steverk

Radiance does round trip Vancouver, which is easier to manage than ovations Vancouver to Seattle. Better than either one would be a one way Vancouver to Seward.

I notice a lot of people seem to dislike Radiance. Personally, I enjoy her, but that's neither here nor there. If you take a Radiance class ship, come prepared. These ships were built to fit through the original locks of the Panama Canal. This makes it much smaller than most other Royal ships and they simply don't have room for all of the bells and whistles. Which leads me to another point. If the original Panama Canal is on your bucket list, do it quick. There's no telling how much longer Royal, or its competitors, are going to keep these aging ships! Once they are gone, it will be very difficult to see the original canal.

I did the northbound cruise on Radiance back in June. Great cruise. My advice: 1. Take this cruise because you want to see Alaska. Radiance is a beautiful ship, but doesn't have the floating amusement park activities that larger ships have. 2. Plan your excursions carefully. All of the towns are walkable, but there's lots to see outside of town. 3. Keep you eyes open while on the ship. Whale, dolphin and other wildlife sightings are common from the ship. 4. Don't forget Seward as a place worthy of a day or 2. Kenai Fjords national park is there and offers boat tours, visits to the exit glacier and hiking to the ice fields. The Alaska railroad starts in Seward as well.

Thanks! I hope that's correct! When Royal first started back to service in 2021, they had shows every night. They started thinning out the shows in 2022 as the whole fleet came back on line. Therefore, it may be they just weren't ready for that many shows right away. On the other hand, it could be a cost saving move. Only time will tell.

I think you'll enjoy Radiance class ships. They have fewer toys than most Royal ships. Therefore, they attract an older crowd and feel much more like Celebrity.

As was mentioned earlier, I didn't see any evidence that dress code is enforced on either line. However, my wife always comments that she feels underdressed on Celebrity but not on Royal. We're pretty casual cruisers. I usually wear a button down shirt and nice jeans or Dockers to dinner. If it is formal night, I'll throw on a tie, but no jacket.

Interesting. I've been on 11 cruises since June 2021 and there's no question that things are busier than they were in 2021. However, when I think back to cruises in 1999, I don't see them as significantly different. I've always found the food to be good, but uninspiring on Royal. The menus are very consistent, but the food quality does vary slightly between ships. For example, on Adventure the food was very good. On Radiance, it was fair. For comparison, both ships were better than Pride of America (2019) and Carnival Triumph (2015). I have noticed one big change recently. Pre-pandemic, Royal would have a major show every night in the main theatre. Lately, they have been skipping 1 or 2 nights on a 7 night cruise. I really enjoy the shows and miss them greatly.

The launch window continues to be a moving target. According to reports in the media (https://www.npr.org/2022/09/09/1121917791/nasa-eyes-late-september-for-its-next-attempt-to-launch-the-artemis-moon-mission) the rocket could launch as early as September 23. They did repairs on the pad and are performing tests. There's a major test planned for this weekend, so we probably won't know any more until then

They've released their itineraries through 1Q24 and won't release any more unless there are unexpected changes. An example of unexpected changes include political upheaval, such as a war.

When I was there, I stayed at an airbnb. It worked out pretty well and was affordable.

Personally, I refused to allow COVID to interfere with my life. I was somewhat successful, but there was no avoiding lockdowns, protocols, etc. I did contract COVID twice. Both times it was after a cruise. On the other hand, I'm retired and I spend my life getting ready for a cruise, on a cruise, or just returned for a cruise. I've averaged 1 cruise every month since June 2021. My advice pretty much mirrors everyone else. Whatever your thoughts about COVID in 2020 or 2021, we've reached the point where we all need to move on. If you get sick, then you get sick. At this point, you're really no more likely to die or have serious complications from COVID than you are from the seasonal flu or from a cold. Granted, it's no fun, but neither is a cold or flu.

Once the new terminal opens in November, I expect a very different experience than it is today. I sail from Galveston frequently and find it hit or miss. They do enforce boarding times. I've never sailed in a suite, so I can't comment on the suite check in times. Most times it is pretty quick to get checked in though.

True, but the outside promenade, aka the lifeboat deck, is on deck 4. You will enter on level 4.

As already noted, you'll be on deck 4 of Independence. Keep in mind this varies from ship class to ship class (and on rare occasions by embarkation port).

Yes it was. That guy was Grant. Nothing worked for him until he tried the ginger tablets.

I used to fly in the day of cruise. Never again

Personally, I prefer to carry off my luggage. I do it when I stay in a hotel and I do it on a ship. However, I do understand the appeal to putting it out the night before. Elevators can be an issue. If you or someone in your party has mobility issues, that also might affect your decision.

I've only tried surf, never surf and stream. It takes considerable patience, but always found sufficient for FaceTime, basic web surfing and whatsapp. It isn't like home though! You will wait for pages to load and you will get timeouts

Mythbusters tested this in an episode. They had great results with ginger tablets.

My experience with COVID was Very different. In July 2022, I was on the Celebrity Infinity. I came down with a cough and headache, so I performed one of those free self tests. It came back positive, so I called medical. Medical showed up and tested everyone in my party. Wife and mother in law were fine. I was still positive. When the cruise ended wife and mother in law flew home, but Celebrity put me up in a hotel. Flights by Celebrity arranged a new flight for me and I flew home several days later. Celebrity refunded my living expenses plus a pro rated price for my cruise. It took about a month, but I had no issues getting it. A couple differences though. I came down with this during the cruise rather than before. Also, my air had been arranged through flights by Celebrity. You might also notice that this was Celebrity rather than royal. However, the same people are involved in air2sea and flights by Celebrity. I suspect the same people also handle the back office operations too.

We never saw the tons of people either, although we were able to view it from NASA property and weren't going to the cruise port. More people may have been on their way, but it was scrubbed 3 hours before the launch window opened. According to news reports, the next window is on a few days but it's most likely delayed until the last half of October

First time I sailed there, it was very quick. Maybe 15 minures from the gate to being checked in. Second time was more recent and was with celebrity. Dropping bags was no problem, but the lines to get in the building and through check in was ridiculous. It took about 2 hours to check in for that cruise. There are multiple terminals and that might explain the difference

Launch is scrubbed due to hydrogen leak.

I hope not too. The tracks take up so much deck space.

Huh. I wonder why. $2 bills are legal US tender, just like $1 bills. Do they have trouble exchanging the toonies ($2 coins) from Canada?