CruiseMom82

Sounds great! I’ll let y’all know how it goes : )

I see thank you both, that is very helpful. It is my first cruise as I said we are flying out the next day, so I’m not too concerned about missing the flight. But I would hate for our excursion to be curtailed as it looks to be really interesting.

17 minutes ago, Matt said:

That sounds similar to what Radiance of the Seas had to deal with when she got back the other day. Allie told me she was still on the ship at 10am and they hadn't called her luggage tag number yet.

Any idea if the situation would be better if taking a RC excursion on disembarkation day? We are scheduled to take one that lasts 5 to 6 hours and finishes at the airport, even though we are not personally flying out until the next morning. You would think they would prioritize getting those people off the ship.

Do they have a larger than normal balcony?

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-619?language=en_US

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-ports-travel-considerations

It does not look like a birth certificate would be sufficient. You could try contacting the cruise line here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/resources/contact-us

I was able to save $10 each on our ATV excursion for our Alaska sailing ; )

Wouldn't smoothies be included with shakes? For me, it's not worth it ; ) I'd much rather spend the money on an excursion or at the spa! ; )

Ugg I really hope that won’t be the case for us, or our first cruise may be our last. 

How did you like Hotel Le Soleil? We stay there in 12 days! : )

I could maybe do $5. The Alaska excursions are expensive already, not they they are not "worth it," but I think it's up to you if you want to tip extra.

On 4/27/2022 at 11:07 PM, twangster said:

Delta is my airline for this trip and they have a requirement to upload a copy of the ArriveCAN QR code into the Delta Fly Ready app.  Once I did that about 15 minutes later I received an email letting know it was validated and I am clear to check in when my flight is ready for check in.

Interesting. We have flights to Vancouver from the East Coast on Westjet, but the first leg is code-shared with and/or contracted with Delta. We have not got any messages about uploading anything to a Delta App. Our first airport is small and easy to get through, so if they tell us to do this at the airport, we should have time. We know about ArriveCAN/testing already. Still working out if our luggage will be checked through to Vancouver, or if we have to re-check in Calgary, where we have a 1hr45min stop. I expect that we will pass through Canadian border patrol in Calgary, but I try to be ready for the unexpected with international flights  ; )

Hope your packing and flights go well, and stay safe!

Edited: Contacted Westjet on Twitter and confirmed we will go through immigration in Calgary but will not have to re-check our bags! : )

We are Americans traveling to Alaska from Vancouver. We need the ArriveCAN app to enter in Calgary (first Canadian stop). Obviously, we have to meet US requirements, testing etc, to get back into US on the return flight. However, there was also a message about clearing US immigration at the port before we get on the ship, since it is going to Alaska. I’m just wondering if you will need to pre-clear for Canada when your ship leaves Seattle, since it will eventually be in Canada. Or do they check passports etc when people get off in Victoria?

I'm looking at booking the same excursion for us on our May 15-22 Serenade cruise from Vancouver. I'll update you on how it goes with the luggage. We are also staying overnight at a hotel near the airport before our morning flight. If the excursion won't drop us at our hotel, which I think it won't, we plan to get the hotel shuttle to get us and then take us back in the morning.

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

Sunday.  Better start packing   

Terrific! I hope you are going to live-blog! ; ) This is Serenade's second sailing after dry-dock, I believe. Can you let us know what's changed, if you notice anything? Would love to hear how the ports are operating too, since I've heard they've had trouble getting workers back.

On 4/16/2022 at 11:28 AM, twangster said:

The last things I'll add are:

• There is no bad or wrong Alaska cruise.
• There is no wrong time to cruise to Alaska.

I'm getting ready for my seventh and eighth cruises to Alaska in a few weeks.  I've sailed three different cruise lines in every month of the Alaska cruise season from a number of embarkation ports for Alaska.  Every trip has been different.   Every trip memorable for different reasons.

The only mistake you can make with respect to an Alaska cruise is not booking one.  

When are you going on Serenade, out of curiosity? We will be on the May 15-22 sailing ; )

On 4/16/2022 at 11:19 AM, twangster said:

Serenade also visits Tracy Arm which is narrower and known for more missed calls.  

 

We will be attempting to visit Tracy Arm on Serenade in mid-may (3 weeks! ) if we can't make it, will we just be going to Juneau earlier in the day? This would not be too bad, as there is a lot to do there. Currently scheduled for Tracy Arm in the morning and Juneau from 1-9. Thanks!

Is the tap water in the cabins really not drinkable? Perhaps this is a silly question, but this is my first cruise! Considering getting the 24 can pack.

9 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Hulu may block you since you're out of the US though.

You should be able to get around this with a vpn, but I’m not sure if there are issues with using one on the ship.

I’m bringing both.

I was in the same situation. “Better” cabins were cheaper than ours, ours was sold out. Thought about rebooking but might have ended up in a less desirable/noisier part of the ship. Also would have lost OBC from travel agent. Decided to just keep what we have. Location is the most important to me, as I need it pretty quiet to sleep.

Blow dryers can be tricky. They pull a lot of current and heat up. I’ve had several blow out while using them abroad with a converter. I second the recommendation to get cheap one when you land. 

I don’t remember how long it took for ours to get validated but it was a while. Also, my husband’s vaccine card had the name of the clinic on it for both dates, but mine only had it from one. I was able to get an official record from the health department in our state to submit along with the vaccine card. I’m not sure if this helped things out.

2 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

At the end of the day Canadian officials have nothing to do with passengers boarding the ships. If Royals policy states 2 days and your negative test is from 2 days prior they are going to let you board I would think

Don’t they? It was my understanding that Canadian border patrol would be at the cruise port in Vancouver…

I believe the antigen test requirement was just changed from 1 to 2 days. Not all documentation may reflect the change yet perhaps. That’s my guess. 

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

Surely, this is the most relevant page? I just found it, and it does now seem to be 2 days rather than 1, and it also says that the time of the test and the time of sailing do not matter for antigen tests (within 72 hours is required for PCR tests). So, if you are doing the proctored antigen test to sail on Sunday, as we are, we can test on Friday before we go to the airport to fly to the cruise port. Yay! I'm glad some things are being clarified. But will they be changed again in the next month?!!