derekl_1963

Our first glimpse of the Pearl - emerging from the mist as we cross the sound.

OK, I lie a little bit - my first glimpse was when I woke up early and hit the Space Needle webcam to check out the harbor to make sure she was really there like a kid peeking under the tree on Christmas Morning.

Getting there and getting onboard and settled into our cabins went easily enough - then we grabbed lunch and spent the time until we departed exploring the ship. (I'll post a ship tour later.) Despite it's huge size, getting around was actually pretty easy as maps and placards were everywhere.

Just before departure, I snagged this shot from our cabin balcony:

As always, you can click to make big if you want to - but you really should check out the full size view of this image!

As we turned to exit Elliot Bay I caught this picture postcard shot...

The only real disappointment of the day was that I wasn't able to get many landscapes of Kitsap County as we sailed by... The light was dim and the coast mostly too far away. The only shot that came out was this one of Point No Point:

After passing out of the Puget Sound we headed down to the buffet and had dinner while watching Whidbey Island pass by. We rounded out the evening by burning a little cash in the ship's casino as we headed out into the open sea.