Embarkation on the Golden Princess.

Our first closeup view of the entire ship.

We were on a shuttle bus from the parking

lot to the terminal.

We used Seattle CruisePark to park our car

for the week.  It's on a secured lot located 

on the Army National Guard base.

http://www.seattlecruiseparking.com/

It was easy to find, and very convenient.

We pulled in

 and was directed to a parking area. 

 The shuttle bus driver loaded our luggage 

and we boarded the bus.

It was a fun coincidence that our friend

Carole's family boarded the shuttle 

along with us.  We didn't know them,

then,

but when they mentioned meeting Grandma

I thought there was a slim chance that they 

were talking about our friend.  

Sure enough, they were, and there were

  greetings and smiles all around.  

All in all, there were 14 of us traveling in

our group from here in the Redding area.

The shuttle dropped us off a bit away the terminal

and soon the porters were there helping

us with our bags.  Tips of course were given.

We were just so glad that we didn't have to

trudge our stuff all the way into the 

terminal, cause at first,

 the porters weren't 

all the way down at our end of the bus/shuttle

parking area.

I have to admit a little bit of panic/worry 

at that point cause our luggage

outnumbered us a bit... 

Once they took our luggage,

I was relieved and

 super excited at this point.

Princess's Logo,

the Sea Witch.

Once inside,

we weren't allowed to take photos 

of the security lines.

We were directed into lines

for security check, then to 

a table to fill out a current health form.

Then we were off to another line to wait to get

our cruise cards.

After that, you guessed it.

More lines snaking back and forth

Disney style inside the building.

Ah, finally back out into the fresh

and cooler air.  

Can you see our balcony?

Look at the row of balconies just above

the orange life boat.

Now go to the aft end... the right hand side

and count balconies back towards the 

life boat.  Count eight balconies,

and that's our cabin/stateroom.  

There was plenty of time to

take photos as we continued

to snake back and forth in line.

Refueling in progress.

Supplies and luggage

ready to be brought onboard.

Our friends were already onboard.

Here they are waving at us,

but Larry, our friend Carole's son

was showing off his beer to other members

of Carole's family who were somewhere

ahead of us in line.

Still snaking our way 

to the point where they take

our security photos.

Getting closer,

 

and closer.

Once our photos are taken,

then we cross the gangway

and start snaking back and forth

up to the Promenade deck. 

I tried to take a photo of my 

first footsteps on the ship.

I think this was probably the third

step before the phone camera would click.

Looking back at the terminal building.

and the line that we just finished waiting in.

We were directed to the aft end of the ship.

Head inside to the stairs or elevators.

Up two floors and we're finally able

to drop our carry on stuff after being

on our feet for an hour and a half 

in those lines.

Honestly it felt much longer.  

That's after wearing ourselves

out at Pike Place Market,

which wasn't such a good idea for us.

 I hope to remember this for I next cruise.

( Hopefully not wishful thinking.)

At last!

Come Inside.

This is the view of the room

from the balcony doors looking back

towards the other door.

Couch on the left makes into a bed

if needed.  There was also a bed

that pulls down from the ceiling above

the couch as well.

Not shown, is a chair on the right 

hand side.

There were two tv's.  

One for the sitting room area,

and the other aimed back towards

the bed.

At this point I'm taking photos

with my phone so that I can text

the grandkids photos of our room.

We booked a balcony room,

and were upgraded to a mini suite.

Yahoo!!!!

Mini suites have the extra sitting room

along with a bath tub, rather than

just a shower.

We got spoiled, as that extra room

was really nice to have.

The luggage mat was on the bed

ready for our luggage that would

be delivered to our room later in the afternoon.

From the bed area looking back towards

the door.  The area just beyond the

half round shelf and mirror,

is a nice large closet area and the door 

to the restroom.

The black box was the safe inside

the drawer type area.

The vacuum toilet was to be expected,

but the noise from the flush,

was louder than I thought it would be.

You wouldn't want to be sitting there

while flushing.

Nope not at all.