SpeedNoodles

I just think it's way too early. There's no rhyme or reason when things show up in the Cruise Planner. All of the dining package options have been available for my Oct 2020 sailing since I booked it last Feb, but for my Symphony cruise in Feb 2020 there's still just Jamie's and the 3-night option (and that just showed up last week). Go figure.

I'd love it if they did this to my Navigator sailing in Dec!

When it comes to shore excursions, I don't even go by sales. I check frequently, and the lowest prices that I've paid on any shore excursions have popped up when there were no sales going on.

Yes, there is no check in option for the Royal IQ app (still used on Anthem and Ovation). I didn't use the app much at all during the week on Ovation - most of the time I couldn't connect to it.

The beach beds were at South Beach when I was there last Feb (I was iguana hunting and stumbled across them). I want to get on Empress SO badly that I may have to talk Mr SpeedNoodles into another cruise somewhere within all of the others we have planned (not that he'd put up much of a fight!).

If I can find a way to fit Empress in among my other sailings, i'm going to do it. Mr Speednoodles really wants to sail on her (actually, I do, too). i love the charming, smaller, ships. Everyone cross their fingers for the promotion that I need to get more time off from work!!!!!

I think @Matt has said he's called ahead and gotten sushi to go

Our rideshare wasn't familiar with the Pier and dropped us off at the door, lol. We walked to the official rideshare area at the end of the cruise.

Mr. SpeedNoodles calls this package "The Eatin' Package". I'm dying!! lol

MEI has renewed my trust/love of travel agents, especially @michelle!!! My pre-MEI experience was not good.

We were at the Seattle port at 10:30 and on the ship by 10:40.

^^^^^ THIS!!!!!!!!! ^^^^^

Nope, they rinse out fine, and the case is designed to allow the straws to dry inside of them. And now they make them in purple, so I'll need to buy more, lol.

I love my Final Straw straws. Super easy to carry and clean.

@mworkman My apologies for this going south, with me leading the way (pun intended).

When I saw the title of this post all I first thought was that it was about gastronomic adventures. ?

It looks like you're sailing on the Starship Empress rather than Empress of the Seas!

Yes, if you've never been there, I'd definitely consider that one. We did not this time as we've never been whale watching, but we've been to Mendenhall. This was our 3rd trip to Alaska and we plan on going back within the next two years so we're able to space things out a bit.

My favs: Elephant Loved the bunny! Ok, not an animal, but a surprise for my husband's birthday:

^^^^ this ^^^^

We took the Whale Watching and Wildlife Quest tour offered by Royal Caribbean. The tour operators were very knowledgeable about the area, whales, and other various species of wildlife, including knowing specific individuals that they were able to point out to us. We were able to watch a cow with her calf for quite a while (Flame, who is a very well-known whale in the area, and her young approx 6-mo old calf, Torch), several other individuals, and near the end the pilot went in search of a specific whale that he knew was in the area/ (Mr. Wiggles). Suddenly when we were all searching for Mr Wiggles, my husband spins me around to look off of the back of the boat just in time to see a Humpback they call "Sasha" breaches high above the water about 50 feet away! No more than about 4 people actually caught the sight of her, some just heard the giant splash when she landed back in the water, and many were never aware that it even happened. It was the highlight of the entire trip - we continued to watch her for another 20 minutes after that. We probably saw a total of at least 7-10 individual whales that afternoon. I would take another whale-watching excursion in the area again in a heartbeat. We did not see any Orcas, but considering that Orca will feed on Humpback Whale calves, we were ok with that. Sasha: 20190623_144552.mp4

The temperature inside the ship was always nice - I brought a cover up for my sleeveless dresses but never used them. We had probably unusually warm weather during our cruise. The only time I ever put my windbreaker on over a t-shirt was on our whale-watching tour in Juneau when the boat was clipping along at a really good pace (and I could have gone inside, out of the wind, but I wanted to be OUT). Walking around Juneau and Skagway it was t-shirt/shorts weather. On the morning at Dawe's Glacier I did put a sweatshirt on to stand out on the deck and photograph the amazing scenery (for me the biggest draw were the seals sunning themselves on the little icebergs - some were so close the ship. Oh, how I love "sea dogs"!). Disclaimer: I live in Minnesota. My tolerance for temperatures that dip below 50 is pretty high. My tolerance for temps over 75 is pretty low. So what's "parka" weather for me may not be what's "parka" weather for those who hail from warmer climates. ?

Pun intended? ?

It really varied from casual wear to evening dresses and tuxes. Basically do what you're comfortable with. We like getting dressed up because we have to wear uniforms at work and never get the chance to look good, lol.

I'm sure we'll be booking on another line at some point because Royal's itineraries aren't what I consider to be fabulous. But since the places we want to go typically are longer and involve a longer flight, those will have to wait until retirement.