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An Alaskan Ovation - Ovation of the Seas 9/13/2019-9/20/2019 Alaskan Cruise Live(ish) blog


firebuck

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Hi all! Today, we're one week out from our cruise, so I figured I'd get this thing kicked off!

This will be the first Alaskan cruise for everyone in our group, so we're all really looking forward to it!  It's the last official Alaskan trip for the Ovation this season before she moves on to visit Hawaii and then on to Australia.  (I'm waaaay jealous of those folks doing a b2b2b - what an incredible experience that has to be!)

Itinerary:

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Who's going:

We're a group of 6 this time - Myself (Phill), my Wife Kelly,  SIL Cyndi, BIL George, and our friends Polly and Sheri.

Pre-Cruise:

Each couple are on different flights into Seattle the day before - We're flying in from Philly, and the rest are flying in from Newark.  Our flight leaves at 6 AM, and we'll arrive around 10 AM Seattle time.  I'm not one to sleep on an airplane, but hopefully I can catch a few winks.  My wife and I along with the In-laws are booked at the Moore hotel in downtown Seattle.  This hotel offers a room with two bedrooms with a bathroom in between - those logistics should be fun, but the price was right and it's only one night, so we booked it!  The Moore is just a short walk away from Pike Place Market, so we plan on touring around that area. I donate plenty of money to Starbucks, so I'll be excited to visit the original. Polly and Sheri have booked the Edgewater hotel which isn't too far away either, and right on the water...the pictures of that hotel look amazing!

Cabin:

Each couple has booked a balcony cabin close together on Deck 13 forward.

Pre-cruise purchases:

Everyone booked The Key as well as the 3 night dining package.  I'm team DX for life since I easily break even and way beyond (even on port days :P) - myself, George, Polly and Sheri have the DX, My wife and Cyndi have the Refreshment package since they will not drink enough to make the DX package make financial sense.  Any alcohol on their part will be a-la-carte.

Excursions:

In Juneau, we are doing the Mendenhall Glacier tour and Salmon Bake (Purchased through the cruise planner)

Skagway, we've booked the White Pass Scenic Railway (also through cruise planner)

No real plans for the rest of the ports, we'll either stay on the ship or stroll around the port area.

Post Cruise:

Cyndi and George have a wedding to attend, so they'll be headed to the airport after debarkation.  Since this cruise ends in Vancouver, and we've never been, my wife and I along with Polly and Sheri have decided to extend our stay by one night.  We've booked the River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC which is a little south of the cruise port.  We'll fly back out to Philly early the next morning.

 

I look forward to documenting our adventure - let me know if anyone has any questions or if there's anything in particular you'd like to see, and thanks for reading!

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5 minutes ago, Vacation Crazy said:

We were on the Aug 23rd sailing.  There are no words for the scenery and wildlife on this cruise.  It was an amazing trip!  I know you will enjoy it.  I'll be following along in hopes it helps my post cruise low!!

Tip for the train in Skagway--sit on the left hand side.  

 

Awesome!  Thanks so much for the tip, I'll definitely remember that!  

These live blogs definitely help the post cruise blues!  We usually cruise once a year, so it helps a lot during the dry dock phase!

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2 hours ago, firebuck said:

 

Excursions:

In Juneau, we are doing the Mendenhall Glacier tour and Salmon Bake (Purchased through the cruise planner)

Skagway, we've booked the White Pass Scenic Railway (also through cruise planner)

No real plans for the rest of the ports, we'll either stay on the ship or stroll around the port area.

 

Victoria is beautiful and not to be missed - I don't recommend staying on the ship.  I've never had a stay there that's lasted as long as on Ovation (we were on Ovation in June), and while we've been to Victoria before, this was the first time we had so much time to explore. We just walked off of the ship and went downtown, explored the shops, restaurants and bars - we even went to the Miniature Museum this time!  If you have lovely weather (as we did, actually hot everywhere during our sailing) don't miss out on at least strolling through town!

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2 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Victoria is beautiful and not to be missed - I don't recommend staying on the ship.  I've never had a stay there that's lasted as long as on Ovation (we were on Ovation in June), and while we've been to Victoria before, this was the first time we had so much time to explore. We just walked off of the ship and went downtown, explored the shops, restaurants and bars - we even went to the Miniature Museum this time!  If you have lovely weather (as we did, actually hot everywhere during our sailing) don't miss out on at least strolling through town!

Thanks for the tip!  I'm all for walking around the port, so we'll definitely do that then.

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Just got off the Ovation about 3 hours ago, I’m actually posting this from SEA-TAC Airport.

I hope you get good weather so the ship can go into Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. We had to turn back because of the fog.

I hope the sky will be clear in Juneau when you get there. Some passengers saw the Northern Lights; I didn’t because I fell asleep while waiting for them to appear.  That’s one of my greatest regrets on this cruise. I asked a lady to Airdrop pictures she took of them.

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For the White Pass Train Ride in Skagway,  if at all possible, get the last car.  That way, you get to see both sides of the railroad. I stayed on the back platform for most of the ride. FYI, it was very windy and chilly.

On the left side, you will see the mountains and the waterfalls.  On the right you see the valley and the ravines.

In Victoria, you might want to visit the Buchart Gardens, it’s a visual feast.

 

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4 hours ago, RatedPG said:

I hope the sky will be clear in Juneau when you get there. Some passengers saw the Northern Lights; I didn’t because I fell asleep while waiting for them to appear.  That’s one of my greatest regrets on this cruise. I asked a lady to Airdrop pictures she took of them.

My Sister-in-law is reeeeally hoping to see the Northern Lights - well, we all are, but she's the most excited I think lol.  

That's really a shame about the fog.... that's going to be one of things I'm also looking forward to most.  I can understand how you'd be bummed.  

Thanks again for all your tips, they're really appreciated!

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3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Have a great trip @firebuck!  Going to find some poutine this time? lol

Haha we shall see!  I'm sure there's gotta be some decent poutine in BC somewhere, right??  I noticed that on the menu for the restaurant in Victoria that @SpeedNoodles recommended that there is a seafood poutine... I'm not a seafood fan, but fries, cheese curds and gravy can make anything taste good!

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On ‎9‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 12:45 PM, firebuck said:

Awesome!  Thanks so much for the tip, I'll definitely remember that!  

These live blogs definitely help the post cruise blues!  We usually cruise once a year, so it helps a lot during the dry dock phase!

I'm in my dry dock phase after having our vacation last month.  We don't know what our plans are yet for next year and it's oh so depressing.  Take heart in knowing your blog is keeping me alive! lol

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It’s cruise day!!

 

We arrived in Seattle yesterday around 10 AM and hopped the link light rail ($3.00 per person) from the airport to the University Street stop which was about a half of a mile walk to our hotel which is very near the Public Market area.

Arriving prior to check-in, our room understandably wasn’t ready but we were able to drop our bags off at the hotel, and were given several restaurant recommendations for lunch.  We settled on The Virginia Inn for  some comfort food and a decent local draft beer list as well.   After lunch we walked around the Pike Place area.

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Some really good people watching down by the water...

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As a frequent customer of their franchise locations, of course I had to visit the original Starbucks location.  There was a line to get in and when I arrived it  was about 15 people deep, but it went fairly quickly.

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After a bit more walking around and exploring we met up with Polly and Sheri at the Edgewater Hotel for happy hour in the lounge which had great views of the sunset last night.8B711065-AB1E-48AD-AAB5-255C24CBB6D8.thumb.jpeg.9019469d9a55267f9ad0f8d876244f2c.jpeg

Yesterday was a lonnng day, having woken up at 3:30 AM to catch our flight and losing 3 hours to the time change, we were completely zonked our by 8:30PM local time.  

Now it’s time to get ready, grab a bite to eat at a place near us called “The Biscuit Bitch” (How we not try that?) and Uber over to the Port!  We’re aiming for a 10 AM arrival.  Will update more from Pier 91!

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Good morning from.... somewhere in the Pacific!

If It weren't so chilly, I'd swear we were on our way to some tropical island!

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So let me go back in time a bit here and talk about boarding.  Pier 91 seemed very organized and efficient.  We hailed a Lyft from our hotel around 9:30 and were at the port in about 10 minutes.  We passed the throngs of sad-that-their-cruise-ended passengers, dropped our bags off with the porter and waited for Polly and Sheri to arrive.  We followed the signs for the key priority check-in where we showed our passports as well as our seapasses to the attendants.  They scanned everything in with Ipads, took our picture and put a check in complete sticker on our seapasses.  We were then sent upstairs and bypassed the larger check-in line where we were ushered to our priority seating area which was a combined space for Pinnacles, Diamond Plus, Suites and Key members.  At around 10:45, the ship was cleared for new passengers.  They called the suites first, and I think maybe a few people got up, then right after they called for everyone else in the priority area to board.  We weren't the first people on the ship, but it was close!

After boarding, we immediately went to a specialty restaurant to make our reservations for the 3 night package.  We chose Jamie's Italian, Wonderland and Chops, starting with Jamies on night 2.

Having been onboard Ovation's sister ship, the Anthem last year, we already had the lay of the land, and she felt really familiar. I also realized that I wasn't taking as many pictures as usual due to the familiarity, so I need to step up my picture game starting today!  We went up to the Solarium where I had my first drink of the day, the Kraken lava flow!

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After a bit, we headed down to deck 3 where key members were able to drop their carry-ons and get their key letters which contained the wifi access codes.  Right after, they welcomed us to lunch in The Grande dining room where they served a special Chops lunch menu for key members only.  

No pictures, unfortunately, but I ordered the filet, Polly ordered the Branzino, and everyone else ordered burgers.  You really can't beat that Chops filet (although I know @Lovetocruise2002 would beg to differ).

Next, we went to the opposite side of the ship to show Polly and Sheri Two70.   I think the Solarium and Two70 have to be my favorite spots on Quantum class ships.Two70.thumb.jpg.550853bed1c2375151476964bc1bce59.jpg

We got the call that our rooms were ready at around 1:30 PM, so we headed up shortly after to take a look.  Our luggage wasn't there when we arrived, but as we were leaving to do some more exploring I spotted it down the hall clustered with a lot of other bags, so I went down and grabbed them.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the ship, experiencing the different venues complete with a visit to my friends, the robotic bartenders Mix and Mingle

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After a few more drinks and a visit to Sorrentos for a pre-dinner slice of pizza, we headed up to the rooms to unpack before dinner.

Here's a view from our balcony of the coastline:

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Dinner tonight was in the MDR, and of course they offered the standard night one menu:

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I can't recall what everyone else got, but I went with @Matt's suggestion from our last cruise and got the spaghetti bolognese!  It did not disappoint. 

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After dinner, more exploring. Hearing a live cover band in the music hall (didn't catch the name) we stopped in for a listen.  They were pretty good!  

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At 10 PM, there was an Adults only comedy show featured in the Royal Theatre, so we decided to go, hoping to further acclimate to the time difference.  No offense to the comedian, (he was actually pretty good) but I was nodding off during the show, so clearly, it was time for bed.

 

Today is a sea day so there should be lots of good activities around the ship.

 

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8 hours ago, twangster said:

No matter how many pictures I take, I can never do it justice. To experience Alaska you have to sail to Alaska. 

Now you can see why I love Alaska cruising so much.    :) 

This is what I’ve been telling my friends. There’s no way pictures can ever capture the majestic views of Alaska.

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Apologies for the lack of updates - I’m finding that an Alaskan cruise is not your typical laid back Caribbean cruise.  Up early, out late.  You definitely don’t want to miss anything!  Stay tuned for more pictures and updates later.  Now it’s off to Skagway and the White Pass railway.

Here’s a taste of yesterday’s Mendenhall visit.

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So unfortunately our cruise suffered the same fate as that of @RatedPG's - there was too much fog on the approach to the Dawes glacier, so the Captain turned us around in search of whales instead.  Now that today's more of an extra sea day, I'm sitting on my balcony looking for whales and catching up on my blog.

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Let's rewind all the way back to":

Day 2: Sea Day

We woke up early to catch the first sunrise of the cruise and it did not disappoint - I didn't have my phone at the time, so there are unfortunately no pictures.

Much of the morning was spent viewing the Canadian coastline from different vantage points.

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I was even able to catch a bit of a rainbow

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If you sail on Ovation or any other Royal Caribbean ship for that matter, make sure to take time to look at the amazing art all around.  There are plenty of paintings, sculptures and other forms of media around pretty much everywhere you look. 

This is one of my favorite pieces in the Via on the way to Two70

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And of course, the pandas are not to be missed!

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Today was a mix of watching the scenery go by on the starboard side and exploring different venues around the ship including my favorite, The Schooner Bar

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Jamie's Italian 

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One thing I noticed on this ship that I didn't realize, or maybe it wasn't offered on my Anthem sailing last year, but Vintages onboard the Ovation offers Coffee

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Since Vintages is next door to Jamie's Italian, they offer  some small appetizers from Jamie's around dinner time.  These appetizers range anywhere from 3 to 5 dollars and include a miniature version of their meat plank, garlic bread, music bread, Italian bread basket, squid and bruschetta.  

I had reservations for the North Star at noon, but we were in an intense game of bingo and I lost all track of time.  Luckily, since it was a sea day I found a time slot that didn't require reservations so I arrived early and stood in line.

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The day was drawing to a close which meant that it was time to experience another sunset.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of these types of views.

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We had reservations tonight in Jamie's Italian and it did not disappoint - they bring out so much food.

Meat Plank:

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Dessert plank:

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After dinner we went to the headliner show in the Royal Theatre.  The performer, Nate Thompson did a tribute to some old school rock 'n roll classics.  He was very energetic and really got the crowd into it.

After the headliner show, I went to the other end of the ship to Two70 for the 70's disco party.

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As it was getting late, I didn't stay very long - had to be up early tomorrow to catch our approach into our first stop, Juneau!

 

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9 minutes ago, firebuck said:

So unfortunately our cruise suffered the same fate as that of @RatedPG's - there was too much fog on the approach to the Dawes glacier, so the Captain turned us around in search of whales instead.  Now that today's more of an extra sea day, I'm sitting on my balcony looking for whales and catching up on my blog.

Sorry to hear that!  My waiter told me that such things happen as the cruising season is coming to a close.  I hated the sound of the horn as we were going through the fog, constantly reminding me of what I've missed at Endicott Arm.  Time to look into another Alaskan cruise, maybe June-July.

Did you go on the iFly?

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