FL Lake Gal

Only 6 minutes? That isn't too bad, we do have a lot of bags though so it might make it a little harder.
Welcome to the cruising life! Hope you enjoy your cruise on Ovation later this summer. There are two formal nights, day two and day six. You can still dress casual if you wish, or formal every night if you want! There is also a 70s Disco night on day three if dressing up for theme nights is your thing. If you want to see an Ovation cruise compass that shows the events and activities from a previous week, here's the link: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/ovation-of-the-seas/fri-2019-05-31-0000
It is hard leaving our dog behind. Packing this morning was hard because he kept showing us those puppy dog eyes saying, "no don't leave me!" Hope you enjoy the blog and that it gives you a sneak peek on what to expect on your cruise!
Thanks for the well wishes! Hope you enjoy following along on the journey with me.

The Ovation is a great Ship. We went 7 days at the end of May and had great weather. It only rained once the whole week. I can't tell you about the Glacier proper , we saw plenty of ice in the channels the ship steamed up. Micro icebergs and plenty of wild life. Take a good pair of bino's not a cheap pair of pocket binoculars. Take the train, and make sure you get Tram tickets early. Each stop offered float plane trips we chose Vancouver!! Iv'e done 4 cruises on different Royal ships and the Ovation is my favorite so far. Make sure you get on the North Star you can't believe the views. And the Spa will  make a believer out of you. As for the Glacier You can take several  day trips by Helo or charter plane to the Glacier and walk around. Lastly the food and service in SILK was great. If you get a chance to ask your room attendant about the Body Wash I would appreciate it. Have a great trip look for the Eagles.

I’m on Ovation now.  We got close to the glacier, and the captain spun the ship fully around twice.  We had a great view from our balcony cabin.

Ok you guys, I'm SO excited. Mr. SpeedNoodles and I have not been on a vacation for 10 years (yes, you read that correctly). We've had time off from work, hauling the hounds to dog shows, but those are work.  Lots of fun, but lots of work.  This year is our 25th wedding wedding anniversary, his 50th birthday, we found a hound(s)/house sitter, and we are READY TO GO!!!
I'll focus this blog mostly on the ship, since there's no way my photos of the scenery will do any justice of it, and Twangster did a superb job on his. Hats off to him - they were absolutely incredible!  I don't know that I'll be able to post daily, but I intend to do the best that I can.  We will have 36 hours in Seattle before we get on the ship, so we're super excited about that! 
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick .....

@twangster
I just wanted to send you a big "thank you!!" for this thread.  Seriously - comments and photos are AMAZING!
After traveling extensively elsewhere, we finally said - why have we never done a cruise??  LOL.  We will be taking the plunge on Ovation later in July for our maiden voyage.
Your blog here (and others' comments) answered tons of our silly "first timer" questions.   We feel like there are many little unknowns about cruising (how long until our bags get to our room on day 1, what's the MDR like, should we grab a North Star slot during Endicott Arms/Dawes, etc etc etc...) - so we feel a bit more prepared.
I know this took a lot of your time - so thank you again - you got us very excited about cruising.  ?

Everyone says "layers", but here's my recommendation for what that actually means:
Outer waterproof layer. This should be lightweight waterproof jacket that adds no protection from cold, just keeps you dry. Fleece jacket/sweater. This layer is to keep you warm. Hoodie can be used too T-shirt layer This way, you can take off or add back layers as the weather dictates. 
In terms of how much to pack, you should plan on a t-shirt every day, but 1-2 fleece/sweater and 1 waterproof layer.

@twangster
I just wanted to send you a big "thank you!!" for this thread.  Seriously - comments and photos are AMAZING!
After traveling extensively elsewhere, we finally said - why have we never done a cruise??  LOL.  We will be taking the plunge on Ovation later in July for our maiden voyage.
Your blog here (and others' comments) answered tons of our silly "first timer" questions.   We feel like there are many little unknowns about cruising (how long until our bags get to our room on day 1, what's the MDR like, should we grab a North Star slot during Endicott Arms/Dawes, etc etc etc...) - so we feel a bit more prepared.
I know this took a lot of your time - so thank you again - you got us very excited about cruising.  ?