DDaley

Funny, when I originally read the email, I saw Matt and assumed it was FROM the blog (I get those emails too) and for a split second I was like “he’s featuring himself?!” before I realized it was Royal featuring him!

While I agree that 10:30 seems risky for all the reasons mentioned above, in my personal experience we were off the ship and in a taxi by 7:20 and at the airport by 7:40.

Love a theme but I am staunchly anti-red-nails too! Not fully sure why but I am thinking it stems from this evil woman in Dennis the Menace (1993) who turned me against them forever! hahaha

So you literally called to have a nice chat with the RCCL customer service operator about your future vacation? So strange. But, glad you did get the free massage after all!

Yeah when I read that I assumed it meant you'll get a certain $$ off a normally priced massage, not technically a freebie at all.

While I don’t know the answer, you don’t have to worry about it being tossed out. Everything not allowed on board is stored and you can pick it up at the “naughty table” at disembarkation. Usually this table is filled with steamers, irons, and extension cords. I bet your tiny blender will be fine!

Definitely not bad! Especially for an Oasis class ship.

I have a spreadsheet I have been pricing cruises in since 2020 and you can see the massive upswing in price per night since then! I used to only book a JS if the ppn (total for 2, not per person) was around $400. Pricing for 2024 and 2025 has been so much higher, every ocean view balcony I have priced has been $340 or more per night and the JS are up around $540 per night for ships as small as Rhapsody. Ovation in Alaska has a JS ppn of $1022! That seems crazy. I’d say a JS in the $500-$600 per night range would be considered a good deal with today’s pricing, especially if you get CK access!

Chania is so pretty! Completely agreed on Santorini, it was our least favorite Greek port out of the 9 we visited.

Funny I just cruised and completely forgot that’s how we did it. We just shared our chosen PIN like we used to with the code. Now that it’s $20/device/day I am on team share 1 device login!

You’ll receive a code in your stateroom when you embark and the code can be used by any number of devices! Even if you bought a Voom package for 1 device, you could trade off using it.

They’ve loaded exactly two excursions for ISP as of today! Maybe more are on their way?

I spent some time in Crete last summer and wrote about three excursions I took from Chania in this excursions review! We also rented a car every easily in Chania from cretebee.com and they will deliver and drop it off for you wherever you want. We drove from Chania to Elafonissi, the pink sand beach. It was amazing and only took about 1.5 hours.

I’m on this sailing too. Sad to see we lost Skagway today!

We're on that sailing too! I am so sad to miss the White Pass train. Ughhhhhhh this does not make me happy. And why would this have effected our arrival into Sitka as well??? I am contemplating postponing a year.

We did this with insulated tumblers full of cocktails too! Went up to the pool bar in the morning before leaving the ship for the day, ordered a cocktail, poured it in, got another, repeat until tumbler is filled to your satisfaction! Last order was just a shot of Grey Goose on ice once I had enough juice. We enjoyed our cocktails while biking and then only had to buy 1-2 fancy cocktails at a beach club. Thank you DBP!

I can eat a lot of sushi! Now that the prix fixe price only includes rolls with 4 pieces each, I am left hungry after my $28.99 Izumi meal. My question is, if I continue to buy/book Izumi this way, can I tack on an extra full-size roll a la carte while dining there via my reservation? Or is it smarter to just pay as I go without booking the discounted price through the CP? Is there even a way to do that? If I book on board is it still just the prix fixe and they charge immediately on making the reservation? If so, how do I go about getting as much as I want at Izumi?

#1 visits two towns on the island, Fira which is just above the old dock where the cable car is and Oia, of the famed blue domed churches and views looking back at the island and caldera. #2 I’m not sure about because you didn’t include any details, does the description list where it will stop? Have to assume most visitors to the island would like to see Oia where all the most recognizable photos are usually taken. If both visit Oia I would go by lower price and duration for your kids.

For a split second I saw the shape and thought “what kind of strange crispy fish are they serving in the MDR?” haha Hope you’re having a Perfect Day™!

Ναι!!!! είμαι και εγώ ένα τέσσερις Έλληνας! haha my greek is pretty rudimentary so I can’t say quarter, only 4, all this to say ME TOO! I call my dog my sweet pappou (sometimes morphing into papoutsia which means shoes ) I can appreciate your packing list sorted by outfit. I do this for short trips when I’m packing so little that it’s important to not forget an important piece like say, a strapless bra when you’ve brought a dress that necessitates it! When it’s over 3 days I just pack an assortment and vacation me will have to figure the order out. haha

I love all your purple! I tell people when asked that my favorite color is turquoise but when you see all my travel gear/phone case/purse etc together in one place it’s clear I am actually a hot coral fanatic. WOO IT’S CRUISE DAY!

According to this article on Alaska Public published two days ago, they’re expecting more passengers than ever this year! And the 5 ship max doesn’t go into effect until next season. So that bodes well for us I think!

I’m sailing Quantum in September and it was removed from my list of ports too. Although when I go to load the cruise planner, it gives me a warning and boots me back to the cruises overview screen. "Hang tight, lots of guests are sailing through our site. Don't pick up the phone just yet, we'll load all the fun stuff soon."

This depends on what kind of beach you’re looking for. It sounds like you’re wanting a full resort-style beach experience with food/drinks/chairs/umbrellas but this is not available that close to the port. In the town (Chora), there are two small beaches right next to all of the shops and restaurants but it does not have lounge chairs or umbrellas so it’ll be a bit more of a rustic beach experience. Not a lot of room but this was taken at 2pm. Early birds would be able to snag prime beach real estate. If you’re willing to taxi or take a tour farther afield, Kalafatis Beach has what you’re looking for with service, chairs, palapa umbrellas and rentable water toys and jet skis. Bonus, it has Aphrodite’s Breasts! (Land mass pictured below)

My September Alaska list is already 90+ items long! I started this list a little early since I keep thinking of things I’d need in the cold that I wouldn’t need in the Caribbean. PS. Definitely read at dinner! If anyone thinks it’s rude they can spend the rest of the evening mad that you were out there enjoying your vacation your way. PPS. Do you have Amazon Prime? You can get a free Kindle book every month (from a list of about 10 newly-released options) so I dutifully choose a title every month and have amassed QUITE the stockpile! I like physical books but it’s very handy to just have them ready to go in the Kindle app for when I’m somewhere without a book.