chefestelle

35 minutes ago, CruisinGirl777 said:

I just came off this cruise so I will be interested to watch. 

Any observations you want to share? Things to watch for/prepare for either good, bad or just interesting?

Hello all! I'm so excited about this upcoming cruise that I decided to start a Live From thread. I know the internet is really poor as we cruise north but I will do my best to post my first experiences of Alaska. 

I am travelling with my sister. Her birthday is August 4 so this is her birthday cruise and my 60th birthday present to myself. We're going to have a blast. This cruise was on her bucket list and I was happy to tag along. Any cruise is a good cruise!

Over the last few days I have started receiving information about vaccine requirements, boarding time, and changes to the itinerary. I've also been reading other live reports to see how things are doing in Alaska right now. There have been some excursion cancellations and itinerary changes that seem to be driven by labour and supply issues. Hopefully these will be sorted before August! If not, we will have to roll with the changes. 

We are in a signature suite - I'm too uncomfortable with closed spaces for an inside or ocean view. After booking a veranda, my TA found a deal on suites. So I took it. I do love the suites on HAL. 

Sis has occasional mobility challenges with long walks, so we are bringing her walker. But our excursions are both on boats, so there won't be any problems there. We booked the Tracy Arm Inlet for the Juneau stretch, and salmon fishing in Ketchikan. She is an avid fisher and I like it well enough to join her. We are also looking forward to the sightings of wildlife on sea, air and land. 

I'm already planning my packing list and have added all three spots to my weather app. Let's hope for some of the gorgeous weather the spring cruisers had! I'm coming prepared, though, because I gather August is the rainy season. 

And that's all I have for now. One month and seventeen days to go!

On 6/6/2022 at 7:51 AM, JessyCruises said:

 

Let's try this again...

 

I LOVE Cats!  I think John&Lala and I are among the few cheerleaders.  I think its a fantastic show.  I was the 1st show I ever saw on Broadway back in 1992. I actually got to sit in the section that was right onstage.  I have seen it a couple times on tour and I have lost count of how many times I have seen it on Oasis.

Cats was the very first live production I ever went to that was not ballet or classical opera. I LOVED IT. It opened my mind to the pure joy of Broadway shows. Awesome. I still love opera and ballet but I also love so much more! It's like when I saw Wicked at Gershwin. Some magic happens and it stays with you. So count me in your crowd. 

2 hours ago, victoriaj said:

Taxi from the Airport to Cruise Terminal is by far your best mode of travel and they have a flat rate between the Airport and Cruise Terminal. Recommend you check that out as the Skytrain would be a difficult option under your circumstances, excellent if physically fit and travelling with little luggage to handle the walk at the Cruise end.

I have to agree with Victoriaj for sure. The skytrain is wheelchair accessible and the route goes close to the port, but the crowds can be crushing and the doors move fast for someone hauling luggage and assisting with a wheelchair. If the wheelchair is powered or is streamlined for activity, it would be a good option, I think. Lots of people take the skytrain with luggage but I personally only take it if I have a small amount. Good luck!

August 3 Zuiderdam 7 day inside passage to Alaska from Vancouver and I can't wait!

9 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:

World Cruise Day 157/163 Scenic Scandinavia - Gdańsk, Poland - A good day despite the liquid sunshine


https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/05/world-cruise-day-157163-scenic.html

The photo of you two under the umbrella at Neptune's statute is my favourite so far. It says everything with the joy in your faces: rain or shine. Thank you for sharing this awesome voyage through thick and thin!

5 hours ago, Ragdollbd said:

You have to try this with Clamato juice instead of tomato.  Ask them to add couple dashes of worstershire sauce, 3 or 4 dashes of tobasco, celery stalk, olives, pickles or anything else they have behind the bar.  Bloody Ceasar.  Delicious.  It's Canadian but the last time I was on a cruise they had Clamato juice.

Yes! They're the best. Especially a pickled Caesar (my daughter, who make the BEST Caesars, introduced me to them). They are all of the above plus pickle juice. 

What an excellent plan! I was confused by the 163 but now I see! 

8 hours ago, sgmn said:

 

Bet you're happy to be finally on your way home after such an interesting holiday. Thank you for all your updates. I hope it hasn't put you off holidaying in the UK and we see you over here again soon

For my part, seeing their unexpected UK vacation makes me want to add a land trip in the not too distant future! It looked like an awesome holiday.

Yay for the job! Blasted covid has hit us everywhere... and I think the ends of the hair look very nice

1 hour ago, arctickitty said:

Carnival Splendor Alaska Cruise Day 2

 

Gym & Spa

 

The pictures for this section aren’t too exciting but I’ll clump some other gym/spa comments into here.

 

Spa Tour

 

At the recommendation from folks on here, we went on a spa tour the first day.  I misunderstood and thought it was an event at a specific time, not a continuous sales pitch and I got really confused trying to ask what time the spa tour would be.  I enjoyed seeing the fancy heated rooms and would recommend getting a spa cabin or a cruise long pass if you like that sort of thing and have a bunch of sea days.  She let us sit in the tile lounger things and they were surprisingly comfortable.  There are rooms with different temperatures and features and it all looked really relaxing.  She said this is the only Carnival ship with that many different rooms.  It was $149 for the whole cruise, which doesn’t seem bad for an 8 day like mine, but I had so much other stuff I want to do.  
 

Fitness Classes (or not)

 

We met the fitness instructor and I liked his attitude but pegged him as more of a spin guy than yoga, so I figured spin would be his best class.  The fitness class schedule was quite thin so it didn’t seem worth it to pay for their classes or get a pass when there’s so much else to do and I absolutely wouldn’t go to a class when the ship was in port.  There were free stretching and abs classes most mornings.  I tried to go the first morning and it was super crowded, so I didn’t try again.  It seemed like most of the instructor’s time was taken up by giving speeches and “classes” about selling you things.
 

Gym Equipment

 

I was surprised there were only a few types of machines: treadmills, ellipticals, and a few each of two types of bikes.  They kept the spin bikes (which were just ordinary bikes) locked up so you couldn’t use them.  Of the 3 regular bikes, one was broken.  There was no hand cycle. for someone wanting to do arm cardio or someone with a lower limb disability.  There were no other types of machines for variety.  There was a weights circuit area and a set of free weights, but the pounds all started higher than I would use if I was going to ride a bike and hold weights at the same time.  They had some bosu balls and foam rollers and whatnot.
 

The View Outside (Or Lack Of)

 

The windows stopped too low and you couldn’t actually see outside directly in front of you while on a machine.  I thought the whole point of a gym at sea was to enjoy the ocean views!  I heard others complain about the lack of a view.

 

Locker Rooms

 

These are indeed very nice as CC members have said.  I was tempted to try the idea to shower there but I could not find any towels larger than small sweat towels.  I even asked at the front counter and the answer was “We have plenty of towels everywhere.”  I searched two different days and never saw any.  I dispatched Special Someone into the mens’ bathroom and he didn’t find any, either, so how to shower at the gym remained a mystery unsolved by us.  
 

Salon

 

We had two very different salon experiences.  
 

Special Someone decided he wanted a hair cut before the first formal night and booked it on board.  He said the price was higher than at home but not crazy.  He let his guy talk him into some sort of face massage or wash something that he enjoyed.  He was happy with his experience.

 

I’m not a product girl or a girly girl but in the interest of trying new things, I let him buy me an appointment called The Red Carpet.  He paid for it in advance.  This was supposed to include “an image consultation,” a wash/head massage/blow out, an Elemis eye thing and a face/skin thing called California glow.  I had a horrible time.  The salon chair had me right under this bright light that shone right into my eyeball and gave me a headache.  Special Someone asked why I didn’t ask them to turn the light off and I said it’s her workspace, I assumed she needed the light!  I feel like she spent most of the time digging around in her drawers, presumably looking for things.  She seemed very shy and not comfortable talking.  I was expecting a friendly person who would chat and set me at ease.  I’ve only had one other salon experience as an adult and that’s what the stylist did.  That other experience was positive and relaxing and more

effective than therapy.  As far as washing my hair, she did do that, but as far as the massage part I never felt anything different from washing my hair.  I suspect she lacked technique because I thought it was supposed to be relaxing but it wasn’t.  I did try to relax.  I tried really hard, but that dang light and all the noise from her digging through her drawers every two minutes.  At some point she handed me a card and ordered me to fill it out.  It was a list of things I don’t like about my hair, none of which are problems I have.  In retrospect, I suppose that was the “image consultation.”  Then she blow dried my hair.  I suppose that’s the blow out part.  I didn’t really know what to expect from a blow out but I thought it was supposed to make your hair fluffy or something but I didn’t see any difference.  The only thing I’ve ever owned a blow dryer for was for thawing frozen locks and pipes so I have no way to judge the blowing part.  Then she got out a curling iron.  This may be my total ignorance but nowhere did what I purchased say anything about a curling iron.  If I wanted to curl my hair, I would have put it in twists while it was wet and let it dry that way.  Anyway, she curled my hair.  Then she sprayed hair spray all over me.  Again, maybe this is my ignorance but I did not realize a blow out involved hair spray.  After the hair spray she stood me up and sent me our front where I stood for awhile and then the manager looked in the computer and then said I was good to go.  Special Someone looked really excited to see me but I couldn’t wait to escape even though I was pretty sure I hadn’t gotten what he’d paid for.  The end result?  I had wavy hair, kind of gentle twists.  Special Someone really liked it but it kind of drove me crazy because every time I touched my hair, which I normally do, I touched the hair spray and then tried to remind myself to not touch my hair.  It also felt strange and just not me.  We talked about it a lot and I was not interested in going back and talking to the manager.  I do feel like the stylist had not been properly trained but I did not want her to get in trouble.  I also did not want them to offer me a do over.  I was not interested in spending any more time on it than I felt like I’d already lost.  Special Someone planned to go up and talk to the manager but he got busy the last sea day and never went.  For me, I would consider going to a salon on land for a special occasion in the future but I’d probably need to see positive Yelp reviews or word of mouth, but I can’t see that I would try it on a cruise ship again because it costs so much more and like the MDR food, you never know what you’re going to get.

 

 

Since I was missing a sprint distance triathlon at home, I told myself I needed to complete the same distances onboard the ship.  The first sea day I completed my cycling miles.  I needed 13.1 and did about 15 although it took me about 3 hours to get it down because most exercise bikes make my funny leg go numb (I generally don’t have this problem in spin class or on a real bike) so I had to get off about every 10 minutes and walk it off and I just couldn’t ride as hard as I would have on a real bike or a spin bike.  
 

 

This was my first gym outfit complete with the dress code compliant over-shirt, that I boldly removed once I got warmed up.  If people can wear bikinis at a swimming pool, why can’t I wear workout clothes in a gym?  Also in this picture is my hydration pack which I wore EVERYWHERE on the ship.  I didn’t care how weird I looked.  I didn’t care if people assumed I was such an alcoholic I needed to have a tube near my mouth at all times, but for me, the hydration pack was a key to keeping me healthy and happy.  Related to my leg, I get dehydrated if you look at me funny, so it helped me so much to have water near me at all times and I didn’t have to look for it or ask for it or use my hands to hold it and try to keep from spilling it.  It also had just enough space for a few essentials without bogging me down with a day pack. 
 

Oh, one last comment on the hairdo.  It didn’t hold.  The waves came out before the night was over and I didn’t even do anything crazy.  I’d thought it would last longer.  #ripoff

 

But what do you all think?  Am I way off base in my reaction to my red carpet experience?

You aren't off base. Your base involves a blow dryer that thaws locks. People who usually use the red carpet treatment use hair dryers to dry their hair. For you, it's an uncomfortable time in a chair. For them, it's a divine pampering that they don't have to do themselves. I used to have to blow dry my hair every day to look professional. My covid cut involves greying out and growing out. No more hair dryer. But last winter was cold so I keep the hair dryer in case the locks freeze... I venture to say the red carpet treatment is probably pretty common across ships but the stylist/consultant makes the same service seem different. 

3 hours ago, arctickitty said:

Now we are going to have one of those topical interludes that may pop up from time to time.  I try to keep my face and name off the internet,  but what I’ve done is duplicated some of my pictures and just cropped my head off.  This leaves me weirdly disembodied but I think they’re still valuable illustrations.

 

Here is ArcticKitty!:

 

 

This is me dressed up in Alaska.  (Not to be confused with Alaska dressed up, which is when one wears boots with their leggings).   The above dress up outfit is because I had an important meeting and the person who was the bossy boss of the meeting likes the outdoors so I needed to look respectable but not too much.  I would dress like this for a conference.  My job normally virtually mandates leggings and Tshirts.  This works out because I don’t have to change to go to the gym.

 

Now why this is relevant is that I kept saying to Special Someone that “everyone” on Cruise Critic is going to think I’m super fat once I start posting pictures of all the food I eat.  As a guy, I don’t think he understands the lifetime of judgement I’ve faced over food.  
 

He suggested I just post a smiley face over my real face but I’m paranoid someone could remove the digital sticker.  He says this isn’t possible but I don’t trust technology.  
 

I’ve had a self image of being fat ever since kindergarten when the other little girls told me so.  I will fast forward through all of the other backstory and explanation, and really people should be happy and healthy in whatever their bodies are, but I also have worked really hard to increase my fitness level over the past two years, and in the course of doing that, I lost 55 pounds and have made significant improvements on permanent health conditions I have.  I’ve been frustrated with a lot of my clothes being too big because I didn’t want to allocate much of my budget for new clothes, but this trip was a good excuse to buy some fun items.  I never thought I would be a person who enjoys working out let alone someone who’s idea of a bad day pick-me-up is buying a cute workout outfit, but that’s the person I’ve become and I’m not complaining.  
 

There’s virtually nowhere to shop near where I live, but lucky for me, there is always workout clothes and they’re always going on sale.  (I swear these tangents all lead back to cruising.). The gym here has a dress code that precludes half the workout outfits sold right next door.  🤣🤣🤣. In order to comply, I typically have to wear an extra shirt on top of everything.  (Which kind of defeats the point doesn’t it?). So I was looking forward to wearing the cute clothes as intended on the cruise.  Additionally, Special Someone wanted to go the whole 99 yards for the formal nights so we got me a bunch of blingy dresses at a thrift store.

 

 

That’s what I wound up wearing for the second formal night, when hardly anyone else dressed up.  We forgot to take any pictures, so I’m showing you a pre-cruise try-on picture.  My sister was rude about it. She did not approve.

 

And there was one person who was rude to me about my appearance on the ship.  The first time Special Someone got in a hot tub, I just couldn’t do it.  We are both comfortable doing our own thing, but I could tell he wanted me to come with him.  I knew he’d have a great time, and he did, but it would have been better with me.  Why couldn’t I?  I’ve never really worn a bikini in public, and that’s all I brought, and I just didn’t feel brave enough to do it.

 

The second time, however, that Special Someone was in a hot tub, I decided to join him after he’d been in there awhile.  It was completely fine.  At first.  This woman old enough to have adult children was talking to us and I can’t for the life of me remember how the conversation got there, but Special Someone commented, “She’s in better shape than I am.”  And this lady, who knew his occupation, said to him, “Then how do you pass your fitness tests?”  
 

How rude this was didn’t hurt me until much later and I was really glad I didn’t catch it then.  Cuss words lady, how do you know I couldn’t pass the same kind of fitness tests?  What kind of assumption led you to that?  Sure, I have to work really hard at it, but really, you have no idea who I am or where I have come from.  We haven’t gotten to this part of the cruise yet, but I think this occurred the same day I ran a 5K on the deck just for kicks, and I’m a person a lot of doctors said could never run.  So, yes, I have lots of cuss words for this lady.  And choice hand gestures.  But I’m glad I didn’t realize it in the moment and just kept relaxing in the hot tub while Special Someone told her about how we’re training for a triathlon together.  

Imagine the gall! I think it speaks a lot more about you that you didn't catch the snark (a positive attitude about yourself, body and abilities clearly being the reason for that) than it does about her (even though there isn't much to be said for her, there is much to be said for what you have overcome!)

Happy Birthday! Thanks for the gift of your thread!

7 hours ago, Crew News said:

The menu is the same since last year.  and it should not change for a year or two.  I ate their tonight and the Dover Sole was amazing.  Here is the link to the pop-up menu:  Rudi's Sel de Mer pop-up

Thank you! I've been eyeing the Dover Sole since so many people rave about it!

Hi Crew News. I've been hanging on every post since you embarked. I'm doing the Alaska cruise in August with my sister. I've booked us for the pop up Rudi's Sel de Mar. Are you able to post on your other site what the menu is? Do you know if it is the same for the season? Many thanks! 

7 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

There's a good chance that it is false positive and hope to confirm that once in Southampton,  not that it makes a difference. 

 

We can only do the best we can and hopefully the cases in Europe will continue to drop.   I was watching the Morning News from San Francisco that cases and hospitalization  are up 110% in the past month, starting a surge that was seen in Europe a month ago. 

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear your news (though I am happy you are asymptomatic!). I've been reading these posts daily and have very much enjoyed your journey. 

A question: I thought false negatives were common but false positives were rare. Is this  "good chance" specific to the tests Viking uses? 

On 4/12/2022 at 7:37 AM, graphicguy said:

So, unfinished business before the cruise laundry and last minute planning begins.

 

Still have an upgrade pending.  Just did a quick look-see and it appears there are about 50 cabins total available.  I think only 4-5 are Jr Suites (one of my bids).  No full suites available.  So, looks like an upgrade ain’t happening.  But, am just fine with that.

 

Fully vaccinated and boosted.

 

A bit of a question surrounding Covid testing.  I will get tested before I leave the U.S.  But, we sail on Thursday.  I leave on Wednesday to fly into Vancouver (early a.m.).  That means, I test on Tuesday.  I have received two different answers from Royal Customer service.  One, the test results from a Tuesday test will be accepted.  Another said testing on Tuesday is one day and flying in on Wednesday makes day 2 (2 days being the maximum time for testing before embarkation).  I guess I could call again, but what good would another “opinion” be at the pier?

 

Unless I get a definitive answer, I’m making back up plans.  Not sure how far either of these places are from my Vancouver hotel (JW Marriott Parq Vancouver, 39 Smithe St), but looks like they’re no more than walking or taxi distance….

 

https://fast-test.ca/locations/

 

https://covidtravelvancouver.ca/

 

So, already used up my OBC.  Booked the 2 specialty restaurants special and bought the highest internet available for the week.

 

Looks like there aren’t many discounts on the excursions.  Plus, it doesn’t look like they’re selling out very quickly.  Still mulling over which I might want to do (open for suggestions….Royal Sponsored or not).

 

Debating buying new skivvies for this trip….. 😉

 

 

Your only real options of those locations are the Pan Pacific (it's at the pier) or the Hotel Vancouver. Either one is a nice walk if you're not planning on testing the day you're boarding. Smithe St is a bit far from those locations to be dragging luggage. 

15 hours ago, louise1809 said:

Loving your beautiful photos. Have you read A thousand splendid suns by Khalid Hosseini? It is my favourite book of all time. Also, Cupcake Brown, A piece of cake is very good. 

He also wrote The Kite Runner. 

https://roseandtedsexcellentadventure.com/2022/01/17/episode-167-back-to-cabo/

Is there secret inside information behind Countess or have I just come back to Cruise Critic after too long to understand the reference?

I know what you both mean by the colour contrasts sometimes being hard (my old eyes don't like small print colour on colour) but I must say I find the Kolbs blog page attractive. Of course, I'm also just really keen to read all!

17 minutes ago, rose.mandaubrooks said:

It’s all about learning, eating, and making new friends

http://roseandtedsexcellentadventure.com/2022/01/21/episode-170-sometimes-its-cheesy/

I am really loving your blog. Thank you so much for writing it. I'm also following Kolbs on the Road and Round the World Writer. I live for new posts! Does anyone know if I'm missing any from this world cruise? 

2 minutes ago, RICHARDandSTEFAN said:

Just my iPhone 11 Pro 

Wow! Did you have to change the settings for those night shots? They're so clear!

7 hours ago, RICHARDandSTEFAN said:

An evening at the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti. I’ll try to upload video of CC allows it. 

Lovely photos! What camera and settings did you use?

8 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Ok reality reminder. Sitting at the comedy club and I started getting crazy texts. 
“Are you ok?”

”Oh you are still on vacation!” 
we are talking from pre k teachers, neighbors, everyone at home. We have 70 mph winds right now and apparently a fire broke out. I lost it for about 30 minutes. They sent pictures. Fire was everywhere. All around. Every side of our house, but the volunteer fire departments were on it. Apparently, it was stopped feet from our house. Watched the house cameras and they were trying to evacuate us. Flashlights shining every where in windows and doors. It was an emotional rollercoaster.  Still is but I am at 13. 

What a horrible shock! And such a helpless feeling. So glad your home was saved and that you had so many people looking out for you!