NeedsVitaminSea

Here’s what I have. 

I have some of them! Our attendant left paper for us. I’ll need to dig them out. Are you looking for something in particular?

We just left Harmony on Saturday ☹️. We were able to have a nice meal at Sabor while waiting for our cabin to open. I didn’t check other restaurants but I think Chops is reserved for The Key on boarding day?

1 hour ago, gowensricks said:

I would love to hear more, as we will be boarding Harmony on 27 May 2023! 

 

Thank you!

I’m cruising with you! I can’t wait!

First, I’m sorry those people made awful comments!  I just can’t understand such hateful behavior. 
 

Second, how cool to see an Aranet in the wild!  We use one to try for an educated guess on where we can eat indoors although we generally avoid it all together. We are cruising later this month and I plan to bring it along. I’ve been impressed that my work office is typically under 550ppm. 
 

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. I hope you have a great trip. 

Welcome to Dallas! You got stuck here with some gorgeous weather, at least. Safe travels!

8 hours ago, PACrew said:

Let me be clear, it wasn’t bad. I just expected more. maybe my expectations were off. My wife and I both said next time we would just order the chops steak in the mdr if we were craving steak. (The Ny strip in the mdr is dollar tree steak). Would I go again, not at current prices. I would spend the money and go to Izumi, Jamie’s, 150, wonderland. 
 

maybe it was an off night. I wouldn’t cancel your reservation. Have fun! 

Thanks for the clarification and follow up!!  Much appreciated. 

Thanks for the review! We are heading out on Harmony next month. I’m disappointed to hear about Chops. We booked Unlimited Dining but I wonder if it is worth it?  Did you try Jaime’s or Izumi?

I haven’t cruised since 2019 but am heading out soon and appreciate this reminder! Apparently this impacts women more commonly (lucky us). I started taking Bonine the last night of the cruise and the first couple of days on land. That seemed to help. 

I wouldn't wait.  We booked our May cruise in January and I've been watching prices go up pretty steadily.  

You will be good with a balcony - don't stress about the junior suite.  We booked our cruise as soon as it was available and were able to snag a good price.  Reading these boards will give you a good idea what to expect.

Since you haven't cruised before - I recommend bringing along some Bonine, found at Walmart.  Our trip in the open ocean between Washington and then back in the protected waters north of Vancouver Island was quite rocky.  So much so that my fitbit was registering activity even after I was asleep.  The rest of the trip was like glass but those few hours surprised me.  Bonine doesn't make you drowsy like Dramamine.

Also, if you are looking for excursions, I can't recommend Jayleen's Alaska enough.  We had a wonderful day of whale watching on her smaller boat out of Juneau.  

We sailed on Ovation June 2019 in 10632 - Starboard Junior Suite.  We were facing the pier in Juneau and Skagway.

On glacier day, you'll likely want to be up on top deck so you can move around and see the glacier.  The ship rotated several times but having the wide view from up top was much better, IMO.  As we sailed out, we enjoyed our deck 10 balcony to watch the seals floating on the ice chunks.  You'll be fine on 10 or 12.

We just booked our first cruise since 2019 and we’ll be wearing KF94 in all indoor spaces outside of our cabin. We will also avoid crowds and eating indoors.  I’m the only person masking at work anymore so I’m used to not caring what others think of my educated decision to protect myself. Masking is much more acceptable to me than having to stay home forever. 

29 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Covid will continue to be on ships as it’s everywhere.  As long as the variants don’t cause more severe cases life will go on.  We have to learn to live with it.  Instead of coming home with colds and flu, we’ll be coming home with covid.  I feel for the crew having to deal with this week after week. 

I see this type of reasoning a lot.  "We have to learn to live with it".  Have you heard of Long Covid?  Or seen recent studies that show every infection causes cumulative damage to your immune system and can cause organ damage?  Covid is a serious virus that we don't fully understand yet.  

We shifted our October 2020 cruise to October 2021 on May 10.  They emailed me a list of cruise planner cancellations at that time.  In early October I thought to check the status of my refunds.  No refunds.  I emailed them and did get them processed within about five days. They missed one of them so now I'm emailing them again to try to get it taken care of.

I don't think it would have taken so long if I wasn't so trusting.  It seems like my stuff got lost in the shuffle.  

Thanks for the reminder to check on my cruise planner refunds.  I used L & S in May and still don't have any CP refunds.  My original reservation would have had me on the ship this week :(.

8 minutes ago, efuller1026 said:

I've been seasick on MUCH smaller boats- sailboats and catamarans. On the bigger boats my issue tends to be more anxiety about getting seasick rather than actually getting seasick...I always have dramamine and ginger drops with me just in case though. 

Maybe you should try Sea Bands as well.  We wear them all the time.  I don't know if they actually work or if it's just the power of suggestion but it may help you feel less anxious.  Also, Bonine doesn't cause drowsiness so you can just take one per day to be safe.  I have to take them now at the end of the cruise to avoid having sea legs on land!

The rough seas we had lasted probably mid-afternoon until about 3:00 am.  I know this because I remember my fitbit registered that I fell asleep not by when I went to bed but when the ship stopped rocking!

The movement we felt was pretty extreme but is not the worst I've experienced.  (That was on NCL Epic off the coast of the Bahamas because the swells were too large to dock. We watched the horizon going up and down)  We maxed our Bonine dose and still went to dinner.  Food actually settled my stomach that night.  I was more queasy waiting for the food to arrive.  The worst of it was when we tried to watch the show in 270.  Sitting in that big room with everything visually still but feeling the motion was not so comfortable.  

The rest of the trip was smooth as glass so I wouldn't let this deter you if everything else points to a big ship out of Seattle.  Just have medication at the ready in case you need it.

The itinerary had us in Juneau on Day 3, Skagway Day 4 and Endicott Arm on Day 5, Victoria Day 6.  All were beautiful!  I just wish we had at least one more day on land to see more of Alaska.  

40-somethings with 2 kids (12 & 9).  We sailed Ovation to Alaska last year and we had a really good time.  We had some unpleasantly rough seas on the second night that smoothed out as soon as we hit the inside passage.  This was our first cruise with RCCL.

I chose Ovation because I wasn't sure how much entertainment we would need.  We saw the evening shows and enjoyed some of the bars in the evening but it turns out that I wanted to spend most of my time looking outside since it stays light so late.  I couldn't tear myself away from the windows.  The scenery is really peaceful and beautiful and you are close to it for most of the cruise.  I enjoyed the ship but felt like the trip itself was more of a teaser for Alaska.  I hope to go back on a different itinerary that spends more time there.

How much is it to cancel and rebook?  There are no change fees.  I was able to L&S for our October 2020 cruise but a rebook was only going to be about $100 more, total, for the four of us if I had to go that route.

2 hours ago, rtazz17 said:

Stop the panic and fear. Enough is enough

Scientific data is scientific data.  Being informed is not spreading fear.

Our October cruise only dropped to $61/day.  

I'd love a copy of your famous walking tour if you have a moment to share it!  lizziew@gmail.com.

Thanks so much!

We had a JS on Ovation Deck 10 to Alaska this past summer.  The room location was pretty good for view and sound level but it felt far to get to anywhere.  We are going on Symphony in the fall and opted for a balcony on Deck 8.  It will be only two flights down to the promenade so we are giving that a try!  

I'm in DFW and enjoy catching your reports on TV (and reviews on cruisecritic)!

We went out with Stingray Sailing last year and it was great!