Seattle

We knew that it would be very rude to take John Harrison to the dining room for dinner every night and so we had already completly ruled out that nighttime dining option. The idea of white tablecloths, twenty different sets of silverware (ok, I am exaggerating), and five course meals with a baby does not sound like a good combination. So, the only other dinner options were pool grill (burgers, etc.), nighttime buffet (exact same sushi and stir fry), and limited room service menu. However, since we had a suite, we learned that we had the option of having our butler bring us food from the dining room every night. The first night, we ordered off the dining room menu and our butler showed up at our room to prepare the table for dinner. As soon as he put the white tablecloth on the table on our balcony, David and I looked at each other and then told him that the tablecloth was not necessary. He insisted on a formal table and we told him that we really just wanted an informal dinner....he asked if we wanted him to come and serve each course individually. We told him that was not necessary and that he could bring the food like he would normal room service and we were completely fine serving ourselves.
Thankfully, in subsequent nights, we were able to go without the white tablecloth ..... we could tell that our butler thought it was hilarious that we waited to have our dinner delivered until after John Harrison was down for bed each night and that we didn't want formal dinner service.
We just enjoyed having delicious food, a little bit of time to relax, and a chance to do some whale-watching. one of many famous fish markets at Pike's Place market...

family pic atop the space needle

The first port-of-call on the cruise was Seattle. David has been Seattle quite a few times, but I have never been there before so it was fun seeing the sights for a day. The cruise terminal is in downtown Seattle, so we were able to walk to the Space Needle and to famous Pike's Place market (including the first Starbuck's). Against all odds, we actually had sunny weather in Seattle until late afternoon when the inevitable gloomy skies and rain came through.