(遊輪遊記我先跳寫開船之後的行程，這部分比較有故事性可以讓我生出東西的動機變強一點)
On the morning of the sail-off day, I woke up earlier than I expected. I guess I was still a bit nervous since this was my first time cruising, and taking my whole family (all first time cruisers) together. Officially, the boarding time starts by noon, and our hotel is pretty close to the port ("Canadian Place" is its official name). The morning was really too long to sit around, but too short to do anything else.
開船那天早上，我又不小心太早起床了。或許，因為我是第一次坐遊輪出去玩，而且還帶著整組第一次坐遊輪的家人，所以難免有點緊張。我們昨晚住的旅館離碼頭很近，而船公司表定的開始上船時間是中午十二點，早上這段時間說長不長，說短不短，既沒辦法排進一個行程，坐在旅館又閒得發慌，實在是不知道怎麼辦才好。
So we got out from the hotel and strolled around the area a bit. As a pleasant surprise, we found the torch stand of the Winter Olympic moved to the waterfront, just steps away from the Canadian Place. Some five-minute walk away sits the boat we will board soon this afternoon. I had been expecting and mentally projecting this for quite some time, seeing the actual boat finally made this feel realistic.
所以我們只得利用上午的時間在旅館附近隨便逛逛了。很巧的是，去年剛結束的溫哥華冬運的聖火台，被移到了碼頭邊，離我們晚點要上船的 Canadian Place 不遠；雖然我們來溫哥華和冬奧完全無關，還是很開心地跟聖火台合照。再往前走五分鐘，就到了 Canadian Place，大部分從溫哥華出發的遊輪，都是從這裡開船的，我們下午要坐的 Diamond Princess，也已經在港裡等我們了。我期待坐遊輪已經有好幾年，也在腦內演過不少坐遊輪的小劇場，終於親眼看到等下要坐的船，讓一切都變得真實起來。
【Torch stand for Winter Olympics is now a new landmark at Vancouver waterfront】
【Here is the Diamond Princess - the crew must be busy unloading the passengers from the previous trip finishing up today.】雖然說我們前晚的旅館離碼頭很近，走路也走得到，但我們一行每個人都大包小包，最後還是決定要坐計程車去碼頭。在車上，我一直很擔心地看著計費錶，怕等一下我的加幣不夠付車費。雖然說，不足的部分用美金來支付可能也可以，但我覺得在人家的國家拿美金出來是不怎麼禮貌的行為 - 特別是美加關係一直處在微妙的情況，我一直聽說加拿大人不喜歡美國人到加拿大旅行，卻還當做在自己家，美金用得理所當然的樣子。幸好，最後我清空口袋之後，發現我加幣正好夠付車資加小費，避免了難堪的情形。
We arrived at Canadian Place slightly after noon per instruction of the cruise company. We thought we were early so the boarding process should be quick, but unfortunately everybody thought the same thing and we found ourselves in the full hustle-and-bustle of hundreds of avid cruisers waiting in line. People really come from all over the world to Alaska, as I can see passports of all colors being handled. Most people come with a big group (as I later found out, cruising is really a good way to arrange larger family reunion or friends gathering).
我們依船公司行前說明的指示，在剛過中午的時候來到 Canadian Place，原本自以為，我們來得應該算早的，登船手續應該很快就可以辦完。人算不如天算，大家都想要早點上船，所以來得早，反而和所有四面八方湧來的遊客一起，擠在看不到盡頭的隊伍裡。阿拉斯加遊輪的乘客來自世界各地，在現場看到五顏六色的護照，蠻有趣的。大部分坐船的人，都是成群結隊，像我們一家四口，其實人並不算多的（後來我也發現，原來遊輪很適合辦大型的家族或朋友團聚，所以有這麼多十幾二十人的團體就不意外了）
The line started in one big room, where people stood and waited anxiously, not able to see what is happening before us in the next room. I thought the line would move fast, like the custom check in airports, but for some reason it moved really slow. After an hour or so, we finally arrived at the point where the line forked. People with US passports just proceeded, showed it to the officer, and off they went to the check-in counter of the cruise company (bad for them, they need to wait for one hour for just this?). But the worse was waiting for the international travelers. We were directed to the next room where an even bigger line await. Good news: seats and water were provided; bad news: one and a half more hours in line was no fun by any means. I was honestly surprised, as this was actually almost the end of season and only two boats were leaving Canadian Place on this day. During the peak season, there could be four or more boats leaving on the same day. I would rather not think how much wait there will be for those travelers.
長長的隊伍從一間大房間開始，大家都在往隊伍的前方張望，但是沒有人知道前面的第二間房間到底在搞什麼飛機，為什麼大家都一直無法前進。我本來以為，這個隊伍至少應該跟機場的海關檢查差不多快才對，但實際上它比機場的隊伍前進慢得多了。在隊伍裡空等了一個多小時，我們終於走到了第一間房間的盡頭，隊伍也在這分成兩半。拿美國護照的人直接前進，海關很快地看過護照之後，他們就可以去船公司的登船櫃台報到了（那，到底為什麼他們之前需要跟大家在隊伍裡等一小時哩？）。對其他外國人來說，排隊的惡夢才剛開始，我們前進到下一間房間，在那裡等著我們的是比先前更長的隊伍。好消息是，這個房間裡有坐位，有水可以喝；壞消息是，不管等待室的環境怎樣，坐在那空等一個半小時都不是好玩的事情。對眼前的景象，我實在是有說不出的驚訝：現在已經是阿拉斯加遊輪的季末，今天只有兩艘船要離開溫哥華北上。在最忙碌的七八月，每天從 Canadian Place 出發的遊船可以多到四艘以上。我實在不想知道那些旺季來的遊客等上船要等到什麼時候。
【This is only the beginning of the line. What I can see from here is less than half of the actual line.】
【That's right, laugh while you still can :-P 】現在已經是下午快三點了，我們一家人都餓得快受不了。本來我們以為，我們可以很快地通過海關，上船吃稍微晚一點的中飯。好不容易，輪到我們去見海關大叔，當他問起我來美國要做什麼的時候，餓到昏頭的我，差一點就回答他「我想吃東西」。好不容易上了船，我們當然馬上去船上24小時營業的自助餐廳大吃一頓。後來，在船上的照相館陳列大家登船記念照的地方（照片很多，所以要依登船時間擺放，顧客才比較好找），我很驚訝地發現雖然船公司的行前手冊上寫的是中午開始上船，但實際上很多人都是上午就上船了，最早的還有九點的。我不是很確定提早上船是不是老客戶的優惠，不過下次我不會再輕易相信那個手冊了 - 說什麼請在十二點後報到，可以比較快上船，明明就是鬼扯啊。
The first official activity on the agenda for the boarding day was safety drill. All passengers had to report to the designated gathering place according to your room number with your life jacket. My designated gathering point was the casino on board. Crew members explained what should be done in case we need to abandon ship. For me first time cruiser, this was a very interesting small talk, but for frequent cruisers I can imagine this repeated lecture can be as painful as being told that we have six emergency exits and the closest exit may be behind you on a flight. I could see many people dosing off, chit-chatting, or playing with phones to pass time. Later I learned, my father just slept off in the room to skip the drill. Mandatory drill was not really enforced after all.
所有乘客都上船之後，第一件官方行程就是安全講習。所有乘客都要從自己房間帶著救生衣出發，到依房號安排的指定集合地點報到，我的房間的集合點是在船上的賭場。船上的服務員開始解釋，如果發生船難，需要棄船的時候，大家應該要怎麼做。對像我這樣第一次坐船的人來說，這些資訊還蠻新奇有趣的，不過我可以體會對常常坐船的人來說，這個強制的安全講習可能就像在飛機上聽到「本機有六個安全出口，而離您最近的安全出口可能在您的後方」一樣地無聊，我也發現到很多人打磕睡、偷偷聊天、或玩手機打發時間。後來我才知道，我爸爸吃完飯之後就回房間睡了，明明是一定要去的安全講習卻翹課，所謂必需參加的安全講習，其實並沒有嚴格執行。
【The casino is used as one of the gathering places in case of emergency. People attend drill with life vests.】
【This is to demo how the life vest should be worn. Also, if I am jumping into water, I should use both arms to press the vest down against my body, so it does not pop off when I hit water. Use one hand to cover mouth and nose so I don't choke by the splashing water. Hmm, I hope I won't need to pull this stunt off in the trip.】終於，開航的時間到了！在船頂的主甲板上，照例要舉行盛大的開航 party，但今天下午的天氣不太穩定，下小雨，而且氣溫也比早上降低了不少，來參加 party 的人明顯不多。本來我期待這個開航 party 會像電影裡演的一樣，大家向岸上的人揮手，丟帽子灑彩帶和碎紙花，但這一切都沒有發生。我們只是就這樣安安靜靜地開走了。
【Sail-away party on the main deck. As you can see, not many people were here.】
【The weather really looked glumly this afternoon】
【Skyline of Vancouver. Canadian Place is at the left side.】
【Two cruise ships sailed away one after the other, passing the Lions Gate Bridge. This is the "green version" of the Golden Gate Bridge, by the same architect.】開航的晚上出奇地安靜，船上也沒安排什麼大型活動。我想，大部分的旅客應該都累了一整天，遠道趕來溫哥華，然後又排了好幾個小時的隊。從我在排隊時候看到的情形推測，國外來的遊客可能都還活在不同的時區，各自調整時差中。趁船上四處無人，台灣來的家人也都入睡了，我花了好幾個小時到處走動，熟悉環境。船在一片冷雨與黑暗之中安靜但快速地北行，站在一片漆黑的甲板上，我忽然覺得離我熟悉的世界好遙遠，前方又是一片未知的興奮感。我很高興我計畫多時的旅行總算是順利開始了，但另一方面也擔心接下來幾天的天氣會如何。旅行的第一天，就在一種充滿不確定感的狀態中結束了。
