scottb76

I have Aruba as the late night. We have a sunset schooner cruise booked. My notes have Aruba as 9 and Curacao as 6pm but the most recent sailings cruise compas had them leaving Aruba at 8:30 and Curacao at 5:30.

Taking a break from the cold of Michigan. Looking forward to checking out the new Hideaway Beach and enjoying our first cruise on an Oasis class ship. 

We stayed here in March, we drove over the day before and they had a parking deck for a safe parking situation. The pool was okay, the food was quality albeit a little pricey. You could walk across to the Publix for any forgotten items. The hotel was clean and no nonsense, we could see the ships with the port view room. 
Easy short drive over to the port, no complaints this time.  We stayed here due to be Hiltons Honors members and have no problem staying in the future.

Planning to try to use my iPad Pro with HDMI connection. Works great even without internet as I have stuff loaded in advance. Did get a universal remote as it was only $5 on Amazon so worth a try

The wifi on serenade last week worked perfectly except coming through one ocean pass with high mountains. We streamed lots, facetimed, did it all. we regretted not bringing our apple tv. 

Recommend a universal remote which is found to work on serenade?

Enjoy the scenery in Alaska.  Even on the ships that are not as old as Serenade the internet is basically useless for most things after the first day unless docked at an American port and you just stream off  your cell data.

@HoneyBVegas Welcome to the Royal Caribbean Blog Forum!
Here is some info for you about using in cabin TV HDMI ports.  My universal remote worked perfectly on Anthem last month, but I just got off the Adventure (yesterday) where it did not!  But after further investigation, I did not need it.  By luck I discovered that if I plugged into the HDMI port and used the RCI room remote that I could tune it to channel 3 and activate the HDMI!  I am guessing this maybe true of all Voyager class ships and maybe other older ships too.
As far as streaming movies - forget it.  Even if you have your content downloaded onto your device and either mirror it to the TV or to a HDMI device (like Chromecast) it is not worth your trouble.  I find the zoom WiFi to be unreliable.  It may work for a while and you may get through a movie, but if you don't it is frustrating and a waste of time.  Even worse if you try streaming from an off ship server (NAS, commercial stream company, etc) as it is almost never satisfactory.
Instead use an HD Media Server w/ HDMI.  Some laptops. tablets, & phones can do this too, but might not be as compact as my solution below.  Before your cruise you can pre-load your movies and TV shows onto a 512GB micro SD card.  This will give you more hours of your favorite content than your cruise is long (unless you do Royal's World Cruise).  This is what I am using and it has worked perfectly...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089VXSD1H
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09B1HMJ9Z
https://www.amazon.com/3-Device-Universal-Preprogrammed-SRP9232D-27/dp/B07B4P1DK9
Let me know if you have any questions...
 

Thank you for being the pioneer this Alaska season and posting your experience! I know I'm not the only reader headed North later this year who will be following along for all the details. Have a great trip!

Just so happens this is the one I picked🎉

I'll be getting my first block on that cruise. Maybe Matt can interview me like he did Mario. I mean 140 pts vs 8200 points, same difference right?

I have been on several Alaska cruises.   I have gone in about every month offered for Alaska.  It will be hit and miss on weather.  You will no doubt hit rain at some point. I usually take a 1 way cruise in Alaska to be able to see the larger Hubbard glacier.  Then fly home from Anchorage.   Even when it is sunny, you have cold air coming off the glaciers.  Often when you go outside  on deck they hand out blankets.   Once on an August cruise I ventured out to the outdoor pool, was only one in pool.  Was not warm. But I have seen amazing things on Alaska cruises.   A huge kodiak bear swimming along side of the cruise ship.   In early months, like June seal calves are born.  The farther north you go there is chunks of ice floating all around with baby seals on them   Like hundreds.  You can do a lot by just walking off from ship.   Ketchikan and Skagway are my favorite ports.  There is a lumberjack show that is fun in Ketchikan.  Narrow gauge train up White Pass in Skagway is good also. You will not need shorts, unless you need for the gym/spa.  Only a swimsuit if there is an indoor solarium pool or hot tub.  Packing is harder because you need boots and warm clothes, plus on-ship clothes (like dressier items).   If you have never been to Alaska if will be a great trip.  Enjoy