KaydenDeen

It may be boring…but I love it! I know I’m a bit geeky about it but….I can’t get enough of planning, scheduling, researching and talking about cruising. You’re right! The obsession is exhausting but wonderful! Being a Cruisaholic is a gift! Enjoy it!! LOL?

I just checked cruise planner and I GOT IT. Thanks to all that chimed in! 
 

I may have you beat in the “boring” department @SpeedNoodles I think I left my life behind when I started planning this trip. Seriously. I check this blog, the official Royal Caribbean website, Royal Caribbean news and the status of my RoyalUp bid a million times a day. Doesn’t get much more boring than that. Gosh, being obsessed with cruising is exhausting. LOL. 
 

I just checked cruise planner and I GOT IT. Thanks to all that chimed in! 
 

I may have you beat in the “boring” department @SpeedNoodles I think I left my life behind when I started planning this trip. Seriously. I check this blog, the official Royal Caribbean website, Royal Caribbean news and the status of my RoyalUp bid a million times a day. Doesn’t get much more boring than that. Gosh, being obsessed with cruising is exhausting. LOL. 
 

I just checked cruise planner and I GOT IT. Thanks to all that chimed in! 
 

Day 5 - Icy Straight Point (Hoonah)
This port is NOT on the Alaska Group Cruise

This is a relatively new port of call and it is run by the local native population.  They restrict access to a single ship at a time and they have restricted shops and stores so you won’t find the same old Jewelry and souvenir shops like in other ports.  Many cruisers feel this creates a more authentic Alaskan experience while others state its boring because there is limited shopping with only some local native items available.  


This was the home of a fish packaging plant which contributed to the local economy.  The village of Hoonah is a 30 minute walk away or there are shuttle buses that operate.  The zip line here claims to be the longest in the world (Labadee claims to be the longest over water).  This is one of the more popular ports for whale watching and some boats guarantee seeing whales.  




My excursion at this port was Whale Watching.  We saw many but if I had to do it again I would seek a smaller boat that can get closer to the action.  We tended to stay back a bit due to being on a larger less maneuverable boat.





Some people complain they don’t see the whole whale.  A full breach where a whale jumps into the air is rare.  Most of the time you can see them go through several breathing cycles evidenced by the spout of misty air being exhaled before they dive deep and then swallow large volumes of water with fish in their massive mouths as they swim towards the surface.  Our guides reported that the bubble feeding we saw was also rare this time of year.  This is where several whales work together to contain a school of fish and drive them into a tight group so that all the whales can feed.

Throughout this cruise we frequently were able to spot eagles in the trees.  The onboard naturalist had told us to watch for “golf balls in the trees”.  That remark stayed with me and sure enough the first thing you would spot is the little white head standing out against the trees.

We also saw other sea life at this port.


After the whale watching excursion I wandered around the port area before re-boarding the ship.


Walking back to the ship from the packaging plant where the whale excursion boats depart from:





This was our shortest port of call.  We had six hours in this port.  Since only a single ship can be in port at any time we split the day with a sister ship the Celebrity Infinity doing a round trip out of Vancouver.  As we slid out of port the Infinity slid in behind us.  

I just checked cruise planner and I GOT IT. Thanks to all that chimed in! 
 

I may have you beat in the “boring” department @SpeedNoodles I think I left my life behind when I started planning this trip. Seriously. I check this blog, the official Royal Caribbean website, Royal Caribbean news and the status of my RoyalUp bid a million times a day. Doesn’t get much more boring than that. Gosh, being obsessed with cruising is exhausting. LOL. 
 

I knew that was coming. LOL. 
Usually, I have better luck on my own. I have the time to do the research and I have an obsession (maybe an unhealthy obsession) with planning. As far as I’m concerned, this is half the fun of the trip.  I won’t rule out using a TA in the future. 

I just checked cruise planner and I GOT IT. Thanks to all that chimed in! 
 

I may have you beat in the “boring” department @SpeedNoodles I think I left my life behind when I started planning this trip. Seriously. I check this blog, the official Royal Caribbean website, Royal Caribbean news and the status of my RoyalUp bid a million times a day. Doesn’t get much more boring than that. Gosh, being obsessed with cruising is exhausting. LOL. 
 

I had mine done by my TA recently. I was told it would take about 2-3 weeks to show up but it was there 24 hours later.

My OBC was posted within hours to my cruise planner however my Best Price Guarantee was done through my TA

I may have you beat in the “boring” department @SpeedNoodles I think I left my life behind when I started planning this trip. Seriously. I check this blog, the official Royal Caribbean website, Royal Caribbean news and the status of my RoyalUp bid a million times a day. Doesn’t get much more boring than that. Gosh, being obsessed with cruising is exhausting. LOL. 
 

I may have you beat in the “boring” department @SpeedNoodles I think I left my life behind when I started planning this trip. Seriously. I check this blog, the official Royal Caribbean website, Royal Caribbean news and the status of my RoyalUp bid a million times a day. Doesn’t get much more boring than that. Gosh, being obsessed with cruising is exhausting. LOL. 
 

I'm pretty predictable (read: boring).

I knew that was coming. LOL. 
Usually, I have better luck on my own. I have the time to do the research and I have an obsession (maybe an unhealthy obsession) with planning. As far as I’m concerned, this is half the fun of the trip.  I won’t rule out using a TA in the future. 

I knew that was coming. LOL. 
Usually, I have better luck on my own. I have the time to do the research and I have an obsession (maybe an unhealthy obsession) with planning. As far as I’m concerned, this is half the fun of the trip.  I won’t rule out using a TA in the future. 

I knew that was coming. LOL. 
Usually, I have better luck on my own. I have the time to do the research and I have an obsession (maybe an unhealthy obsession) with planning. As far as I’m concerned, this is half the fun of the trip.  I won’t rule out using a TA in the future. 

We had the Desani 12-pack on Adventure, but in the room were 6 Evian liter bottles.

Have to agree.  In so long as the bottled water craze has been around Dasani has always tasted terrible to me.  How do you mess up water?  What nasty river are they using?  SMH.

I have re-priced many of my cruises…some of them more than once…without an issue. One of them, in Nov, was cheaper and past final payment. So I would receive the difference as an OBC. When I reprinted my confirmation receipt several days later, there was no indication of an OBC…but when I went into the Cruise Planner, there it was. I don’t think it took more than a few days. I hope you get it resolved.

We used the best price guarantee last year, but that was before our final payment. It went extremely smoothly and they were able to verify the lower price, then simply change the final payment amount. However, in your situation your cruise is already passed final payment, I'm not sure how the onboard credit thing works. It's definitely a good idea to call them again and explain that your cruise is very soon.

I am very upset with the way things are being handled. Received an email today that we would have to cancel 2 days before we are scheduled to sail ,due to no record of Covid testing. For your information I work in the medical field and you can not get the COVID testing unless you have symptoms or have been exposed, but we have been vaccinated like one of your earlier email suggested. But you wait till 2 days before we sail to send an email, so you have lost us as customers and will not recommend your company to anyone we know. Thanks for ruining my vacation time.
sincerely disappointed
Nora