Day 1

I started off a little slow today. I really didn't want to get into anything until after the drill. As soon as we were done, we walked around the ship a little bit. I got a few shots of Seattle as we pulled away. To save a little time and to ensure getting something from Seattle, I used my secondary camera, my Rebel XS. Around the same time that we left, so did Holland America's Oosterdam. They had a head start, but we pulled forward. As far as I'm concerned, we won the race. Of course, this might have actually been a matter of Holland America letting us win as a clever marketing strategy. By letting us get ahead, riders of the Norwegian Pearl could take pictures of the Oosterdam with Tahoma (Mt. Rainier for non-natives) in the background. If people from both cruises post pictures online, which boat do you think will be more prominently featured from riders of the other boat? I switched bodies for my wide angle lens to get some better scenery pictures. When I headed out around 6:30, I quickly noticed a lighthouse. I believe that it was the New Dungeness Lighthouse, which means that we were passing the Dungeness Spit/Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. I was hoping to see the spit from the boat since I had been there a few times before. This gave me a different perspective. Unfortunately, 55mm wasn't cutting it for me. I had the wrong lens, and I'm starting to think that we will be too far over on the return trip to get any decent shots. That didn't stop me from trying, but I'm not expecting any wow factor for my shots. Maybe my 150-500mm could have done the trick, but I can’t be certain. I should also point out that there were some obnoxious clouds blocking views of the Olympic Mountains. The nature of the day limited wildlife possibilities for me. I can say with confidence that I saw Crows, Pigeons, and Gulls. Without my good lens, however, I really didn't get a good look at any of the seabirds that were sharing the water with us.