CFL

You don't know how happy this makes me.  Congratulations to  @HeWhoWaits
I hope you enjoyed the experience and I'm glad it went to a worthy fellow royalcaribbeanblog poster.  I'm also very very very happy that the crew were honest and willing to participate.  
Thanks to all that had/has interest in this.  It's been great.  And I will continue the new tradition.  

This little excursion into a fun activity seems to have failed or at least something went wrong.  HOWEVER, I'm going to turn this into a cruising custom for, at least, me.  Every cruise now, I'm going to purchase something of extreme value, or not, from local sources and hide it on the ship.  I would also like to involve a crew member or two (I did give the crew on this sailing a healthy tip to follow through with this) with instructions of what to do.  I'll also make up a clue that will take, at least a little, thought to cypher and locate the extreme value, or not, item.  It's kinda like Geocaching or Ducking but with a take home prize of extreme value, or not.  
I invite anyone else to do the same on their next cruises.  My next booking isn't until Jan 2024.  BUT, my wife is already getting the bug to cruise again, soon.  What the hell, we just got off the Ovation a week ago today.  She needs an intervention.  Oh, we're only 3 points away from Diamond status and she wants it so badly.  I keep telling her that we cruise Star and we don't need a status other than that.  But, I guess she likes diamonds 😆😡🥴
In a day or two, I'll post what the item of extreme value, or not, is/was.  Unless someone posts that they got it.  

I selected Ogden Point A & B (Victoria) from the drop down list on the mobile app.
 

I successfully filled out the ArriveCAN for the May 13-19 Ovation of the Seas cruise on the mobile app and also received email confirmation.
 
 
I also did an unofficial COVID test today (May 10th) before the official proctored COVID test tomorrow (May 11th). NEGATIVE!

Once again my wife is telling me something she is reading from her May 13th roll call on the Ovation (Facebook).  People are saying that when you are filling out the ArriveCan form on-line, the Port of Entry must be "Ogden Point, Pier A & B, Victoria, B.C. Canada.  I'm wondering if that's part of the issue why there have been long lines and waits to process at the Terminal in Seattle. And if you make a mistake while filling out the form, you can't correct it, you have to delete and start over.  I'll be filling mine out tonight at about 10:00 PM and will find out for sure as I do make a lot of typos.  I guess I'm going to have to slow down and check my work 😄. 
If anybody has any further information, I/we would appreciate an update.  Just one more little stress factor.
A quick look at Google Earth and the pier does say "Ogden Point":

My wife was just reading to me a post from another Social Media site about a person waiting to get on the Quantum at Pier 91, right now, 5:24 PM Central.  He/she is saying that they have been waiting in line to get into the terminal for over 2 1/2 hours and only half way there.  They are saying that the hold up is people not having their Canadian ArriveCan form done.  
Please, if you are traveling to Canada, be considerate and have the form completed, approved, and ready to go when you arrive at the port.  If you haven't heard of "ArriveCan", inform yourself with this:
 
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/arrivecan.html

Let me start by saying I have OCD and I know my idea is kinda stupid and a waste of time, but I’m retired and have a lot of free time. 
I purchased the deluxe drink package, but my wife doesn’t think we will get our money’s worth out of it, but I do. Just because of my own curiosity I’m making an app for my phone (just for me and my phone, not to publish the app) I am making the app to keep track of our drinks. 
The app has buttons such as cocktail, beer, wine, soda, juice, and so on. When I push, let’s say the cocktail button $13 is displayed. Any other button such as soda will add $3.50 to the running total. 
I’m stuck because I got most of the drink prices from the Royal Caribbean app but there are a few I don’t have. I know the prices such as wine varies by the glass so I’m averaging it out. Here is a list  of what I don’t have prices for. If anyone has recently been on a cruise and know a ballpark cost for the following drinks, I would appreciate the answer:
Johnny Rocket Milkshake
Mocha from cafe Promenade
bottle of water
sparkling water
smoothie from the spa
amd coffee with liquor 
 
thanks

@jay1021 Anticipation is part of the process! Savor it! Enjoy it! I love the time leading up to the cruise. When I look back on it, time flew until I boarded. Then I concentrated on enjoying every single moment onboard and in the ports. I purposely make it drag out…no rushing…no pressure. No stress!! Enjoy your friends…enjoy your cruise.😎

Yep, my Excitement Level is at it's peak.  It's only 30 days now until my Fun Meter starts to wave back and forth.  
Woke up this morning, turned on this electronic addiction device and found that my TA emailed me some documents for info purposes.  So, I logged into royalcaribbean.com and my luggage tags are ready to print.  Isn't it funny how everything happens, at least to me, in little milestones.  I'm so old, I don't like to wish time away/would go faster, so I don't like countdowns.  But, going on a cruise, especially on RCCL, is one countdown after another.  Now, I'm counting down in hopes of getting the email from our Genie.  Which is actually an unknown day/date.  Then the COVID pre-cruise test, then the flight to Seattle, then boarding/embarkation day.  No, I'm not excited, not much, eh!  
It's been far too damn long since I've cruised.  I do keep a positive attitude that everything will be as I'd hope it will be.  My old Army buddy and his wife are traveling with us, like they do on most other vacations, we are like brother and sister, but this is their first time on Royal.  We've really really built up Royal and Star Class to then.  I can't, however, help to have concerns in the back of my mind that things won't be as I remember them, pre-COVID.  But, we'll see.   

WOW, no matter what, drill, false alarm or real thing, crew, ALL OF THEM, should react as trained, no exception.  That makes me wonder just how well they are trained.  
As an old career Army Sergeant who spent his whole career training soldiers to survive in combat, I would not accept that kind of reaction by the crew,  drill, false alarm, or not.  Supervisor's and manager's heads would rolled.  I don't know if they did or didn't.  I'm just saying that is how I feel about it.  Lives are on the line.  What if the freak'in PA system was compromised?  Saying that additional announcements would have followed isn't sufficient and a cop-out.  Is the crew trained to react to the auditable alarms or the announcements?  I'm hoping they are trained to respond to the alarms, period.  Additional announcements are for follow-up information, not to verify the initial alarm.  The crew should react instantaneously, even if it is for just a couple of seconds until there was an announcement that it was a false alarm, until the announcement is made, REACT to the alarm.  
Damn this gets me going.  As we said in the Army, "train as you fight, fight as you train".  

Only if your cruise departs from a port on Eastern time. Just checked in overnight for an Alaska cruise from Seattle. The check in DID NOT open at midnight Eastern (that would have been convenient since I was still up after watching the NCAA Championship Game). I stirred awake at 2:20 a.m. Eastern and verified that check in was still not available (app or online). When I was awakened by a clap of thunder at 4:15 a.m. check in was available.
Midnight in the time zone of the cruise departure is a more accurate description.

Stunning video! So it looks like my parents will have an excellent view from their port side stateroom, since the ship turns toward starboard to return (assuming they still do it this way). Thank you for sharing the videos.

For my visit on Ovation the ship did a 180° turn to starboard and then returned down Endicott Arm.  Here is a time lapse.
This was Ovation's first ever visit to Dawes Glacier in 2019 so I don't know if they have modified the visit now that she has visited many more times.  
Here is some additional video footage of the experience:

As stated by some, it will be the time of the port the ship is scheduled to leave from. Since a lot of sailings occur out of Florida people assume EST but it is not always the case. 
I suggest looking up the time zone of your departure and converting it to your time zone, instead of just basing it on EST.

I used to use software on my computer to save tv shows and movies. I have a ton now and usually keep about 50 movies on my tablet at all times.  On the ship I bring my Raspberry pi 4 with a controller to play games and need to pick up something to store movies on because it has Kodi installed as well so I can watch movies on the TV as well. They are tough to find right now but well worth having on long trips IMHO just need to search for some presetup image files to write to a micro sd card of the appropriate size and you are good to go. Most of the emulators are retro like Nintendo or Sega systems and sometimes will have as new as Nintendo 64 but it doesn't work very well. Pair it with a wired Playstation 3 controller and if you have kids or are a kid at heart is hard to beat when you have some downtime. 

On my cruise, the ship spent at least an hour making continuous slow 360s, with a couple of breaks keeping station.

It's the local time in port.  Now when I read it again I answered for the real check in time not when the app is opening.

I'll be on that sailing as well! I wake up at 3:45 everyday. Maybe I won't sleep that night! 🤣🤣🤣

My GUESS, is that it is whatever the local time is or ships time at the embarkation port.

iFly and North Star have "complimentary" (free) and "extended" (paid) times. The complimentary times open up each day at 8am in the app. Set an alarm and book as soon as they're available! Complimentary times are usually only available on port days. Bumper cars in SeaPlex are fun, but you only get to reserve one time per cruise. However, if you still want to try again throughout the cruise, just show up any time they're doing them - if there's no line, they'll let you walk on without a reservation. The Solarium fills up quickly, both with chair hogs and actual people. It was not a relaxing environment when we went, it was just...busy! Your mileage may vary.  MDR is presented as "fine dining", but still overall can be casual. The clothes you described are what I wore each night and I felt right at home.  With regards to MDR food, feel free to order as much as you like, even if you just want to try something. On the last night I ended up ordering three apps and two entrees because there were foods I didn't want to miss out on. Bonus points if you can split something with a table mate to avoid food waste, but the wait staff will happily bring you anything (and everything) that's on the menu. DBP is more than just alcohol! Make sure you get your Starbucks coffee at Cafe Promenade, milkshakes at Johnny Rockets (including alcoholic ones), fresh-squeezed OJ in the Windjammer or Cafe Two70.  Also definitely use your DBP to experience new drinks you wouldn't otherwise try - this includes specialty drinks only offered in specific venues like Bolero's, Music Hall, etc.  The walls of your stateroom are magnetic - get on Amazon right now and order some magnetic hooks - we got a set of 25/30lb hooks to hold masks, lanyards, shirts, etc. We also got a set of 100lb magnets to hold wet bathing suits in the bathroom, as well as a shoe organizer to hold all the small things you accumulate throughout your trip that you don't want to leave on a desk or fall on the floor. We had no plans/ideas for the shoe organizer when we brought it, but ended up using most pockets with things we accumulated.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BF3LY3W - 100lb magnet hooks https://www.amazon.com/Powerful-Refrigerator-Magnetic-Neodymium-Upgraded/dp/B07QSJ6Q72 - 25lb hooks https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-24-Pocket-Hanging-Medium-Size-Organizer/dp/B07227PWVP - shoe organizer  
I'll see if anything else comes to mind throughout the day

Hi Everyone, 
I have celiac disease. Celiac disease is a hereditary autoimmune disease. When people with celiac disease consume gluten it triggers an immune response in their body that damages their small intestine's lining which is painful, leads to malabsorption of nutrients, and if untreated can cause long term complications like cancer.  Celiac disease is fairly common but severely undiagnosed. It effects about 1% of the world worldwide, but 90% of people with the disease are undiagnosed. The ONLY treatment for celiac disease is a 100% strict gluten free diet. 
I just got off my first cruise and it was aboard Harmony of the Seas! When I was researching my cruise I looked for detailed gluten free dinning reviews but didn't really find any so I figured I would write one once my cruise was over! 
Make sure to email the special needs email account for Royal Caribbean before your cruise. All the specialty restaurants knew about my allergy before I even said anything because I took this step. 
The Main Dinning Room
The main dinning room was the best and easiest place to eat gluten free. I opted for a traditional dinning time so that I could have the same waitstaff each night and they could become familiar with my dietary restriction. There is a separate allergy kitchen in the main dinning room and all my meals were prepared there to prevent cross contamination. My waiter told me that I could basically order anything off the menu and he would ask the chef if it could be made gluten free. There are obviously some limitations to this. For example a pastry would not be able to be made gluten free. Additionally sometimes I got something slightly different things then what I ordered. For example I asked if the chef could make me a brownie one night and instead I got a flourless chocolate cake. I didn't mind this substitution at all and as someone with a dietary restriction I'm always just happy to be accommodated at all. I didn't find my waiter had a good understanding of gluten free food but he was always happy to ask the chef any questions I had.
Overall the quality of the gluten free substitutions was quite good, but not always. For example the chef made me gluten free fish and chips and breaded it with some kind of tempura type batter and it was exceptional. Whereas on a different night the chef made me gluten free chicken cordon blue and breaded it with some kind of cornmeal which was dry and not very good. Regardless I always appreciated the chef's attempt. The gluten free substitutions are not tried and tested recipes so there will obviously be misses, but there will also be lots of hits! Just order multiple dishes and you are bound to like something!
The other thing you should know about the main dinning room is that for the most part you need to order your allergy dishes the day before. The first night you will have to stumble through but after that the waiter will bring you tomorrow's menus and you can order what you want for the next day. I pre-ordered breakfast and dinner every day. 
The last thing I'll say about the main dinner room food is that I sometimes found the food had clearly been pre-cooked for me and then sat around waiting for me for too long. On the flip side sometimes my food would be running behind and take longer then expected. I actually liked these times though because then my food would come out extremely hot, fresh, and was tastier! 
Here are photos of my main dinning room food:  
Appetizers: 

Arugula & Radicchio Salad 
 
French Onion Soup. This was incredible! I had it like 4 times!

Cheese Plate. There was also gluten free bread available each night that was just ok. I forgot to photograph it. 

Iceberg Wedge 

Braised Beef Short Rib. Super good!

Fish and Chips. This was fantastic!
 
Roasted Chicken Breast. This was super tasty, although a bit dry.
 
Wild Mushroom Risotto. Fabulous. 

Greek Vegetarian Mousaka. This was very tasty but a bit too salty. 

Pesto Vegetarian Pasta. I found this sauce very bland. 

Lemon Butter Baked Cod. This was super tasty but the fish was definitely overcooked. 

Chicken Cordon Blue. I appreciated the chef's effort on this one but the cornmeal was too dense for a breading and the chicken was super dry. 
 
Stuffed Portobello Mushroom. Exceptional. One of my favourite dishes. 

Broiled Lobster Tail. 

Pan Seared Barramundi. This was my least favourite dish. The fish tasted really fishy like it was off, the sauce was bland, an the potatoes were not cooked. 
Desserts: 
The kitchen was much less able to provide gluten free desserts which makes sense. I mostly got puddings, custard, and ice cream. 

Creme Brulee. This was the best gluten free dessert available and it's on the menu every night!

Flourless Chocolate Cake. This was made special for me and was super good! 

Chocolate mousse. Excellent! 

Bananas Forrester. Excellent!
Breakfast in the Main Dinning Room
I had breakfast in the main dinning room everyday and really enjoyed it!
 
French Toast and Sausage. I generally didn't enjoy the gluten free bread on the ship but drenched in egg and sugar it was delicious. The breakfast sausage was to die for!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes. These were just ok. 

Gluten Free Eggs Benedict. Amazing and it was so nice to be able to have a safe Eggs Benedict. 
The Windjammer
I didn't love dinning in the Windjammer. None of the food was labeled for allergies so I would have to get a chef to walk me through the buffet to show me what was gluten free. The chefs where super friendly and helpful but you go to a buffet for convenience.
  
The curries seemed to always be gluten free in the windjammer but make sure to double check. There was always some type of gluten free bread available. 
There was also a gluten free dessert section in the windjammer that was behind glass. I was super excited about this but I found all the desserts not sweet enough. I think Royal Caribbean is trying to capture the "healthy eating" crowd with their gluten free desserts and most of these tasted bland and not decadent enough to be a good dessert. 
Sorrentos

I was OBESSED with the gluten free pizza at Sorrento's. You could only get gluten free pizza by the whole pizza not the slice (which was fine with me!) and it took about 10 minutes to make. They cook the pizza in the same oven as the regular pizza BUT the cook it on a separate tray and use dedicated gluten free utensils to handle and cut it. I found that the pizza was sometimes slightly undercook because it wasn't directly touching the oven so just ask them to cook it for a few extra minutes and it will be delicious! 
Jamie's Italian 
 I didn't pre-order here but they knew about my allergy when I arrived. They had gluten free pasta and bread. I forgot to ask if they cook gluten free pasta in clean separate water but I felt fine after this meal so I assume they must. 

Meat Plank

Truffle Pasta. It was incredible. 

Raspberry Gelato. 
Sabor 
 Sabor was my favourite meal on the ship! I also didn't pre-order here. The chef was able to make me everything I asked for but he had to make it fresh and heat up clean deep fry oil so it took awhile. This didn't bother me at all as I had a few margaritas while I waited! It may be a good idea to try and pre-order here though!

Queso with Chorizo. So so good. 

Beef Barbacoa Tacos. The best thing I ate on the ship! 

Chicken Flautas

I didn't order this but this coconut flan magically arrived at the end of my meal and was delicious! 
Coco Cay 
I was pleasantly surprised with the gluten free options at the buffet at cococay. They said the could make me a fresh burger or sandwich in the back free of cross contamination. There was also a mexican station where everything was gluten free except the flour tortias. I wasn't sure if the corn tortias were cooked on the same grill as the flour ones so I just made myself a bowl. 

Pulled Pork, Chicken. Mexican Rice, Beans, Salsa, Sour Cream, Guac, and Cheese
Final Tip
The Promanade Cafe has gluten free cookies stashed behind the counter. Just ask for some!

That ends my gluten free review of Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed eating all this delicious food!

Rookie poster for RCB here.  While not on an RCL ship, Mrs Fan and I went on an inside passage a few years back with another line.  We did the White Pass and Yukon trip.  Then booked independent, a float plane trip and a whale watching outing.  The train trip is a near all day excursion.  We literally walked from the ship to the train and then got back just an hour or so before leaving port.  The float plane was a blast. Got to ride in the co-pilot seat for part of the trip. Pricey but worth it.  Then the whale watching trip was excellent.  Smaller boat (still probably a 35-40 footer) with 8 people.  The mate brought a cooler of drinks (including beer/wine) and a huge slab of smoked salmon with crackers.  Less money than what the cruise line offered.  I saw the cruise line excursion, people were shoulder to shoulder and a crowd of 40-50 (or more).  
We are going with our 3 grown kids and their spouses in June 2023.  Looking hard at the Quantum. I might do the whale watching again or look at a 1/2 day fishing excursion. I want to hit some of the craft brew places that have popped up since we were there last.  The WP & Y train was great, but I'll skip it this time (even though I am encouraging my kids to go).
Also, I am telling them that they MUST get a balcony (Mrs Fan and I are gifting them enough to cover about 2/3 of the balcony cabin cost).  I told them there is much to see while sipping a glass of wine, or morning coffee, from the balcony on an inside passage trip.

Agreed. I had electronic copies on the Navica app, but I also had backup copies on my phone as saved pdf files and screenshots, as well as printed copies. (Mostly in case of connection issues inside the terminal.)
Honestly, it was faster/easier at the port to show the printed copies of the tests instead of fumbling with the phone.

So the other day I remember reading something about marking your luggage tags in some way so they are easy to spot when getting off the ship.  It's been playing over and over again in my head  because on my last Liberty of the Seas sailing I had a woman who was tenacious in holding on to my girlfriends bag and basically ignoring me while I tried to explain to her she had the wrong bag.  After multiple times of being extremely polite and being ignored she started to walk away and I held her wrist to prevent her from walking off and again said that it was not her bag.  Anyway I get on Adventure of the Seas in a couple days and I came up with this:

 
I think it will work quite well in preventing someone from accidentally taking my bag again.  Figured I may as well share for anyone interested in making their own and It's not too hard to do so if someone wanted one and doesn't have the ability to make one up I can easily toss something together when I get back home.  It's basically setup to be folded twice with the large blank area folded underneath and stapled or taped around a handle much like the luggage tags.  I can EASILY make them the same size as the luggage tags as well if someone wants them that size.  Anyway just wanted to share the option as it may be better than stickers or markers on the tags given out on the ship for spotting bags.

Yes, you will need the cups to operate the soda machine. There is a chip in the bottom of the cup that unlocks the machine and let's you make selections.
I got annoyed constantly carrying cups around after 3 cruises so on cruise #4 I got these carry cases from Amazon. They don't do too much in the way of insulation but they add 0 extra weight, could easily slip onto my forearm  to keep my hands free, and if the cup was empty or almost empty, I just looped it onto whatever bag strap I may have had on me. (no belt loops cuz I'm all sundresses on vacay)