vanelli56

Well, I did it. I cut the cord so to speak. Royal has made menu cuts, housekeeping cuts, and who knows what's next since I booked my Wonder and Icon sailings. So I canceled all my purchases for my May trip. I'm up almost $2k and Royal is SOL. Lol. No drinks, no beach club, no excursions, no specialty restaurants. Zip. I'm going old school in May on Wonder and going to see if what's included is good enough. The amount I'm getting back is amazing and so far I can't really say I have any regrets. Might make for an interesting report come June on Wonder on the cheap. Time will tell.

Not a problem. Yep, just have your adult children load their CC's during the online/app check-in. 
Typically the people at the port checking your docs will verify the last 4 digits on the cards used for your onboard accounts. (typically) lol. 

During Check-in if you use the same CC for all guests, anything charged on the ship will be billed to that CC. 
If you use different CC's for each guest checked in, charges to the individual seapass card will go the the appropriate CC associated with each guest. 

My wife and I, along with our 11 year old daughter, and 7 year old autistic son will be on this cruise. My wife cruised years ago as a teenager but this will be my first ever cruise as well as the kids first. We are super excited and literally counting down the days! I’ve been learning so much from Matt these last few months. Thanks so much for all you do Matt if you happen to read through these threads. 
Lets get the beach vibes going!! 😎😎 

A basic and informative video on how Casino Royale works onboard our ships!
 
I hope you guys find this information useful.
 
 

47,000 people tested positive in the US this past Saturday, June 25.  
Just saying, being on a ship or on land makes no difference.
I choose to just live my life

Oh my...hope you get to read my reply today....Please see below.
Here are some last minute tips:
1. Arrive early...at least 90 minutes prior to boarding time.  On embarkation day, we arrive around 9:15 but had to walk about 5 minutes from where our Uber driver dropped us off.  Our Uber driver knew some of the security and we got as close to the terminal as possible.  I wouldn't count on that being your case.  Arrive early.  On debarkation day, I could see that people started lining up at around the same time, 9:00 am.  We watched people line up from our balcony until time to debark.  By 9:15, when we were asked to leave the room, there were about 30 people in line.  This is in line with what we experience the week prior.
2. Have paper documents in hand.  Have them in order of persons in your party to be checked in.  Cascade passports, set sail tickets, and Covid Test results in order so that the staff can just check/scan everything easily.  Do not depend on smart devices.  Even screen shots are not reliable because there is virtually no place to charge while in line and some people ran out of juice.  The staff personally told me (at least two people) paper documents are faster.
3. Go get in line before you check in luggage.  Then, have one person take the luggage across the way to check them in.  Be prepared and have luggage tags properly affixed to the checked in luggage.
4. If you board with a party of family, make La Patisserie your home base while making reservations.  They have great seating and is close to Chops. See below.  
5. Dining - if you need to reserve dining, go directly to Chops.  Some posts here say any Specialty Restaurant can make all reservations.  NOT TRUE on Ovation.  Izumi host could not reserve anything but Izumi.  Chops host can do everything for you.  Write down days and times you get.  This is the FIRST THING you should do after boarding.  DO NOT GET DRINKS.  DO NOT GET FOOD.  MAKE DINING RESERVATIONS.  I say this because the wait list for Jaime's and Chops was a page long EVERY single day when we went.  Luckily for us, we had reservations.
6. Activity and Entertainment - Make these reservations next. Pixels requires a reservation.  Do this immediately.  Good show, great venue.  Packed. Reserve all port day (free) Northstar and iFly/Ripcord activities.  You only get one freebie but reserve them immediately.  Like I said before, Northstar on sea days was not as good as at a port.  We went on Northstar at port in Seattle for free.  We paid on the 6th day.  Sea day was nothing special on the Northstar.
7. Drinks - if you have drink packages, get your FreeStyle cups from the middle kiosk between La Patisserie and Sorrentos.  They have them in boxes.  No need to go to the bar to do this.  Then you can go and rinse them out at Sorrentos and have soda right away.
 

Hi all!
After having our flight home cancelled twice and spending two additional days in Seattle, we are back home.  Here is my report on the Alaskan cruise and the Ovation!
Embarkation
Our check in time was 11am and we showed up at 9:20 am to find at least 30 people in front of us.  After listening in on conversations, it was apparent that most of the people in front and back of us were not entirely prepared to check in.  Oh well, their loss.  Thanks to this Forum, we were prepared and when the gates opened, we were on the ship by 11:10 am.  Easy peezy.  MY SUGGESTION for easier boarding....just print everything and have them in order. Set Sail, vaccine records, covid test, just have physical documents ready.  Internet was intermittent and people trying to check in with screen shots were having trouble.
FOOD!
I start with food because that is our thing and the first thing we did other than making reservations was eating at the Windjammer!  Food was overall a 9 out of 10.  
Windjammer - only ate there for one lunch and 5 breakfasts.  Breakfast could use some variation but food was hot, looked good, and filled our tummies with overall joy.
Izumi's - ate lunch and dinner there.  Rolls were overwhelming.  Sashimi plate was excellent for cruise sushi!  Fried chicken appetizer was yummy. I though 2 times was enough for Izumi though.
Wonderland - food was overall imaginative, fun, and tasty.  Some stand out dishes included desserts and the liquid lobster.  Would not go more than once per cruise, but would definitely go every cruise.
Chops - Solid steakhouse.  Good wine selection.  Bone-in ribeye is outstanding.  Lobster bisque and mushroom soup were outstanding! Ate there twice.
Jaime's Italian - OUR FAVORITE.  I am a classically trained chef turned lawyer.  Fresh made pasta was exactly what sold us here!  The sauces were tasty and in the correct proportion to pasta unlike Americanized Italian places.  Funny, Jaime's is British-Italian, but the food here tasted closer to what we have eaten in Italy than most places.  Stand out dishes included Pavlova dessert, ALL pastas, Meat plank, and burrata cheese!
MDR - This is the only place where I experienced service issues but I will address those later.  Food was overall okay.  Above average.  Nothing stood out, nothing was bad.  Oh...order the Baked Alaska! Last time I had Baked Alaska and Cherries Jubilee was in 1984 LOL.
Room Service - prompt, hot, edible.  
Hot Dog Stand - good enough to satisfy cravings.
Sorrentos - Not bad at all.
Fish and Ships - fried to order and worth at least one trip.  By the way, I am not sure this works for all ships, but UDP worked here for fried lobster tails and premium items.
Cafe Two70 - Nice change of breakfast pace and quiet place to enjoy breakfast, enjoy incredible views, and play some card games or board games with the kids after breakfast.
La Patisserie - Not quite Starbucks, but got me going in the right direction every morning and every evening.
Solarium Bistro - It was okay.  I was happy.
DRINKS!
Since I watched many bartenders open new bottles of liquor and paid attention to them making my drinks, I can say that the drinks were not watered down, but not exactly super strong, except for limoncello!!!  Wine selections were nice considering this was a cruise ship.  Cocktails were tasty.  We loved the Bahama Mama and anything with KRAKEN! 
Service
Guest services lines were a little long at times.  I am always up at 4am and go to sleep at 11:00 pm so this was not an issue for me.  The ONLY issue we had was that the pre-purchased Arcade credits were not properly applied to our kids' sea passes and there is no way to figure out arcade balances other than stopping by Guest Services or manual computations.
Service at all specialty restaurants and bars was excellent.  MDR service wasn't bad.  It was slower than I would expect, but I am not one to eat in 45 minutes and run off.  A 90 minute full service meal is more than acceptable.
Ship Condition
Did I mention that the Princess Ruby ship in front of us was rust stained and looked dilapidated?  Ovation was immaculate!  Enough said.
Activities and Entertainment
Enjoyed all of the shows and trivia.  We did Flowrider, Ripcord, Bumper cars, Northstar....pretty much did everything.  I highly recommend Northstar at a port and not at sea.  We did it twice, once at port in Seattle and once at sea.  Nothing much to see at sea.  Ripcord by iFly was simply AMAZING.  Do it.  All ages.  Do it.
Internet
We had one surf and stream and one basic.  Get basic.  Either way, internet is slightly better than DSL from 2005.  
Complaints
A. Stupid people.
B. Dumb people.
C. Some public toilets did not flush automatically and were inconvenient when I forced my kids to poop outside the room in the public restrooms.
D. Nothing to do from 4am to 6am.  
E. Too much to do from 8am to 11pm.
F. Either Pixels has two different versions, or I fell asleep at the first one.  My friends showed me pictures of the second showing and it looked quite different than ours.
G. Make Solarium pools aged 25 plus please!  Too many teenagers and college kids.  It was gross.  Spent more time in the indoor pool with little kids and enjoyed it more.
HIGHLIGHTS, KEY TAKEWAYS and TIPS
1. Got to meet Chris Wong.  Nice guy.
2. Stop gambling while you are ahead.  I made out with winnings of about $370 from penny slots.  Not bad.
3. Take advantage of the trivia games in between activities and meals.  It is a waste of time to go back to your room for 30 minutes and come back out.
4. If you get the Food packages, RESERVE AS SOON AS YOU BOARD!  We saw too many people complain about wait lists because no reservations.
5. If you are unsure of the Deluxe Beverage Package....I drink one glass of wine or beer a month.  Period.  On the cruise, I had at least 4 cocktails, one beer, one glass of wine, and 3 specialty Americano or Lattes each day.  On top of that, I had one soda a day and took back 4 bottles of water to the room each day.  It is worth the money to get a package.
6. Find the secret spots early.  The outside seating at Windjammer ALWAYS had seating, and we spent breakfast there while the ship's back was turned facing Dawes Glacier.  Trust me.  Also, Deck 5 next the the Art Gallery, but aways from the smoking section...chairs facing the ocean and unusually warmer than most places on the ship considering its outside seating.  Grab a glass of wine from the Wine bar and sit here to relax.  Quiet and peaceful.
7. READ THIS ONE. Finding whales and other sea life....Watch the TV channel that tells you where you are and shows the ship's front camera.  While watching, you will often see streaks of water (wake) left behind by dolphins, orcas, or whale....then grab your binoculars and look outside, you will see them passing!  Great way to find sea life.
8. BIGGEST TIP FOR ALASKA RIGHT NOW! DO NOT OVER PACK.  We each had one carry one rolling suit case and a back pack.  Wore suits and dresses on formal nights.  You do not need all of that clothing.  You simply do not.  Pay $35 to have underwear and T-shirts washed.  Its cheaper than checking in suitcases on the plane.  Plus, our flights home were cancelled twice and we were lugging around our luggage alot of that time.  Thank God we packed light.  You do not need all of that clothing.  
HUGE THANKS TO ALL OF YOU AND MATT for making this trip so amazing despite Covid, anxiety, the long wait, staffing shortages (which we experienced none), and despite raining the entire 13 days we were in Alaska or Seattle.  Thank you!

I feel "seen" 🙂
This just came across Twitter 🙂
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/06/06/ultimate-guide-last-minute-cruise-deals
 

Only 2 days for me 🙂 your 108 will pass in no time 🙂 btw did i say its only 2 days for me 😂 😇

I rarely post but as I am on an upcoming Ovation cruise, I wanted to weigh in. We have only sailed Star since the restart. Our first cruise was lackluster at best. Nothing comparable to a pre-covid Star (which we have also sailed) experience. We are a family of 3, not very needy in the request to Genie experience. What we dealt with was lost bags, poor service and slow wait times. Things everyone deals with.  We don’t care about the opinion of folks that sail every week and defend RCL due to Covid. Bottom line up front…we don’t all sail every week. We save thousands, spend thousands to give our families an amazing experience. It is RCLs responsibility to provide customer satisfaction. I do not need to understand I dang thing about their bottom line. They fail…someone will buy their ships and I will still sail. They are a business. I will support the best value for my dollar. Having been disappointed in Star, I can only imagine the disappointment for folks that dont have genies. For all you defenders of this company, You need to look at what keeps the ship afloat. Customer Satisfaction. I am tired of old timers telling me I should lower expectations for the company. They have ended many Covid related programs that protect me. Not to mention, FCC is expiring and Royal spent many months taking those 90 day deposits in the outset. Defend as you will, I am Diamond Plus and ticked. Not about brand loyalty but burned up about old timers telling new folks to expect less. They shouldn’t. Food for thought, my upcoming Ovation cruise will cost 51 per night. Doesnt sound like much until you divide it by 365. That is right. My upcoming cruise, without added excursions, cost 51 per night for an entire year. You are damned right I expect a Royal experience. Us whales keep the fleet afloat. 

While glass in general does provide some protection, and tinted glass provides a little extra protection... sunscreen is still highly recommended. 
Ever been on a long car ride, and when you get to your destination... your left forearm is slightly burnt? If you were on the driver side, it was next to the window... and still got burnt. 
The sun at the lower latitudes is no joke. No matter what my plans are each day on the ship... I always apply some sun screen before I venture out of the cabin for the day. Granted, its for two reasons... i've had some REALLY bad sun burns in my time; and I want to enjoy all 7 days of my vacation. Getting burnt on day 2 or 3.... really really really makes days 4-7 miserable. ?

While glass in general does provide some protection, and tinted glass provides a little extra protection... sunscreen is still highly recommended. 
Ever been on a long car ride, and when you get to your destination... your left forearm is slightly burnt? If you were on the driver side, it was next to the window... and still got burnt. 
The sun at the lower latitudes is no joke. No matter what my plans are each day on the ship... I always apply some sun screen before I venture out of the cabin for the day. Granted, its for two reasons... i've had some REALLY bad sun burns in my time; and I want to enjoy all 7 days of my vacation. Getting burnt on day 2 or 3.... really really really makes days 4-7 miserable. ?

The 2 blaring things I see screaming out in there are 
 
For cruise ship operators opting into CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships, CDC will continue to exercise enforcement discretion regarding the requirements of its January 29, 2021, Mask Order, applicable to operators of, and crew and passengers on board, cruise ships.
and 
 
Vaccination Standard of Excellence: ships with at least 95% passengers and 95% crew who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.  
“UP TO DATE” meaning you have to be BOOSTED as many times and the CDC decides they want you to be boosted to be “up to date”
 
If Royal goes along with this, I’ll probably be done cruising until everything goes back to the Pre-Covid experience!  I’ve had 3 Pfizer shots and had covid …… I’m done with the vaccine FOREVER and will never take another shot!  I’m also done booking trips that require masks in vaccinated areas  …… if that comes back again, I’m done as well!
 

About the only place you can enjoy one on the ship is the designated smoking area on the pool deck. 
Don't expect any high-end cigars in any of the shops near the docks in Nassau. But you can make your way up to Graycliff and tour their facility and purchase some from there.  

Credit to @Josh C for finding and posting this in the Royal Caribbean Blog Insider FB Group:
 
 
 

Great news since this was your desire but sorry that I won’t get a chance to meet you.  We unvaxxed have to stick together.  ?
Oh wait….that’s what the vaxxed are afraid of, isn’t it ?

You mean like the masks that worked so well in Japan with a society that has a much higher mask compliance than the US? Japan, who is seeing a surge in Covid cases so much so that no spectators are now going to be allowed at olympics? 
 
The CDC just released their new school guidelines that are saying that unvaccinated children should wear masks. CDC continues to be a joke. 
There will always be new strains of viruses just look at seasonal flu. Covid is well in the way to being endemic. Mass testing needs to end just like they ended testing of H1N1 in 2009-2010. Caseademic at this point. 
 
The variants are now just more panic porn. The Delta variant is no more deadly than original despite what media pushes. 
 
I get that the US wants more people to get vaccinated but fear is not the way to accomplish it
Royal needs to drop masking because masking is just theater at this point and their customers are going to continue to cancel cruises if they continue these masking protocols 

I will get into more later but once again you present CDC modeling as established science and yet again the CDC used outdated data. 
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/93340?trw=no
more articles later but just wanted to present this because there is still concern for children being vaccinated. To present this as anyone that disagrees with your assessment is an uneducated rube that spreads disinformation is not only arrogant but very insulting to the 1000s of doctors out there voicing their concerns and putting in the same kind of work you described above. 
 

I completely agree with you on this! The CDC had no one watching them nor governing them. They just went ahead and did what they wanted to do. 

My view about the case and how it has progressed goes beyond cruising.  Cruise ships fell through a crack and the CDC got away with exceeding their powers.  Emboldened by that they ramped it up and it got worse.  Unchallenged after that they extended it and took it up a notch.  No one stopped them.  How giddy they must have been.
I've long said that if the CDC could have, they would have locked us all in our homes very early on.  
The progression of this case has impact beyond cruising because in next public health emergency we would have seen the CDC attempting those types of locks down in so many other aspects of our lives except now they have had their magic undue powers put back in the bottle. They would have looked at how they got away with killing this industry and adapted to take on another.  No airlines left after the next PHE.
It's a major wakeup call for everyone - there was no check or balance to what the CDC did with the cruise industry.  
Look to the future and where the CDC would have gone...
Without this ruling if the CDC didn't like the way a flu season was progressing they would lock down the cruise industry.  
Without this ruling if the CDC didn't like some other virus with negligible impact to society the CDC would lock down the cruise industry.  
Without this ruling we all might find ourselves locked in our home in 20 years time if the government is fearful something might happen.  "Could be a virus next year, better lock up America 'cuz the CDC says so."
That's not freedom and that's not American.  

Not trying to start a vax / anti-vax debate.... but in all my reading I still have not found a coherent response to the question: If you are vaccinated, why do you feel 'at risk' around un-vaccinated? 
I completely understand the argument that an un-vaxxed person can spread it to another un-vaxxed person, etc... but given the guidance RCL just issued about segregating the groups for certain events and dining, that just seems a little bit overboard. (look... I made a pun!) ?