Traveler

I think soon we will hear that Rhapsody which currently Hifa its home port will move to Limassol.

Finally we will be able to say " I went to the crown lounge in the viking crown on the crown of the seas"

Very simple the one that gives to benefit to the current loyalty status I currently have . I guess it will be interesting to have survey to know not just who is loyal but who is going to cruise on other lines and for how many.

Oh forgot about Internet. As expected for Alaska it was very slow and I was glad I did not had to connect using teams or VPN as it would not wor. Also in land , using Tmobile got me very poor connectivity.

Embarkation and some thoughts. Last day came quick, although we got another day day before our flight we still had to go to the airport to rent a car. I schedule a transfer with RCL (28 $ PP) and we did self carry of the luggage , we both love the fact that the luggage is with us until the last minute and no need to think what to leave for the morning and how to pack the left over to take with us. What we did not took into consideration is time we had to wait for the elevators. As always I was sent to bring some food , as lesson learn from pervious cruises we took some cutlery the evening before so I will have less things to carry. Around 7:50 am we went out with the luggage to go to floor 5 and wait for our number to be called. it took us 25 minutes to get into elevator and even that it was to first take the elevator up and only then go down , for sure we saw issue with the elevators before (which made us just use the stairs) but at the morning it was something else. Once we finally went down we continued to the terminal , it was very easy and no elevators were needed .Exiting the terminal was very quick , the immigration officer just wanted to see we have US visa (for the last time as we just got a waver) and after 5 minutes we were out. We locate the shuttle , no one bother to checked if we have tickets or not, once the buss was full it started the way to the airport which took around 25 minutes. The shuttle is arriving to the shuttle bus center and no to the terminal itself which means you need to walk for extra 10 minutes to arrive to the terminal. We took the shuttle to the rental center and got our car. We knew the hotel will not be ready yet so we secure our suitcases and went to a near buy store to purchase several things in our list. For hotel we took the Holiday inn express and suites in shout center , its 10 minutes from the airport , new hotel and walking distance from many restaurants and a mall. its just a cross from the Green river and adjust to the green river trail which we did part of it. We got to do early check in , the hotel rooms are very nice (bigger than most of the holiday inn express which I stayed in) it also had a small refrigerator and microwave and most important two , yes two working elevators. We walked over to the local cheese cake factory for lunch and later got back to the room . Tons of restaurants around but we were tired and went with something we knew will be good. At the morning we eat the basic breakfast did checkout and went back to the airport , everything went OK and we went on a 2 hour flight to LA followed by 13 hours flight back home which went mostly by sleeping and watching some movies. Several thought : The ship - Ovation is a nice ship , there were some places it felt crowded but I guess it its due to the weather mainly. Elevators - Something was wrong there , at least two elevators did not worked and it elevator seems to be very slow , good we could use the stairs most of the times MDR - We went to the MDR only once since we were with My Time Dinging and it only started around 7 PM , the one time we went we got a very nice service and the food was tasty and enough , the main issues are the lines to the MTD if you reserved a time slots , the lines were crazy. WJ food - The WJ buffet was never crowded which was nice , food was OK , it seems that quality went down comparing to pervious years , somethings were missing. Cabin - We were at ocean view cabin , it was clean with ton of places to store our luggage and other stuff. Bar services - No issues , never crowded and the service was very good. Entertainment - We saw several show , nothing to write home about , missing a big Broadway and ice show , the Spectra show was very nice from technical perspective. Weather - Weather was not as cold as we thought - light coat was enough, no need special things for Alaska beside a good per of tracking shoes. Shore excursion - If there is one thing we are sorry not to reserve is an helicopter trip to the glaciers , we did planned to visit the glacier but it got canceled , I hope we will still be able to do it before it will be gone. I would suggest to make sure your cruise to Alaska is entering to one of the glaciers. Until the next time .

I am sure Royal tracking each type if customer expenses and revenue. We might think loyal customer not important as they might spent less or geting free drinks but if you look when you have many top loyalty cruisers and when you don't you can see that the loyalty cruisers tend to cruise more during off peak times. It's not hard to feel a ship during spring break and holidays , beat your most loyal cruisers and see what happens to the trans Atlant cruise and to the other off peak cruise ...

They can try like they tried to get money for Pizza ...

Going back was quite OK, we stayed one extra day in Seattle , quick flight to LA and 14 hours flight back , most of the time we slept so not bad.

I myself for official nights will wear nice pants and collared shirt. I think in all the airline baggage restrictions and cost I don't see myself bringing suits/tuxedo or even a sport coat. Better to use the extra space for local wine/liquor to bring back and other interesting things. I could care less on what other people wearing, don't see how it influences my experience at all , my dish taste the same if the guy next to our table wearing a tuxedo or shorts. I would appreciate people that push themselves to a crowded elevators to take a shower often and use deodorant.

Day 7 - Victoria. The sun rises over our last cruise day. We slept finally until 8 but it's only because my spouse came under the weather , we quickly checked its not covid and I went to bring some food from 270. After a while she felt better and we went to pick our pictures (finally we remembered to pick our free pictures) I must say the photographer on the Ovation are doing better job than other ship , or it's just the diet we done before the cruise ). We did not know if we want to visit Victoria or not, after all its only in the itinerary due to the John's act , a filler like Nassau... We decided to go anyway and wow , it was a very good decision. The city is very beautiful with European filling and many interesting building. It was also a sunny day which is also a plus. We took the shuttle (15 $ for all day use) although you can walk (around 15 - 20 minutes). The shuttle dropped us near the beautiful Empress hotel From there we walked over the Government st ,on the way we did some whales watching excursion, this time we got to see more than their tails. We came to the local Chaintown which we decided it's a good time to eat lunch. We found a nice resturant with lunch offers and got ourself noodles and a combo dish . Both were very good. The resturant name is Fan Tan caffe. We did our way back in a parallel street We went to the parliament house and decided to call it for today and took the shuttle back to the port . And no we did not eat the Poutine, not before the yearly checkout:-) Hey what do you say can I work on the ship ? Here is my own first towel animal thanks to the cruise director program that explained how to make them Tomorrow leaving the Ovation

Anyone surprised? Not sure they will change anything but it's preparation. On most of my ladt cruise the lounge was quite empty but maybe because most of the cruise we took were in Europe and now Alaska (which the lounge was also empty). My speculation is that during the merge we will hear that to make it simple RC and celbrity will merge into a new program.

Day 6 - Sea day The evening arrived and we left Stika , some people saw the north star light the night before but we missed it. We started to fo our way to the pacific we comes with its price. The sea was angry my friends "like an old man trying to return a soup in a deli" was not sure it was because we used all our drinking vouchers , too many honeymooners on the ship or just lots of waves . I liked it has its making me sleep very fast but I also like air pockets while flying so I am not a good example. We started the morning in the WJ for a quick bite following the captain corner, sorry no new information about Nexus project nor about the loyalty program. It was interesting as always. We participated in one trivia , before taken our first drink of the day . We skipped lunch only took Pizza and spent some time in the casino as it was also the ladt day its going to be open , it was better that time and I could take some money off the room charges. Today was the dream production in the theater, it was like a dream as we slept most if it. Today we finally went to the MDR , got a really good service and enjoyed the food. This is melon and Avocado salad , free cruise to whomever find the Avocado The quest was today , just the quest not the crazy quest as it seems the PG version of it , although some new tasks. Our group came second, shame. Finally first day we used all the drinking vouchers, good for us. We also had time to take our pictures as it was dress to impress night (although I quite sure I did not impressed anyone) . Time to go to sleep

Oh , no , just went off the ship and got on the shuttle, no issues at all. Maybe they increased the number of busses or we were the only ship in port.

Day 5 Stika . We arrived early to the port (which did boy prevent for keep sleeping or at least trying). We did not jad special excursion for today just to go and visit Stila on our own as it seems easy place to do so. We went fir a quick bite and a coffee in the diamond club, I happy to say the coffee machine was working perfectly during the entire time. We went down to the pier to catch the complimentary shuttle bus to "down town" Stika , it took around 7 minutes and the driver share some information about Stika. We arrived to the shuttle center and took some nice pictures from the nearest view point, there was a queue there but we successfully took some photos. We started doing our way to Stika national park , it's taken around 15 minutes in a very nice sidewalk which takes also to a boardwalk with a view over the water with many birds and other animals (we saw few seals and what we decided sea otters) The national park center is the star point for easy round trips inside the forest that contains also many impressive totem poles polls. We spend 40 minutes there before starting our way back to the town center. Now who said tree Ents dose not exist ? We passed by the place were the salmons come to spawn , unfortunately for many of the is also the place they come to die , let's just say we skipped the Salmon chowder for lunch. At that time it started to rain and it never stopped, not heavy rain just annoying one. We decided it's a good time for lunch and we went to the small Russian restaurant that call Pelmeni , they serve Russian dumplings ( this is more like tortellini or some may know it as Kreplach) they serve it with or potato or meat topped with vinegar, hot sauce and sour cream. They cost 9 $ for a plate which is one of the best deals in town. It was tasty. There are also many food trucks around selling different chowders, crab sandwiches and hot dogs. I think from all our 3 Alaskan stops Stika is the most beautiful . We had enough of the tain so we catches the shuttle back to the ship. Dinner was at the WJ we found several good things there Today we finally got to see Spectra. As always story line was not that important but they really took advantage using all the equipment and technology of the 270, impressive

RCL logic - my timing queue for peoples that followed RC recommendations and reserved ahead of time - 30 minutes. Queue for non reservations- 5 minutes, guess which line we choose ... #beingPunishesForDoingTheRightThing

In RCL terms , Gelato is ice cream which you can charge for .

Ice cream cost money in the WJ. Remember it use to free ?

Day 4 Skagway. I know I am behind but had some good reasons (excuses excuses) . Internet not the best on the ship as expected from Alaska cruise and its not much better once in port. My Tmobile Internet is very poor , like back to the noisy modems days. Today we had a very late excursion (good holiday excuse ) so we started by just walking to the city. Although the port is very near by due to the avalanche last year they force you to take shuttle bus for a one minute drive to the pier end. After that we just walked to the "town" we visit some souvenirs shops (expensive as expected) and walk around enjoying the view. We walked back to the ship to get ready for our excursion. We went to north star, hoping to tide it again and as we expected , although fully reserved no one came. We actually had almost 20 minutes private north star experience for ourselves. Always try the ports day for such activities . Our excursion was a ride on the road to the white pass summit, gold fever and Salmon dinner. The ride on the road was nice and we had several stops to take pictures. We went over to the Canadian side were we had to show our passports. The immigration officer went on the bus and took a quick look on the passports , did not bother to look on our passport, I guess he knew I following @Lovetocruise2002 blogs and might thought we are star class . we had a 10 minutes stop at the Canadian side before heading to the US (the US immigration officer did not even bother to go on the bus). Our next stop was the gold panning experience , what do you know we found 5 grains of gold , now for sure we can upgrade our next cruise. Following the gold penning we had the lunch/ early dinner which contains salads, rice , BBQ chicken and fresh grilled Salmon (as many as you want) it was very tasty. We returned to the pier at 4:50 , 10 minutes before all aboard to wait in a very long line to the shuttle. The line was quick and we went on the ship on the last minute.

You are right they rare as lobster at day 1

This really annoyed me , Royal prompting many programs to save the environment and the wildlife bit then decide to promote a fur store ??? Really Royal ?

Day 3 - Juneau. Today our first sea day we arrived to Juneau at 1 PM. Breakfast was at the WJ , they have there a nice cook to orders ege which you ask for what you want and they give you this device which is vibrates when it's ready. Before arriving Juneau we had very mice view of the inner passage, which made me thankful for heaving a balcony. For Juneau we booked long time ago to go to the Mendenhall Glacier. Unfortunately due to finishing all the quota for this year it was canceled. Royal gave us 50 $ as a compensation which was nice of the. The alternative excursion we booked was the whales watching. We had a nice weather so we hot to see a glimpse of the Glacier from the boat. We did see some whales , not many pictures as I used the binoculars to watch them , but maybe I will extract some tails from the video I took. When we came back we went to check the famous Tracy crab place. It was packed with long line took us 40 minutes to get in. It was very tasty but not sure I will wait again that long for it. Back on the ship we were quite tired from the long day so we felt a sleep very quickly, there is jetlag for you.

Have a wonderful cruise !

As promised a real Falafel recipe: What you need: 2 cups of dried chickpeas/garbanzo 1 chopped onion Half cup of chopped parsley Half cup of chopped coriander One spoon of sesame - optional One tea spoon of paprika One tea spoon of cumin Half tea spoon of salt , you can add more if you prefer. Black pepper. Two spoon of flour. Optional one wet piece of bread. 5 to 6 garlic cloves Baking soda The chickpeas need to be soaked in water for 12 hours. Wash and drain the chickpeas and add them with all the garlic , spices , bread to a food processor. Run the food processor until getting a rough paste, if the paste is too dry you can add water. Add the parsley, coriander , flour sesame and onion Mix everything and put to rest in the refrigerator for an hour. Just before frying the Falafel add the baking soda (optional). The Falafel should be fried in 285 F 140C. Create small to midsized balls (the mixture is good for 25 falafel balls) and fry several each time until they become brown/ dark brown. Enjoy it with pita bread (maybe I will add how to do one at a frying pan) , chopped sald (tomato, cucumber and onions), Thaini and Humos

No , just top cruisers.

Day 2 sea day. I always thought its good to start a cruise with a sea day (and end it with one), opportunity to tour the ship and relax. We had a really early morning due to the jetlag and we were hungry ( I will say it's because of the jetlag, not because we did not eat for full 5 hours). As we did not want to wait for room service we went down to the promenade cafe just to find out it was also late for the 24/7 place. There was no one there , the attendeds left and put out all the cakes and sandwiches trays out for whoever want , this was first time for me. The weather was chill but nice , not too much rain or wind so we could go outside for some fresh air. At 6 am we went to the WJ , we and other many people (after all for all the east coast people it was already 9 AM) when it was not opened we finally checked the app to find out the clock was changed and it's only 5 AM , no note in the room like always, we'll still a newbie mistake, shame on us , we should be demoted to emerald if not to gold . Later we went to eat breakfast at the D club , not a WJ morning person. We decided to do some duck hunting and we did found one in the pub, he was without tag so we guessed he was drinking too much last night and lost his ID (or it was confiscated when they found he is under the drinking age ?) . The C&A event took place at late morning , only 7 pinnacles on board That was the quickest event ever , ended after 10 minutes only We took lunch at MDR as it was sea day , food not bad and more relaxed atmosphere comparing to the WJ. Next we went to watch the love and marriage show which was funny specially thanks the most veteran couple who was hilarious. I went to the casino , wow , I need to find my luck somewhere else , :-), I guess I will not get a "free" cruise this time. We took some nap (have i already said we love sea days ?). We decided to skip the MDR dinner and went to the WJ , nothing special, Indian food was good but overall all I can see the WJ food was downgrade a little bit. We had reservations for the show in 270 but the jetlag striked again so we missed it, after all we should get ready for our first port.