twangster

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. 

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

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

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

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.    

No Live blog for you!

I've seen plenty of annoying non-Pinnacle suite guests in the lounge.
I swear if I ever make it to Pinnacle I'm not going to wear the badge but do things to annoy the entitled Pinnacles.  When they complain I'll whip out my SeaPass card like a trump card ?

That is over the top.  I would have refused to move out of principle.

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

This occurs daily.  New transmission?  That's a 7 night cruise to the Caribbean!  That sweet lens Art Sigma just released, that's an Alaska cruise!     New hardwood floors?  That's a Hawaiian cruise!

Indeed.  I'm pretty heavily vested into my Nikon full frame.  The camera body is easy, it's the lenses!
I have the Rokinon 12mm and 14mm which for the price are great lens and f2.8 to boot.
Sony is really doing a great job taking on Canon/Nikon and leading mirrorless advances.  If it weren't for the lenses, I'd be pretty tempted to jump ship (pun unintended).

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.

 

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.

 

Welcome KasinoCrazy !
2 BDR ATS?  Nice! 
You've found a great place to hang out while waiting those long days until to tick down.

I think Junior Suites should be given access to suite lounge.  Maybe they can set up kid tables in the corner of suite lounge so that everyone can see "those are the junior suite people" sitting in smaller chairs at a low table.
Seriously - all that money for JS and what do you get?  A walk in closet and double points.  On a handful of ships you get Coastal kitchen dinner.  RCI needs to throw the JS people a bone.   

It could be worse.  
It could be
Lulu-Bot
or
Sun-seeker Extraordinaire
or
I don't do cold
 

The cost of Diamond happy hour has got to be on someone's radar.  I've sat there and watched the drinks flow, people stuffing 6 soda's or beers in their purse or watched a drunk D/D+/P fall down drunk and crash into a table spilling everyone's drinks only to be hauled away in a wheelchair because of how much they consumed.
On Anthem in December a DL server told me "changes are coming".  In January they no longer consumed the entire upper level of the Music Hall as overflow each evening.  This year on Liberty, Serenade and Adventure they never consumed the VCL as overflow despite the DL busting at it's seams when happy hour began. 
So far the changes seem to include making the DL an uncomfortable place to be by not overflowing outside of the club.  They never seem to enforce the "drinks can't leave the DL" policy.  To some degree it has worked as I tend to visit bars using my drink coupons before dinner now because the DL is chaos and you can never find a seat until past 6:30pm when dinner has finally persuaded most to get out of their chair.
Putting on my "I own the company for a day" hat, I'd certainly be asking my team how to contain the Diamond happy hour extravaganza.  With the growing number of Diamonds they are going to need make additional changes or adjust the thresholds to achieve levels.  That is dangerous talk right there because of folks who have been working for years at achieving Diamond and alienating them or pushing them to the competition if they "move the goal posts during the game".
The elimination of the CL and converting them to SL is part of this effort leaving the DL alone... for now at least.  I suspect they are waiting to see how that plays out before making more changes.
No other line offers the type of happy hour elite benefit that RCI does.  Carnival's platinum level is achieved at roughly the Diamond level and the biggest benefit is priority boarding.  Once on board Carnival's platinum doesn't do much for you and there is no equivalent lounge or daily free happy hour at any Carnival level.    I've certainly felt like more changes are coming as RCI aligns itself with the industry more and more which is why I made a push for D+ hoping to be grandfathered in in case they make drastic changes.  
 

I've seen plenty of annoying non-Pinnacle suite guests in the lounge.
I swear if I ever make it to Pinnacle I'm not going to wear the badge but do things to annoy the entitled Pinnacles.  When they complain I'll whip out my SeaPass card like a trump card ?

As am I, just what are you trying to say? ?

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.

It could be worse.  
It could be
Lulu-Bot
or
Sun-seeker Extraordinaire
or
I don't do cold
 

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.
 
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. 

Did I just get dropped into the vacationer's version of Monty Python's "Four Yorkshiremen" skit? ?

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