El Abuelo

17 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Various bar menus and coffee menus on this live post thread.

 

 

Thanks, that thread has just about every price list on the ship. Lots to mull over.

Thanks for the feedback. 

In past cruises we’ve always purchased the refreshment package for $18 pp per day. I did the math once and it worked. We have a cruise booked for next year on Symphony and I haven’t seen the refreshment package yet below $30. At that price the math probably doesn’t work, but I’d like to run it again. Problem is, I can’t find any prices to compare. 

Does anyone have or know the current prices for bottled seltzer water, fresh oj, and specialty coffee (double espresso) ?

On 1/24/2020 at 9:43 AM, Tulsacoker said:

So which time/day did you ask for?

They didn’t give us the option of reserving a specific time. I asked for an early morning on the day we visited Dawes Glacier but didn’t get it. Both reservations were for sea days.

18 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Ask the concierge to book you on the iFly when they contact you or a soon as you get on 

  IFly is the hardest to get on . I saw a punch up once.

The others shouldn’t be a problem but ask the concierge.They should be able to make a call for you.

 

Enjoy the suite,they are very addictive.

This. We had a suite on Ovation in Alaska. The week prior to sailing the concierge will contact you. That’s the ideal time to ask for reservations for iFly and NorthStar. iFly was fully booked on the first day and NorthStar was unavailable for 3 days during our cruise, so many frustrated passengers. 

And yes, the suite is addictive.

A little reverse class envy to stir the discussion juices at cruise critic? Nothing wrong with gettng a perk and cutting to the front of the line, but no need to whine about it afterwards. Now, thinking you’re being targeted in bumper cars because others aren’t following your personal rules and are actually bumping your car? Sorry, the perk entitlement stops once you get in the car, for the next 3 minutes you’re just like everyone else. Life is full of challenges.

17 hours ago, sausalitomack said:

Are people getting seasick on these Alaska cruises out of Seattle?

 

I have read a couple of references to seasickness on the sea day between Seattle and Alaska this summer.

 

Can anyone who has cruised on Ovation this summer provide their experiences/observations regarding sea sickness and how prevalent it was on their cruise?

 

 

We were on this route June 14-21. Compared with Caribbean cruises we’ve talken there was considerably more ship rocking.  It was especially noticeable in the ends of the ship and was present the entire time. The captain made an announcement on day 6 commenting on the movement, mentioning “strong currents” and indicating the ship stabilizers were “doing their job” and minimizing “80% of the movement”. 

Some of those activities can be reserved using the cruise planner and may be fully booked by the start of the cruise. 

15 hours ago, celoplyr said:

I had two questions.

 

One was- did you make it to the glacier? I've seen the same review that says that the ship can't go to the glacier even though it's marked as an excursion.

 

That depends on how you define “make it”. We sailed Endicott Arm, approached Dawes Glacier, stopped the ship, did a slow 360 degree turn, then returned over the same route. We were probably 1/2 mile from the glacier. It wasn’t “up close and personal”,  but it could also be seen clearly without binoculars.

My recollection of times, which may be off as I don’t use a watch (and abuela says I’m getting old and senile) On our cruise we started the fjord around 7:30 am, somewhere around 9:30 we reached the glacier, spent 1/2 hour there, then another couple of hours back out. Very slow and easy. 

When we were at the glacier I saw the Northstar in use, later I heard they charged extra for those views. 

Edit to add - I’m attaching a photo (iPhone) of Dawes glacier. It’s not that good, but it gives an idea of how close we were.

20 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

Formal night on Alaskan cruises is a lot less formal that on Caribbean cruises. There will be very few people in tuxes and gowns. There will be people in flannel shirts.

This was our experience as well 

Just one additional comment about rain and wind. A few people brought poncho type rain jackets, the pullover  type that slips on over the head  with no real fastener. They did not work well onboard or in the wind, people needed both hands to keep from ballooning. A jacket with zipper worked much better.

13 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Was the Solarium Bistro open for dinner and was it complimentary, as it is on the Anthem?

They left a flyer in our cabin toward the end of the cruise (6th night?)  inviting us to go to Solarium Bistro for dinner the final night,  saying it was “complementary with a few menu items with separate charge”. 

13 hours ago, denavo said:

Hi I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the weather. I know we can't predict but I would like a general sense. We are doing a different itinerary than you (Seward to Vancouver) start July 5th. By the way nice review. I was torn on getting on the Ovation instead of the older Radiance. Like you I didn't want a lot of sea days so I sacrificed the new ship for more ports. Hopefully there is enough to keep the kiddos busy.

Weather was unbelievable. While we were cruising it was windy, overcast and rainy. Generally crappy. When we pulled into Skagway it was raining. In every case, as soon as we started prepping for  our excursions, the sun came out and it was very pleasant. So, when we needed good weather it was there. 

We were prepared for cold and wet. It was frequently wet, but more windy than cold. My very light nylon wind and rain jacket did more than the flannel shirts.

In our experience only time they didn’t  ask to see the second card was for bottled still water. For bottles of seltzer they always asked for both cards and usually swiped one.

We just spend a week on Ovation and ate CK for breakfast and dinner. Our menu had at least one dish not on the menu shown earlier in the thread - a chorizo flatbread with egg on top. They made a mushroom & spinach flatbread with egg for me as well, and DW pretty much ordered what she wanted without looking at the menu. As John&LaLa pointed out, they are flexible and neve said no to anything DW wanted.

The CK lunch menu had two versions, alternating.

41 minutes ago, kyrie said:

which post was closest? I can then tell them that. We will have lots of luggage. That is the closest they can get hmm ? okay. Thanks! I'm spoiled by easy florida stuff for disembarkation. 

Leave the terminal, walk forward, cross the street,  numbering starts at 1. Good luck.

9 minutes ago, kyrie said:

Thanks ! You just called as you got off the ship? I need them to be prompt as we have to get to the hotel quickly and then elsewhere. 

I called as we were walking out the terminal. In retrospect, we could have called earlier. They asked “what number post we were at”. I had no idea, just outside the terminal was a high pole with “11”, so I said that, and the response was “oh dear” followed by “ we can pick you up at posts 1 through 5” so I said 4. Turns out one we left the terminal and crossed the street into a waiting area for pick-up, it was broken down into areas 1-5. We navigated thr short walk to 4 and about 15 minutes later the car arrived.

39 minutes ago, cruisenbuckeyes said:

Thanks for the information about Port Valet. We have an 11:15 flight out of Seattle, I am happy to learn we qualify. 

The 11:00 surprised me, I had seen 12 mentioned multiple times in the Seattle port departure forum, and could find nothing online. The second or third night they gave us a form to fill and drop off at guest services. The last night they left boarding passes and luggage tags in the room. 

When we we were leaving the terminal Friday morning all I could think was how much more difficult it would have been if we had to drag along our suitcases. 

Attached is the info side of the form. Enrollment is on the other side.

2 hours ago, kyrie said:

Can you tell me the costs for the limo? I think I will do the same. What company did you use?

AlreadyThereTownCar. I got the name from the Seattle Port Forum. The forum said $60, we were quoted $70. My guess is we paid $30 (or so) more than other options, but for us it was worth it for basically no departure stress. 

38 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

No passport checks on closed loop cruises from Seattle. 

Right. A Canadian immigration type form was left in our cabin the night before with a request to fill and drop off at guest services.

edit - it’s a Canadian customs form. 

2 hours ago, cruisenbuckeyes said:

El Abuelo,  do you remember the earliest flight time to be able to use Port Valet?  

11:00 am. 

Friday morning traffic was heavy and the port congested, so my guess is most people leaving at that hour did the early self-disembarkation. We left the Bolero lounge around 8:45 and made it to  SeaTac around 10:15-10:30, our flight was 12:20

6 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Did you see any whales and or wildlife?

Yup. We saw a whale when we were in Northstar. We had a whale watching excursion  in Juneau and saw lots of Orcas and some whales, and  bald eagles along the drive.When docked at Victoria island we saw quite a few sea otters and turtles.

30 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Really...  that’s wasn’t our experience. Never seated on time. P’s even took our table once. Typical wait was up to 45 minutes, not to mention no place to sit in the SL. 

We never had to wait for CK, we usually asked for a table at 7pm, and  saw the SL occasionally crowded but never fully occupied. 

1 hour ago, vistapat said:

Did you use Uber after disembarking too?  If so, how was the Uber staging area?  Some posts in the  Port of Call boards have said that the lines for taxis were very long (over an hour wait) and that there were many, many people in the ride-share area and that crowd control was erratic. How was your experience?

 

Thanks,  Pat

I read the same  and didn’t want to take a chance or wait in line that long, so we hired a limo. I called for pickup when we left the terminal, it still took 15 minutes for the car to get to us at 9am. There was a line for taxis but I couldn’t estimate the wait. The rideshare / limo pickup area was shoulder to shoulder, and when we got in our car at 9:15 or so, many more people were walking into the pickup area than driving out. Like a Grand Central station Friday at rush hour, Not having to deal with our luggage was a major advantage. Seattle luggage valet is a real benefit. 

Crowd control was definitely erratic. Every time we stopped inside the terminal, just to get our bearings, someone walked up and told us to move. Signage was inadequate. Once outside, it was a mass of people. 

59 minutes ago, vrock said:

What time did you arrive at the port for check in?  Did they board by C&A loyaly tiers?

We took an Uber, arrived 12:30 - ish at a common dropoff area for 2 cruises (RCI Ovation and Celebrity Millennium) , walked with luggage to a shuttle that took us to the boarding area. Two long lines outside the terminal for all passengers. Once inside they looked at the set sail pass and ID but stayed in line for a second look at id and set sail pass. That took about 40-45 minutes, no separate lines for C&A or suite. Once we made it to check-in area there was a separate area to check in suites, but it was confusing and they weren't doing a good job of routing passengers to the proper queue, so we got there by accident. The terminal space is a big constraint, and so is the flow management. 

They many have offered some type of priority boarding earlier. As we waited in the first queue a few passengers were expedited.