February 14: Out Into The Pacific on Nieuw Amsterdam

What could be more romantic than setting out on an ocean cruise on Valentine's Day, complete with towel art on our bed?

For those who can remember far enough back, cue the theme song to the TV series The Love Boat. You should now feel free to begin cursing me for not being able to get that stupid song out of your head while seeing Captain Stubing's grinning face in your mind's eye.

We checked out of our hotel, set at one end of a mile-long marina complex. It is one of the myriad facilities within San Diego Harbor.

From leaving the hotel until we were aboard Nieuw Amsterdam was less than an hour.

Nieuw Amsterdam was docked at the pier next to the Marine Museum of San Diego on our port (left) side. A few piers off to starboard was the USS Midway Museum. 

As we headed down a passageway towards our room, we spotted balloons attached to a door ahead. This was not the first time we had been on a ship on Valentine's Day, so I knew what was coming.

There was more in our stateroom, though thankfully it was subdued compared to some previous experiences.

Submitting my birthdate information was an integral part of the registration form, so this was inescapable. Pam & I plan to keep quiet about our 48th wedding anniversary a few days from now.

The 5:00 PM departure time passed as cargo was still being loaded. I had hoped for more light as the ship moved to open water, but the delay saw the sun sink into some cloud cover near the horizon.

We were underway at 5:30.

As we backed away from the pier, a Friendship Sloop sailed by. This would have seemed the wrong coast to see one had I not had an exchange with the skipper yesterday when he passed by the maritime museum. He used to sail them in Maine, where they originated, and brought one to the West Coast. He allowed that there were very few of them on this coast.

Still backing out of the pier, but now on the other side of the channel, we were close to one of two aircraft carriers undergoing work at Coronado. The shrinkwrap on the tower was outside the scaffolding, protecting (or hiding?) the work being done. 

Soon, we were making headway down the channel.

As the light faded, we cruised past a drydock awaiting a customer.

Look, up in the air, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's...a SpaceX rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Although I had been annoyed that the delayed departure had stolen daylight for taking pictures, in retrospect, had we departed on time, we probably would not have seen it, and certainly not as clearly.

We had not made a dining room reservation, but when we arrived and gave them our room number, one computer spoke to another. The wheels were set in motion, and a cake was delivered by (ugh) singing waitstaff.

After dinner, we wandered the length of the ship on the main deck, reminding ourselves about the location of various venues. Agreeing that none of them were beckoning us to come hither this evening, we headed back to our room to settle in for our first night at sea.