Lifeboat drill over, a buzz of excited anticipation arose as the Vision of the Seas prepared to get underway. Promptly at 5:00 p.m. one Monday evening last May, the elegant white vessel moved smoothly out from Seattle’s Bell Street pier, to head up Puget Sound toward Canada.

Our four-night cruise had begun.

A shipboard getaway is a vacation in the truest sense of the word. No traffic jams en route; no hotel or restaurant boondoggles. No endless waits "on hold" in the quest for good seats to that show you’ve been dying to see. No concerns about what it’s all likely to cost. On a cruise, it’s all included in the price of your ticket.

Most cruises originate from warm-water ports. But this spring for the first time, Royal Caribbean International decided to test the waters of the Pacific Northwest by offering several three- and four-night roundtrip voyages out of Seattle. The experiment proved to be a sell-out success. RCI’s two-year-old Vision of the Seas is a magnificent, eleven-story floating resort, 915 feet long, carrying 2,400 passengers and a crew of 660. With ten cruises under our belts, she was the largest ship Dick and I have ever sailed aboard, and one of the very nicest.

Sun Deck, where a Jamaican trio beat out calypso rhythms on steel drums, proved an ideal spot to sip a sailaway drink and watch familiar landmarks fade into the distance. Later, in the Aquarius Dining Room we made the acquaintance of Mihai, our energetic Romanian waiter, and Gabon, his shy Hungarian assistant. By contrast, all four couples assigned to our table for eight hailed from western Washington.

Most cruise lines are noted for their excellent food, but on this voyage the cuisine was truly outstanding. Along with such scrumptious treats as poached halibut, rack of lamb and Baked Alaska, the Vision’s five-course menus also featured delicious "shipshape" (low-fat) and vegetarian specialties.

Like most of our fellow passengers we usually opted to have breakfast and lunch at the more casual Windjammer Café, where a bountiful assortment of fruit, salads, and freshly baked breads accompanied the buffet-style meals.

It was a challenge to choose from among the dazzling variety of entertainment offered aboard ship and still save time for quieter pursuits. Major shows ranging from Broadway-style revues to personal appearances by world-famous ventriloquist Ronn Lucas and singer/entertainer Bobby Arvon were presented each evening in the Masquerade Theatre.

Games, karaoke, craft lessons, a "Master Hypnotist" show, disco and ballroom dancing, concerts and art auctions vied for our attention with bingo, late-release movies and casino gaming.

There’s a huge spa aboard, a jogging track, two pools, and fitness activities galore. Don’t hesitate to bring your grandkids along: young people gravitate to the well-supervised Club Ocean and the Fantaseas Teen Center.

The ship’s boutiques offer irresistible duty-free bargains. Another popular spot is the photo gallery overlooking the spectacular seven-story Centrum, or main lobby. Each voyage, thousands of pictures snapped by the ship’s tireless photographers go home destined for passengers’ memory books.

Shore excursions ran the gamut from helicopter flightseeing over Vancouver to a romantic tour of Victoria by horse-drawn carriage. Having visited both cities often in the past, we took a red double-decker bus out to Butchart Gardens, and shopped for tea, books and souvenirs at a super exchange rate.

The leisurely circuit of Vancouver Island on the final day of the cruise was pure bliss. From early morning onward, one incredibly beautiful vista followed another. Snowcapped peaks, exquisite fjords, and forested hills inhabited only by wildlife filled our senses and gladdened our hearts.

In mid-afternoon, a great commotion arose. Dolphins to starboard!

A school of about 40 of the large, graceful creatures frolicked alongside, keeping pace with the vessel for nearly an hour. For hundreds of years sailors have regarded the appearance of dolphins as a sign that their voyage would be smooth and happy.

They were right!