to know anything else about the Island Princess or have any questions about cruising or Princess Cruises, just ask. 

Golden Princess to Alaska - Last Sea Day

We had a nice visit with some folks at last night's Most Traveled Passenger Party. We also had some nice new food items.

bruschetta

prosciutto

pretty little slider

flan

some fancy desserts

After the party we headed back to the cabin where hubby proceeded to fall asleep. And snore. He was loud enough I couldn't hear over the TV so I decided to take a jaunt to the casino. Good thing as I got myself a hand pay on a penny machine.

Big enough to pay for a couple more cruises

Today was our last sea day and it was another stormy one. The Captain said we are back to those 70 mph winds we had earlier in the week.

Another stormy day outside the Piazza windows

Usually the last day of a cruise isn't too sad for us because we are usually doing another one and another one and another one (and even sometimes another one). But this is our third in a row already and it's our last for a while. We'll be arriving in Vancouver tomorrow then off to Seattle to see the Mariners play a couple times before we head back home.

We already have more cruises planned but we will have a stretch of time at home. Which means hubby loses his independence. Which means I lose my independence. I have several books in the works so I have plenty of writing to keep me busy through the summer and hubby will have local baseball games.

If you've been a reader of my blog for a while you know my husband has cerebral palsy. He's not wheelchair bound, but he does have physical limitations. If you were to watch him walk and interact you might think he was someone who had a stroke, with the right side of his body pretty much immobile.

His limitations have impacted our lives and we are pretty much glued at the hip. He doesn't drive and so every time he wants/needs to go somewhere - when he went to work, the doctor's office, the store - I have to drive him. He can't tie his own shoes or the ties he wore to work every single day. He has trouble using a can opener, putting on a belt, and can't cut his own steak. He now has difficulty in processing what he's reading and hearing and gets easily frustrated so I need to be always available for him.

But things are easier on a cruise. I can trust him to get to deck 5 to get his coffee in the morning, and the gals there take good care of him. I know he won't get lost, and if he does, he eventually finds his way. It's a lot of work to get him here, but once on the ship he can manage. I think that's why we like cruising so much. He's familiar with the layout of the Princess ships and knows many of the crew. He's able to have some structure and unlike at home, some independence. I can occasionally go into port and leave him on the ship and know he'll be just fine.

We've had a good trip and I wish it could continue. But it can't, so our lives will turn back to boring ones where I write all day and he watches TV all day.

Before we leave, here are just a few wrap-up things about this particular cruise...

The new hallway carpet still has the color coding for port and starboard side but it's just not as noticeable. Can you see the green v. red dots?

starboard side carpet

port side carpet

Last week on the Island Princess my Diet Coke was leftover from their South America itinerary. This cruise hubby's regular Coke on the Golden was leftover from their Asia itinerary.

another batch of non-US Coca Cola

And one more thing – I’ll let you in a little secret that only a couple people know about. For the last several years I’ve been giving away dollar bills with notes of encouragement. I used to hand write notes on packs of Post-It notes but I found the adhesive wasn’t sticking in high-humid climates we were traveling to. A couple years back I switched to making my own little money pockets and printing labels for them. I’ve left them in restrooms and airplane magazines and sugar containers. I’ve left them in windowsills and tip jars and hotel room drawers. I’ve left them on buses and taxis and trains. Sometimes I place one somewhere once a day and other days I drop them off multiple times. Where did I leave one today? Somewhere in the Piazza. If you ever run into one of these on a Princess ship, you'll know where they came from.

Shh...don't tell

Thanks for tagging along on our trip. I'll continue to keep up on the blog for both crafting and cruising content, but the next "live from"? Fingers crossed, I'm hoping to come live from Rome this fall.

Here's the link to today's Patter.