twangster

Welcome to the message boards!

Originally from ON myself.  There are many Canadians on this board so feel right at home.

On-line check in is available a couple of months before sailing.  Late August is getting close but possibly still too early to check in.  You can however book entertainment (or should be able to very soon) which is strongly recommended on the bigger ships like Allure.  These ships are so big they use a reservation system for many shows to manage the number of people versus seating.  The entertainment is very good on Allure so don't forget to book it well before sailing.

The app is a work in progress.  Some things are still under construction so sticking to a computer web browser for now may be your best bet.

Just about every balcony can be looked into if your neighbors are nosy enough. 

I'm not one to go onto my balcony in my underwear so no balcony is too exposed or available to my neighbors to be an issue.

Leafs last one the cup in 1967.

1st year in existence the VGK go to the cup.

As a fan of the original six I still have a hard time acknowledging VGK yet despite all the promises over the years for the Leafs ("we are rebuilding this year") have yet to accomplish what the VGK did this year since forever.

Of course having lived in the Carolina's the Hurricanes came on strong, were the 1st pro team in NC to ever win a championship and then faded into Leaf territory.  

Then when I moved to Colorado, they won just before I moved here, then faded into Leaf territory.  

Yikes, maybe it's me.  Maybe I'm a curse on teams I follow. 

Hmmm.... hockey games in Studio B.  I like it, another expansion option. 

2 minutes ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

Hahaha they don’t really care about saving the waves. They care about the bottom line. No straws and asking people to use towels more than once is all about saving money imo. 

Yet other ships don't use Dixie cups.  Ships are financially responsible for their own operation.  Each has a revenue officer on board that watches the bottom line.  Your ship is cutting corners and corporate doesn't know about it.

This is what a drink package Labradoozie looks like on Labadee. 

25 minutes ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

I guess I went to the wrong bar. Because I asked for 2 since it was so small and they said one at a time was the limit 

Suggest a kindly worded email to RCI pointing out that this flies in the face of "Saves the Waves" and reducing plastic techniques such as the new straw policy.  Forcing guests to use more plastic cups by serving frozen drinks in small 6 oz disposable cups only generates more plastic garbage on a precious ocean island.  

The bar staff and bar beverages including coco-loco come from the ship and are tendered off to Coco Cay.  This was likely a ship choice (or they were low on larger cups).

Quantum class muster indoor.  Previous classes such as Vision, Radiance, Voyager,  Freedom class have mostly outdoor muster with some muster stations in the dining room or theater.  It depends on cabin location.

1 hour ago, ellcee said:

I'm on Harmony in a few weeks...would you know if there are any less crowded decks for laying on a chair? Even if there is no pool?

Deck 16, one level up from the pool can be less busy but you will still have people walking by.  On a sea day this will get busy too but seems more open than the pool deck on deck 15.

If you are in a GS or above, the suite sun deck is often not very busy. 

I understand exactly what you are saying and I miss the majority of @Matt's FB live sessions due to missed notifications. 

The Periscope whistle works quite well, if only a lot of other Periscope things worked as well.  

Instagram (another FB app) has equally weak notifications and I've yet to be notified anytime he goes live on IG.

RCI carries two channels of ESPN Caribbean.  Unlike ESPN America (regular ESPN) the Caribbean feed does carry games that can't be played on ESPN in the US due to coverage rights.  Technically ESPN Caribbean is international so many sports including NFL games on Sundays are available (you won't find those on ESPN in the US).   Not positive but perhaps the games might be available through those channels.

'On Air' in the promenade is a multi use bar that often has sports games on.  

Last resort is using Voom Surf and Stream.  This is their internet plan available for purchase.  I've watched football games on my iPad using Voom and it works quite well.  Hard for 30 to crowd around an iPad but its a last resort option.

5 hours ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

One thing that bugged me about Coco cay was that even though I had the drink package I was essentially forced to purchase either a hollowed out pineapple or a souvenir cup if I wanted a frozen drink. The other options was to get a 6 ounce cup which lasted all of 10 Minutes just to wait in line another 15 to get another one. I reluctantly got the pineapple but was disappointed another option wasn’t available. That being said Coco cay remains one of my favorite places to visit and I’m glad I got there before the craziness begins next year. 

This may be ship dependent.  On one occasion I recall seeing some strange pricing for Coco-Locos where if you had the drink package it was $11 (in a souvenir cup) but without the drink package it was $13.  This flies in the face of the normal convention where drinks up to X are covered ($12 on most ships, $13 on OA or QU class).  If I recall this was on Anthem so at $13 it should have been covered but since it was a souvenir cup it wasn't but you got $2 off.  

The same price schedule was not used on Grandeur a few months before Anthem.

Which ship?  Or did you mean to post this in that other cruise line forum?  

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@twangsterbot always says that "competition is a good thing".  Let's see him up his game for Alaska!  I'm sure it will be amazing as always. 

Hopefully I can share some from my son who is going with me.  He has my hand-me-down Nikon D7100 but does a great job with it.    

4 hours ago, Neaxan said:

 Your photos could rival that Twangster bot 

@Hockeyman55's photos are better and it's not the camera body.  He is a great photographer.

7 hours ago, Sweety said:

Love your pictures. I am heavily in my Canon and lenses. I get a bonus this Summer, @twangster, I might be getting another lense.

Another cruise or another lens? That's a tough decision.

Great live blog and awesome photos!  Looking forward to your next cruise and blog.

7 hours ago, Jerry C said:

mobile passport app?

Is it  the one called Royal Caribbean International?

Mobile Passport is a separate app authorized by US Customs and Border Protection.  It is not associated with Royal Caribbean (or any cruise line) and can be used when flying at some airports as well.  It's been used for air travel for some time and just recently (2017) Port Everglades was added as the first cruise port.

FB notifications are a little more tricky compared to Periscope to set up but a lot depends what else you do on FB. 

First make sure you are following the Royal Caribbean Blog on FB.  On an iPhone that looks like this:

Tap on the Following icon to edit your notifications options.  Make sure "Get Notifications" is on:

Then you can edit the notifications to get those that you want:

In your phone settings you need to make sure the Facebook app is allowed to provide notifications as well.

Welcome KasinoCrazy !

2 BDR ATS?  Nice! 

You've found a great place to hang out while waiting those long days until to tick down.

Here is how close the charter train booked through the cruise line stops near the terminal:

Picture taken from the ship of the Seward cruise terminal.

11 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Oh my....this is worse than bot status! I've slid into the unknown "fill in the blank" rank 

It could be worse.  

It could be

Lulu-Bot

or

Sun-seeker Extraordinaire

or

I don't do cold

Seward isn't a big town.  Here is the difference between where the train booked through the cruise line stops versus booking directly through the Alaskan Railroad:

The charter train is only ship passengers since the cruise line chartered the whole train so they can stop right at the cruise terminal.  The regular train station where anyone can walk up and buy a ticket requires a proper train station and employees who can sell tickets, etc.  Therefore when you book it directly the train goes to the regular or public train station 1/2 mile away from the cruise terminal.

4 hours ago, KJ1231 said:

Twangster said the same thing about the luggage...

@twangster was the train ride really 3 hours? According to the schedule it's 4+:

Coastal Classic Train

Anchorage → Girdwood → Seward
Daily service May 12 – September 16, 2018

From/To	Depart	Arrive
Anchorage — Girdwood	6:45 AM	8:00 AM
Girdwood* — Seward	8:05 AM	11:05 AM

In places the tracks are shared with other trains, passenger and cargo, so sometimes you need to pull onto a siding to let the other train pass.  This causes schedules to be somewhat different for each trip.  I posted our actual times above, 3:58.

Here is the GPS track of the train trip I recorded on my phone:

(100 miles, 3h 58 min)

My app is set to Mountain Time so adjust 2 hours for Anchorage time.

4 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Since that train is not arranged with Royal, they will not pick up your luggage and you'll have to bring it to the ship

• PRO: Luggage will be taken by Royal before you board the train, and will be on the ship by the time the train arrives

Not sure that is accurate. 

My only experience is with Celebrity taking the non-Celebrity train at 6:45am, June 2017.  In that case, they know 98% of people on the train are cruise passengers.  I put my Celebrity luggage tags on my bags at my hotel,  took my hotel shuttle to the train depot and handed my luggage to the workers there who are set up to collect ship luggage.  I never saw it again until it arrived in my cabin.  To be clear, I booked the Alaskan Railroad direct, it was not through Celebrity.  Celebrity and Royal Caribbean International and both owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and we shared excursions at other ports with RCI so I am fairly certain it will operate the same for RCI as it did for Celebrity last year. 

In either case of booking the train through the cruise line or booking it directly, they don't load luggage on the train.  In both cases luggage is loaded on a cargo truck and they drive it down the highway to the ship.  Passengers are worth more so they would rather have more passenger cars in the train versus luggage cars.

Either way, make sure you have all your cruise documentation and passports with you on the train.  Do not leave them in luggage since you won't see your luggage again until it reaches your cabin and you will need your documentation to check in at the Seward cruise terminal.

4 hours ago, KJ1231 said:

• CON: 1/2 mile walk or cab from depot to port with luggage (or will RC pick it up for us - not clear?)

 

Referencing the same Celebrity cruise in June 2017, they had free buses to take you from the train depot in Seward to the cruise terminal.  I chose to walk because it was a beautiful day, but they were very clear, the shuttle buses were free and willing to take us.  They passed us as we walked to the ship. 

4 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

OK, then! Guess that means we're going to the port at 7:15, as soon as we've dropped off the younger one at high school! 

I saw people parked in the garage line at 5:30am waiting for the parking attendants to arrive.