Honeymoon - Day 1: 23/9/10

J's dad drove us to Heathrow terminal five, for our flight leaving at 3.10pm. We're there by 11.15am but can't check in until 12.10pm. We waited around and then checked-in – try for an upgrade on the flight, to no avail. Instead we have middle seats in the middle of an aisle. Oh well! We used the BA check-in kiosk to quickly check-in and then loaded our luggage. Extremely quick and easy! We sailed through security and were in the departure lounge by 12.30ish. We wandered in WHSmith and Harrods Duty Free before heading down to the lower level and a quick bite in Weatherspoons. Boarded easily and fairly quickly, after travelling by 'transit' to the B gates – much like the Bank-Waterloo train. Randomly saw my dad's cousins on the flight! They saw us once we arrive in Seattle and are queuing for immigration. What are the chances! 9.5 hours later we arrived in Seattle. Local time was 4.35pm.

After a swift route through immigration and baggage claim we attempted to locate a Holland-America representative or bus, etc. Our trip included a transfer from the airport to the Seattle Sheraton hotel, but we didn't know the details of this transfer. We finally found a Holland-America desk outside the main airport terminal, but it was empty, and no-one else was waiting there. We continued to wait. Waited some more! Saw people on other cruise liners wondering where to go. Saw other people leave via minibus and cabs etc. Still no news. Someone mentioned grayline transporters were now departing from a different part of the airport. We went back inside and eventually saw a sign stating that transfers downtown via the grayline buses were in a particular area of the airport. We walked across to there and finally located a depot catering for grayline buses. We waited some more. We saw buses headed for the Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, Hilton and Marriott, but no Sheraton. Finally I managed to ask a Marriott bus driver, who directed us further round the bus depot. Then we found another sign for grayline buses, including a mention of the Sheraton! Things were looking up! There was even a Holland-America representative. So we eventually got onto the correct bus and made our way to the hotel.

Drove through downtown Seattle in the early evening – lovely. Fun. Pointed out the Space Needle and other huge buildings, Starbucks and even HSBC. Pulled up at the hotel Very grand, very large. We were in room 1729, on the 17th floor out of 30! No floor 13, as often in the U.S. All modern, clean, shiny, gold, marble and fancy. Lobby, lounge, bar, restaurant, ballrooms, conference rooms! And all included in our cruise. Our room had two queen-sized double beds. We showered and relaxed, watched TV, read and chatted until about 9.30pm, when we went to sleep – it being 5.30am in the U.K. Managed a decent sleep and got up about 7.30am. We had to check-in at the Holland-America desk in the lobby at 8.30am.