aring75

Just received notification that our Move Up bid was not accepted. Didn’t think it would be since I made the minimum bid. But we were happy enough with our room, so we’re good with it! We spend a lot of time out on deck on an Alaskan itinerary, so we’ll save the nicer rooms for the longer cruises. Delta says we can upgrade to First Class on this leg for $923. Each.

Our checked bag (I never can do carry-on only when it’s Alaska) was 3 lbs. over the limit. Figures. We were able to move a couple of things to the carry-ons, but now we are stuffed. Fingers crossed that we don’t get yelled at for my bad packing skills. 😩

This is what I love to hear!! Thanks for the tips @cmoore5524!

Made it to the airport a little early. When I booked our flight, I didn’t give much thought to morning traffic on the way to the airport. Left an hour earlier than necessary to miss the worst of it. But, so far so good with the flight. Let’s hope it stays that way!

How fun! Traveling with your grandson. And I’m jealous you’re so close! We are pretty close to the Port of Tampa, so we love sailing from “home” too.

We’ve taken the White Pass Railway in Skagway. And we’ve helicoptered to the top of Taku glacier. We are looking forward to trying out new things this visit!

I take LOTS of pictures! I’ll definitely share everything I find. And congrats on the Aqua Suite deal. That’s great!

We’ve done whale watching in Juneau. The sheer size of the humpbacks never ceases to amaze me! I mean, just look at that tail compared to the boat in the background!

As I said, we’ve been to Alaska three times before. Twice on Solstice for a quick 7-night from Seattle, and once on the Celebrity Century, a 12-night R/T San Francisco - her final Alaska cruise before she was sold. Living in Florida, visiting Alaska really feels like a departure from the ordinary. We love the scenery, the wildlife, the seafood(!). We have eagles in Florida, but it seems like they grow them bigger in Alaska. And, sure, we have bears too, but it’s pretty rare to see them. In fact, I’ve only ever seen a bear in Florida once, and that was probably 20 years ago. We’ve always had multiple sightings every visit to Alaska. In fact, once, a bear crossed right in front of the path our tour group was hiking on. He came within about 15 feet of us. Our guide was just as surprised as we were! But he just looked over at us and kept wandering down to the nearby river for salmon 😂

We’ve sailed Solstice twice before, but the last time was (I think) about 5 years ago. I’ll let you know how it compares now. The Solstice class has always been some of my favorite ships, so fingers crossed that she’s still in great shape!

This was a casino comp cruise so we didn’t receive any perks with it. But I had a large OBC certificate from a previous cancelled cruise (long story), and used quite a bit of it on pre-cruise purchases. Before receiving the casino offer I had priced out the cruise and I seem to recall it was around $800 to upgrade to the “Indulge” package. That was premium drinks, premium wi-fi, $600 OBC, prepaid gratuities, etc. But that wouldn’t include any discount for Elite or anything.

I think we sailed in a similar cabin on Allure in December. We loved the extra space, but you’re right! It took a few bumps in the head to get used to that slant. And you’ve just reminded me to make sure my towel clips are packed. They are perfect for holding the curtains closed!

Thank you! Almost everything is packed. The mail is on hold. And the last of the laundry is in the dryer. I’m starting the countdown! 😊

Thank you! I’m looking forward to it for sure. 😁

Emed COVID test results came back negative. Yay! ArriveCAN info uploaded and confirmed. And all checked in with Delta for our flight at 11:06 am tomorrow! It’s getting close!!

We’ve made dinner reservations for Tuscan Grille and Le Petit Chef (we’ve never done this before). We will be doing the close-up Endicott Arm and Glacier Explorer expedition cruise. Also, a wildlife and bear viewing in Skagway (Haines), and a food tour in Victoria.

We have the premium beverage package and upgraded wi-fi for this cruise, so we’ll have to see how much the wi-fi signal cooperates. We will be staying at the Thompson Seattle, a Hyatt hotel the night before the cruise.

We are flying out tomorrow from Tampa to Seattle and boarding the Solstice on Friday for a 7-night Alaska Dawes Glacier cruise. This will be our 4th cruise to Alaska and I am SO excited. We booked this one as a Blue Chip Club promotion kind of last-minute and are in one the forward facing Spacious Oceanview cabins on Deck 8. We’ve never stayed in one of these cabins before, so we’ll see. I love the idea of going back to Alaska, and I am truly looking forward to the breathtaking scenery, the great seafood, and being back onboard the Solstice. But, let’s be honest. The real kicker is not experiencing 95+ degree heat and sweltering humidity for an ENTIRE week!!!

I sure hope not.

Sovereign of the Seas 1999. Did a 4-day out of Port Canaveral. Still have the souvenir mug we bought on that cruise. 😊

We did it in May on Mariner. I enjoyed it for the most part. I liked that you could choose to add the wine pairing (or not). I enjoy wine, but my husband doesn’t. The Chef’s Dinner always seems like it would be totally wasted on him. The wine selections for the Taste of Royal lunch were quite decent. This is my review if you want to see pictures of the food and descriptions of the Mariner wine pairing.