Cruising - Day One

 25 July, 2026

"Orca Song"

As is my custom, I was up and about for coffee fairly early (putting my new insulated cup to good use) and met my sister and brother-in-law on the Royal Esplanade. Jeff has a similar cup that he procured on his last trip to Vancouver. Same style of artwork, created by indigenous PNW artists, but a different theme and color motif. I was drawn to the color and theme of my mug when I saw it on the shelf, and couldn't resist the temptation. I'm picky when it comes to drinking vessels (an expression of my neurodivergence) so this was a gamble for me. I've got a cabinet full of rarely-used cups and mugs, and didn't want to add to the collection. This has now become my "daily drinker" for coffee when I'm not at work. (Work mugs tend to take a beating, and I prefer a handle for more rugged conditions, so this is decidedly not "ambulance appropriate" by my standards.) I don't know that I was aware that an entire genre of art existed beyond the totem, but I'm happy to have discovered it.

Sea-Day Brunch provides ample flexibility, so we took our time getting to the dining room where I continued my Eggs Benedict project. I'm happy to report that Royal Caribbean continues their streak of poached-egg perfection (and I won't keep you in suspense, I had poached eggs of some sort every morning, and was joined by others several times, and of over 20 poached eggs only two didn't hit the mark of "perfect" - and those two were still quite good.)

Sailing up the coast is a constant stream of "look at that" moments, punctuated with "look, a whale" (generally just a spout, as the area you're scanning is so vast the odds of seeing a hump or a fin on the surface are incredibly small.) The last time we saw scenery like this was sailing the Strait of Magellan on Mariner of The Seas when we went around Cape Horn. There are no bad seats, as long as they have view of the outside.  Two70 on the Quantum-class ships is an excellent place to hang out if you want to enjoy the scenery without chasing every possible view.

Humpback

And on cruises such as this, you have the addition of enrichment lectures while you make your way up the coast. On this day we enjoyed an excellent lecture on whales. Growing up on the mid-Atlantic coast (not well known for whale activity) whales have always been one of the marine elements that didn't get much thought, like sea lions, penguins, and kelp beds. We see plenty of shark, dolphin/porpoise, turtles, and large gamefish, but whales are generally just "somewhere out there" or relegated to television specials from National Geographic or Jacques Cousteau.

But on this day, things changed. I don't know exactly why, but it was likely due to the geography of the situation. It was entirely plausible for the lecturer to mention something about humpbacks one minute and have one pop up next to the ship the next - which is a situation you don't often find yourself in.

I became enamored with whales. Not to the point of infatuation, but definitely fascination. The prospect of seeing the giants of the ocean (relatively) up-close was exhilarating, to say the least. Now it was a matter of the whales cooperating and allowing us a glimpse. Would we see humpbacks? Orca? Beluga? Or would we get skunked and only have the memory of spouts on a distant horizon?

Following the whale lecture, a retired RCMP Mountie shared the history of the RCMP as well as the path to becoming a Mountie and his personal experience serving. It was entertaining as well as educational, providing insight revealing a level of flexibility and adaptation not seen in U.S. law enforcement. Imagine the FBI serving at every level from County to Federal in the United States and you have a good idea of what the RCMP handles across Canada.

For dinner we visited Chops and had a wonderful time. The service was exceptional, even when compared to the already elevated experience that Chops usually provides. This is the first time we've dined in this venue as a party of four, and the distribution of side items was much more reasonable - a greater assortment with less waste, and an opportunity to try just a taste of something without feeling guilty for leaving a nearly-full dish on the table. 

All-in-all a fantastic day cruising North, to Alaska!