On Holland America, the passengers are not required to carry their life jackets to the muster drill. Should a real emergency occur and you cannot get your life jacket from your cabin, these are available at several places on the promenade deck. As you can see, this picture is from Statendam's cruise to French Polynesia last February. The drill will take about 20 minutes and then it will be time to release the lines and get underway. On a long cruise like this one, there are a small number of novice cruisers, so most of this is repeated information.

Jim, I think your better half did an excellent job both on the photos and the information on her trip. Love the doors. Re the narrow street, I've seen several of those in my travels. They were early security systems. As Jim said,. paraphrasing , they were to stop bad guys from entering the buildings. From what I was told on my travels, is that they were built to protect the money centers. mostly cash and gold, from robbers. We went into an old money center. The high windows/peep-holes were meant to allow the people inside to be able to see out but did not allow the people to see in. In one case, I saw steps built into the bottom of the door so people could climb up and see who were outside.

Fortunately, bad weather on our cruise didn't ruin our trip. It was part of a 6-wk drive through the PNW and we had a blast before and after the cruise. Ironically, after we had done a whale-watch excursion on the cruise (where we saw almost nothing except a couple of spouts and a few glimpses of an orca pod), the next week afterwards we ended up taking a couple of friends on a whale-watching excursion leaving from Victoria BC . The Victoria boating trip was terrific - just the luck of the draw, lol! Our friends were absolutely thrilled, with humpbacks all around us for several hours, spyhopping and gliding around the boat for lots of up-close shots. It was their first visit to the Seattle area and they loved it all. We go up regularly so the cruise disappointment was minor, really, in the overall scheme of things. Oh, just had a thought about cruising from Seattle - some hotels run cruise specials for people driving in. Stay one or two nights, and you can leave your car at the hotel for the full week you're on the cruise. Plus, the hotel provides a shuttle to/from the pier. It's a GREAT deal if you're driving.

Our next port of call is Lahaina on the island of Maui. Arrival was at 8:00 and we were due to sail away at 6:00. Lahaina does not have a pier for cruise ships, the ships tenders are used to shuttle passengers back and forth. There were many people on our ship who used walkers and those folks managed to get ashore without too much of a problem. However, those in battery operated scooters just would not be able to make it. Rather than just turn loose all those who want to go ashore, there are tickets given out shortly after dropping anchor. The numbers on those tickets will determine when you go ashore. They also are working with passengers who have paid the ship for an official excursion (tour) and those get priority. Once again we rented a car. I headed for the small town of Makawao using as many side roads as possible. We went to Maui Hands, where we, once again, spent money. We ventured into a couple of other stores that offered art from local folks. Then, again, using side roads, we headed to the famed Hana Highway. We did not go to Hana, but aimed back toward the small town of Paia, where we went to the Maui Crafts Guild store. More local art. Lunch was at Thai Spice there in town. However, if you ever get to Paia, you must consider the Paia Fish Market restaurant! Communal dining with fresh, fresh fish! We took our time driving back to Lahaina to return the car. Free shuttle back to the ship was convenient. If you are ever on Maui, consider going to their aquarium, the Maui Ocean Center. A great place with two restaurants. Also on Maui is the shield volcano, Haleakala, a long drive away, but wonderful views and some good hiking to the top. That is a US National Park and some folks like to get there for sunrise (reservations recommended for that). There are some great stores in Lahaina, so if shopping is your thing, spend your money there. Back on the ship, Adagio performed in the Explorers Lounge (always called Adagio with different violist/pianist). The Ocean Quarter had the evening off, but Johnny held forth in the piano bar. The Lion King was shown a couple of times in the theater. In the Mainstage, Hyperion Knight (billed as a virtuoso pianist) had shows at 7:30 and 9:30. Since there was no live music in the Ocean Bar, at 8:30 and fun time was with Majority Rules Game, what a blast that one is. There were promotions throughout the ship for Rudi’s Sel de Mer dinner. Very French, with a menu of mostly fresh fish, inspired by Master Chef Rudi Sodamin. This is in the Pinnacle Grill and there is a $49 charge for this special event. Reservations required.