We sleep in a bit until 10:00 and then we’re up and packing everything for the cruise. Once we are packed and ready to go, we head to the front desk and request a taxi. Just a couple of minutes later, our taxi driver pulls up asking for the Scherman party. We are a little surprised he is there for us because there are a couple of families waiting outside for a taxi. They become more than a little upset when the driver tells them he is there for us, not them. Oh well, just a few more minutes and we’re going to be boarding the Rhapsody of the Seas, so we aren't overly concerned.
12:10pm PST – We have arrived! We pull up to the Cruise Ship terminal, unload our luggage, pay the driver and briskly walk to the bag check station. I was a little worried that the check-in process was going to be a long drawn out process, but we zipped right through and the next thing we know we have dropped off our bags, checked in with our passports and received our SeaPasses, and are standing on the ramp to board the ship. We are in luck today as the skies are basically cloud free and Mount Rainier is showing in full majesty; what a beautiful sight! We enter on the 5th deck, our stateroom is on the 8th so we begin climbing the stairs because the elevators are nearly impossible to use with all the people crowding around them. Once we find the 8th deck, we learn that rooms are not accessible until 1:00. Since we have 30 minutes or so to burn, we decide to head up to the top deck, deck 10, to take pictures in front of Mount Rainier. As we head toward the front of the ship we come across the shuffleboard court, score! On the side of the ship are the discs and sticks, so we take them down and start playing. Of course, we have no idea what the actual rules are, so we come up with a couple of versions and play two games. The first game Colleen absolutely smokes me!
In this version we each are at opposite ends and send all four discs to the other end alternating turns after the other person has sent all four discs. Obviously, this can’t be the proper way to play (right?) so I change the rules! Now we are both on the same side and alternate turns after each disc. This seems to make a little more sense to me since we can now knock each other off of the scoring zones and play defense if we do happen to land on a scoring zone. This time, the game is much closer and I pull out a narrow victory. 1:00pm PST – We have finished our games of shuffleboard and put the game pieces away. As soon as the other folks who have been passing by, they head directly for the course to play their own game. Meanwhile Colleen and I finally snap a few pictures in front of Mt. Rainier and head down to the Windjammer Café where lunch is being served buffet style. The Windjammer is going to be open almost the entire trip so we are looking forward to lots of wonderful food there! After eating, we decide to head back toward the area where we think our room is located. We are a little off in judgment, but we eventually find our way down the hall. While we are still several rooms away, I notice one of the ship employees coming out of one of the rooms near where I think our room should be. Sure enough, it is our room he is walking out of and there is a Just Married sign hanging on the door.
We walk in to see the room beautifully decorated with congratulatory ceiling hangings. Also there are flowers, chocolate covered strawberries, cheese and crackers, champagne, wine, and Royal Caribbean robes for each of us. 
We are completely blown away by the generosity of the folks who put this together for us! Thank you so much Pat & Mary Jo, Bob & Vicki, and our friends from Park Dave, Tewaney, Shaun, Tom and David! We enjoy the cheese and crackers, strawberries, and champagne for a little while before heading back out to tour the ship. We go deck to deck forward to aft checking out each lounge, shop, and find our seats for dinner. We are table 129 at the second seating dinner which begins at 8:30 each night. At 3:30, a mandatory emergency drill takes place. All passengers are required to bring the life jackets from their stateroom and head to the assigned muster stations on the 5th deck. Colleen and I arrive just a few minutes before 3:30, but we are only the third or fourth couple in our group to show. Finally, everyone shows up and the drill begins. The actual drill is pretty quick, but the long wait for passengers to show up has worn us out. Back to the stateroom! 4:15pm PST – We open the stateroom door to find our luggage has arrived; time to unpack. We spend the next 30-45 minutes hanging up our nice clothes and putting everything else into drawers. Why did we pack so much?! After unpacking, we decide to head back up to the top deck because it feels like we might be moving. Sure enough, we have begun backing out of the port and are turning around to head North toward Juneau. We are just over 1100 miles away from our destination. The ship is moving at a pretty slow pace so far. There were three different cruise ships (including ours) at or near the same port and we are last out of the port. Once we hit international waters though, the captain ramps up our speed to about 24 mph so we can make it to Juneau by the scheduled time. We will now be cruising for next day and a half at this speed.
6:30pm PST – We are back in our stateroom preparing for tonight’s dinner. At 7:15, an announcement is made that a comedy show will be held in the theater at 7:45 with some pre-show entertainment beginning at 7:15. Since we are ready, we decide to head up to catch the show for a little while before we move on to the dining room. The pre-show entertainment consists of the Entertainment Director giving away some pretty cool prizes and explaining a little bit about what we can expect in the coming days. At 7:45 our comedian comes out and begins his routine. I am less than impressed, but it has to be difficult to write jokes which will entertain the vast range of ages and cultures present here. By the time we leave for dinner he has successfully made everyone laugh though and seems to get stronger as he goes along.
8:30pm PST – We find our table with one couple already perusing the menu. We sit down and introduce ourselves. Shortly after, the other two couples arrive. We have three newlywed couples at our table and the first couple we met, Andy and Lisa, are celebrating their 10th anniversary. The couple across the table from us, Sean and Dawn, were married the same day we were and Graham and Shasta were married Friday June, 13th. We enjoy the conversation throughout dinner and the food selection of nearly all of us in the sliced prime rib. The food is pretty tasty, although by now we are feeling a little overfed!
10:00pm PST – The event coordinator of the ship, Anna, is hosting a honeymooners party in the Viking Lounge on the top deck. Colleen and I tale the elevator up and are greeted warmly by Anna with champagne, Colleen chooses a Mimosa. They also hand us a plate of chocolate covered strawberries which we force down. We have the pleasure of meeting another couple from Houston, TX who were married June 21. They are very nice and seem to have had very similar experiences as we did for our wedding. When all the couples have arrived, each couple gives one of the room cards to Anna for a drawing for three different prizes. We are lucky enough to win a bottle of La Terre Merlot.
Not long after we all decide we can’t eat another bite for at least a day, Anna announces that they have brought a honeymooners cake and begin cutting it up and handing out pieces to each couple. Ugh! We each take about half a bite before setting the plate down and pushing it away. At this point, the ship is really rocking as we speed through the open sea and Colleen begins to feel a little under the weather. We head back to the room, set the alarm clock, and are off to sleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.
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