HeWhoWaits

My adult son and I were there at the New Year. Quickest route between our hotel and the light rail passed through an area with a large group of homeless. We passed through the area multiple times with no issues. Each time we were greeted with happy smiles and friendly word. Homelessness doesn't create a lack of safety.

Those same people will circle the parking lot at the fitness club to find a space close to the door rather than parking at the far side of the lot (even in beautiful weather), then go inside and walk on a treadmill.

The automated email vs. the updates for what will be coming soon. Makes sense.

And overwhelm the space so that Royal realizes just how many people take issue with the polluted environment that is the normal casino. I'm not anti-smoker. I AM anti-the-smokers-have-a-negative-impact-on-my-health.

Email received today indicates that all "guests 5 and older will need to complete an antigen test within 1 day prior to arrival to Canada. Registration details will be provided onboard." This differs from what is posted in the blog and on the website "Prior to Entering Canada: Unvaccinated guests 5 to 11 years old will take a complimentary antigen test onboard prior to visiting or debarking in Canada." Royal can't even get their own communications to match what they post online.

Couldn't agree more!

We're "slummin' it" with just a JS (unless one of our Royal Up bids is accepted).

We are indeed on the same cruise. Look for the guy wearing shorts (and probably sport sandals) any time the outdoor temperature is above 50 (and cooler if it's expected to do so later in the day). Exception - I will wear long pants to dinner.

Same cruise as the OP. Most looking forward to - cruising again. Ovation to Alaska will be our first cruise since 2019.

SOME of the government-provided kits are iHealth. Not so for the ones we received.

The two most likely states for me to be in when testing for a cruise is needed.

Holland America is accepting uploaded without showing live documents. Royal has not followed suit.

The "Depp" briefly stumped me.

Pop and soda are regional dialect differences (like lollipop vs. sucker). There are even some places that refer to ALL soft drinks as "coke" as in: "I'll have a coke." "What kind?" "Pepsi, please." Ships and boats are different by definition.

Cringe worthy - calling the ship a "boat" always bugs the heck out of me. And that's without having served in the Navy or the Coast Guard.

That's not poor elevator etiquette, IMO. It's working smarter, not harder. OTOH, if I'm going up less than four decks or down less than six (other than to the location of the gangway in port which can be difficult to find without the elevator) I always use the stairs.

We typically discuss what each of us plans to do each day as we peruse the Cruise Compass the previous evening. If one of us changes plans during the day, we'll leave a note (in stateroom or on the door). We usually designate a few specific times during the day that we will meet at a particular location if we're doing vastly different things but we're always able to locate each other without any "new-fangled fancy technology stuff." Yes, sounding like the old guy yelling "Hey! You kids get offa my lawn!" was intentional there.

And don't forget to ask the steward for wine glasses. Needing glasses when requesting a corkscrew might seem intuitive, but it's better to make a clear request.

Usually the excursion will show as "Sold Out" in the planner rather than disappearing, but that is not always the case. Try checking for the excursion in your calendar in the planner online rather than through the app. If you want a "quick" answer from Royal, email is not the way to go. Even waiting on hold via phone will get you something quicker.

July 9 - due April 10 June 18 - due April 19 May 20 - due April 20

Our July 35th Anniversary cruise final payment precedes my wife's June cruise with friends final payment which in turn precedes our Alaska group cruise in May final payment.

The largest amount of overpacking I ever did was the third pair of pants on a July Alaska cruise. It was comfortable enough that the only time I wore long pants was to dinner in the MDR. Two pair was enough for the seven evenings.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27040-holland-america-speeds-up-embarkation-process-with-new-tech.html What jumps out at me that I'd love to see Royal adopt: VeriFLY gives guests the option to upload the required information to the app, including proof of vaccination and test results, providing a way to go through the screening process prior to arrival at the terminal. Once registration is complete, guests simply need to show the VeriFLY QR code or “pass” (digital or printed) to the check-in agent. VeriFLY has a successful record of serving dozens of airlines, cruise lines, hotels and a variety of industries. The VeriFLY app is available for download at Google Play and the Apple App Store.

The mirror is fine. It is that person staring back that is cringe-worthy.