We enjoyed breakfast in our hotel again. Mark walked for about an hour into Stanley Park and along the sea wall. About 10:00am we checked out of our hotel and took a Lyft to our home for the next ten days, the Oceania Riviera cruise ship. The ride to the ship was only about 15 minutes and it took us about 45 minutes to get through security, customs and checked in. Once onboard we enjoyed a wonderful buffet lunch in the Terrace Café. There were way too many things to choose from like a large salad bar, a pumpkin and carrot soup, burgers, roasted turkey, pasta, roasted pork, sandwiches, pizza, roast beef and more.

The 15-deck vessel accommodates 1,250 passengers when full and is an adult only cruise ship. They have 800 crew members from 52 nationalities to serve the guests. The ship blends elegance with contemporary design, including a Lalique Grand Staircase. The ship includes four specialty dining venues in addition to its main dining rooms, all day buffet, poolside grill and pizzeria. There is the Red Ginger Asian, Jacques French, the Polo Grill steak house and the Toscana Italian eatery.

The ship has a total of 15 decks, a pool, spa, fitness center, coffee bar, library and poolside ice cream bar. Our cabin was on deck 9 and featured about 300 square feet of space, a teak veranda, seating area, oversized bathroom and walk-in shower. The color scheme was very neutral shades of beige, brown, white and navy blue. The luxurious Tranquility beds feature beautiful linens.

Our cabin features a queen size bed, small sofa, a large bath with shower and tons of storage. There is also a balcony with two arm chairs and a coffee or cocktail table. We had a bottle of champagne and red wine in our cabin when we arrived to get us started on our adventure to Alaska.

Our dinner on our first night aboard was in the Red Ginger specialty dining room. The dining room is elegantly decorated in red and black and features an Asian themed menu. For a starter I had the tempura sweet potato, avocado and mushrooms. Then there was the watermelon and duck salad followed by the entrée I selected, the seven spice lamb chops. Dessert brought a coconut mousse surrounded by lady fingers. They offered many dishes and you were encouraged to order as many items as you could eat. Some larger tables ordered lots of items and sampled a large variety.

The evenings show in the main theater was a Broadway themed show featuring six vocalists from the ships show cast. They performed a variety of Broadway shows, both vintage and current.