ChanaC

It seems like the cruise lines have been really busy, especially since the start of the year. From what I heard, a lot of the reduced capacity is more about the ships limiting themselves vs people not filling staterooms. Would be interesting to see this summer when schools are really out and cruises get busier. But if they have plenty of people willing to cruise now, enough to hit their quotas, I can't see them needing to drop requirements. Plenty of people are already vaccinated or willing to get vaccinated to sail so they have no issues keeping the requirements in place. Personally, I'm good with the current testing protocols. Yes, it's a little nerve wracking to think about testing positive right before the cruise, but I'll cruise much happier knowing that the ship is as safe as possible.

Thank you! I also just found the RC excursion email and sent them an email as well!

Looks like the Certificate of Recovery is for people who are vaccinated. It says "A Certificate of Recovery will not be accepted in lieu of a vaccination record card for guests of vaccine eligible age. All Royal Caribbean guests age 12 and older must present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose of their vaccine administered at least 14 days before sailing." If anything I see the cruise lines increasing their vaccine requirements. I bet they start making kids 11-5 get vaccinated in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised if boosters also become required. And I also don't see them stopping testing - yes, it's stressful, but much better than having a sick person get on the ship and possible make more people sick. Like others have said, it's both to stop the spread and reduce of the virus and to lessen symptoms. If I was RC or any of the other lines, I wouldn't want the bad PR of having a ship full of sick people get back into the port. While people are testing positive it looks like a majority of people are at least non-symptomatic or at least not too sick.

Has anyone done this excursion and can give me some info about the timing? We are supposed to sail through the Endicott Arm and to the Dawes Glacier from 6:30-11:00am (or 5:00-10:00am depending which part of the website you are looking at), and later in the day we dock in Juneau at either 2:00pm or 1:00pm. We booked the Glacier Explorer excursion hoping to get closer to the glacier and maybe see some wildlife on the way. From my understanding of the excursion, at 7:00am we'll board a smaller boat, sail though the fjord, observe the glacier, and get back on the ship before we sail into Juneau. However, I'm now seeing some info online that suggests that you stay on the smaller boat and sail that into Juneau, where you then meet up with the ship at the port. Is this true? We booked an independent whale watch excursion at 2:30 and we're hoping to have a few hours on the ship to eat lunch, maybe change into some lighter clothes, and just sit down and relax a little. Now I'm worried we'll be hopping right from one excursion to the other, and possibly be late for the whale watch if the smaller boat gets delayed for any reason. The RC website says the glacier excursion is 5 hours long and the last sentence in the description is "Enjoy a variety of complimentary snacks and beverages served by your friendly Alaskan crew as you trace the rugged shores of Stephens Passage on the cruise north to Juneau" but doesn't really provide any information besides that.

I'm booked on Quantum for Alaska in May. We honestly chose it because we were limited on time options and it worked the best with our schedules. Also, we found a GREAT deal for it on the Costco travel website (so maybe worth checking there if you are a Costco member). I'm excited because there are a lot of indoor options on the top deck (like the inclosed adult solarium) plus 270 on a lower deck which has huge windows. Honestly I would have been find with a smaller ship as well.

Reef safe is important too! Some label it explicitly, some don't so check the ingredients. Avoid ingredients like Oxybenzone and Octinoxate.

I love all Neutrogena brand stuff. I’ve also been using Aveeno positively radiant moisturizer sunscreen with SPF 30 every morning on my face, even if I’m not really going out that day. It’s just a good moisturizer and they always say to wear some sunscreen every day. Both are approved by my dermatologist!

I'm also going on Quantum and have been wondering this. I think iFly and North Star were an extra cost when the ship sailed in Asia, but on US sailings (assuming you are also doing Alaska) it's included. But I'm not positive so I'm also interested in the answer! It might be hard to find info on Quantum specifically since it's been in Singapore the last few years, but maybe someone on another Quantum class has an answer.

Maybe the specific divers were sick or injured. I'm sure only a few people are qualified to do those stunts.

Apologies, that was really not my intent. I sincerely apologize if it came off that way. I think we can all agree that sometimes it's hard to communicate tone online. I was just trying to answer the question as factually as possible, which is that a MD can give a medical exception or you can get vaccinated, because I haven't heard of any religious belief exceptions being accepted. I can imagine how hard it is financially and emotionally to keep booking and cancelling cruises, so it may not be best to continue booking in this situation.

Yeah, probably. But they probably already knew the answer when they wrote this as well. But anything to get more people vaccinated, you know? Who knows, it could just be one little thing that turns on a switch and makes people realize they just need to do it. And instead of being rude, I'm hoping being kind and honest will help.

I've heard that on Alaska cruises the ship sometimes brings on expert lecturers to talk about the culture, history, and/or the nature of Alaska. I've looked through a few cruise compasses but honestly haven't seen many listed. Maybe one a day. Is this the norm? Have I perhaps just been not looking at enough cruise compasses, or perhaps just missed some? I'm kind of a nerd and think these sound really cool, especially on sea days. Off that, anyone have a favorite lecture or lecturer? Anything to definitely not miss, assuming RC has the same group of people come on board year after year (which may not be the case)?

If you have a legit medical exemption I'm sure your doctor can write something. But if not, don't except an exception. In fact, you probably should just not book anything for a while. That, or just get vaccinated.

I'm all for the app. Anything to eliminate some extra waste.

Yes, looks like it's called shipboard credit in our fine print as well. I was surprised to see it show up ahead of time on the Royal Caribbean website.

I also booked through Costco and got a $50 onboard credit and a dining credit. In our case, they just said it says says "one specialty dining experience for two." The fine print says it needs to be booked onboard and excludes Izumi. We also plan to use it for Wonderland, so we're just going to make a beeline to the restaurant when we board and book it then. As for the credit, it actually popped up on my Royal Caribbean account a few weeks after booking and we were just able to use for an excursion. If I was you I would check your account and see if it also pops up, because you can probably use it to book one of those other restaurants you want to look. For me, the credit actually looked like an online/pre-board credit (I forgot how it was worded) but it did say that if you don't use it before the cruise then it would turn into onboard credit.

I just did something similar with an excursion. I booked it on Wednesday with a 10% sale discount but saw on Thursday it was now on sale for 20%. I called RC and they were able to cancel the reservation then rebook it with the bigger discount. Saved myself $50! The only downside is that I have to wait 30-45 days for the refund.

Are these all things you do while visiting/floating by the glacier? Unless I'm wrong, on the one I booked you get on a smaller boat as you sail into the fjord and get closer to the glacier than you would on the ship. Also.. I booked this yesterday and got 10% off. But when I checked back today, it was 20% off! I was able to call RC and rebook and saved myself $50!

Well, I ended up booking this tour. It's called the Endicott Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer. Hope it's worth it!

I'm booking some early morning excursions (including one at 7am) so I'm wondering what the best option for a quick breakfast is on the Quantum, or the general Quantum class ships? I know there is a room service option for continental style breakfast (at least for no fee) but I like having a little protein with breakfast, like eggs, cheese, or turkey bacon, and most of the continental stuff is bread, sweets, and fruit. We have a cabin on the 13th floor directly under the Solarium bistro, so that may be the closest option, but is that open early and does it get packed? I think I heard Sorrentos, Cafe Promenade, and Cafe 270 are open, but do they also get packed, and are there some decent options in the morning besides just pastries? I feel like the Windjammer would be busy, and the dining room would just take too long.

For previous Alaska cruisers, has anyone done an up close glacier boat tour on your glacier day? We're sailing on Quantum and going to the Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. I know you can just sit on the ship deck and observe, so is paying for the extra excursion worth it? We would love to see the glacier closer, and also spot any wildlife on the way that might be too hard to see from the ship. I also know that the Quantum is big so it might not get as close as other ships. I'm wavering between saving the money and having a nice relaxing morning sipping on tea/coffee/hot cocoa while observing the sights on the top deck or from our balcony, or being more adventurous and getting closer. As a note, we're going to the Endicott Arm in the morning and sailing into Juneau that afternoon, where we already have a whale watch and visit to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center, where we are planning on walking to Nugget Falls, so we'll already be in a boat and viewing wildlife and a glacier that day.

Glad they were able to accommodate you and you had such a good experience!

We booked our cruise through Costco, who threw in some cool perks including one specialty dining experience and one spa experience. However, both reservations have to be made once we get onboard, and the spa experience can only be used on a port day. How quickly do these book up? We have three dining options and would prefer to do one specifically (Wonderland) but are pretty flexible on which night. And if it's sold out, we would be okay doing something else. The spa experience might be trickier because we only have four port days on a seven night cruise, and I know we would like to spend as much time in the ports as possible. Two of the port days are late arrivals, so I'm hoping to book the treatment early on one of those dates. Do you think there is a chance everything gets sold out in advance? Or do you think we'll have some good opportunities to pick and choose what we want? I'm hoping to book those as soon as we board, and while it's too early to check in we're hoping to get an early boarding time.

Sure, here you go: https://www.juneauwhalewatch.com/ I can't actually recommend them since I haven't used them but everything I found about them seems positive. They even responded to an email I sent them about times. On the booking page it says "Due to changing ship schedules, the last shuttle leaves the Mendenhall Glacier at 6 or 7 pm on most days and 3 or 4 PM on Friday and Saturday. Check with your driver for the schedule of the day before exiting the bus at the glacier." We're sailing in on a Friday, but not until 2pm, so we booked the 2:30 tour, but that wouldn't get us to the glacier until 5. I asked what we would do in that situation, and they responded back (in less than 24 hours!) that they would still get us 1.5 hours at the glacier and that they might not have an open ended bus schedule, but would schedule that final bus for us. I assume that maybe in the past cruises just didn't visit Juneau on Fridays or Saturdays or tended to leave earlier, but maybe they might adjust this if the ships adjust their schedules. I hope that other people from our ship happen to book this tour so it will be more popular and they might run more buses. I also just looked up a port schedule and it looks like there will be four other ships in the port the same time we are, including one with a similar schedule, so maybe the tour company will update their schedules to accommodate. We also want to hike nugget falls so I really hope we have the time to walk there and back!

I've never been but just booked an Alaska cruise. We're doing one excursion through the ship (White Pass Railroad in Skagway) and one on our own (Juneau Whale Watch and Mendenhall Glacier though Juneau Whale Watch Tours). It looks like you could book the White Pass directly though the company, but I heard they make it convenient to board the train from your dock through the ship, plus I didn't like the times they were offering on the company's website. I also thought, in the case of an extreme issue with the trains where you are stuck miles away up a mountain, at least the ship will help you get back. Doubt any disasters will happen, but it's nice not to worry about it. I did a ton of research on whale watches and this company seems great. They specifically mention that they track the cruises so if your ship comes into port late they will wait for you. I also liked that with their tours you do the whale watch first, then go to the glacier, and from there they have company buses that depart every half an hour so you can pick how long you stay there. You can stay for 30 minutes or two hours, depending on when you get there and when your ship leaves. This is great if you want to walk around and explore a bit more without worrying about catching the one bus back. They had great reviews too! Also, most importantly, I don't see just a whale watch and glacier trip on the RC website! They are all luxury tours or include a salmon bake. We're unfortunately only in the port from 2pm - 8pm, and we want to do the whale watch and the glacier, so we wouldn't really have time to do a RC excursion and then go out on our own. Two things that also keep me from being too worried about booking Juneau on my own are one, unlike some place in the Caribbean, I'm sure all the vehicles are up to code and everyone has licenses. And two, Juneau literally has no roads outside of Juneau. It's only air or boat transportation to get out of the city. And while it's fairly spread out, I guess it's nice to know that you really can't get too far away from the port! Looks like the furthest away you could get from the cruise port is Mendenhall Glacier, and it's only 12 miles away.