twangster

Chihuly Garden and Glass

I booked this as a combo with the Space Needle online the day before.  It had me select a time for the Space Needle but Chihuly was available to walk in anytime.  During the purchasing process it appeared Chihuly by itself was sold out but it was available to book as a combo for $44 plus tax. 

The two are located right next to each other.

I had printed my ticket at home and it was a simple matter of following the signs and going straight to have it scanned without needing to stop at any ticket office.

I took a lot of photos and it's been hard to narrow it down.  It's getting late and I'm tired so I just going to dump the photos in this post and give it more thought another day.

Ticket scanned you are quickly presented with your first exhibit.

There are eight interior areas and then the outdoor gardens. 

This next section is the "Sea Room".

There is the main piece in the center with smaller pieces around the outside of the room, each with intricate details.

This leads to a whimsical corridor with a number of glass pieces overhead.  There were hundreds of pieces each with intricate detail.

The next room was incredible. 

What struck me was the detail in all aspects of every piece.

This leads to the boat room with two boats filled with more pieces.

Next up is the Chandelier Room.

Following this is the Macchia Forest.

Through the indoor sections it was time to move outdoors.

There is a "Glass House" that was closed on this day for a private event.

It's been hard to narrow down the 200 photos to these which is already more than I should have added.  It's just hard to capture and present it trying to do it justice without going overboard with photos.

I booked a tight connection in Salt Lake and for the first time ever my arrival gate was literally right beside my connecting departure gate.  Connection made, the flight up to Seattle was uneventful. 

We arrived at our gate at 9:38am.  After waiting for my checked bag and hailing a Lyft ($39.95) I got to the hotel at 10:45am. 

Ride sharing apps use an area of the parking garage to operate from.  After baggage claim you have to proceed up one level and across a skybridge into the garage to row "i" where there were dozens of folks waiting for their drivers.

At the hotel apparently I was the first to check in from the group and they had one room ready on the 2nd floor so I took it despite not really having a view of any sort. 

Bag dropped in my room I headed out for the 10 minute walk to the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass.

The train ride to Seward last year was amazing.  Hope you enjoy it!

Welcome @spiralqueen!

I sailed Allure in May of 2017.  Started in a balcony but found a great rate on a Loft Suite cheaper than a Grand Suite.  Awesome cabin.  Just before public school breaks for the summer seems to a good time to shop for deals.  Good luck!

6 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

True. Expensive as hell, but true.

Free for Tmobile users.  

 

Just now, JLMoran said:

Aren't you supposed to be on a plane to Seattle right now? 

Planes have wifi, just like ships

2 hours ago, cruise-y said:

You all are being way too nice.   I shouldn't have to go to a blog to figure out how to get the website to work.  We shouldn't have to be having thread discussions about clearing your caches or switching to different browsers in order to come up with solutions.  I shouldn't have to call tech support to get "unlocked."  

I know everybody here is super loyal to RCCL but really, the website is unacceptable.

I can't speak for anyone else here however for me I don't find it benefits anyone to rant over and over again about that which we all know is a problem at the moment.   As such I have decided to try to post only helpful, brief pointers when folks ask innocent questions without the extra 'color commentary' added each time.

To be honest, while the Royal website clearly has some issues I've yet to be be prevented from achieving that which I need to.  I've got 24 bookings at the moment, many of which have been made since the changes have been implemented. 

It's not about being 'super loyal' for me.  It's about perspective.  It's just a website.  

T minus 2 days.

Bags packed.  Boarding pass printed.  SetSail pass printed.  Luggage tags ready.  Check, check, check and check.  I think I'm ready. 

Amazingly I don't feel like I forgotten anything, which means in about 10 hours at 35,000' I will remember exactly what I forgot.  Such is cruising.

For the flight to Seattle tomorrow I have a 6am departure.  I had plenty of choices of flight times all day but I chose 6am so I could visit something in Seattle I've always wanted but haven't been able to yet.  The Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit at the base of the Space Needle.  I'm a sucker for blown glass so I'm looking forward to this as a pre-cruise excursion.

I'm flying with Delta, my favorite airline since I am heavily vested in it's frequent flier program.  At 13,500 Skymiles this may be the cheapest round trip flight I've booked using frequent flier miles.  A direct flight was available departing later and arriving at nearly the same time but at several thousand more miles so I chose a connection in Salt Lake City given the early time of day plus day before cruise booking.  Connections don't bother me since I've flown a bunch.  Loyalty pays - I've been upgraded to first class on both segments.  Not bad for an 'award' ticket.

My son is joining me on this cruise flying in from the East coast.  With a Friday to Friday cruise itinerary it meant an extra day of vacation for him so another day on top of that to fly in the day before was a problem.  He doesn't get that much time off at this point in his career.  He elected to fly in the day off the cruise, something I tend to avoid.  Flying from the East coast the time change is working in his favor.  Fingers crossed.

I booked my cruise through MEI Travel and added the official hotel for the Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise when it was offered oh so long ago.  Time flies, it's almost cruise day!   Shout out to Jacki York at MEI Travel for proactively checking each and every sale over several months to verify I had the best price.

Our cabin on this cruise is an interior with virtual balcony.  A full balcony cabin was nearly twice the price, per person of course.  I did an Alaskan cruise last year on Celebrity with a balcony.  One Alaska lesson I learned last year was that good excursions can be pricey.  Alaska excursions are well worth the price in my opinion to experience Alaska however adding up the total cost of a vacation experience on my second Alaska cruise I chose to spend money favoring excursions that were my second choice from last year over the cabin so interior virtual balcony it is.  Basically by booking an interior cabin we got our excursions 'included' compared to the cost of booking a balcony.  

Excursions this time around:

Juneau

Skagway

(The description read much better when I booked it!)

Victoria

Booked during various sales it definitely pays to book excursions early and watch sales.  Most of them have increased in price over the months since booking.  I booked our excursions with enough time for us to self explore before or after as weather permits.  Alaska here we come!

With that it's time to close my laptop and pack it, else I might forget it in the morning at oh-dark-early when my ride arrives to carry me to the airport.

Following!  Look forward to meeting a @crzycatldy5

Depends on destination and/or origination port.  Many Europe or Asian cruises are refundable but it isn't very obvious.  For US based you have to call or better yet use a travel agent. 

Given how everyone trusts and loves the website so much, I'm always surprised when people think they present the best price among all the various rates available. 

Hint - they show you the price they want you to see. 

Enjoy your cruise!  I've done MTD for a while and it usually works quite well.  Generally fixed dining has a better service experience but I like the flexibility of MTD and service can be equally good with MTD. 

Adventure at 137,236 Gross Tons is a large ship.  To put that in perspective she is larger than any Carnival Cruise Line ship.

I've got one kid (now 20) who is very sensitive to motion and back seat car rides can be tough on her yet she has no issues on cruise ships. 

As an experienced cruiser who doesn't get sea sick I bring motion sickness medication with me.  I'd talk it over with their doctor and bring some over the counter medicine with you just in case.  There are some non-drowsy version I prefer. 

The ocean anywhere can have smooth days and not as smooth days.  I think most people worry too much about it and that itself can have stress effects on a vacation.  By bringing something and being prepared your mind can be at ease knowing you are prepared. 

Sorry to hear the wedding was cancelled @NJB London, but I'll see you on board May 25th! 

35 minutes ago, davelliott said:

I have had 100 shares of stock since my second cruise with Royal.  Since I usually book inside staterooms, I have gotten the OBC many times as these cabins usually don't offer any OBC when booking. 

I have gotten the stockholder credit about 90% of the time since I usually only have travel agent credits.  It has been well worth the investment for me.

Great point - a lot depends on cabin type. 

Is your hotel in Orlando charging for parking?

Taxi isn't going to be cheap, much more than parking assuming a 7 night cruise.

Uber/Lyft is $60-$80 each way.  Parking at the port will resemble airport parking rates but it is convenient - load up your car and hit the road.

13 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Question that I thought of while reading this thread....Do they offer bottled water in Diamond Lounge like the do in the Suite Lounge?

Yes.  Bottled water is on the list (500ml) but only during diamond happy hour.  Like in the suite lounge I often ask for one or two with each drink order and like a squirrel storing nuts I build up the water reserve in my cabin.  I take them on shore excursions and such.

Private browser windows help because they don't cache website data.  Cache conflicts have long been an issue with the Royal website, even before the new site was deployed.

For missing points and preferences I find a phone call to be very efficient.  Missing points have always been corrected on the spot, within minutes.  I cruise solo so sometimes ( 1 in 8 )  they don't post correctly.  They put me on a brief hold and within 2 minutes they are back with it corrected.

I'm not sure if there is a local number in other countries.  Being in the US I just call the toll free number.

I've often found as I've grown older that a phone call is often best for many things.  Email is great but it's just another message in a sea of messages in someone's inbox.  A phone call between humans is personal. 

You avatar is holding a wine glass. Brilliance has a Vintages.  One of the best at sea in my opinion with great ocean views.  

It also has a pub and cinema.  Nice on those sea days after sea days.  

All things being equal I'd probably pick Brilliance.  

Think of it this way - if you went to an Applebee's or Outback every night for a week, you might get the same table or you might not.  

If you go early or late you are more likely to get the same table.  If you go during peak dinner hour then probably not.  

Tables are assigned each night as guests arrive but only for that night. 

If your reservations are the same time each night they generally will seat you at the same table.  However if you have different times night to night someone else will use a table that you may have used the night before.  

 There are sections in the MTD that wait staff are assigned to.  They try to keep you in the same section so you have the same wait staff but that is not always possible. 

They won't hold "your" table and make other guests stand in line waiting forever if you are running late one night.  

8 minutes ago, Matt said:

Just so we're clear, we're blaming @Lovetocruise2002 for this tangent? Got it.

It's always the stubborn Canadian's fault.

Cruising with my adult son this week in the same cabin.  I added his C&A number to the reservation then had him log in himself.  He added his passport details and his own credit card to his account.  

He basically checked in as if I wasn't cruising.  

Great review, thanks for posting.  I agree that researching any potential cruise booking is the key to having expectations met.  

Adventure is nearly twice the size of Grandeur and that extra space does allow more kid friendly activities. 

Agree about smoking in the casino.  Celebrity has done away with it and I really wish Royal would as well.  

 

The app is called "Royal Caribbean International" and you can find it in the Google Play store for Android phones.

The app is a work in progress.  They are slowing adding more ships and features to the app every so often.  Eventually the whole fleet will use it, possibly by sometime in 2019.

At the moment it is pretty basic.  You can see your itinerary, some calendar events from the Cruise Compass.  The ship time is displayed in the upper left corner in case you visit ports in a different time zone.

Eventually more will be added to the app.  Things like possibly making dinner reservations or booking an excursion, checking in at the terminal using Mobile Check In, etc. 

Some of the website changes recently were made so the new app could display more items you find on the new website and display them very close to how you see them on the new website.

For Android you can find it here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rccl.royalcaribbean&hl=en_US