DDaley

We are heading out on our first Alaskan adventure in less than a week! I booked this cruise last June, two months before getting married/going on our honeymoon to Greece and somehow at the time, all I could think was “we’re going to Alaaaaska!” 🥳 The days have flown by and suddenly this once-mystical seeming month of September 2023 is upon us and we’re finally going to get to see some majestic Alaskan scenery before all the glaciers melt completely.
I am most excited to sit out on my balcony and see waterfalls streaming down mountains, and check things off my Alaskan wildlife checklist (which includes a bear, eagle, otter and whale)!
Itinerary
This 7-night sailing makes four port stops. We were originally slated to visit Skagway on Day 4 but got it swapped for ISP due to the (un)available dock space in Skagway after a landslide last year. I was so sad since I had White Pass Railroad tickets at an amazing price, I so wanted to ride it after seeing it on an episode of Mighty Trains on Smithsonian channel. Guess it means we’ll just have to make it back to Alaska again in the future! (PS. Where my Mighty Cruise Ships fans at??? Best show on TV)
Day 1 - Monday - Departs Seattle, WA
Day 2 - Tuesday - Cruising
Day 3 - Wednesday - Sitka, AK
Day 4 - Thursday - Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, AK
Day 5 - Friday - Dawes Glacier & Juneau, AK
Day 6 - Saturday - Cruising
Day 7 - Sunday - Victoria, BC 🇨🇦
Day 8 - Returns to Seattle
Who’s Going - my husband (Adrian) and I (Daryl)
Cabin
Back slumming it in an Ocean View Balcony on the 12th deck (12254). Alaska is wayyy pricier than the Caribbean so I couldn’t swing a JS this time as it has been consistently priced about $2k more than our balcony. I need that money for lavish excursions!!
Pre-Purchases
As usual, I had to stalk the DBP for awhile before purchasing, we finally got it at $62.99, the lowest price I have seen since the pandemic! I am guessing sales aren’t great on our sailing since others on September dates have reported $68 as the sale price.
We have two specialty dinners booked at Izumi and Wonderland on nights 2 and 4. I am still thinking about adding Jamie’s on night 6... should I give in? It just doesn’t seem worth $49 each. We ate there on Navigator but that was back when it was priced around $32 which seems more reasonable for the fare. I can’t wait to see what Wonderland is all about! I am sure it’s a one-and-done, but figured we have to try it out since it will be the first ship we’ve be on that has it as an option. If all else fails, at least we’ll finally get to taste The World as a consolation prize. 
We have a two-device Voom plan this time, we will see how speeds compare to sailing in the Caribbean. I am going to try my best to keep the live-ness up on this blog!  
Pre-Cruise
We are flying in a day early simply because it’s a Sunday and my husband and I will already have the day off. There were about 5 safe options that could’ve gotten us up the coast from San Diego on the morning of embarkation but since neither of us have been to Seattle, getting to see a new city was a bonus! We used A2S and got the tickets for $120 each on the day booking opened, now my Google flight tracker says the same exact flight costs $838 per person!!
We’re staying at the Holiday Inn Downtown because it’s close to the Space Needle and was one of few hotels available because of 2 large Seattle conferences that start Monday. I booked it last October so I have to assume people trying to find a hotel right now are scrambling. Everything I want to see seems walkable from this location!
While in Seattle we are planning on seeing Pike Place Market, walking the waterfront, riding the Wings Over Washington ride (one of my favorite DCA attractions is Soarin’) and visiting the aquarium. I have Space Needle tickets booked for embarkation morning at 10am, mostly since it should be a lot quieter than the alternative options on Sunday afternoon. This is also nice because I was planning on riding the North Star first thing on boarding to see the city but it’s still broken down and will be until Quantum’s next dry dock. 
 
 
Feel free to ask any Quantum/Alaska itinerary questions. Having sailed only Freedom, Oasis, Navigator and Brilliance we are so excited to try out this new (to us) class of ship! Of course these boards/RCblog have proved valuable in getting me up to speed on Quantum class so I would love to help out future cruisers any way I can. 
Been watching this countdown since it was in the mid-400’s!! Ahhhhh!

 

We are heading out on our first Alaskan adventure in less than a week! I booked this cruise last June, two months before getting married/going on our honeymoon to Greece and somehow at the time, all I could think was “we’re going to Alaaaaska!” 🥳 The days have flown by and suddenly this once-mystical seeming month of September 2023 is upon us and we’re finally going to get to see some majestic Alaskan scenery before all the glaciers melt completely.
I am most excited to sit out on my balcony and see waterfalls streaming down mountains, and check things off my Alaskan wildlife checklist (which includes a bear, eagle, otter and whale)!
Itinerary
This 7-night sailing makes four port stops. We were originally slated to visit Skagway on Day 4 but got it swapped for ISP due to the (un)available dock space in Skagway after a landslide last year. I was so sad since I had White Pass Railroad tickets at an amazing price, I so wanted to ride it after seeing it on an episode of Mighty Trains on Smithsonian channel. Guess it means we’ll just have to make it back to Alaska again in the future! (PS. Where my Mighty Cruise Ships fans at??? Best show on TV)
Day 1 - Monday - Departs Seattle, WA
Day 2 - Tuesday - Cruising
Day 3 - Wednesday - Sitka, AK
Day 4 - Thursday - Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, AK
Day 5 - Friday - Dawes Glacier & Juneau, AK
Day 6 - Saturday - Cruising
Day 7 - Sunday - Victoria, BC 🇨🇦
Day 8 - Returns to Seattle
Who’s Going - my husband (Adrian) and I (Daryl)
Cabin
Back slumming it in an Ocean View Balcony on the 12th deck (12254). Alaska is wayyy pricier than the Caribbean so I couldn’t swing a JS this time as it has been consistently priced about $2k more than our balcony. I need that money for lavish excursions!!
Pre-Purchases
As usual, I had to stalk the DBP for awhile before purchasing, we finally got it at $62.99, the lowest price I have seen since the pandemic! I am guessing sales aren’t great on our sailing since others on September dates have reported $68 as the sale price.
We have two specialty dinners booked at Izumi and Wonderland on nights 2 and 4. I am still thinking about adding Jamie’s on night 6... should I give in? It just doesn’t seem worth $49 each. We ate there on Navigator but that was back when it was priced around $32 which seems more reasonable for the fare. I can’t wait to see what Wonderland is all about! I am sure it’s a one-and-done, but figured we have to try it out since it will be the first ship we’ve be on that has it as an option. If all else fails, at least we’ll finally get to taste The World as a consolation prize. 
We have a two-device Voom plan this time, we will see how speeds compare to sailing in the Caribbean. I am going to try my best to keep the live-ness up on this blog!  
Pre-Cruise
We are flying in a day early simply because it’s a Sunday and my husband and I will already have the day off. There were about 5 safe options that could’ve gotten us up the coast from San Diego on the morning of embarkation but since neither of us have been to Seattle, getting to see a new city was a bonus! We used A2S and got the tickets for $120 each on the day booking opened, now my Google flight tracker says the same exact flight costs $838 per person!!
We’re staying at the Holiday Inn Downtown because it’s close to the Space Needle and was one of few hotels available because of 2 large Seattle conferences that start Monday. I booked it last October so I have to assume people trying to find a hotel right now are scrambling. Everything I want to see seems walkable from this location!
While in Seattle we are planning on seeing Pike Place Market, walking the waterfront, riding the Wings Over Washington ride (one of my favorite DCA attractions is Soarin’) and visiting the aquarium. I have Space Needle tickets booked for embarkation morning at 10am, mostly since it should be a lot quieter than the alternative options on Sunday afternoon. This is also nice because I was planning on riding the North Star first thing on boarding to see the city but it’s still broken down and will be until Quantum’s next dry dock. 
 
 
Feel free to ask any Quantum/Alaska itinerary questions. Having sailed only Freedom, Oasis, Navigator and Brilliance we are so excited to try out this new (to us) class of ship! Of course these boards/RCblog have proved valuable in getting me up to speed on Quantum class so I would love to help out future cruisers any way I can. 
Been watching this countdown since it was in the mid-400’s!! Ahhhhh!

 

If I try to catch up from where I left off we’ll be off the ship before I even post any photos of the room, so here are some views from the UFS on our sea day today.
 

I read every word twice! Because you've just listed reasons 8,472 - 8,639 why we only cruise with just the 2 of us! (Seriously, I'm pretty sure I'm going to burn in hell for all the times we've hidden cruises from family who want to sail with us.  In our defense, the 2 times we've relented .... i would be authoring your story.)
I can't wait for these adventures to unfold. I feel some National Lampoon movie vibes here! 😀

Day 44
I was able to stay up the night before and get the earliest check-in time of 11am. By 11am the same day only 12pm and on was left. I had read that for some reason 11am is listed as the earliest time out of Galveston but they eventually update and move the 11am to 10:30. As it stands, I shall be actively looking for the earliest time for me so I can board early book our UDP dining times.
Itenirary:
Friday the 13th: train ride Texas Eagle 22
Saturday the 14th: La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Galveston North at I-45 
Sunday the 15th-22nd Allure of the Seas, Western Caribbean
GALVESTON, TEXAS ROATAN, HONDURAS PUERTO COSTA MAYA, MEXICO COZUMEL, MEXICO Sunday the 22nd: train ride Texas Eagle 422
Rooms:
3 Aft OV balconies #12688, 12690, and 12674
1 Aft interior #11275
Excursions/amenities:
Beach Snorkel in Costa Maya x3
UDP x8
Voom 3-device plans x2
Water package 24 x 3, 12x1
Premier Pass fiasco x 4
This cruise is one of the Premier Pass Fiasco's, so everyone ended up with some OBC. When I changed the names around, they removed the OBC and had everyone's C&A status wrong. It got fixed and they added in extra OBC for the troubles. 
I want to point out that I got this entire vacation for $1474pp. That is the cost for the cabin fare, grats, the UDP, internet, hotel, water package and train tickets. It is currently $1800 just for a balcony alone. I paid the old price of $267 for the UDP, got the water package for only $16 and $9. The hotel was half price on a BF deal meaning at two to a room, we paid $68/night. As I mention I got the train tickets on a group rate that helped us save 60% each ticket. I brought the multi device package for Voom, we have used it, and it works for us.
The train allows two of each bag: checked, carry-on, and personal. But you don't have to worry about liquid sized. We are bringing wine from home. This is the first D+ sailing and I have decided to forego even the soda package as I am also prime. Speaking of....... my brother has the cruising bug and so I will spend this cruise making him prime. I like to gamble, I'm already prime for this and next year, so........
We have lots of new travel accessories as the train ride requires lots of snacks and meal planning. I will post our new finds. 

This may a TLDR situation, but I am going to mention it all!!!
This is a group cruise, in regard to planning it has been the group cruise from hell.
Planning for the group is always a mess because apparently nobody has any money, but they do have money, they would rather just waste/spend my money.
I communicate with everyone by an email chain. I found out that only my brother, the new vintage, and my mother's bff actually reads them. Whenever I send one, I eventually get a call from everyone else asking me to explain things. It is frustrating because now I know why there are issues. 
Last year we went on Odyssey, and it was six of us and a bit of a mess. Still fun, but a mess. While on Odyssey everyone, not me, decided they wanted to sail Allure again because that first group cruise was the best. The reason was because it was a longer vacation since we did WDW/Universal and a cruise. Allure was sailing out of Texas and everyone, not me, thought it would be great to do a road trip there and extend the vacation. It was off to Next Cruise to secure 3 aft balconies and a little bit of OBC. We got of Odyssey the week before thanksgiving, so I waited until Dec to start looking for the best way to do this road trip. My brother suggested getting a luxury RV, that way we could take the hotel stays off the docket.
We found a really nice 2020 Fleetwood Bounder that slept 8 people. I emailed the owner and asked about pricing and details. He agreed to rent it to us for 15 (two weeks or more gets a discounted day rate) days at $185/day, a $500 deposit and the cost of insurance and all the incidentals. Which would include gas, water, propane, and Wi-Fi to name a few. I put the deposit down at that price. In Jan after I came back from cruising, I emailed the guy to see about adding on 2 more days, the vintages wanted it. He stated that would be fine and then sent a doctored email that said I had agreed to $320/day and a $1000 deposit. It went from being $3,275 plus insurance to $5,800 plus insurance. 
It was literally an email that he went into the thread and changed the amounts, as if I didn't have the original email. I was shocked because that wasn't what we agreed to, and I told him that. He said he raised the prices because he was renting the RVs more and if I didn't want to pay that, he would return my deposit and rent it to someone else for $500/day. I cancelled. At this point it was too late to try to rent anything at a decent price. I wasn't too keen on doing a road trip with four vintage women anyway. But a lot of them were disappointed. They wanted to just take cars and do the road trip, which I told them to do but I wasn't going to plan it because I could no longer get the time for it off. I heard a lot and dealt with lots of mood swings and such.
My bff was very disappointed because he was amped for the road trip, and he really hates flying. So, he asked if we could catch the train or something. I looked into catching the train to Texas and........sure enough Amtrak goes. I would have preferred to fly but it was looking to be $600+ each plus the high Lyft/Uber cost from IAH. The train ride would be a full 24hrs and that seems like a lot but I asked around and everyone was excited. I was actually able to score a group rate of $150, each, round-trip on the Texas Eagle. We take the train to Longview and then a bus takes us to Galveston. The train normally leaves on time, but my brother and I are on the fence when it comes to the bus. We decided as a precaution we would rent two vehicles in Longview to complete the drive just in case we miss the bus. We would rather eat the cancellation fee, than to worry about trying to get a car the day of. Our train leaves on Friday the 13th and we are scheduled to arrive on Saturday the 14th at 2pm. The bus stop is pretty central to the port so that is a good thing. Our hotel is also not that far from the port. 
Now on to the tomfoolery of planning with vintages and wishy-washy Bffs.
I booked the rooms with a reduced deposit at NC. It was supposed to be six of us going but my mother's bff wanted her bff to come, so I put a random name on my mother's room to account for her and so they could have a 3+ room in case she did come. Nobody but my brother gave me their deposit money. They complained about the MDR the entire Odyssey sailing and regretted saying no to the UDP. They all said they wanted the UDP, internet, and some sort of beverage package for this cruise. I got the UDP during the BF sale for myself, my brother and mother. Then my mother's bff finally told me she was bringing her bff and she gave me the deposit and UDP money for them both. Right after vintage number 4 confirmed my mother informed me that she had invited a stranger along. 
Said stranger was a guy she met online a little over a decade ago. She Skypes with him and tells him all about our vacations and he always wanted to cruise. She volunteered me to book his cruise and all of the other stuff. The group went from 6 to 8. This guy is legally blind and lives in New York. I helped him pay for his room and UDP through Royal and I just linked him with all of the rest of us. My mother thought we should just let him fly to Texas and then one of us go to the airport and pick him up. I had to explain to her why that was a dumb idea. I had to explain we were taking the train. There was no telling when we would get in. So, yes, let's just leave a legally blind vintage at the airport without any assistant for who knows however long. Plus we were looking at $90+ each way in rideshare cost. They don't ever want to spend no money, but you want to tack on two rideshare cost each way? After a bit of back and forth he will fly to Chicago the night before and ride the train with us.
I let everyone know FP was in July and if I had to make FP, I was going to charge them all interest because as it was, I was on the hook for all purchases in total for 4 people. Now I talk to my Bff quite often but somehow, he waited until June to say he and his mother couldn't go. I was pissed. I asked him several times if he was sure, and he said yes. I had to call and configure the rooms. The cost of the cruise had doubled, and I didn't want to trigger a reprice, so I swapped out names, so the two of them would be on the same reservation that would cancel once I didn't make payment. I was later told that my bff was mad because they assumed I would pay for them to go and allow them to pay me later. I did this the first and second cruise/vacation and wasn't doing it again. 
I informed everyone we would now be six. I normally make FP two-weeks before it was due but decided to wait until it was a week away. This was just in case they changed their mind and sure enough I heard from them 10 days before FP. My mother speculated that they tried to book something on their own and realized all the deals I got them and called to ask if it was completely cancelled. I said no but the consequences were they would have to share a room. My bff doesn't like sharing a room with his mother......at all. They made FP and the trip was on. 
 
 

We are on board. This was the best checkin ever from car to in room we were zoomed through everything. Pictures below of star loft . It also includes  one picture of when we first walked into the terminal.

Well, happy to report that we have landed (early too) and we’re almost home. Uneventful; but that is a good thing 🙂

Depends on the supermarket frozen pizza. Some of them are at least as good as national chains in the US. #pizzasnob

We just did this in August 2023.  I am disabled and walk with a cane.  I had no issue with the distance.  However, the entire path from the upper to the lower city is marble stone and very slippery.  Thankfully my wife took my hand and I had to go very slowly.  People without disability seemed to have no problems.  I highly recommend Ephesus!

Thanks for the info DDaley

I would agree with you on the smaller ship 100% for the Med! It is nice to be on a ship and not have the FOMO feeling like you do on an oasis class ship at times. 
 
Also, if you can I would recommend a land trip to Maine to soak in all that the state has to offer! Southern Maine is our favorite particularly the Cliff House in Cape Neddick, Maine. They have rooms that overlook the cliffs and WOW! Its truly majestic and so so beautiful!

A WJ post for @OCSC Mike

Some final thoughts…Itinerary 
All 4 of us loved this itinerary!! Completely loved it! Not one single complaint other than we wished we had longer at certain locations. 
We all had different favourite ports this sailing for different reasons. My favourite was Boston, followed closely by Bar Harbor, Portland, Saint John, and then Halifax. My top “Wow! I am speechless” port was probably at the sea caves in St Martins. My favourite eating port was probably a toss up between Boston and Portland. 
Hubby really loved Bar Harbor. That was his favourite. And he and the girls really loved Peggy’s Cove. D17 is a city girl like me, so one of her favourites was also Boston. D15 being a nature girl, loved Cadillac Mountain, the sea caves, and yesterday at Peggy’s cove. 
I would 100% do this itinerary again. And I would 100% do it again on a non-Oasis/QN class ship. Reason being that because it is so port intensive, and you are literally out all day in port, the evenings you just want to chill. I would have not liked to have to dress up for dinner, and catch some show at the theatre, Aqua Theater, or whatever each evening.
This sailing just reaffirms our decision to do the Western Med on Voyager next year instead of Oasis. The small ships have less entertainment, but for port intensive itineraries, I like that. It takes away the pressure to have to do something, or feel like you are missing something. Most nights all 4 of us just had dinner and came back to the room to relax and process the day. It was different than our usual cruising routine, but perfect for the type of sailing that this was. 

Day 9 - Sea Day
Last day of the cruise today, but first sea day that it’s actually nice out.

Temps are not warm, about 18°C, not sure what that is in Fahrenheit, but Hubby is still out there flowriding. I had breakfast in Chops again, and now just relaxing and trying to find the will to gather up my things to start packing. 
 

I got one of those, the change being a new arrival time for my flight being 8 minutes early. How they knew this was going to happen 2 months in advance Ill never know. Air Canada.

Random photos from our walk along the Halifax Waterfront. 

We masked when we got sick on last day. So pack masks for your cruise, just in case and for elevators.

Interesting comments,  12+ cruises this year and my take is it depends, I tip two dollars every drink, but find that it more depends on the individual bar tender than on the tip. Yes some hit you up,  but I have cruised all week at $2 a drink at a specific bar and seen absolutely no return from my tips, no better service when crowded, no strong pours.  Definatly newer bar tenders recently are more on the exact jigger than during "come back"

I will say, I like MTD for exactly this reason. You never really know this far in advance when you're going to want to eat or what kind of dining you're in the mood for - some nights really are just windjammer kind of nights! It's also great to work it around time in port, shows, trivia etc. Feels far more flexible than traditional in which you may or may not always want to eat at the same time but don't want to go somewhere else either.
You can make reservations as "early" as 6:45 and as later as 8:45 to avoid the very scary "no reservations" line. The most popular time seems to be 6:45 for both lines, but by 7 - 7:15 the reservation line is almost non-existent and you can get a table within a minute of coming down.
It looks like you sail in October, so there's still time to decide, but I definitely advocate for MTD.

After lunch, we made our way to the Maritime Museum. My main objective here was to visit the Titanic exhibit. There was a family pass here for $24 (2 adults and 2 kids). Overall good value. We spent about 2 hours here. 
 

Some more photos from Peggy’s Cove from Hubby’s phone. They gave us about an hour here.



 
Video clips on IG.  I forgot to mention that I have saved all my stories for the trip in highlights so if you were not able to catch it within 24hours, you can find it under highlights. 🙂

Slight threadjack ... After disembarking one cruise we were missing one bag. Waited for hours for it to appear and finally decided to just leave and deal with it later as we had a 7-hour drive back home. This was in Tampa, so my wife and daughter waited out on Channelside while I went to the garage to get the car. When I picked them up outside the deck my wife was standing there with my bag!
I was like what???? She said there was a large van loading up people and their luggage and one the people asked, "Who is [insert my name]?" She yelled back. "That's my husband's bag!" Since then I've never once left my bags out for disembarkation. 🙂

A previous post similar to this was a family with two older kids who did not want to sleep together on the couch that folded out. Could be the case this time, too.

I wonder if the cruiser was evaluating a few cruises.  Other lines often have specials that include the drinks package and possibly they conflated what they chose with the benefits of one they didn't choose.
With the amount of information we have, it could be a ton of different things.