Pacific Northwest Cruise - day 1

Our cruise started on Mother's Day, Sunday May 10. On Saturday we spent the night in Carlsbad after a day at Legoland, then drove to the Port of Los Angeles on Sunday morning. We arrived to the port around 11am and had to wait until about 1pm to board the ship. Below is a picture of the boys patiently waiting.

The northbound "Mexican" cruise had it's advantage. Because so many people canceled their vacation when they found out the ship was no longer going to Mexico because of the swine flu, we got some extra perks. The ship was only about 3/4 full, so we got upgraded to a Royal Family Suite that had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room and balcony. It was heaven. Connor and Ryan both started the cruise sick, causing them to be extra tired. They took long naps just about every day, so it was nice that they had their own room and we could spend time on the balcony, watching a DVD, reading or just relaxing. Below is a picture taken from our bedroom to the living room. We even had a dining table, and we did take advantage of that with room service a couple nights.

Below is a picture of Ryan exploring our balcony. We had room service dinner out on our balcony the first night. When we first booked the cruise we were on the waiting list for main dining (6pm) but when the swine flu broke out we contacted our travel agent (actually a substitute travel agent since Dad was in China) and she confirmed that we had main dining. When we got on board it turned out we still had late dining (8:30pm). Since 8pm is bedtime for the kids, that was not going to work. Since we got upgraded to a suite, one of the perks was free room service from the regular dining room menu, so we did that and ate on the balcony.
It didn't take Connor long to find the bathroom and test out all the soap. It is nice that they are finally tall enough to reach the sink without having to be lifted up now. The balcony was complete with comfy chairs to relax in! Their was a library on board with kid books. In the below picture, I am reading one of the library books I picked out for the boys. The library was a nice feature since we didn't bring any bedtime stories.
Connor and Ryan both hate wearing their life jackets. We managed to get one picture before they came off.
Another perk for being in a suite was reserved seating at the shows. We didn't make all the shows because the kids were so tired all week, but the ones we saw were great.