KJones

For Icy Strait Point we've booked a whale watching excursion through Alaska Shore Excursions. In Skagway we're doing the round-trip White Pass Railroad - though it will be abbreviated, since the train will stop at the border instead of crossing into Canada, as KathyC mentioned.

Alcoholic (and possibly non-alcoholic too) beverages purchased at a port stop are held by RC when you reboard the ship. They'll get delivered to your room the final night of the sailing.

There are lots of threads on here that have recommended buying extra tests for this exact reason.

+1 to the aloe vera suggestion

Yes, reservations for shows can only be made once you are on the ship

The OBC we got for using the FCC took almost two weeks to show up

I received an email last night that our September sailing's White Pass Railway and Motor Coach tour was being modified "so that guests will now take a roundtrip train that remains within the U.S.". No mention of a partial refund or price adjustment, so we decided to cancel that excursion, and book the roundtrip train excursion offered on the Cruise Planner since it's about $10 cheaper than the "modified" excursion for the exact same thing.

Thank you @Johnstewarthand @nova_gal. I got that same email last night about our White Pass Railway & Motor Coach Tour excursion. Disappointing, but I guess we'll just rebook the train-only option. Hopefully that one also doesn't get altered.

@Johnstewarthwhich Skagway/ White Pass Railway excursion was cancelled?

You could get 1 casita and get 2 lounge chairs right next to the casita. Members of your group could rotate between them throughout the day.

Sometimes when going abroad, I've found it's easier to just buy a cheap hair dryer there. This way, 1) I know it will work and I don't have to worry about converter and/or adapter, and 2) I get extra room in the suitcase from not having to pack it.

Yes, excursions pricing changes as well. The only things that I have not seen fluctuate are spa services and fitness classes.

You could post what sailings you're considering, and the members here can share current pricing information if they're booked on those same sailings.

The earliest I've been able to reserve MTD for our September 2022 sailing is 6:30pm. Even pre-covid, I thought the earliest MTD was 6:30, but I could be wrong.

Train tickets are sometimes cheaper if purchased in advance, and depending on the train route, could sell out if purchased day-of.

I agree that $34 is pretty high for the refreshment package. I've seen it as low as $16ish pre-covid. Post-covid the lowest I have seen on my cruises has been $18, but has mostly been around $20/day. My guess is that since Feb 2023 is so far away they're just throwing out a price and hoping someone will purchase. Very likely it will go down.

Yes, we applied FCC as the deposit for a new booking during the promotion period (though I thought the promotion was only in March, but perhaps it just expired in March?). The OBC showed up in our Cruise Planner a week or two after.

There are also posts on here about guests successfully contacting RC to have their FCC transferred to another guest that was on the canceled sailing, who could sail by the FCC expiration date.

Cabana prices are per cabana, not per person. When purchasing in the Cruise Planner, only one guest needs to be selected, and the other guests get added on-site.

It took about 2 weeks for ours to show up

If your travel agent can't switch you prior to the cruise, you can ask the Main Dining Room staff once you're onboard to be switched to early seating. They're usually able to accommodate. All show reservations currently have to be made onboard, and can't be booked ahead of time on the Cruise Planner. If you take a look at other cruise compasses, you can get an idea of what times the shows will be before deciding what to do. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

This is the post that I recalled reading. It's a bit old, but most of the information will be roughly the same I imagine.

1. USB hubs are allowed, so you can have multiple phones/ other USB devices charging on a single outlet.

We're sailing in September from Seward to Vancouver. Non-RC Anchorage to Seward transportation options are bus ($70/p), train ($105 or $205 for the glass dome cars), or one-way rental car. The train leaves around 7am, and the bus leaves at either 7am or 3pm. I've read on other posts around here that the RC train/bus leaves later in the day, so we'll be opting for non-RC so we can explore Seward a bit before boarding. I think I remember reading that July might be peak mosquito season?

Personally I would go inside, assuming the extra $200 includes a guided tour and not just ticket entry. You can get a feeling of how immense it is from the outside, but the interior is something else (IMO). You might also check to see if it includes access to the stage/floor area, which was only very recently made accessible to the public, which could explain some of the higher cost.