KristiZ

I've been twice. And I would go again in a heartbeat. You should make it happen -- you won't regret it!!

Safe travels!

Binoculars! (This was the one thing I wished I had remembered on our last Alaska trip)

1996 on HAL's Statendam, 7-day Vancouver RT to Alaska. It was for our honeymoon, and we stayed the night before at the Four Seasons. I managed to leave my wallet in the room when we checked out, so I had to walk back from the pier to the hotel to get it (I think it was about 6 blocks). Eep! Other than that it was a terrific trip! Totally got us hooked on cruising!

We're doing our first one this coming December, to see how we like it. In our case, we booked using Next Cruise while we were onboard. However, the easiest way is to use a travel agent -- just tell them your time frame and interests and they can easily show you some options!

^^This. DH will possibly need to work a bit. We have not had any issue on any of our other Asian cruises, even out of Hong Kong or Shanghai. So fingers crossed!

I asked Royal, as I had seen the same 3 options on my Spectrum cruise in December. I asked "Why 3 options rather than 2, and what's the difference?" and I got this: Dear Kristi, you will enjoy faster internet compared to the VOOM Surf internet package if you were to purchase the VOOM hi-speed internet pacakge. Thank you. [sic] So I reiterated "great, but why 3 options?" and got no response. I will be purchasing the hi-speed and I'll be very curious to see how "hi-speed" it is. I will report back! ?

Interesting. That will be quite a change then, and contrary to their published stuff. Of course, that's happened before! Hopefully the person you talked to was crazy ? Or maybe Royal will change their minds again. Lots can happen in 6 months!

I think for a Singapore sailing you will not be paying for North Star, etc. The fees are for China departures. As for Solarium access, it may or may not be limited (via Seapass) to suite guests, Diamond and above, and high rollers -- I think this is also only on China sailings but can't confirm. You may be ok! ?

By always booking another cruise with Next Cruise! ?

I have to wear a lanyard at work. I am NOT wearing one on vacation. ?

I would book it ahead of time for sure if you can. If you change your mind, you can always cancel/reschedule on your first day onboard.

I don't have a Rolex or anything, but I do have some nice items I enjoy. I wear my nice jewelry when I'm on the ship. On shore days, it stays locked in the safe.

This is the key. I also really enjoy all the planning, but there are times when I really appreciate having someone who can stay on top of things when I don't have time. For example, if I want to do something that is sold out, I don't have to check back every day for a cancellation as long as I trust my TA to make it happen for me! Often TAs will throw in a small perk as well, like a bottle of wine sent to your cabin or some such.

Midori Collins is another tasty, fairly sweet option!

Can confirm that the mini-bars on Explorer, Mariner, and Vision were also empty upon arrival, even in a GS

This is totally me! I'd actually rather eat AND drink my calories, but alas, my body has other ideas!

Likely true these days, but back then, my younger self liked it a lot. My younger self also liked tequila a lot... ?

You'll have extras in your room, and they will happily bring you more. Just talk to your room steward when you first meet him/her on arrival.

I think it's time for them to try again, too. I was on Viking Serenade back in the day, when she was running 3/4 night Ensenada trips. It was fun!

Hi! We're living in Tokyo right now, so I totally get the "cheaper to fly to Asia" bit! We've done several cruises in the region and had a great time. Asia cruises have far fewer sales. Our best results have come from using Next Cruise onboard. So hop on a short cruise out of Sydney or Brisbane and get to booking! ? Rumor has it specifically the China-based (Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai) sailings will charge for the things that are complimentary in other areas, like north star, etc. I will have a bunch more first-hand info for you at the end of December, as we will be sailing on Spectrum out of Hong Kong and I promise to blog as much as possible! As for Osaka, the port is pretty close to Universal, so I don't see why you couldn't go there, depending on how long your ship is in port. I will say that my favorite thing in Osaka is actually the aquarium next to Legoland, though -- best one I've ever been to anywhere in the world -- so keep that one in mind if you like aquariums at all!

beautiful Helsinki (I’d tried to go for an alliterative adjective but I couldn’t think of a positive word beginning with H...) Heroic Helsinki? ?

We did a very similar tour a few years back. Had a lovely time! You must eat gelato in San Gimignano!

I *love* the Viking Crown on the smaller ships! It's always quiet during the day -- you can sit there when it's not open and just relax. Most of the evening it's less crowded that other venues, too.

I'm really enjoying this blog! Plus, I see you're on Spectrum a couple of months before me so I expect many of my questions will be answered, if you're planning to blog that one too! ?