NeonD7

If you want to do "touristy" things, there is always Ron Jon's if you head south on A1A. If you have most of the day to spend, you could visit Kennedy Space Center, there are nice exhibits and a bus ride that takes you all over the center. There area couple of nice seafood restaurants at the port (Rusty's, Grills, etc). Lots of people like visiting the Cape Canaveral Pier. I assume you will be taking the Oasis out - I'm jealous!! I live close by there, from Merritt Island we can see the Oasis sticking up on Port Canaveral skyline......

Back in August, the Freedom was looking good! I would love to sail on that ship again, we enjoyed having it at Port Canaveral until it was replaced by the Oasis.

After years of avoiding the WindJammer hamburgers - which were always the prepackaged compressed cardboard tasting garbage, we noticed they seem to have switched to a hand made patty using a better cut of meat. Still a lot of filler in the burger, but still better than before!!!

There were definitely some changes we noticed since our last cruise!! My wife and I boarded the Enchantment last Friday at Port Canaveral. I didn't notice if there was a D+ line through security, as we blazed through using the Suite line. Once through that, we went to the Suite line at the counter, which was next to the D+ line. Turns out we didn't even need to go to the counter - since we had uploaded recent photos when we did our online check in (totally different than it used to be - but it is quick and easy now!!) and the sign & sail form we printed out at home allowed us to directly board the ship. The room keys they used to give you at the counter are now waiting for you on your cabin door, which you can get to at 1:30. It was a little eerie having the room keys stuck on the door, but since your luggage isn't in the room, nobody could gain anything by swiping them. That new process really did expedite the boarding process. Kudos to RC for doing some thing new! It was weird boarding the ship without our sea passes in hand, but total time from drop off to walking on the ship was about five minutes.

Here is what it looked like on Sunday. Underwhelming to say the least. ?

My wife and I just got off of the Enchantment this morning after a three night sailing. We were very disappointed to see the lack of progress on the pier. One of the RC employees said it was only about 40% done. There wasn't any evidence of work being performed while we were there. Speaking of the Enchantment, we had a great cruise but "the old gray mare ain't what she used to be". This is our first sailing on it since it moved back to Port Canaveral from Miami. It had really degraded noticeably since the last time were were on it a year ago. Lots of glaring rust, worn out carpets, weird smells, dented walls. The metal ceiling on our balcony was falling pieces, thick paint was all that was holding pieces together. It is in serious need of an overhaul. Sad to see as it was always one of our favorite ships. We still had a fabulous time and enjoyed Chops 2 of the 3 nights. ?

Did you mean July 19th?? I'm booked on the June 14th sailing and its a week long cruise....

What day are you leaving? My wife and I (and a group of friends) will be on the 6/14/2019 sailing. It will be our first time on a Quantum class ship, so we are very excited to go on this one.

Enjoy the Enchantment - we love that ship!! We are so glad it is back local to us and the Majesty is gone. The new terminal at Port Canaveral (10 minutes from my front door) is really nice and is much more efficient at getting people checked in. For a ship the size of the Enchantment, check in using the "general" line isn't too bad. It looks worse than it is, waiting through the security line out front takes the most time. Once you get through that, the line upstairs to the counter moves really quick because they have a huge number of check in agents working. On an Oasis class ship, unless your Diamond or a suite guest, it takes a LOT longer to get those thousands of extra passengers checked in...... My wife and I are counting down until Dec 14th when we will be going out on the Enchantment. ? We have been on a lot of Royal Caribbean ships and still feel that the Chops restaurant on the Enchantment is the best in the fleet, topped only by 150 Central Park restaurant on the Oasis.

I've been on two Southbound Radiance Alaska cruises out of Seward. Of all our cruises, these two were hands down our favorite. It is a long trip from Florida, but worth it. My wife and I fly into Anchorage a day early, stay at the recommended hotel there, and in the morning they collect your luggage downstairs and truck it down to Seward. Sure beats lugging it around!! The first time (2013) we took the three hour bus ride from Anchorage to Seward, it departs from that same hotel so its very convenient. We thought it was some of the best scenery ever (compared to flat, hot, and boring Florida) and the bus driver did a fantastic narration of all the landmarks. The older couple seated next to us laughed at us as we were wide eyed and taking pictures of the "mountains" we drove by as we exited Anchorage, they said "This must be your first time here, right?" They said don't worry about those mountains, the good ones were coming up later in the trip. Boy were they right!! The second cruise (2016) we dropped off our luggage and then took the shuttle over to the train station located next to the airport. We then had an AWESOME five hour glass domed train ride down to Seward - each car has two attendants serving food and drinks. The train would slow down and the conductor would also point out things of interest along the way (moose, bears, etc). We were seated at a four top table and had a very nice couple we shared the table with. The first hour or so, the train parallels the path the bus took, but after that it veers off into the mountains for HOURS of stunning scenery. What a great way to start your voyage! You step off the train right at the pier and walk a short distance to the Royal Caribbean building where they check your ID and then you board the ship. Regarding the differences in itineraries, if you take the Serenade, you would miss out on Icy Straight and Hubbard Glacier. We really love Icy Straight, there is some nice hiking and scenery, although its becoming very "touristy". Both give you Skagway, which has the White Pass train tour that is a MUST to take. The ships are both the same class of ship (Radiance class) and will give you roughly the same on board experience. I was on the Serenade last month out of Boston for a Fall Foliage cruise. The outside of the ship was looking a little tired, rusty, and in need of painting, but inside, both ships are well maintained with identical layout. So...my vote is the South bound cruise. But either way, you can't lose!

That is too bad - the cost goes up about $400 per person for a Grand Suite by mid June. Our two previous Alaska cruises were both the first Southbound cruise of the season. That same room is $1,000 more per person mid July and they will miss the cooler temps we love so much. One question - do you like the changes they have made to Icy Straight? My wife and I do love the fact they built a pier and we don't have to tender anymore, but the added a bunch of shopping and "touristy" stuff. We really enjoyed that first trip back in 2013 before all the construction there, we took a long walk through the primordial rain forest and it was so quiet and peaceful. Now its turning into a tourist trap. Sad to see.......

Only if you want to live in Hades June through September. Its a humid swamp..... Just never ending heat!! But Alaska is refreshing and I can't wait to go! ?

I'm so glad I checked this message board earlier today! My wife and I just got off the phone with a Royal Caribbean booking agent - we snagged a Grand Suite on the May 22nd 2020 southbound Alaska sailing! We love going early in the season to get the coldest possible weather (and its a little cheaper). As Floridians, cold weather is a novelty for us so we enjoy it when we can. This will be our third time on the Radiance, we absolutely LOVE that ship. We were on its sister ship, the Serenade, last month out of Boston and it was nice to be on a familiar ship. We are already booked on a round trip Alaska cruise out of Seattle for next year on the Ovation, so we get a different glacier and a few other stops. Now the LONG wait begins...... Pssssst. Is it 2020 yet???

I am finding this survey is asking me to make an impossible decision! I'll gladly sail any RC ship - although I'll hesitate to step back on the Majesty. It doesn't offer Chops or a few other options the rest of the fleet offers. Some people seem to favor either a small or large ship, but I love the Enchantment as much as I love the Oasis. So.... I'll have to sit this survey out. ?

I've sailed twice on the Oasis of the Seas and my wife and I LOVED the Coastal Kitchen - we had a crown loft and ate breakfast and lunch there every day. We never set foot in the main dining room the entire cruise. We had also bought the three meal dinner package before we sailed, so we had one night in Chops, Giavoni's, and 150 Park Cafe. I can't say the CK was as good as those three upscale dining spots, but it was still very good and we enjoyed every night there. The servers got to know us and after the first night, they brought us our favorite things without asking. I haven't been in a CK on a Quantum ship (yet), but we are booked on the Ovation for an Alaska cruise on June 14th, 2019. We will beat you there by a month! We also booked a JS, so we will be eating dinners there every night when not at a specialty restaurant. We are chomping at the bit waiting for the sailing date to get here!