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I hope I'm not being premature, but speaking for us in the Charleston area, we seem to have been spared the worst of Florence and I don't think we'll get a lot from her. I wish I could say the same for all of the folks in eastern/central NC, upper SC, and eventually western NC, VA, WV, and possibly even into the NY area. I'm praying for the best outcome for all (He already was merciful enough to downgrade her before landfall). Now, let's get the next 50 days over with, hurricane-free, so I can get on Oasis and finally relax!

When we were on Mariner, the Casino was open when we were in Coco Cay. I only know because I was asked to leave it while scoping lol.

So glad there was something I could help with! I have gotten so much wonderful information here, its good to pay it forward. Do please post when you get your docs!!!

Cruise Summary This is my 3rd Alaska cruise. For me the question isn't if I'll do another Alaska cruise but when. (Hint - I've already got a 2019 Alaska cruise booked) I scored a great last minute fare. That doesn't always happen so book early, sit back and watch fares increase. Depending on your interests there are ways to do Alaska ports relatively inexpensively. Helicopters to glaciers are fantastic but expensive. For American readers the fact that you are in America and cell phones work normally is a huge benefit to those who want to self explore. Some ports have city buses and for those on a tight budget a little research before going can help you save a lot of money. Car rentals for a family of four can be very economical and at a port like Skagway you can see a lot from a rental car (just bring your passports if you want to drive into Canada). Uber and Lyft have arrived in Alaska! (not all ports) I bought Voom on day 2 and saved an extra $20. With my C&A discount that took the price down to $74. On a port intensive cruise like where the ports are US ports you can easily get away without Voom (at least for US residents). No drink package. Prices for drinks (including Gratuity): Kraken and soda $8.26 (same for any common cocktail) Expresso Martini $14.16 Total bar bill ~ $70. No specialty dining - all MDR or Windjammer. Overall this was a fantastic cruise. Common Alaska Cruise Questions One-way North/South or Seattle round trip? Having done both this summer I feel I am qualified to tackle this question. Both are an awesome experience. Like comparing two Caribbean cruises they are different and there are pros and cons to each. Some ports overlap and some ports or glaciers are unique . The Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise in June was a Seattle round trip and it was incredible. (For proof read my live blog from that cruise here ). Our time at Dawes Glacier from Seattle was incredible. Seeing the ship in this narrow passage with steep canyon walls all around us while the ship slowly turned around at the glacier is a memory I will never forget. On Radiance watching Hubbard Glacier calving in front of my eyes and hearing it crack was incredible and a memory I will never forget. Hubbard is much wider than Dawes. One is not better than the other, they are different. I'm very fortunate to have experienced both. Having said that, I do feel that a one-way North/South cruise is a better overall Alaskan experience. I love Icy Strat Point. I love Ketchikan. I love the Alaskan Railroad between Anchorage and Seward. I like the extra ports and long days in each afforded by not having to turn around and return to where we came from. That doesn't mean a Seattle based Alaskan cruise should be avoided as this is still a great way to experience Alaska (my 2019 booking is from Seattle). Isn't it harder to book plane tickets for a one-way cruise? No. Maybe it was some years ago but not really any more. Last year I found it cheaper to book it as two one-way plane tickets. This year it was the same booked as a multi-city trip or two one-way tickets. Since you should be using a travel agent anyways, let them research and figure this out for you. I was pleasantly surprised how affordable airfare was for this most recent cruise. For non-Canucks, Canadian airports do charge a higher landing tax so if you can make it work, flying into Seattle and making the short journey to or from Vancouver by land or sea part of the experience should be considered. There is ferry service, trains and buses between the two. Both are great cities to explore so if you can afford an extra day or two it may be worth looking into Seattle based flights instead of Vancouver. (Hint, many Canadians who live close to a U.S. airport will drive across the border and fly from a U.S. airport for this reason). Explorer or Radiance? Neck and neck but I have to give the nod to Explorer. In some areas I prefer Radiance and in some areas I prefer Explorer. Having thought about that for a moment, maybe Radiance gets the nod. I can't decide. Ovation 2019 should be interesting. 4500+ guests versus 2,500 guests. Explorer can accommodate 4,000 so will Ovation really be that much different? Probably not. I missed certain things present on Explorer while on Radiance but with a port intensive one-way cruise that really wasn't a big deal - I was there for Alaska, not the ship so much. Unlike the Caribbean where I have cruised often, the ship isn't the destination. With more sea time out of Seattle having more ship features works well (Flowrider, ice skating, etc). Time of year? That's a tough one. Seeing the Salmon spawning in the rivers was pretty special. You won't likely see that in June. As a photographer the longer days in June were a treat. Many photographers will tell you the best time to take pictures is not in the middle of the day but during golden hour, that time just around sunset. The long June days in Alaska have an extended golden hour. There is something very special about enjoying 13 hours at a port, boarding the ship, having dinner, watching a show and then going out on deck at 10pm and seeing a spectacular mountain vista with a glowing sky and a sunset in June. Here is an example from Juneau. June 2018 from Explorer looking at Radiance leaving Juneau September 2018 from Radiance looking back at Explorer at the same time of night and same ship positions. I definitely felt the shorter days in September. Even finishing my hike in Skagway at 5pm the shadows from the sun in the forest cast long shadows that let me know it was time to head back. In June I probably could have gone an extra hour or two. In June there was more snow at elevation. That only impacts your pictures and mountain photos always look better with snow on them (trust me, I live in Colorado). Here is an example from the train. June 2017 September 2018 Both are nice photos but the snow really defines the peaks, cracks and crevices. I think I give June the nod but feel very fortunate to have experienced both. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise September again though. I really should try July but that is peak season and as a bargain hunter I may not. Okay, never say never - right. I did this same itinerary day for day on Celebrity last year in June. Here is my recap blog from that cruise in early June 2017 You decide what is best for you. MUST you have a balcony on an Alaskan cruise? No. Both Explorer in June and Radiance in September were done from an interior cabin. Look at my pictures from both. Does it look like I missed out because I had no balcony to call my own? Sure a balcony is great if you have the extra money. Both of my Alaskan cruises in interior cabins combined cost me one Alaskan cruise with a balcony. Alaska excursions are expensive. Given the choice of incredible excursions from an interior cabin or cheap excursions with a balcony cabin I'd go interior cabin every time. That person sitting next to me on the float plane/helicopter/dog sled/train just might have a balcony. I'll be sitting a little higher though because of my fatter wallet. Once off the ship for 13 hours what does that balcony do for you? Nothing. Sitting beside that person in the theater - is the show better for them? Sitting in the dining room - is the food better for them? No. I had a balcony last year on the Millennium in Alaska and it was great, no question. However nearly all of my memories and photos from 2017 were not from my balcony. If you got it, spend it. For the rest of us, do not put off an Alaskan cruise saving a few more years just for a balcony. Balcony exception - Ovation has a higher balcony cabin ratio and the difference to upgrade to a balcony may be affordable for many people. Time will tell if that holds true as sail dates book up. I hoped you enjoyed this experience with me and I thank you for following along.

At 7am I headed out to the deck 5 with my bags to join the self-disembark line. We were still slowly approaching the pier. I had an 11:16am international flight from Vancouver airport. That's a little aggressive but since I am traveling alone it makes it a lot easier. I've got a couple cards up my sleeve to help with this early flight time. More on that later. I was 4 or 5 groups from the front of the line. At 7:20ish Canada customs boarded. A few crew were let off. At 7:30am they started letting guests off. A Canada customs declaration card was left in the cabin the day before and with that completed I headed off. Through the terminal and towards two customs agents waiting to collect our cards. Very quick and painless. Through customs I followed the signs for the exit and was outside on the streets by 7:41am taking this photo: I planned to take the Skytrain from Waterfront Station to the airport. A few steps forward and I took two more photos: The first looking towards the train station entrance. And immediately turning to look in the direction I came from. That blue taxi to the left coming up from underground below Canada Place and the Public Parking sign is where I walked up. The train station in the photo can be used to access the train system but there are several train lines here and the Skytrain is more easily accessed by walking past this entrance and making a left to walk 500 yards to the main train station entrance. I went into this entrance anyways and walked underground up and down escalators to make the same trek but underground. Once downstairs you need to purchase a Compass ticket at a machine for the train. Tickets are based on zones. If you plan to travel within a zone it's one fare. Two zones is another fare and so on. Waterfront Station to YVR Airport is two zones. Ticket cost $4.20 CAD which ended up on my credit card as $3.20 USD. Pretty darn cheap airport transfer. A ticket is dispensed that you will need to enter through gates to access and depart the train at the end - don't lose your ticket. It has an embedded RFID chip that you place against a card reader to open the gates. Digital signage makes it pretty clear which train is for YVR and when the next train will arrive. At 7:55am I was on the Skytrain on my way to YVR. Since it's an airport train lots of people had luggage. I pushed mine towards the window and sat in the aisle seat beside it. We arrived at the airport at 8:25am. There are lots of signs for the domestic and international terminals. A 5 minute walk later and I as approaching the ticket counter. For international flights the airline tags your bags but then you have to carry them past the ticket counter and place them on a conveyor where they go through xray and into the luggage system. Fortunately I have a Nexus card which is sort of like Global Entry for Canada. At YVR airport this allowed me to bypass long security lines and go directly to a trusted traveler airport security line. Since we are in Canada this is not TSA PreCheck but it works just like it. I probably saved 45 minutes here. With my Global Entry I was able to use a kiosk for U.S. Customs and quickly was through and into the departure area by 8:50am. This probably saved me 15 minutes. Through the process and at the gate at 8:50am with plenty of time to kill before my 11:16am flight. Without Nexus or Global Entry I would plan on at least an hour minimum to go through the process after checking bags with the airline. The good news is after this you have cleared U.S. Customs so once you land in the U.S. you are like any other domestic flight and you don't have to go through U.S. Customs upon landing. One hour and twenty minutes ship to gate clearing both Canada Customs at the port and U.S. Customs at the airport. Not bad. I noticed something else now that I was in Canada. Even the bears are friendlier here. There are duty free shops here past U.S. Customs and by the gates to load up on last minute Maple Sugar treats or what ever other stuff you might want. Smarties any one?

In this continuing series of how weather can change in Alaska, I present you Ketchikan in blue skies. Time for a scope: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1MYxNqyPegbJw Time on the clock says 5:30pm. All abroad! With that our sail away began. Sunset scope: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1BdGYoOeOZQxX

After having been to Nachi Cocom in Cozumel twice and Maya Chan in Costa Maya once, I wanted to list the differences and similarities based on my experiences at both. These are only my impressions from my visits and are not definitive at all Entry and Getting There Entry Fees Nachi Cocom — $55 Maya Chan — $59 Transportation Nachi Cocom — from the International Pier, the cost is $17 each way for a taxi trip. Once the shops are navigated to the taxi stand, the trip takes about 20 minutes. Let them know when you want to return to the ship, and a taxi will be waiting. Costa Maya — once you exit the controlled shops and terminal area, the meeting spot is about two blocks away. The trip cost is included in the price and organized by the staff and takes 25-30 minutes on rough dirt roads south from Mahahual paralleling the coast. Return trips to the ship came in thirty minute increments starting at 1:30 for a 4:30 all on board time. The last taxi was scheduled at 3:30 and drops you off inside the controlled port area, which I liked better than the original pick up area. Clear Edge to Maya Chan when combining entry and transportation for the right number of people. It doesn’t favor Nachi Cocom cost-wise unless you have a large number of people and a bus. Total Cost for Two Adults Nachi Cocom — $144 Maya Chan — $118 Clear Edge to Maya Chan Greeting and Orientation Nachi Cocom — upon arrival, you are greeted by a staff member who takes pictures of you with a sombrero and then directs you to the cashier who takes your payment receipt. After a brief wait, you are introduced to your waiter who takes you to your palapa Maya Chan — when arriving at the meet up point outside of the port area which is fairly easy to find on the right next to a small convenience store, you are advised of the conditions and given the opportunity to cancel if there is a lot of seaweed in the beach. They have your name and number in your party on a list, check you off and match you with other guests for the trip which is usually in a 12 passenger van. A rep, for us, it was one of the American ex-pat owners gives a brief orientation. Edge to Maya Chan What’s Included (The Basics) Nachi Cocom — all food and beverages as well as access to all facilities. Your waiter brings anything you like to your palapa, or you can use the swim up bar in the pool or the restaurant area. Food is ordered off a fairly extensive menu. Beach toys are extra. Maya Chan — an attendant will bring an introductory rum punch and any other beverages you like. Other than chips, guac and salsa, food is buffet style in the small All beach toys are included. They range from water shoes, snorkeling gear, floating chairs and stand up paddle boards. Edge to Nachi Cocom (I don’t mind paying a little extra for a kayak or floating mat) The Facilities Nachi Cocom — there are two sets of bathrooms, a large outdoor seating area in the restaurant/bar, palapas that run two deep the full width of the property, which I am guessing is about 250 feet of water frontage. Each palapa has two chairs and a small table. There is a nice second bar on the beach. There is a small dock. The pool is great, and has a swim up bar which I love. There is also a hot tub. The beach is wide and clean. It’s easy to wade in with your floating device and a cold beverage. The restaurant is very nice and under shade, so even on the hottest days, is a great place to be. There are about 20 tables in the space. Maya Chan — palapas include 1-5 chairs and a beach bed which provided one of the best naps I’ve ever had. They are larger than what is available at Nachi Cocom. There was an unattended second bar behind the line of palapas. I am guessing there is about 150 feet of water frontage. There is no pool. The day I was there was not ideal, sadly, because a storm washed an unbelievable amount of seaweed ashore. It was quite staggering, actually. Three dedicated staff members were putting in huge efforts to clear paths to the water. Even then, when wading out, the seaweed was so thick, it wrapped around your legs for 10-15 feet until you reached clearer water. The bottom was rocky, though not as rocky as Adrenalin Beach at Labadee. Water shoes are a good idea. The restaurant/bar area is somewhat small and pleasant with about 8 tables. The cooking occurs right there, so you can enjoy the skilled cooking. Edge to Nachi Cocom Staff Nachi Cocom — absolutely fantastic. I had the same waiter both times, he remembered me. The bar tenders are quick and generous with the mixed drinks and the beers are cold. Maya Chan — absolutely fantastic. They are extra attentive to your needs yet they don’t pester you. I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Dan, one of the owners. Slight Edge to Maya Chan — Nachi is wonderful however Food and Beverage Nachi Cocom — I like the option to be served at a table or at your palapa. All tropical drinks I had were very good, and the beer was cold. The menu has numerous Mexican and some American selections. Maya Chan — The tropical drinks were very tasty and the beer was cold. Food was served buffet style and limited to assembling tacos using shredded skirt steak, chicken, sea bass (dripping in garlic butter — omg), and pork. All had Mexican seasoning and were fresh, plentiful and wonderful with all the fixings including really, really good guacamole. Edge to Nachi Cocom because of the style of servïce and variety. Quality at both were good. Edges to Nachi Cocom — 3 Maya Chan — 4 Conclusion Because I am happy with a cold beer on the beach to keep me happy, and the lower overall cost, I would give an edge to Maya Chan especially on a good beach day when the seaweed is gone. If I’m in the mood for a pool day and a swim up bar, I’ll pick Nachi Cocom and conclude the total extra cost is worth it knowing that I could have stayed at the port at Costa Maya and had swim up bar action all day if I wanted. Despite how the edges came out above, I think Nachi Cocom would win over in my book because of more variety. My daughter picks Nachi Cocom because she remembers that the drink portions are larger and the large menu. So I would say that for us, the more developed facilities and the food variety are weighed more heavily than some of the other categories. I would be curious to know what others who have been to both think. Maya Chan — hammock in the back of our palapa Maya Chan — raised observation tower great place to charge your phone Maya Chan — our palapa Maya Chan — our palapa Maya Chan — view from our palapa Maya Chan — buffet area in the left foreground, and the bar in the back this was taken upon entering for the first time Maya Chan — this is an example of an area of seaweed that was cleared the most. The thicker areas were unreal I waded through it several times, and it’s not bad if your mind is focused on the goal of getting to the other side. If you dwell on it, I will tell no lie, it’s pretty gross. If you don’t intend to go in the water on days when this happens, it won’t be an issue. Maya Chan — bar/restaurant from the beach Maya Chan — beach toys — note the mounds of seaweed Nachi Cocom — very nice beach Nachi Cocom — palapas on the beach Nachi Cocom Menu Nachi Cocom Bathroom Nachi Cocom pool and hot tub Nachi Cocom massage palapa Nachi Cocom secondary bathrooms and shower Nachi Cocom — secondary beach bar Nachi Cocom — pool with restaurant bar on the other side Nachi Cocom — swim up bar on the other side fro. The restaurant side bar. Nachi Cocom resultant seating

It was wonderful! I plan on a full review tonight or tomorrow!! and I did a YOLO too last night! LOL Will tell you all about it. Just so busy with work and Doctors and dogs! I need another vacation by myself!! LOL How is School??? Thinking about you and @Sweety!

I'm not a coffee snob but I do like a good cup of coffee. That being said, the ship coffee is OK at best. If you like a decent cup of coffee, you might want to spring for the coffee card.

Not sure what ship you'll be sailing on but you can usually get free coffee nearly 24 hours a day; maybe at Cafe Promenade

Yes, regular ol’ coffee is complimentary. The coffee card would cover the special or espresso based coffees and cappuccinos.

And note that in this case "cheap" is very relative. A lot of those $30-40 bottles on the ship are ones I can get on land for $8-9. So if it's a variety of wine you know and have bought before, you may want to do the mental math to see how the price works out after the discount compared to land price, and decide if that price is OK relative to your opinion of that wine.

You have two choices essentially and both require you to wait to get onboard the ship. 1. Purchase a 24 hour pass of Voom. You can buy as many as you want, and last I checked it was $29.99 per day. That is for one device at a time. 2. Purchase a Voom plan onboard at some point after your cruise begins. You will only be charged for the remaining days of your cruise, so if you buy it on day 3 of a 7 night cruise, you'd pay for days 3-7.

Glad to see Grandeur is heading home

You can't make sense of it. The "percent off" is a reflection of the on board pricing. And the drink prices fluctuate all the time. Your best bet is to purchase at a price you see as doable, and then keep checking and re-price if it goes lower.

She's on her way back to Baltimore ..... Left Canaveral about 90 minutes ago.

These are Dan and my annual comp cruises from the casino. Beginning to question the timing though. February out of NY ? No wonder they were free ! ??

Very impressive. B2B on Anthem. I love it.

Your best bet might be Black Friday. We have found that while cruising in the high seasons (March and summer), Black Friday usually nets us the best deals.

I check the cruise planner and cruise fares several times per week for this reason alone. Sometimes the prices are adjusted sporadically, or the price of something in the cruise planner may drop during a big sale, even when the sale isn't supposed to apply due to the sailing date range applied to the sale.

AND you can always cancel it and re-book if the price goes down! Right, @Matt ?!?!? I've taken advantage of this for drinks & excursions.

I enjoyed the Perfect Storm water slides recently on Mariner, but I only rode them a couple of rides each. We were docked next to the Disney Dream in Nassau and the rider experience on their slide, the AquaDuck, looked like it was quite a bit of fun. It also looked like it was designed for the ship, rather than retrofitted. I'm not suggesting that they install slides that wrap entirely around the upper deck of the ship like the AquaDuck, but I think that a design that is a little more unique designed for the pool deck on the Icon Class would be a good design move.

I know others are saying Uber/Lyft and that might very well be the way to go but we did the fly into FLL and sail out of Miami the last time. We rented from Enterprise (about $65) and stayed at one of the FLL area hotels. If I did it again with a rental, I'd stay at one of the MIA area hotels that way you'd be close to the rental car drop off, which had a free shuttle to the port.

Day 8 - Vancouver Scheduled disembarkation 7:30am I set my alarm early to finish packing and eat breakfast in the Windjammer. It was raining outside so I kept my rain coat handy. On the ship's forward looking bridge camera it looked like a pretty sunrise so i donned my rain coat and headed to the helipad in the rain. It was worth it. Downtown Vancouver. The white spiked roof is Canada Place and the cruise terminal. Look back towards the Lions Gate Bridge that we sailed under. Of course I scoped it: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1vOxwVqbYPvJB

Day 7 - Dinner I started with the Crispy Coconut Shrimp. The Fish of the Day was Alaskan Sole. During dinner I looked up and saw Orcas swimming not far from the ship. Their large dorsal fin very prominent above the water. Soon after in the ripples of our wake several Dolphins were playing jumping in the waves. More Orcas a few minutes later further out. With the distraction and constantly looking for marine life I forgot to take more food pictures. The fish was very bland. No taste at all and this is from a guy who doesn't like fishy tasty foods and doesn't eat fish very often.

Our pilot arrived: During the noon announcement the Captain mentioned that as we approach a narrows there would be opportunity to see marine life. That would occur for me near dinner time. I picked up some Canadian cell towers and was able to scope a little from the inside passage after dinner: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1ZkKzNkYWlXKv

Day 7 - Cruising the Inside Passage The inside passage is a channel of water within Canada's territorial limits that permits deep water vessels to pass through. At certain points it is very narrow and a local pilot is brought on board to assist the bridge with navigation. In other words, it's a sea day... but close to land on both sides with opportunities for marine life sightings. For those curious, the shops on board had the following hours: Lunch menu for this sea day in the MDR Cascades MDR I wasn't here for lunch, I came for the Galley Tour: A Sous Chef was our guide today. Here he is talking about the bread making capabilities which were impressive. Another cook getting the soup for the lunch ready. A mixing bowl that can mix 10 billion eggs, six million pounds of flour, 2,673 cookies or some astronomical quantity of each. The cook in charge of protein preparing steaks for today's lunch. Each type of meat has it's own cooking area. Preparing the cake that will be presented in Windjammer for lunch. The galley is on two levels. The bakery one deck above the bulk of the galley. Being a relatively smaller ship, the galley tour was equally quick, leading many of us directly to the Bridge tour: Radiance is one of two ships in the fleet that feature Gas Turbines which accounts for the letters GTV on the aft side of the ship. Gas Turbine Vessel. I thought all Radiance class ships were GTV but apparently Jewel and Brilliance are not. Looking back at this picture from Juneau, notice the GTV letters near aft? Radiance and Serenade are the only GTV ships in the fleet. They can burn cleaner fuel in sensitive marine environments such as Alaska. The bridge wing: With see through floors: The view aft from the bridge wing: The view forward: Flags carried on board that have to be displayed for various nautical purposes. For example, while in Ketchikan there were divers cleaning the hull. The ship had to fly the "Diver in the Water" flag so that other boats and ships would know and stay well clear.

Day 6 - Late Late night food at Latte-tudes

I found a sunset panorama I forgot to include above.

Day 6 - Dinner Earlier I discovered chicken wings in the Concierge Lounge. Wings and cold beer sounded just about right for dinner tonight.

Ketchikan - continued... After returning to the ship and getting a bite to eat I ventured back out to walk around Ketchikan. I visited Creek Street last year and I like that it tends to have some local items beyond made in China fridge magnets. Sometimes times referred to as the Creek Street mall there are a number of stores selling everything from interesting local artistry to cheap t-shirts from overseas. Not all the stores have local artwork but I managed to find some things this time as well. In the earlier days of Ketchikan, Creek Street had a different purpose. Maybe purpose isn't the right word, but it was known for a certain type of business. Struggling for words, I'll let this sign on Dolly's House explain it: The peak of the annual Salmon spawning was just over but the remains of the event were still present and the gulls were eating very well on this day. After spawning, Salmon die and the nutrients from their bodies become part of the life cycle of Alaska. Bears, Eagles and gulls among other animals all eat well this time of year. At the end of Creek Street is a small waterfall. My Creek Street scope: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1OwGWWOkvppGQ I was hoping to repurchase some items from a native art store near the end of Creek Street that I bought last year. Sadly they didn't have any left given that it is approaching the end of the cruise season in Alaska. With that it was back to the ship.

Day 6 - Ketchikan Known for it's rain, Ketchikan didn't disappoint. I stepped outside after a Windjammer breakfast... and got wet. I can't complain though as this is the first measurable rain we've had so far. Today's excursion is The Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour I saw this offered last year on Celebrity Millennium but opted for a Misty Fjords boat excursion. Once onboard Mille last year I learned that Captain Dave Lethin and his wife Denene, owners of the Aleutian Ballad, would be sailing with us and giving a number of talks and Q&A sessions during the cruise. Those became must attend presentations and listening to his stories and his wife's experiences holding down the fort at home while he fished were amazing. If you ever meet any crab fisherman who has fished the Bering Sea, you will learn they have stories to tell. I couldn't change my excursion last year at the last minute but vowed if I ever returned to Ketchikan I would do this excursion. And so I did. Looking down off deck 12 the Aleutian Ballad was tied up right beside us. Down to deck 5 for a closer look. A quick scope while under the cover of the lifeboats on deck 5: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1YpKkLVLblXGj It was raining pretty good so I put my waterproof case on my phone and left my good camera in the safe. Rain coat engaged I made my way onto the pier and down to the Aleutian Ballad. On board I found they had two live tanks with different marine life in each. While still in port I did another quick scope from the Aleutian Ballad. https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1ypKdYOYnZvGW Once all the guests were on board they did the mandatory Coast Guard safety briefings and we departed. The boat is set up specifically for this purpose. During some of the talks on Millennium last year, Captain Dave talked about what an effort it became to transform a crabbing boat into an excursion boat. The $900k budget quickly exceeded $2.5M. The regulations to carry passengers are very different than those for a fishing boat. The boat is setup with an upper and lower viewing areas both of which are covered. Ceiling mounted heaters keep passengers toasty warm on the lower level. An upper viewing area provides a different perspective. There is an area where they do most of the demonstrations that at times is chained off to keep passengers away from the danger. At times this area is opened up and we were free to explore it. On this rainy day you could have stayed in the shelter and warmth of the lower seating area but I chose to move around and explore more. The Aleutian Ballad has a storied history even before it's appearance on the TV series "The Deadliest Catch". The previous owner was fishing the Bering Sea in a storm when a rogue wave flipped the boat on its side. When turned sideways the engines get no oil and shutdown for protection. With no power, steering or propulsion and the boat laying on its side in storming seas in the black of night, the Captain gave the order to don survival suits and abandon ship. A nearby fishing boat heard the mayday call and a few hours later picked up the crew and brought them back to Dutch Harbor. Dejected having lost the boat, after a few days the crew was stepping foot onto their plane for the ride home when the Coast Guard called and told them they had found the boat, still floating on it's side at sea. With the storm past they went out with stand alone pumps, got the boat upright and limped it back to Dutch Harbor. The first thing the owner did was buy a 4' x 8' piece of plywood and strapped to the boat in the dockyard with the words "For Sale" spray painted on it. That's where Captain Dave enters the picture and shortly after the Aleutian Ballad's appearance in "The Deadliest Catch" in seasons 2 and 3. During a season of the Deadliest Catch the Aleutian Ballad encountered another rogue wave. This time the boat righted itself. You can see that clip here: The Bering Sea is not for the weak. Soon enough the fishing demonstrations begin. I scoped one of them: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1MnxnZNZpqoxO?t=2m2s This led to a spot where they could throw fish which would be picked up by passing birds, including some Bald Eagles. It was raining and my phone was safe in its waterproof case but case but boy was I missing my good camera. Can you spot the Eagles in the frees? There are four in this tree. The fishing demonstrations continued and they discussed various approaches such as long lines and single pots. This bait bucket and the hooks are carefully arranged so that it can be fed into the sea very quickly without tangling.. There are thousands of ways to die and many of them can be found on a crab boat. This kind of fishing isn't for the faint of heart. When setting a line of pots in 900' feet of water if you get tangled in the line you are going down. At that point as they say, it's a matter of recovery, not rescue. They retrieve a line of four crab pots that had been placed the day before. In the real world a line could have hundreds of pots. This one contained a Pacific Octopus. They talked about the Pacific Octopus and how it is the nemesis of the crab fisherman. Once they find a crab pot they will return night after night and feed from it. Next they talk about Prawns and how they differ from Shrimp. Those that were caught are passed around for us to hold before returning them into the sea. They talk about the different kind of crab pots used to catch different crab. Here in the water close to Ketchikan you won't find King or Snow crabs but there are plenty of Box crabs. The deck hands carry them around for all us to hold. With instructions how to hold them so you don't get pinched. Box crabs don't have a lot of meat and aren't something you'll find at any restaurant. Snow crabs on the other hand... These you do not hold by the body because they can reach you with their pinchers. Then there are the Golden King Crabs of Alaska. They don't pass these around but the crew displays them for us (their pinchers can do some damage). They talk about each and the characteristics of them. How for example if a predator like an Octopus gets a hold of one leg, some can shed that leg to escape. "Both go away happy" as they said, the Octopus gets a meal, the crab lives another day. During all of this they tell stories of the experiences fishing. It's quite a life. After fishing for a few months its not unusual for a young man to receive a check for thirty or forty thousand dollars, his share of the take. This contains no withholdings and many a young fishermen find themselves behind with the IRS and after a few seasons this can quickly grown into a monster sized debt with the IRS. Those that grew up in a fishing family are taught this at an early age and those that listen set money aside for this purpose and avoid this trap. We begin making our way back to Ketchikan. I scoped some of our return: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1MYxNqyyPNRJw While scoping we pulled up beside the 'Time Bandit' - another crabbing boat featured in 'The Deadliest Catch'. Since I was scoping I couldn't take pictures so here are some screen shots from that scope: That was a special bonus. Now back to the pier where we started. On the Millennium last year Captain Dave told the story how the Aleutian Ballad ran aground one time. The Captain he had hired that year fell asleep and the boat hit a rocky beach. They managed to limp it back to harbor and get it out of the water at a dockyard. Captain Dave flew in and met the insurance adjuster in the boatyard. After inspecting the boat the adjuster told him "Okay, here is what we are going to do. First we are going to strip the keel off and we are going to put a brand new keel the length of your boat. Next, you are going to find yourself a new insurance company". Fishing is quite the life. To be fair, its very hard to articulate everything in this one post. If you are a fan of the The Deadliest Catch or you just want to know more about crabs and fishing, this excursion is well worth the cost.

Day 5 - Dinner, Formal Night My Time Dining Vidalia Onion Tart Fish of the Day, more Salmon with a Butterflied Shrimp. Of course I had to have... Baked Alaska for desset. All very good.

I think I mentioned that ISP is located in a prime whale watching area which means our sail away could yield some whale sightings. Time for the helipad. The view from my office: Notice the glacier in the distance? More on that later. Many Alaska communities are landlocked - no roads in or out. Alaska boasts the "Maritime Highway". A number of car/passenger ferries that have scheduled service between communities so you can drive along the Maritime Highway. Here is one of them in the distance. Several whales were spotted in the distance but too far away to get a decent photo, that is until this one popped up just off the helipad port side, about 30 yards out. It was a little stingy with it's fluke, not giving us a nice full view but some whales roll that way. In the distance we could see several water spouts. A sizable pod was swimming a mile or so away. There must have been eight or more taking turns spraying water into the air. If you are going to whale watch on the sail away from ISP you might want gloves and a hat. With a slight wind it was a little chilly. Since I had Voom I looked at a map and sure enough Juneau was straight ahead on the other side of Admiralty Island that sat between us. As suspected that is Mendenhall Glacier in the distance.

With 35 minutes left there was time to enjoy the outdoor patio at the restaurant. I mean the ship is right there... Beer time. I loved ISP last year and I really enjoyed it again this year. This port never seems to make it on the Seattle round trip itineraries despite being very close to Juneau and South of Skagway. I like this port enough I may cancel my 2019 Ovation booking and look at doing another one-way. The friends I will cruise with next year will definitely enjoy this port. It's uniquely Alaskan without the commercialization yet with modern luxuries, great food and very friendly locals.

The blue sky was too much for me and I had to ask. How much for a do-over on the zip line? The girl gave me a break on the price and my 1pm zip line time was set. She warned me it was the last zip of the day and they need a few more guests to operate it. They guaranteed my return to the ship well before the 2:30pm all aboard. 1pm arrived at the waiting area in the building and I counted more than six. Houston, we have lift off. The bus drive this time yielded much better views, both near the port and in the mountains. Our driver spotted a deer and stopped the bus. A fellow victim zip rider. Video, of course: What a ride! What a view! Time 1:55pm.

The restaurants have free wifi that is limited to one hour. My phone had 3G coverage which was fine for most needs, except scoping. So I scoped from the restaurant: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1ynJOYOdPZkKR After my early lunch I made my way back to get some pictures with the blue sky. These are private residences. Maybe grounds keepers for ISP? The wooden pillars have small Inukshuks on top of them. I couldn't resist taking some pictures of them. What a difference on a clear sunny day makes. There is a short nature walk that starts near the Adventure Center and runs through the woods then along the water in front of the ship. It's well packed and accessible. I did see a guided tour was available that I presume uses the golf cart type shuttles that are used on the pier. That path is very wide. Inside the main building you first enter is a small store. Its quite nice inside and also serves as the excursion meeting point for some of the excursions. The ladies in red shirts are the excursion desk. Just in front of them are a series of tablet stations where you can sign waivers electronically and have a copy emailed to you. Very professional. The pier walkway is covered in case it's raining (it's Alaska, it rains). They have a shuttle for those that need it with a covered waiting area on the pier. All in all they did a great job on the 2016 renovation.

The restaurant and bar didn't serve until 10am but they were open for us to walk into. We started seeing hints of blue sky. I started walking towards the old packing building. More blue sky! Looking better! They have some of the old buildings set up as a museum with old packing equipment on display. Part of the building contains different local artists and stores. I was starting to get hungry (and thirsty) and ordered some lunch and a beer to enjoy the very blue sky. Not a bad place to eat lunch. Inside I ordered a Halibut Sandwich and a red ale. They handed me an electronic tracker that i placed on the black mat on the table. With this they were able to find me. It was very good and the beer tasted great while looking out at the water and blue sky. Time 11am.

Day 5 - Icy Strait Point Scheduled stop 7:00am to 2:30pm Icy Strait Point is native owned and operated by the Huna Totem Corporation. All profits go into the local community. Part of the charter in operating a cruise port is to limit it to one ship at a time. Often ships will split the day, one taking an early shift then another ship will take the second shift. With long Alaskan summer days this works. Hoonah is the name of the nearby village and originally this was the site of the Honnah Packing Company in the 1930s. The cruise port operated by tender when it opened in 2004 being used by Royal and Celebrity. With success proven other lines began to call here. A zip line was added in 2007. In 2016 they added a floating pier and several new buildings. You won't find any diamond stores or other typical stores like in most other Alaskan ports and that is one of the things I like about ISP. It's location is prime whale watching territory and some excursions guarantee a sighting. We arrived to fog like low hanging clouds shrouding the port. They had a nice fire waiting for us. The clouds grew thicker. This can happen this time of year due to the 'warm' waters and cooler air temperatures. I had booked the "Early Bird Zip Line" which meant early times in the morning. The additional discount I received now made sense. At the other end of these zip lines is a mountain somewhere up there. My zip line time was 7:30am. Who needs coffee to wake up when you can zip? I had a few minute to kill so I wandered around close to the Duck Point Smokehouse and Adventure Center where some excursions meet. I signed my waivers electronically on the tablets in the building and waited for our guide. At 7:30am she led us outside to a bus that would make the 45 minute drive up the mountain. Immediately after leaving the port area we saw some deer on the road. A few minutes through town and we hit the dirt road to the top. "Free back massage" they joked. It wasn't that bad. Our driver wore a microphone and narrated the drive. We stopped at several lookout spots to see we were above the clouds. Once at the top we had to walk down a hill toward the zip line. Our drive warned us, watch out for the bear scat. An easy walk downhill but too steep for the bus that would likely struggle to make it back up. Finally we made it to the zip line station. Here are some pictures from my GoPro. You sit in a chair like harness and put your feet against a gate. When it's time the gate flies open and away you go. Here is the video: I actually enjoyed flying into the clouds. It was a very unique experience. The clouds were breaking a little, maybe. I headed back to the ship to get my good camera.

Day 4 - Evening. We followed Explorer down the channel. It was another beautiful Alaskan evening. Early start with a 7am arrival in Icy Strait Point in the morning. Time for bed.

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:

Was making a silly reference to Ivan Pavlov, who gained notoriety for his experiments with conditioned response training. He mainly worked with dogs, and would train them to salivate whenever he would ring a bell by first associating the bell in their minds with being given food (positive conditioning), so that eventually any time a bell was rung they'd expect food and start salivating in response. Basically, was asking if Dru would be such a great cruise director that by the end of my cruise I'd be "salivating" in expectation of a good time if I simply heard his name (metaphorical ringing of the bell).

Just checked and I see that I'll be just missing Dennis Charles for CD on Anthem (departs the day I embark), and instead I'll have Dru Pavlov. Will Mr. Pavlov leave me salivating every time he rings a bell? ?

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.

Everything is moving to a global economy nowadays. I don’t care where the jobs are located, US, China, India, Guatemala, whatever. Of course I do wish that the CS reps would speak English in a way a can understand.

Please keep this conversation solely about the news and refrain from personal attacks. Thank you.

Let's talk about something else... ?

while it sucks to see US call center jobs move to other countries, as someone who used to run a 3rd party Call Center for another industry, it's becoming more and more commonplace simply due to labor costs. Royal isn't the first and they won't be the last. On a funny note, it can be rather comedic at times. At one point in time, my old facility handled level 1 tech support for a major brand PC company HQ'd out of Austin ? All overseas agents had to attend language desensitization classes to sound "more American" . Since my facility was based in Texas those agents would use our texas "twang" as their ideal speaking voice. So you would get someone obviously from Mumbai on the phone , trying to sound like John Wayne with the name of "George" trying to help US customers. It was hilariously embarrassing.

So far today I really haven't done much. Woke up around 8:30a, around 9a headed over to Windjammer for breakfast, wasn't going to happen there. The line to enter Windjammer was out the door. So as a backup plan went over to Wipeout Cafe, empty. Very few folks inside nor sitting around there. So I a quick bite to eat and captured a video of the buffet. https://youtu.be/kPTjRCGw6Zk After that went to an event for the site I don't wish to mention. Then prepared for the cabin crawl and uploaded some photos. That took about an hour and got to see a good mix of rooms two being the Owner's and Crown Loft Suite. For the last hour or so, been relaxing at the Trellis Bar. Still hard to believe you're on a ship from here.