Btimmer

IMPORTANT INFO Be sure to print your baggage tags before getting to the terminal. It will save a tremendous amount of time. If you want to follow my daily blog which contains more descriptive information and very few pictures, the link is: http://timmerq2a2022.blogspot.com

I am on the Quantum currently and at the port talk this morning the presenter said for the Glacier excursion, it will take you back to Juneau where you will arrive before the ship. He said don't book shore excursions in Juneau departing before 2pm.

There were signs everywhere for it, but nobody asked for it, so I didn't show it. We've traveled to Canada previously so we were familiar with the app and even on that land crossing the border guard really didn't ask for it either.

There's way more storage than we have ever experienced in any other stateroom. Lots of drawers, 2 closets, and 4 large overhead bins with lift up lids. We are very impressed with the cabin. The bathroom is a bit tiny with very narrow shelving. It does have a dim night light so we won't need to use the little candle light you shared with us a few cruises ago.

Our boarding time was 2-2:30pm and we were in line at 1:30pm. There was no mention of check in times whatsoever.

Here's day 1's cruise compass. There's a lot going on.

We've now finished our first day onboard. It was certainly a different experience from our HAL cruises (which is okay). First, embarkation took 1.5 hours. There were 7 queues, and the lines actually moved reasonably quickly. There were at least 1,000 people ahead of us when we joined the queue. Once we reached the passport & Covid checkpoint, it went fast. Second the muster drill was completed online and we just needed to visit our muster station. Easy peasy. The buffet was closed so we enjoyed an excellent pizza at Sorentos. The accompanying salad was off the chart tasty. We departed at 4:30pm and then remained motionless in the Seattle harbor. Sometime during dinner we got underway. Speaking of dinner, we reported to our assigned table in the MDR. They had us assigned to a table for 8 which was unacceptable. We were re-assigned to a table for 6 with two couples from El Paso, TX. It was really a delightful time. My escargot, mushroom soup, and prime rib was excellent. The showroom show was a comedian, Steve McGrew, and he was really funny. Mike, the cruise director, also introduced himself. The ship appears pretty full with virtually no masking except for the crew. Now for the bad news and the good news. Our sole shore excursion for Victoria was cancelled. So we redeployed those funds to purchase the internet package so I'll be able to be more Almost Live than I expected. I'll leave you with pictures of our balcony stateroom and the pizza meal. My wife says she could get used to this! Feel free to ask any questions. We are really impressed so far.

We're with a few thousand of our closest new friends at checkin. This is the largest line we have ever been in. It's going relatively fast.

Yes. Once you purchase the eMed.com AT HOME tests, there's no further charges. They do have a shipping charge however.

We have done 4 of the emed tests and they are very easy to do. We just did one yesterday for a cruise beginning today. No appointments are needed and the wait time is generally very short especially if you do the test in the afternoon or early evening.

I'll have photos, probably lots of them. Yes, I booked direct for this short cruise. A friend is driving us to the cruise terminal. I'll also be doing my daily blog although it might not get posted online every day. I'll put a link in this thread. Thanks for asking.

The itinerary shows us in Victoria from 5-10pm. The excursion is a ship excursion lasting 4 hours and 15 minutes. That's all I know.

Yes, I'm keen on how RCCL handles passengers at embarkation and port stops. On the Harmony cruise, it was wonderful and didn't feel like 5k people were there. We also will compare the food offerings. We hope to experience some specialty restaurants as well as the complimentary offerings.

We've not visited it, but we may this trip.

We've only sailed on RCCL once previously, but a nice fare came up at the last minute for a quick one week trip to Alaska on the Quantum of the Seas. So, tomorrow, my wife and I are boarding the Quantum in Seattle on Monday afternoon for a 7 day Alaska trip with port stops at Icy Straight, Skagway, Juneau, and Victoria, BC. We passed our Covid 19 tests today, we're vaxed and boosted; and we're looking forward to experiencing our second RCCL ship (first was the Harmony of the Seas in 2017 and we really liked the ship even with 5k passengers onboard). We're really looking forward to comparing and contrasting this ship with our normal Holland America ships. As far as the itinerary goes, we've done a number of Alaska cruises and only the Icy Straight port is new to us and Skagway to my wife. We're not purchasing the internet package so I'll only update this thread at our port stops. Hence the words, "Not Very Almost Live" in the thread title. Stay tuned.

Personally, I recommend a visit to the Mendenhall Glacier and the upside down tree forest. Transportation or a tour is required. Within walking distance are the following: If the weather is clear, a ride up the Mt. Roberts tramway is excellent. In town, the Red Dog Saloon and the Baranoff Hotel (under renovation) are scenic spots. The Governor's mansion is just outside downtown. HTH, see you on board.

We board tomorrow, and while this is a last minute trip, we've done much of this itinerary several times previously so we're looking forward more to the RCCL ship experience. In Icy Straight, we're taking the shuttle to town, and exploring it. I grew up in Juneau, so we're exploring it by foot. Depending upon the weather, we may take the tram. In Skagway we're planning to walk around. I rode my motorcycle there from Seattle a few years back and enjoyed the town. In Victoria we're doing the Castle and Buchart Gardens ship tour. Thank you Twangster for all the great pictures and commentary about your voyage.

Thanks for your postings and pictures. We board next Monday, 5/16 and it'll be our second ever RCCL cruise after many, many HAL sea days. We're most intrigued by the ship and its offerings as we've been to the ports many times (except Skagway).

Correct, I was not asked for it yesterday when I completed my ArrivCan input for our upcoming Monday cruise.

We're also going rogue after nearly 700 days on HAL and departing on the RCCL Quantum of the Seas on Monday 5/16 for a week long Alaska trip. We don't care about the ports as we've visited them a number of times previously and we have an upcoming Noordam cruise to them this July. We even sprung for a balcony as the fare was so reasonable. Now, can we enjoy a cruise with 4k of our closest new friends. I'll report back with one of my "Almost Live" threads. We've never sailed on Princess, so we're looking forward to your observations.

On our trip, we've only signed up for the Buchart Gardens/Castle tour as the flowers ought to be very pretty this time of year.

If you get there before your assigned boarding time, drop off your luggage; and assuming your carry on items are not large, there's lots to see around Canada Place. I'd aim to be at the pier at 1pm ish.

Thanks for your post as we are also going rogue on the Quantum on 5/16. We'll do it from the perspective of nearly 700 days on HAL most recently a month on the Zuiderdam in January, 2022 on a SD-FLL Panama Canal Round trip cruise. We'll be in a balcony cabin midship although on HAL we typically only book an aft inside cabin as we're never there. The rate was too good to pass up. We've done Alaska many times so the ports are not of as much interest as what the ship is like. We have sailed on the Harmony of the Seas a few years ago and actually liked the ship. I'll also do my review after we return.

I would add that one can purchase the lower tier package for the bulk of the cruise, and then purchase onboard an upgrade for the day one needs the video capability. We've done that on prior cruises.

My wife is a SUPER DuoLingo fangirl and a retired foreign language teacher. She has 900 continuous days as of this writing. She keeps up using HAL's middle internet package. Next week is going to be a challenge as we're headed out on a RCCL cruise to Alaska in a few weeks. We'll have internet every other day on shore and are not planning to purchase the ship's internet.