Trish D

I can just see Matt's headline now...
 
"Blog forum frequent cruisers show how absent-minded they can be on a ship, so for all the new cruisers out there, don't feel bad!"

Fell asleep on my balcony after a long day with the tequila whistle lady at Senor Frogs in Cozumel -- at 1pm.
My wife left me there until about 4pm and the damage had been done -- I looked like Doug when they find him on the roof at the end of The Hangover (burnt to a crisp).  The last two days of my cruise were miserable lol
 

My husband always just pack tennis shoes, his are black.  He wears them with a tux and no one really looks at men's shoes.  People are usually distracted because he wears a LED light up bow tie and suspenders.

Part two: I forgot to buy travel insurance.
 
so what happened with my British Isles cruise is, after realizing I'd be spending the night at Heathrow (provided I could find a taxi on the day of the Queen's funeral… Good luck… ,) I thought, "hey, why not stay on the ship and just take the transatlantic back to the United States?" Sounded like a great idea. I went to guest services to do so and I forget why, but for some reason they just directed me to do it all on my phone. So I booked the cruise on my phone while standing in the atrium of the ship. Somewhere in the process, I either overlooked the offer for travel insurance, or it wasn't offered. (possibly because the cruise was only four days away.) And though I always buy travel insurance,  in the rush to get everything booked and settled, I forgot all about it.  
 
On day five of the transAtlantic, I thought to myself, "Wait....I never bought travel insurance." I figured it was too late and just hoped that would not need it.
 
On day six I needed it. I had all the signs of a detached retina and had to go to medical. We were looking at our very last stop on land the next day in Spain and then we would be at sea for a week. They arranged for me to go see an eye doctor in Spain the next day.
 
if it turned out I had a detached retina, they would need to do emergency surgery right away, and I would need to stay off an airplane for two weeks.
 
So I laid awake all night, picturing having emergency eye surgery in Spain, while the crew on the ship tossed my suitcases overboard onto the pier and sailed away without me. I was traveling solo and was wondering how much it would cost to have surgery, have my husband fly out to help me, and then how much it would cost to stay in a hotel room in Spain for two weeks and then find my way to the airport and then fly home. $$$$$
 
It turned out I did not have a detached retina and I made it back to the ship in plenty of time for sailaway and everything was fine. 

And now I never forget insurance or hotel reservations.
 The End

we went on Celebrity Apex last December. My son lives in Daytona Beach and was meeting us in Port Everglades. He pulled up around 10PM and 1st thing I said to him was "got your passport"? The look on his face! He got back in his car for the 7 hour round trip to pick up the passport sitting on his kitchen counter. 

Getting yelled at for fishing off my balcony... 😄
 

I used it last September. Great service. Had no issues

Yep, happened on the balcony next to ours. Apparently they had just met in the club a few hours before and decided to head to his cabin and make their way onto the balcony. I think the whole port side of the ship could hear her.

If you ever go see the love and marriage show while on the cruise it is pretty easy to extrapolate that about half of the couples partake in this recreational activity.  My math is based on usually one to two couples (or at least one half of the couples) state "on the cruise ship balcony" during the show. 
I only feel bad for those folks that have to deal with the audience not only in the theater but that are out on the balcony in Central Park rooms on the Oasis class ships! 🤣

At my age, sleep is far more important

Disrespecting crew members. On our last cruise, some woman was at the coffee shop while a crew member was mopping floors. She then said "can you get out of my way so I can order my coffee?" I remember it distinctly since it was so uncalled for.

People that reserve seats in the pool area or solarium.  If you want to enjoy the pool, go and hang out there.  Do not send one person to reserve 10 spots or worse go there and leave towels on them and come back 2 hours later. Many Pinnacle People and their attitude.  Just because you have cruised more than me does not give you the right to cut in line or treat staff like trash.

I love this one !  I totally agree.  A once-generated orderly line becomes a rush to the front (from the back) once the queue is opened.

I have a couple.  EARLY BIRD SUN LOUNGER HOGS          And my second is men who wear baseball caps in the MDR or Specialty Restaurants.  Total lack of etiquette and disrespectful .Rude.  Call me old fashioned, but thats how I still view it. 

WE ARE BACK!

Congrats to our friend @CHRIS WONG on being featured!
 

I was on the same sailing. Two days at CocoCay was not a problem at all in my opinion.

Just because you all have been so supportive here, I thought I’d post the next chapter in the story.  As there is an FCC Kicker promotion going on this month, I gently (sort of) nudged my brother to contact the new TA about getting something booked.  I am happy and somewhat surprised to say he did.  Looks like we are back on Harmony in May, 2023 for a 7 day western Caribbean cruise.  There are reasonably priced Junior Suites available (on the hump of deck 8 so perhaps slightly larger balconies) and I think we are gonna jump on it.  He is going with the refundable deposit this time!😄😄 I wish I could get him the deal he missed but at least it’s the same ship & cabin category.  I think we are dumping the cousins in a balcony cabin.

I cruised many years ago with my family and loved it. When I moved back to SWFL with my wife I tried to get her to try a cruise but she is/was very afraid of being on the water.
It took 6 years to convince her to try a cruise. I had a coworker who had been cruising Royal for a while and I looked into them and decided on going on the Allure as a 1st cruise for my wife.
After that 1st cruise we did a 4 day on Indy and she said that the 4 day was to short so ...ta da... now I can book anything I want and she is ready to go right there by my side.
She went from "no way" - to "where are we going next!". 
Oh and having a smiling crew member always asking "is there anything else we can do or get for you" that does not hurt at all!!...LOL

My first Oasis Class cruise was on the Oasis, it was also my first Royal cruise.  After being loyal to Brand X for many years and some major disappointments with them, we decided to move on and try something different.  Up until then, the largest ship we have been on was, I believe, the Freedom or Dream of Brand X.
Well, we walked on Oasis into the Promenade and just couldn't believe our eyes.  I just couldn't believe how big it was, massive and the décor, lighting and ambiance was fantastic.  It really didn't hit home, how big it was until we had to walk from our suite, Aqua Theater Suite, which is at the very very aft of the ship, to the theater, which is at the very forward of the ship.  It seemed like I should have called for a Uber.  Now, none of this is negative, just the opposite.  I truly love Oasis Class ships.  
I was just looking at some of my videos of my whole family entering the Oasis and the looks of my daughter, her husband, and our Grandkids was absolutely amazing and a treat to watch how happy they were.  Their eyes just got so big, their mouths dropped, their faces just glowed with joy and anticipated excitement.  I just wish I was a better word smith to express how it made me feel.  This is why I'm so loyal to Royal.  Yes, there are issues.  But, trivial compared to the joy we all experience while ON THE SHIPS.  

We used Port of Seattle's "Port Valet" luggage service when cruised the first week of June this year.  We received out luggage tags the day before debarkation. We checked three bags on Southwest from SEA-BWI.  Everything arrived without any issues. I highly recommend it if your planning to do any touring after the cruise and before you fly back.
Here's the link to self-register:  https://maketraveleasier.com/PortValet

I am counting down the days until our Alaska Cruise on Quantum in August!  Thanks for all the tips.  We did book deluxe beverage and Chef's Table.
 

Hi all!
After having our flight home cancelled twice and spending two additional days in Seattle, we are back home.  Here is my report on the Alaskan cruise and the Ovation!
Embarkation
Our check in time was 11am and we showed up at 9:20 am to find at least 30 people in front of us.  After listening in on conversations, it was apparent that most of the people in front and back of us were not entirely prepared to check in.  Oh well, their loss.  Thanks to this Forum, we were prepared and when the gates opened, we were on the ship by 11:10 am.  Easy peezy.  MY SUGGESTION for easier boarding....just print everything and have them in order. Set Sail, vaccine records, covid test, just have physical documents ready.  Internet was intermittent and people trying to check in with screen shots were having trouble.
FOOD!
I start with food because that is our thing and the first thing we did other than making reservations was eating at the Windjammer!  Food was overall a 9 out of 10.  
Windjammer - only ate there for one lunch and 5 breakfasts.  Breakfast could use some variation but food was hot, looked good, and filled our tummies with overall joy.
Izumi's - ate lunch and dinner there.  Rolls were overwhelming.  Sashimi plate was excellent for cruise sushi!  Fried chicken appetizer was yummy. I though 2 times was enough for Izumi though.
Wonderland - food was overall imaginative, fun, and tasty.  Some stand out dishes included desserts and the liquid lobster.  Would not go more than once per cruise, but would definitely go every cruise.
Chops - Solid steakhouse.  Good wine selection.  Bone-in ribeye is outstanding.  Lobster bisque and mushroom soup were outstanding! Ate there twice.
Jaime's Italian - OUR FAVORITE.  I am a classically trained chef turned lawyer.  Fresh made pasta was exactly what sold us here!  The sauces were tasty and in the correct proportion to pasta unlike Americanized Italian places.  Funny, Jaime's is British-Italian, but the food here tasted closer to what we have eaten in Italy than most places.  Stand out dishes included Pavlova dessert, ALL pastas, Meat plank, and burrata cheese!
MDR - This is the only place where I experienced service issues but I will address those later.  Food was overall okay.  Above average.  Nothing stood out, nothing was bad.  Oh...order the Baked Alaska! Last time I had Baked Alaska and Cherries Jubilee was in 1984 LOL.
Room Service - prompt, hot, edible.  
Hot Dog Stand - good enough to satisfy cravings.
Sorrentos - Not bad at all.
Fish and Ships - fried to order and worth at least one trip.  By the way, I am not sure this works for all ships, but UDP worked here for fried lobster tails and premium items.
Cafe Two70 - Nice change of breakfast pace and quiet place to enjoy breakfast, enjoy incredible views, and play some card games or board games with the kids after breakfast.
La Patisserie - Not quite Starbucks, but got me going in the right direction every morning and every evening.
Solarium Bistro - It was okay.  I was happy.
DRINKS!
Since I watched many bartenders open new bottles of liquor and paid attention to them making my drinks, I can say that the drinks were not watered down, but not exactly super strong, except for limoncello!!!  Wine selections were nice considering this was a cruise ship.  Cocktails were tasty.  We loved the Bahama Mama and anything with KRAKEN! 
Service
Guest services lines were a little long at times.  I am always up at 4am and go to sleep at 11:00 pm so this was not an issue for me.  The ONLY issue we had was that the pre-purchased Arcade credits were not properly applied to our kids' sea passes and there is no way to figure out arcade balances other than stopping by Guest Services or manual computations.
Service at all specialty restaurants and bars was excellent.  MDR service wasn't bad.  It was slower than I would expect, but I am not one to eat in 45 minutes and run off.  A 90 minute full service meal is more than acceptable.
Ship Condition
Did I mention that the Princess Ruby ship in front of us was rust stained and looked dilapidated?  Ovation was immaculate!  Enough said.
Activities and Entertainment
Enjoyed all of the shows and trivia.  We did Flowrider, Ripcord, Bumper cars, Northstar....pretty much did everything.  I highly recommend Northstar at a port and not at sea.  We did it twice, once at port in Seattle and once at sea.  Nothing much to see at sea.  Ripcord by iFly was simply AMAZING.  Do it.  All ages.  Do it.
Internet
We had one surf and stream and one basic.  Get basic.  Either way, internet is slightly better than DSL from 2005.  
Complaints
A. Stupid people.
B. Dumb people.
C. Some public toilets did not flush automatically and were inconvenient when I forced my kids to poop outside the room in the public restrooms.
D. Nothing to do from 4am to 6am.  
E. Too much to do from 8am to 11pm.
F. Either Pixels has two different versions, or I fell asleep at the first one.  My friends showed me pictures of the second showing and it looked quite different than ours.
G. Make Solarium pools aged 25 plus please!  Too many teenagers and college kids.  It was gross.  Spent more time in the indoor pool with little kids and enjoyed it more.
HIGHLIGHTS, KEY TAKEWAYS and TIPS
1. Got to meet Chris Wong.  Nice guy.
2. Stop gambling while you are ahead.  I made out with winnings of about $370 from penny slots.  Not bad.
3. Take advantage of the trivia games in between activities and meals.  It is a waste of time to go back to your room for 30 minutes and come back out.
4. If you get the Food packages, RESERVE AS SOON AS YOU BOARD!  We saw too many people complain about wait lists because no reservations.
5. If you are unsure of the Deluxe Beverage Package....I drink one glass of wine or beer a month.  Period.  On the cruise, I had at least 4 cocktails, one beer, one glass of wine, and 3 specialty Americano or Lattes each day.  On top of that, I had one soda a day and took back 4 bottles of water to the room each day.  It is worth the money to get a package.
6. Find the secret spots early.  The outside seating at Windjammer ALWAYS had seating, and we spent breakfast there while the ship's back was turned facing Dawes Glacier.  Trust me.  Also, Deck 5 next the the Art Gallery, but aways from the smoking section...chairs facing the ocean and unusually warmer than most places on the ship considering its outside seating.  Grab a glass of wine from the Wine bar and sit here to relax.  Quiet and peaceful.
7. READ THIS ONE. Finding whales and other sea life....Watch the TV channel that tells you where you are and shows the ship's front camera.  While watching, you will often see streaks of water (wake) left behind by dolphins, orcas, or whale....then grab your binoculars and look outside, you will see them passing!  Great way to find sea life.
8. BIGGEST TIP FOR ALASKA RIGHT NOW! DO NOT OVER PACK.  We each had one carry one rolling suit case and a back pack.  Wore suits and dresses on formal nights.  You do not need all of that clothing.  You simply do not.  Pay $35 to have underwear and T-shirts washed.  Its cheaper than checking in suitcases on the plane.  Plus, our flights home were cancelled twice and we were lugging around our luggage alot of that time.  Thank God we packed light.  You do not need all of that clothing.  
HUGE THANKS TO ALL OF YOU AND MATT for making this trip so amazing despite Covid, anxiety, the long wait, staffing shortages (which we experienced none), and despite raining the entire 13 days we were in Alaska or Seattle.  Thank you!

As someone that caught covid in Alaska this year, I'd still say life is full of risk. You can't live your life in fear you might get sick, especially since you're vaccinated and serious life-threatening covid is very unlikely.
It really stunk getting sick, but what's the alternative....stay at home for another year? Nah, I'll go on vacation and take my chances.

I'm afraid this kind of thing is only going to increase in frequency and severity.  Sad though