twangster

The whale watching and Mendenhall visit will be two separate experiences with a bus ride in between them. The whale watching boats do not sail near the glacier. In fact no powered boats visit Mendenhall glacier. To approach the face of the glacier you must use a canoe or kayak. The only way to walk on the glacier is by helicopter. For the second part of this excursion, the visit to explore Mendenhall Glacier, a bus will drop you off at the Mendenhall Glacier visitors center an a tour guide will lead a guided walk around to see the glacier from paths within the park. Here is an example of whale watching in Juneau: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6634-explorer-alaska-62218-7-nights-rclblog-group-cruise/&do=findComment&comment=73463 While I was on a smaller boat on this trip there are pictures of the larger boats. After whale watching we boarded a bus and drove to Mendenhall Glacier for the second half of the excursion. In my case it was a nature hike visit to Mendenhall: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6634-explorer-alaska-62218-7-nights-rclblog-group-cruise/&do=findComment&comment=73499

No. If you leave a door tag out the night before it will still be there in the morning. Usually the Windjammer opens before debarking commences so I often grab a bite, go back to the cabin and brush my teeth, then do a final cabin check and debark.

The bathroom has a "conditioning shampoo" and a bar of soap. I think they figure most people are bringing their own favorite brand so they don't try to impress with brand name offerings except in suites on certain classes of ships. Once you reach higher in the Crown and Anchor society you are supposed to get upgraded bathroom amenities but even that is hit and mostly miss. Bring your own, whatever size you feel like carrying in your luggage.

Solarium changes have been a question of mine. I figured they migrate convert to the multi level and just have bridge wings but what exactly will they do in the resulting space?

Sometimes they don't like my print at home SetSail pass even thought it's printed on a color laser printer. When they don't like it they simply print me another one at check in. I would imagine that is worst case scenario, just bring a copy of the booking invoice that shows all passengers that are booked.

Those all look awesome. Not sure you need to do whale watching in both Juneau and ISP. I'd try to find a whale watching excursion that uses a smaller boat rather than a large boat with hundred or more passengers. The smaller boats can get in close and react faster while large whale watching boats keep further back.

We all like to think of Royal as one big company which it is legally and from a corporate structure. From a technology perspective not so much. Within the hospitality industry (think hotels) there are a number of technology platforms available and it's not unusual for smaller hotel chains to have great discrepancy across it's properties. While Royal is a big billion dollar business it's considered small within the hospitality industry with only 26 properties (ships). Previously those were independent with no need for commonality between ships. Each was allowed to develop and grow independent of each other. Consider any large hotel chain. They often have hundreds or thousands of properties. To scale to that point requires each being on the same technology platform. That wasn't a requirement at Royal until they recently desired to unify all properties under a single app. To do so requires bringing each property to a common technology platform and version. Doing so is like changing an engine "while the plane is in the air" which is is a pretty huge undertaking. What we experience for now is some variation between properties until they can change all the onboard systems and bring each ship to identical platforms and versions or at least close enough that middleware and APIs can do the translation. The idea of distributing cards on the ship is a step in that process because it removes the contractors woking in the terminal from the distribution of SeaPass cards. Currently when you check in at a terminal there are very few Royal full time employees on hand, you deal mostly with subcontractors. This step drives towards standardization across the fleet which is part of a bigger picture of other changes like expedited check in which requires that ship computer systems recognize the barcode on a print at home SetSail pass where before each ship could have a unique barcode system as a closed and isolated organization.

20 to 25 minutes depending on time of day and traffic.

I was on a B2B and on the return the ship was diverted due to high winds and went to San Diego instead of Long Beach. Departing guests were bussed to Long Beach while embarking guests used those same busses to reach the ship later in the day. I had the ship to myself (plus crew). I was the only B2B cruiser and it took hours for the process of debarking and embarking to proceed. Around 4pm new guests began to appear after the last guest left at 9:30am. In the interim I had the ship to myself with only crew milling about, sun tanning and enjoying the day. It was cool at first but as the day proceeded it was weird walking around a ghost ship.

Take it from an experienced Captain...

$3.9M to $4.5M for a full week on Freedom class depending on time of year. January is often a slow cruise time so many charters happen in January. http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/full-ship-charter-faqs/ Oasis class is more and they get charted as well.

Royal never takes luggage from a plane. You must retrieve your luggage from the plane. If you booked a Royal ship transfer you then carry your luggage to the transfer bus after checking in for the transfer at the Royal kiosk in the airport. If you are finding your own way to the ship you must bring all your luggage to the cruise terminal (taxi, ride share, private car, etc). The terminal and gangways are not designed for people embarking with large suitcases. Gangways are typically uphill and waiting areas are small. Cabins aren't ready until at least 1pm so you have to drag any carry on bags around with you until then. Typically most terminal employees will not allow anything larger than an airplane carry on bag into the cruise terminal.

There are no Coastal Kitchens on any ships except for Oasis and Quantum class. For all other classes of ships benefits of a JS are double C&A points, a larger cabin, usually a walk in closet, sometimes a bathtub in the bathroom and priority boarding if you reach the terminal before boarding has commenced. No other "full" suite benefits apply to a JS. For example, no access to the suite or concierge lounge. For Empress you can see a JS cabin from this live blog: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/8865-empress-73018-5-nights-inc-cuba/&do=findComment&comment=79273

You are responsible for retrieving your luggage from the plane and carrying it to the Royal transfer bus where the bus driver will load it into the the belly of the bus. Before handing your luggage to the bus driver you should have your ship luggage tags on each bag.

Not all regions are eligible for price drops. North America typically has always been eligible. Most fare types are eligible, certain travel agent rates or other promotional rates might not. One way is to go through the motions of a mock booking. For example, if you weren't already booked and just wanted to know the price you would step through the process of booking a cruise. Another way is using a travel agency like MEI travel (who sponsors this blog site). They will periodically check for price drops. The catch to price drops is comparing identical cabins. If you are booked in a 4D balcony cabin you have to compare current pricing for a 4D balcony cabin. Sometimes a balcony may appear cheaper but it's for a different category such as a 2D balcony compared to a 4D balcony. They won't price match different cabins categories within the same type of cabin. Price adjustments usually involve giving up any bonuses when booked such as OBC or Kids Sail Free so sometimes it doesn't make sense taking advantage of a price adjustment. You might save $75 but lose $100 OBC for example. Once final payment due date has passed (typically 90 days for most cruises) there are no price adjustments, at least not for a while. In the past they sometims offered OBC but that stopped a few years ago.

iMessage and push notifications use the same port through a firewall for communication. Youtube does as well, as well as some other 3rd party apps. iMessage is allowed through as a side effect of getting push notifications to work for the RoyalIQ app that also allows other push notifications through. For example, news alerts from a local TV station at home but if you try to tap that push notification it goes no where without a purchased Voom plan. It was rather annoying getting push notifications about the latest things some world leader had tweeted about while I was on vacation. On a positive note I would get Periscope notifications when any of my cruise friends went live. This push notification issue is what is causing the delay rolling out the chat feature for the new app. Royal would rather not enable iMessage fleet wide however in my opinion they should. Royal touts the "stress free" vacation concept. Royal builds ships for multi-generational cruising families and they do it really well. How better way to be stress free then to allow texting between family members? Grandparents can be relaxing in the Solarium while another generation is ice skating while another generation is mini-golfing. Let them text for free!

This is odd but if you book Coastal Kitchen I’d book it.

I’d suggest sail away up on deck 15 so you see the tight fit under the Verrazano-Narrows bridge. Just remember to duck!

I think it will be a while. Many people like to disconnect on a cruise and lock the phone in the safe. The numbers of such individuals require paper CC. Maybe 10 or 15 years from now the numbers will shift but it's going to take a while to eliminate the paper or they'll face a revolt. And that's assuming they get the app to properly represent the actual activities on the ship which could be 50 years away.

Make sure you understand the checked luggage fees for each. For a family they can add up especially round trip.

I suspect two cruise addicted AI bots might overload the NextCruise desk.

What was your answer? Only then will we know the extent of your cruise addiction.

Azamara with just three smaller ships is worth considering for exotic itineraries. Empress is going to Tortola a few times now which is appealing. I’ve picked a handful of Majesty and Empress sailings because the rates are pretty great right now. Celebrity is pumping out Edge class ships but there’s a lot to be said for their smaller ships where there are still suite restaurants just like the newer and bigger ships. The reality is as ships grow older it’s doesn't make sense to continue operating them. For Royal a new ship build is going to be big, mega big. The rest of the RCCL is not as focused on big.

Hard coded limit to harvest only C&A resources such as Diamond Happy Hour ????

I've never understood the concept of rewarding folks who don't have to fly to a cruise. I have to buy a plane ticket to cruise so therefore I and not eligible for cruise fare discounts. How does that make sense? I have flexible travel plans, Southwest offers reasonable airfares under 90 days yet I am penalized because I have to fly. Why should someone who can drive to the cruise port get a discount? Celebrity seems to be on the same page as me, Royal not so much.