Saturday July 10

And We're Off!

When we woke up this morning the Queen of the West was docked right outside our hotel and we knew that the day for our actual cruise had actually come!  We had our luggage picked up before 9 am and we met with the cruise representatives about 10:30.  By 11:15 we were all cleared and marched out of the Red Lion Inn and down the dock to board!  

We were sent immediately into one of the lounges where we got cookies and drinks and then our rooms were ready.  We are on the second level, stateroom 225.  Compared to our riverboat cruises (Viking for example) the room is very similar except that the bed is turned long-ways and the TV is MUCH smaller.  Our room has a "deck" but it's a public deck and we don't have a direct access to it.  

The ship itself is M-U-C-H shorter than any Viking river cruise ship we've been on, but taller.  And the paddle wheel is quire impressive.  We unpacked and then we had an informational meeting.  The one thing that "impressed" me about that meeting is that they intend to feed us nearly 24x7 - breakfast, then a 10:30 am "cookie time," then lunch, then cocktail hour with hot finger foods; then dinner (with full deserts); and then at the nightly presentations they have ice cream sundaes, parfaits, and unlimited bags of popcord.  And that doesn't include the never ending supply of soft drinks and snacks which are in not one but two lounges, one of which is less than a dozen steps from our staterooms!  At lunch we learned a new custom for American Cruise Lines - you are given a food selection card every day at breakfast (but because we weren't here for breakfast it was done now at lunch).  You pick your meals for the day so that the kitchen crew and chefs know about how much to make of all the meals and so there is much less waste!  After lunch, which was AMAZING (and included all the wine you could drink!) we went up to the 4th deck to watch the scenery go by.  

For me it was particularly amazing because as I sat in my rocking chair, cruising down the river I pulled up the race replays on my iPhone from today's big stakes action at Belmont Park where it was Belmont Stakes Day, the third jewel of the Triple Crown.  I had handicapped the card prior to the trip and I had five races where I had selections......won three of them, all big graded stakes events, including my BET of the Day with Songbird in the Grade 1 Phipps.....not only 60% wins while cruising down the river in Oregon, but cleared over $50 profit!  :)  

Kim and I posed for a photo op on the deck and went down to get ready for cocktail hour and dinner.  

Again the food was outstanding as was the conversation at the table.  (NOTE:  By the end of the cruise I will have a link on the main page to a "Food Page" where you can see all the dishes we enjoyed!).  We were still at the dinner table at 8 pm when it was time to head off to one of the lounges for this evening's presentation, a historical background to Lewis & Clark's expedition.  Frankly he was not very good.  Kim & Sue headed up to watch the sun set but Dan and I stuck it out because it had been promised to be "brief."  Only a half hour, so not too bad.  But the sunset was fabulous.  We played one game of cards and called it a great first day of the cruise.

Tomorrow we have not one but two tours of Astoria so there will be many photo ops to see tomorrow!  Thanks to everyone who's following us - your "LIKEs" and comments on Facebook are very much appreciated!