Aeroman380

This is literally monday morning quarterbacking what happened. To suggest anyone knew yesterday, or the week before or whenever that the volcano was going to blow today or that the hundreds of tours that took place there in the days, months and years prior were unsafe is silly.

How sad. 
Hits close to home as I have this excursion booked on a cruise in a few months time.  

On a recent stop in Guatemala we drove past a village that had been wiped out by a pyroclastic flow from a volcano last year.    They too have active volcanoes.

This. We already had our next cruise booked when RC cancelled ours. I gave the number to our TA and she took care of it.

If your looking to book something soon, you can call RCI with the cruise your looking at booking, they will pull up the info from your cancellation cruise and apply it to that new sailing.  I had my TA book a cruise that I found we wanted within a week notification of cruise cancellation.

@Aeroman380  Did you book with a TA, if so my Future Cruise Credit was sent to the TA.  If you didn't i'm assuming it will be an email sent to with the amount attached to an reference number.
I'm sure it has to go thru a processing center and i wouldn't look for it too soon. If memory servers me correctly..look for it in two- four weeks at the latest. 

When they cancelled our sailing on the Navigator, we received an email from Royal with a code. Took a couple of weeks.

FCC a.k.a. Future Cruise Credit or Future Cruise Certificate can come in a couple of different forms.
Sometimes it's in the body of email:
       
 
Sometimes the email looks like this:
     
Sometimes it is a Word document attached to an email that looks a lot like the second example above.
The certificate is tracked by its number which generally starts with something like 1-A123BCD or some combination of letters and numbers but more importantly the FCC is also tracked by  the original booking number.  In tracking or applying an FCC they should be able to find it either way.  AN 4/12/2020 123456 where AN = Anthem, original sail date was 4/12/2020 and 123456 was the original booking number.  
There is a department at Royal that issues the FCC.  Once that is done it is attached to your profile but not in a manner you will ever see.  Sometimes when talking to the Crown and Anchor they have been able to put me on hold and reach out to the department that issues FCC to get it issued.  Sometimes that doesn't work.  In these cases when it has worked I've never received the email, I just know that I have FCC worth $X for booking 123456 on Anthem 4/12/2020.  
In any case when making a new booking I can make the booking online then call them and ask them to apply FCC from 123456 Anthem 4/12/2020 to my new booking 987654321.  
Better yet when working with a travel agent I just let them deal with it all.
FCC cannot be used to pay taxes or port fees towards a new cruise.  A cruise that cost $3,000 might be $2,345 in cruise fare and $655 in taxes and fees.  The FCC can be applied against the $2,345 but never against the $655. 
FCC also cannot be used to pay the deposit of a new cruise.  If the deposit is $900 that has to be paid using a credit card then the FCC can be applied to the balance.  
FCC is awarded in each persons name for the original booking and sometimes the amounts are different for each person.  If both people are booking the new future cruise together it's nice and easy to figure out.  If I am booking the new cruise and a family member who was on the original booking is not on the new booking I can't apply their FCC to my new booking even if I paid entirely for the original cruise.  Their FCC can only be applied to a new cruise booking that they are booked on.  
Try calling the Crown and Anchor team to inquire about your FCC.  Have your original ship, sail date and booking number ready.   Perhaps they can track down your FCC or possibly reach out to that department and tickle them to issue it.  Calling during business hours for Florida, Monday to Friday might help your chances.  Calling off hours (Florida) when that department is closed but C&A is open won't help your effort.
FCC rules vary by region and by the color of socks the agent is wearing that day.  The ones above were for U.S. based bookings.  YMMV. 

Now this needs some explanation... 
I originally ordered Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream but I changed it to Baked Alaskan. My waiter brought me both.  Then he also brought me a serving of “Leche Flan” (Filipino Custard).  Plus they were celebrating Royal’s 50th so they also gave us the 50th cake... that is why I got a dessert spread.


 

“Water Run”... I’m not a drinker but I do bar crawls with my Refreshment Package to collect bottled water to take to my room.

 

The USB ports in Quantum Class rooms are the low-power variety, which can be too low in amperage to charge a recent-model smartphone. Even older models will take hours to recharge on one of those ports. Did you happen to bring your own USB charging station to plug into the wall? Those usually have higher-power / higher-amperage ports.

Thank you for all of the quick responses!

I was hoping there were some exceptional circumstances surrounding their boarding.  Sooooo planning to get on our boat ASAP.....so excited ?

It's funny for someone who hasn't been on a ship yet, my wife and I have become somewhat obsessed with the planning and research ?

It seems the people in the video arrive at a really busy time. It looked like it was raining before they arrived and then cleared up so I infer that everyone just hopped in time around the time the rain stopped.  I wonder if they started to turn people away just for crowd control purposes. I am sure that they would let you on if it weren't too massive a line up. It seems 1130 was busy. I will be Ovation out of SYD in October and will let you know....I plan on being there at 10-1030. Hopefully someone else will chime in like Pippa.  BTW...I am inferring that you mean Matt and not Mark?

It seems the people in the video arrive at a really busy time. It looked like it was raining before they arrived and then cleared up so I infer that everyone just hopped in time around the time the rain stopped.  I wonder if they started to turn people away just for crowd control purposes. I am sure that they would let you on if it weren't too massive a line up. It seems 1130 was busy. I will be Ovation out of SYD in October and will let you know....I plan on being there at 10-1030. Hopefully someone else will chime in like Pippa.  BTW...I am inferring that you mean Matt and not Mark?

We received a two top per request each night of our cruise in the MDR without a problem. The tables were close, but not too close.

I am just over 100 days out for Ovation and reservations for fly and northstar showed up last week! I booked it up!

Just to be clear, are the windows talked about at chest level of this guy or the one where his legs are?  It looks like the windows where the guys legs are can slide open given the panel in the middle.  Can anyone that has been on the ship verify if these slide open too?

We really like having the same wait staff every night. We were able to do this on Ovation using MTD by making our reservations every night at the same time, and could certainly do this again.  The thing I didn't like was having to stand in the line for "Reservations" - we knew where our table was and it's really nice to be able to just walk in and sit down, which we could do for Traditional Dining.  I just know that if I want to switch I need to do it well ahead of time, before it's not an option anymore.

I emailed them for traditional dining and they replied 90 days before my sailing I should email back. I guess it depends on your sailing. 
 
It seems that any 2 table top is only 2 inches away from another 2 person table.
I guess so they can push them together if they need a 4 top. I am hoping it won't be so crowded during my sitting. 

I am just over 100 days out for Ovation and reservations for fly and northstar showed up last week! I booked it up!

Update:  Money received, my epic insurance experience is over.  
My remaining 2019 cruises have insurance from another carrier purchased on a per cruise basis (no annual policy).   I still have some coverage from Allianz.
I still believe in insurance for the unexpected.  
Biggest lesson learned - don't fly in the day of the cruise.  That wasn't an option this time and I thought it would be okay given a short flight to Houston.  What could go wrong?   The best outcome would have been to take the cruise, so fly in the day before.

When I called Allianz from the airport as this was unfolding right after Southwest cancelled my flight the agent I spoke with suggested a claim for Trip Cancelation so that is how I proceeded.
After submitting my claim I was presented a summary screen which clearly shows I filed for Trip Cancellation.

 
Yet now the claim has been changed to require copies of records I don't have because I didn't fly to Cozumel based on Trip Interruption and Trip Delay.  
We'll see how this plays out once I can talk to the claims examiner tomorrow.  
This is exactly how I wanted this live blog to work.  You get to see and feel what it is like working through a insurance claim, live as I work through this process and hopefully learn as I do.  

Horrible carpeting on the bridge !  LOL

Dawes Glacier
My reservation for the $49 North Star Alaskan Experience was for 10am.  Best times for glacier viewing on this sailing were between 9am and 10am.  This will vary for each sailing depending on arrival time and ice conditions.
After check in for the North Star Alaskan Experience there is a waiting area in a roped off section of the North Star Bar.    Hot chocolate is complimentary.

As we waited the ship began it's turn.

Incredible weather compared to the drizzle we sailed through earlier today.  That's Alaska weather.

The glacier is approximately 1 mile away at this point.  This illustrates just how big it is - that's it's this visible from this distance.

When it was our turn we were led up to board the North Star.

By the time we boarded North Star the ship had turned and pointed down the inlet in the direction had had arrived from.


We started our way back down Endicott Arm.
I used wide angle lens for this next shot so it makes the glacier look small but the views are pretty impressive.  Seeing the ship from outside the ship really makes you appreciate the scale of the mountains beside us.



Rotating out over the side of ship is pretty awesome.  On Anthem the North Star only goes up and does a slight left/right move.  This ride takes you right over the edge of the ship looking down at the glacial ice floating below us.



It's a pretty awesome experience.  

When I first learned of the $49 charge I was skeptical but having done it at both Hubbard and Dawes Glaciers I am sold and would do it again on another cruise to Alaska.
Plus I still had my complimentary ride in the North Star booked for later today.

Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier, continued...
It's been a struggle but here are some of my favorites pictures from several hundred taken this day.  However I wanted people who are taking this awesome cruise to get a preview of what to expect so here comes a bunch of photos.
After breakfast I ran back to my cabin to clean my lens.  Looking forward to where we are going. 

Looking down from my balcony it's amazing to see these pieces of the glacier floating by so close to the ship.

We had entered a section where there were a lot of small pieces of glacial ice.

I remember this side channel from a previous cruise.  It was estimated this is where the face of the glacier was ~100 years ago.  Note the presence and size of trees.  It takes several decades for trees of this size to arrive.  Remember 100 years ago this was solid glacial ice and no vegetation was present as the ice moved down the channel. 

I like to move around the ship so back to the bridge wings off the Solarium.

They were getting more crowded but people tended to move forward, take a picture and back away so someone else could.

For those that sought to stay in place the Solarium has awesome views.


Starboard bridge wing.

Looking back where we came from.  The walls of the canyon are very steep and drop off several hundred feet.  We are in deep water.


First signs of the glacier!  
Time 8:30am

The paid North Star Alaskan Experience ride was carrying guests at this point.



Larger pieces of glacial ice was becoming more common.  These pieces are called growlers.  Actual icebergs are pretty uncommon at these glaciers which tend to calve resulting in these smaller pieces which are harmless to the ship.  


We slowed and inched closer to the glacier.

Each growler is unique and display what has been locked inside the glacier for scores of years.

With my telephoto lens I was able to see the glacier quite clearly even at the distance of over a mile from where we were.



Crowds where starting to form to take it all in.

Large waterfalls line the sides of Endicott Arm.  These are pretty massive and the volume of water in each is pretty impressive.




Here a mile or so from the glacier the vegetation is very different compared to where the glacier was 100 years ago   
This early low vegetation is beginning a life cycle that will eventually turn into a soil that eventually will support larger and larger vegetation   One hundred years from now trees will most likely be found here just as they are in that earlier photo of the side channel.


I took a time lapse video approaching this point.
 
The North Star Alaskan Experience review has been posted to Royal Caribbean Blog here:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/05/23/review-north-star-alaska-experience-ovation-of-the-seas

I hadn't spent very much time in Two70° so I thought I'd pop in to show what the views are like while the ship is in a channel.
First I passed through The Via.