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Key take aways Don't just stay on your cabin balcony (if you have one). Had you been on your balcony the whole time you might have missed all of the video I shot above, oblivious that it even occured. Pushing through the ice and hearing it from deck 5 then heading to the helipad, then heading to deck 12, then the Viking Crown Lounge all yielded very different experiences. The face of the glacier is taller than the ship. That puts into perspective the size of some of the ice chunks that were falling off and splashing into the water. Still photos are great but when it comes to calving, video is best. There is plenty of railing for everyone, no need to hog one spot. You are better to move around. I had an interior cabin. A balcony is not required to experience Alaska. If a bucket list cruise is funded by a barrel sized bank account, go for a balcony, but don't miss this experience thinking you must save years to have a balcony in Alaska. Don't worry about the weather. Bring rain gear, bring gloves. Be prepared but if your day starts out wet and cold as this day did, perhaps it will turn for you as it did for me. It's Alaska, you just never know. The calving was much better this year compared to last year. You just never know how it will be on your day at the glacier. We didn't do the circles we did on Explorer or Millennium last year. One side had the view for a while, then the other. Each Captain is different I guess. No complaints, especially with the calving we saw. I had to chuckle when I heard someone say exactly what I said last year as we departed Hubbard Glacier. "If this cruise ended right now I wouldn't even complain".

The Captain had originally come in and placed the ship so cabins on one side could see the glacier. By the time I took the video above the Captain had turned the ship so that cabins on the other side could see the glacier. I sensed our time was coming to an end so I ventured around the ship to get some ship photos with the glacier as a backdrop. With that we began our departure from Hubbard Glacier.

Day 2 - Hubbard Glacier, continued... After lunch commences with a distant view of our destination. It's raining lightly and quite overcast. Pretty much the same as my last visit to the Hubbard Glacier. I scope because I can! I was surprised to see enough signal to broadcast so I scoped while I could! https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1OyKAQQeMkeKb The weather was clearing and our views improving. Periscope was still working so I scoped again as we approached closer. https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1YqKDQQnRXLGV Crowds were starting to build on the helipad. With my telephoto lens I could start to see the glacier in greater detail. The skies were really clearing now and it was turning into a glorious day. Drinks were offered for purchase: I was moving around enjoying different perspectives from around the ship. We sailed through a group of ice that made this weird but incredible sound as we pushed through it. It was very cool and deck 5 was the perfect place to experience it. I moved up to deck 12 to try to take in more of the entire face. We started to see some hints of calving. It had been pretty quiet up to this point. I switched to video and managed to catch some great calving action on video. Here are some still frames from that video: Here is another section giving way in the right half of the face: You can see it started with a small shower of ice falling away. To the right of this partially hidden another small shower begins: In the hole in the glacier I could larger pieces caving in: A larger section then broke free and fell into the water: Soon after a much larger section started its slide and crash into the water: The splash was immense: A decent sized wave started coming our way: It's much more impressive on video so I uploaded some of my footage to Youtube: It was incredible and the pictures and videos don't do it justice. It's something best experienced live.

Dinner at 6pm Totally forgot to take pictures. Service was excellent and they honored Diamond Happy Hour drinks in the MDR. Back outside a double rainbow appeared as rain appeared to be moving in with increasing cloud cover. Time for muster approaching I dropped off my camera in the cabin and headed to muster. U2 for me, outdoors on the covered deck 5 under the lifeboats. The other end of the double rainbow appeared. A few minutes later the muster drill started. Soon after it concluded we started to sail away. Sail away scope: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1rmxPNNqwRXGN The cloud cover had increased and with that there was no sunset tonight worth taking photos of. With that day one is complete. I was tired from a late arrival in Anchorage and early departure the next morning so i went to bed shortly after this.

The train is a great way to get from Anchorage to the port. Here is a scope while I had cell coverage: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1BRJjeeRkyNGw First drink of the day, Mimosa! Another scope: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1gqxvXXdqyeGB This is all glacier silt from thousands of years of run off. Our guide tells us they once wanted to build a bridge across this channel. They needed to find bedrock so they started drilling into the silt. They gave up at 2,000 feet. The announcer or guide spent most of her time in our car and it was nice to chat with her between announcements. Here we are beside the Seward Highway. Our bartender on this day... Time for a Bloody Mary. I really enjoyed the glass ceiling. The views were incredible. The dining car area was on the first floor below us and they led us down in groups as it only hold 20 at a time. Breakfast is included with Goldstar service, including another Mimosa I discovered. I had the Aurora Breakfast last year so I tried the Sourdough French Toast. It was very good. Back upstairs the conductor was punching tickets and talking with passengers. A moose was announced on the right. I saw it very well but by the time I raised my camera all I got was a blurry back end of a moose running away. Can you see it? We made a quick scheduled stop in Girdwood to pick up a few more passengers. After that we continued into the mountains. Glaciers were announced as we approached them. More moose spotted: Yet another scope: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1YqKDQQjAYzGV?t=28s The train slowed as we crossed over this stream so we could see dozens of spawning Salmon. It was easier to see with our eyes but if you look closely you will see the deep pink fish in the river. Finally our ship appeared in the distance. With that we had arrived in Seward. A scope of our arrival: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1dRJZggRdmrxB It's hard to capture the beauty of Alaska with a simple camera. It really needs to be experienced first hand.

Time to get this party started... Day 0 - Flight to Anchorage, overnight stay in a hotel I booked this cruise on a few weeks notice after verifying I could find decent airfare. I could and it meant changing planes in Seattle. My first flight was delayed due to mechanical issues so that meant missing my original connection in Seattle. No worries, plenty of flights left to get there. Taking off out of Seattle I was able to see the coastal areas and many channels and islands in the area. A short time later I looked out my window and thought I could see the distinctive shape of a cruise ship. I could see a Viking Crown and realized Explorer would be departing Victoria on the last night of her current sailing on her way back to Seattle. I checked our flight path and sure enough we flew right over the water border between the U.S. and Canada just West of Victoria. How cool is that? Seeing my last Alaska cruise ship while heading to Alaska to board my next Alaska cruise ship! I had chosen an earlier arrival into Anchorage and a window seat on the right side of the plane so I could enjoy the descent into Anchorage. With the missed connection that wouldn't occur in the prime of the day but I was still able to see many glaciers in the final 25 minutes of the flight. I lost count of the glaciers I saw despite the broken cloud cover. There aren't many airports that feature a moose, but ANC airport does! At this point it was 10pm (midnight at home) and after getting my checked bag I went to my hotel and straight to bed. I had an early start to the day in the morning.

Day 2 - Evening. Formal Night. I had a 7pm My Time reservation but with my stomach still on home time two hours later I wasn't going to make it. Dinner in the Windjammer! This gave me more time to enjoy the Concierge Club and take some pictures. A regular crowd had already bonded in the club and sitting around the bar as a solo was quite enjoyable. Much better than alone at a table for two in the club. We continued down the coast and much like last year some very prominent mountains were floating in the sky off our port side. Another relatively early night for me. I wanted to catch our arrival in Juneau in the morning.

By now it was a blue sky kind of day and the views departing were equally magnificent. Great views from the aft balconies: Here is a video sailing away from the Hubbard Glacier:

Day Two - Hubbard Glacier Our arrival at the glacier was set for early afternoon so we had a regular sea day for the first half of the day. I discovered a letter on my cabin door informing me I had not attended the muster drill. I had attended muster and gave my cabin number like I always do. The letter said to attend the secondary muster at 8:30pm - the previous night. I stopped by guest services and showed the pictures on my phone of the rainbow with a timestamp two minutes before muster officially started. They said not to worry about. They didn't ask my cabin number or name, they just told me it's okay. I had been in and out of my cabin several times and had gone to bed after 8:30pm yet don't recall seeing the letter on my door the night before. Nothing more came of this. I was up early due to my body clock being several time zones earlier so I took the opportunity to take some pictures around an empty ship. The Centrum Radiance does not have a Vintages. Instead it has the Champagne Bar with awesome sea views and seating right by the windows. I've often thought the entrance to the Schooner Bar on Radiance class ships is a waste of space since cruise ship real estate is hard to come by but it's pretty to look at. Radiance class does have great views of the sea from many different public venues. Breakfast in the Windjammer. Custom made omelet at the omelet station and fruit. The abundance of fruit is something I always try to enjoy in the Windjammer. Our progress so far: Lunch in the Solarium, double Kümmelweck. Noted these options as well:

The pier and cruise ship terminal are both owned by the railroad. They offer free motor coaches to get from the train to the ship but I prefer to walk the 1/2 mile. It's not too often you see this sign. The Diamond and Diamond Plus line had 4 groups ahead of me . The other lines were a little longer but with people arriving through out the day you don't tend to see the massive terminal crowds on boarding day you see at other cruise embarkation ports. The gangway: With that I was on board at 11:48am.

IT'S CRUISE DAY!!! But wait, first I have to get from Anchorage down to Seward where the ship is, nearly 130 miles. Before booking my cruise I had verified the Royal transfer on the charter train was available. It was $125 through Royal. I kept checking the Alaskan Railroad direct and one day found that Goldstar service had opened up. I had used the regular Adventure class service before but wanted to try Goldstar service. It includes two beverages, breakfast, a glass ceiling car and large outdoor viewing platform. I jumped at the opportunity at $212. There are two reasons I canceled the Royal transfer train and went with a direct booking. The Royal transfers departs around noon. I would be awake and just hanging around killing time until noon. With a 4 hour train ride it would arrive in Seward around 4pm. That's plenty of time with an 8pm sail away but that was way too late to board a ship when I could board anytime after 10am. The train booked direct leaves at 6:45am and arrives before noon. The Royal transfer doesn't offer Goldstar service. Here is a photo of Adventure class from 2017: The hotel shuttle to the train station was at 5:15am. Up early and in the lobby a few minutes later we were soon on our way to the train station. Already I was noticing a big difference from June. It was much darker at 5am than it was a few months earlier. At the train station they collect luggage for regular train passengers just going to Seward like on any other day but they also have a special drop off area for cruise ship passengers. In this tent to the far right you can see a Royal Caribbean sign. With my ship tags attached I simply dropped my bag here and never touched them again until they appeared outside my cabin door. Because you never see your luggage in Seward, make sure your passports, valuables and cruise docs are with you on the train. Arriving early the train station was empty and I quickly received my assigned seat ticket, a pin for Goldstar service and a route map. They have coffee and a few light snacks like muffins for purchase. I had 45 minutes to kill so I went outside, took some photos and scoped. https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1MnGnZZypojGO Goldstar is the first two cars, the regular cars are Adventure class and what the Royal transfer train uses. Back in the station it was getting packed: Soon enough our conductor approached and "All Aboard" was called. Today I would be in car "B". First one onboard I took some pictures before other passengers arrived. The outdoor viewing platform: Here is a quick scope while I still had cell phone coverage in Anchorage: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1BRJjeeRDXVGw

I decided against a daily blog of the Allure as this ship was so very close to the Oasis of the Seas. Instead, I will call out what I think are the main differences I noticed. The good: entertainment - overall a step above the entertainment on the Oasis. Mama Mia was the Broadway show on board. I think that because I grew up with the music of ABBA I enjoyed this show better than Cats, the Oasis Broadway show. Headliner show - Ronn Lucas was the ventriloquist act. He was good and very funny. Blue Planet production show - good but I thought it had so much more potential. The effects were great but the lack of story dropped it down a bit for me. The bad - The food- bad isn’t the correct word, but the selection seems thinner and more items I have enjoyed in the past are disappearing. New items are not showing up to replace them, just repeats from previous days pop up on the menu more. the Coke machines- my big complaint. On a ship this big it is just wrong to sell soda packages based around coke machines that are almost always behind locked doors. Four in the Windjammer that are inaccessible when it is closed, or even when open, two are unavailable because that side is closed. One in the Wipeout Cafe that has very short hours. Two in the Promenade 24/7 but usually with at least one out of much of its product and in need of service the number of machines is probably about right, placement is bad. The Other- itineraries: I wish there was greater variety of itineraries Out of our three stops, I only bothered to get off the ship in Puerto Rico. St Maarten and Labadee are one time visits for me. I know everyone is different and this is very subjective. I do look forward to my June Amsterdam cruise for new destinations. The ship overall is in good shape no complaints there. I had the internet “surf and stream” the whole cruise. I Speedtested it multiple times and consistently got ~3mbps. Not blazing fast but it’s in the middle of the ocean so no complaining from me I consistently got notifications from my security system and the video loaded after a short wait. I didn’t see the rude passengers we have encountered in the past. The school year kept the children to a minimum. Elevators were rarely packed and when it was busy people seemed willing to pack a few more on. Overall, I would rate my week on the Allure of the Seas a solid 4/5. Oasis class remains my favorite.

Nuqjatlh are these Royal Cruises tlhih jatlh of? Are tlhih a king? My Klingon is rusty. (TWSS).

With RC website its more :

Well, she can always use the age old excuse "oops, I made a mistake" or "oops, I was confused" and rather than loosing the deposit argue that it would just be best to do the B2B.

From what I have read and followed, you are better off with Dru.

I know holiday sailings are expensive, but I don't get paid vacation so I factor in the cost of missing less days since i have them off anyways. It makes the math pan out better, unless you then look at the airfare ?. I live way up in the opposite corner of the country (WA) so my flight usually ends up being half the cost of the cruise and the math all goes out the window( or balcony door ). My amazing wife and I sure do love cruising though, and we are happy to have found this community. When work gets stressful I just binge listen to Matt's podcasts and scavenge RCL for any changes to potential vacations.

Cabin tour! Cabins were ready 15 minutes early at 1:15pm. Interior Cabin 4519. Starboard side, deck 4, near forward elevator lobby. Shower curtain despite the makings of a shower door type enclosure. It was like it used to have a door, but they had pulled all that out and put up a shower curtain.

Still dragging my carry on around I went to the Concierge Lounge to wait for cabins to open:

Windjammer boarding day scope: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1ZkKzNNqokyKv I headed up and checked out the pool deck and other topside areas. The lifeguard informed me the outdoor pool is heated to 84° F. The terminal as seen from the ship: Solarium: Another scope while in port: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1MnxnZZaYdYxO

I saw that today in an email and I was thinking, hmm, got to remember that one for a 2021 cruise, Yes, I am out that far already. When I mention that to friends they always have the same response, how can you plan out that far and I say, if you want the deals, you got to plan. Either you wait until the last moment or plan them out.

Can you give us a bit more info to help guide our recommendations? Nothing too personal, just some general ideas like: What kind of activities do you and your kids like? Beach lounging, lots of time in the ocean, shopping, cultural / historical activities,...? What ship had you originally booked, and what drew you to it besides the itinerary stop at Coco Cay? Do you think you’d be OK with another class of ship that was smaller / larger, or would you want to stay in the same general class? That is, if you had booked Allure or Harmony originally, would you need to stay on an Oasis class ship, or would a smaller ship be ok if the itinerary worked? Anything else you think would help guide us with our recommendations is also welcome, but that should be enough to h lot us narrow down the possibilities a bit. ?

We set sail in 2 weeks and I've spent months and months planning our tours. We booked with a company called Joe Banana Limo/Italy Tour Sharing for our tours of Rome and Pompeii/Amalfi. Visit their site and you can book a tour for as many people as you like. The per person rate goes down, the more people you book. If you find your "Roll Call" on the Cruise Critic website, you can recruit people to join your tour. We found this much cheaper than the ship's excursions and there are only 8 people in our tour groups. Many people on our Roll Call booked tours this way. At one point there was a spreadsheet with all the tours listed and web links (someone was very organized)! Now I've made "friends" with several of my fellow cruisers and we have a number of meet and greets set up. I can certainly share our experiences when we return!

So...today was disembarkation from Liberty. All I can say at this point is....disaster. 1. Galveston suffers from the same problem that Miami did on our last cruise on NAV. Priority disembark is a total joke. The Suites Concierge (MJ...who was great all week) let us escape through a secret door behind The Schooner Bar. That’s it. No priority suites line, no personal escort no expedited suites line at Customs. We were just sent out to queue up with everyone else at the back of the longest line. Very disappointing. But that’s not the worst part. 2. When we got to the area in the luggage warehouse to get out luggage, our biggest bag was missing. We hunted, the luggage handlers hunted, even MJ (who finally showed up after we had all traversed the gauntlet) looked for the missing bag. Nope. Gone. We figure someone either accidentally picked our bag up by mistake OR someone stole it OR the baggage handlers misplaced it to the degree that nobody could find it. A lost bag is bad enough but I have to board a predawn flight for Charleston, WV which would have meant immediately repacking anyway but now half my stuff is missing. We don’t even get home until after 10 PM and I am going to have to find someplace to purchase hair brushes, hair dryer curling iron and various other lady items that I haven’t even thought of yet. It was always going to be a tough turnaround but now it’s even harder. We have travel insurance so if the bag never shows up we will get some reimbursement but never what the actual losses would be. Let’s not even talk about the weather which is threatening to F up everything! We had such a great cruise. I hate that it’s ending this way. Dan and I were both awarded complimentary cruises from the casino but I will NOT be coming back to G-ton. Pity. The Liberty is a beautiful ship and we enjoy this ship Class a lot.

The Doc thought you will have enjoyed that. Back, to the.....you know.

Count me in, too!

I am booked as far out as itineraries allow also. March 2020 is my last booking so far. Also anxiously awaiting the next release.

Long-time lanyard-wearer for work. Please, please, please get a lanyard that releases from the back of the neck when enough tension is applied. Choke / entanglement issues. Trust me. Same reason that cats should always have a releasing collar. Wouldn't cruise without one. Found ours at the port (Port Canaveral) after check-in and before the boat. Georgia Tech, to be exact. Wife's Alma Mater. Tom

Wow, you and @twangster are way in the lead on that race, I think!

Loving the pictures, as always! Since I couldn't catch your scopes when originally broadcast, I've been watching them in sync with your postings. That train ride looked absolutely stunning! I am so adding this itinerary to my future cruise bucket list.

@rjac, you are taking this FAR too literally! Can't you see that @Sweety doesn't want cold reality, and is looking for a loophole to sneak in a fourth cruise without her husband realizing? Help a gal out with feeding her cruise addiction, already! ?

It's also long because some of the European ports are really far from actual places you want to visit. Caribbean ports you get off the ship and you're there. European ports you get off and you still have to take a train or some other form of transportation to get to Rome or Florence etc.

If your husband is going by the number of invoices you're paying off, and he sees the bills / emails / statements, then B2B counts as two cruises (separate bookings and reservations). But if you're the master of the treasury and all he does at the end of the day is hand his paycheck to you for bill payments, and he never so much as sees a statement... well, then you just have one unusually long itinerary and he can find out the realities of the B2B disemarkation / re-embarkation when the day comes. ?

Arrival time is when the ship docks; there will typically be around a 30-minute wait after that while the ship is cleared by the port before passengers can disembark. Given the early hour of all your arrivals, you'll probably want to also factor in time to have breakfast at the Windjammer (if you're in a hurry to get off) or main dining room (if you don't mind taking about an hour for sit-down breakfast with a menu and made-to-order dishes). All passengers must be back onboard 30 minutes before departure time; the actual all-aboard time will be posted in your daily Cruise Compass newsletter. Do note that the times posted there are ship's time, which may or may not correspond to local time; be sure to check the time on a ship's clock or your stateroom TV, and make sure your watch / smart phone / whatever timekeeping device you use is synced up so you don't accidentally return too early / late. Several here make a point of carrying an analog watch that doesn't auto-update based on the current location, just to avoid potential issues like that.

I have absolutely no idea what you mean by that. Dru seems well liked by many, if that helps.

Nope a B2B is considered two cruises.

Click on "MORE FILTERS" and plug in your "RESIDENTS" & "CROWN & ANCHOR MEMBERS" information and then hit "APPLY". 1, 2, 3 ... Voila !!

Your pictures are amazing. I have done an Alaskan cruise out of San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver. I have been to Seward on a 14 day cruise. But now on my bucket list is to a South bound cruise with the Gold star train. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing more pictures.

Yup I totally get it. Hey I'm glad you had a much better experience than I did. I think I am just a big ship person. I think I have to go on Voyager class and higher to be happy. I need choices. I need different restaurants, I need ice skating shows, I need bigger casinos. So for me I guess its just Voyager class and up but I respect that some people love a small ship experience

Last year when we went to Europe (Italy, France, Greece, Malta) I got a European sim card for $50 that allowed me to talk & text back to the states whenever we were in port or on land. When we landed in Barcelona I installed the European sim card in my phone & I was good to go. It included 10 GB data in 4G/LTE, 120 minutes talk time, 1,000 texts. https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Holiday-Europe-tethering-countries/dp/B06XBYMX58

We loved Empress because the ship is small. We wanted to go to Cuba and the ship provided that option. Now, we thought the food was excellent. We live in Chicago and we consider ourselves a foodie. Empress spends more on their food budget, because they are small. The only food we didn't like was the pizza. But when you tried the best (Chicago), the rest comes up short. We also liked our room location. We were on deck 7 aft. We had a small little lookout which made the room seems larger. I went to the casino, it was ok. I love the fact that we had breakfast in Chops everyday. I would go back on Empress in a heartbeat. We work for the Chicago Public schools and sometimes we don't want a crowd. With that said, we are booked on Anthem (New Years) and Harmony (Spring break). We have to take our vacation during schools' holidays. Cuba was our destination. We had a wonderful time and was glad we went there. We also loved Majesty. We were on here three times this Summer. I hope I answered your question.

I had a conversation with a long time stock holder from Norway about this a few nights ago on Radiance. He was very well dialed into the fleet and knew a great deal. In his opinion, Empress and Majesty are safe for now, due to the small nature of Cuba ports and lack of infrastructure to support larger ships. Grandeur and Rhapsody are absolutely for sale, possibly Vision but not Enchantment, at least at this moment. He was certain that the next QU+ (Ultra) ship will be "Pulse of the Seas". Time will tell. I was just on Empress a few weeks ago to Cuba where it is very hot in July. No problems with A/C. Plus Empress has Chops Grille AND Diamond Plus get to eat breakfast there. Majesty has JR which I don't eat at on board any ship and hardly "Specialty Dining". I really enjoyed Empress. Loyalty Ambassador was great. Boleros is nicely done and very large. Nice aft sitting area down close to the water just off Boleros. MDR food was no worse than any other ship, better than Radiance I just got off today. If you need Broadway shows, ice skating, flowriders, a Diamond Lounge, etc - then Empress and Majesty will be a disappointment.

Don't know why, I always feel compelled to step foot off at every port. Can't think of any cruise I didn't. May not do any excursions or go beyond the port complex gates, just have to step off mentally. Guess the only one might be the home port, but for some reason they don't like it if you don't get off.

Hope you like towel critters, cause that is all this post will be. In the forward elevator lobby this is what greeted everyone this morning.

I remember seeing the red velvet cupcakes at Cafe Central Park on the Allure of the Seas.

Unless it is some funky pouch that is very thick or has some sort of blocking feature. I've never had to remove my card from a basic plastic pouch on those ships.

Yes, they had them on Allure last week.

I bet they still have the RVC cupcakes for sale on ships with the cupcake shop.

Got on the RCCL website this morning just to "check on things". It is s.l.o.w.e.r. than molasses. Maybe they're announcing new itineraries today? Maybe they're announcing a new sale today? Maybe their website is running slow? ?

Tell your daughter may she have an awesome year.