SleepyBunny

Wherever Kenneth or Siriat are stationed! Great servers!

Here is our kids activities list from our Alaska cruise last month. My 9 year old also loved swimming, looking for cruise ducks, karaoke, attending some (but not all) the lectures and shows (the magician was an absolute favourite), as well as a SeaCraft, Puppies on the Piazza, some of the music and dancing, and most definitely the food and drinks!

I had it 2 or 3 times on the same ship as @EDVM96. First steak was perfect, very buttery. Second one was a bit more fatty. The third one was better than the second but not as good as the first. Always asked for it without fries, had it once with the popover/Yorkshire pudding on the side :) PXL_20230510_031217541.TS.mp4

Just off the Sapphire yesterday and we had two formal nights also, with the second one being white & gold. We took part, but as others noted the first formal night had far more participants than the second (I only knew ahead of time by scouring the Journey View section of the app). For kids club, the theme days were mostly about the activities that were happening. No one knew ahead of time, and so could not prepare. They'll do a craft or activity based on the theme, but it is not a themed party. Many crafts resulted in take home things (colour-on stuffies, beaded bracelets or necklaces), but also used sharpies so be prepared for inky hands! My almost 9 year old loved camp discovery 😊

Sapphire has starlink now. Happy with speed in general and was easily able to backup pictures, access email, browse web/post to social media. I was also able to run payroll for my workplace with ease from Glacier Bay (normally a very demanding and tricky thing)! We were even able to FaceTime and watch YouTube during off-peak times - very impressed overall!

I loved this trip. The destinations, crew and the incredible weather we had could not be beat! The food was great - 95% of everything I had was delicious, nicely presented and a good size. Kids club was a hit for my child, and she was also welcomed at every other activity she attended too. Passengers were happy, kind and friendly. Internet was solid and so was my experience with the medallion app - both exceeded the expectations that I had based on CC posts. I do have a few grumbles: Dan French's comedy set was bad - old 90's style put-down humor, using people's places of origin and stereotypes in jokes. Timing of some activities were hard to navigate, some things could also have been better set in bigger/smaller venues. Pool and hot tubs were colder than I had hoped for. Not sure what happened with the naturalist at Hubbard Glacier, sound checks were working but then there was zero interpretation while at Yakutat Bay. But honestly, this was a great cruise. I hope everyone who joined today's departure and the rest of the Alaskan season on this ship has as great an experience as I had!

Premium desserts came either in the form of the monster ice cream creations at the Swirls ice cream bar by the pool, or two tall cake choices available at the International Cafe. I did see the ice cream things also be delivered one time to a dining room in the evening (felt very out of place).

Another vote for the Pacific Moon here. Loved many of the waiters we had there. Ionel (HW) and Riza (welcome desk) both helped run a tight ship!

No cost for the irons @janny444 🙂

The band (Topaz) is very talented and clearly know how to get a crowd dancing - but I agree that the same songs are coming up again and again. I would love to hear them take on other hits to expand their repertoire.

To further help with this question: laundry machine has normal and delicate cycles. The normal one ran for about 35 minutes and the dryer went did about 45 minutes and got things like my jeans done during the alloted time. I packed the "Tru Earth" laundry soap sheets and they worked a charm! Photos for your enjoyment! Lots of machines. This area is doubled in each room. Handwash areas Machine features (old style) Machine features (other style) Token machine - medallion enabled Soap and fabric softener choices

We had a cross stitch craft during one SeaCraft and it was tricky to do. The lights in Sabatini's were so dim until the very end when they were turned up. Took me a few tries to get the hang of it and definitely needed to read the instructions carefully - but happy with this little souvenir! 🙂 I also was worried that they would be full, as JourneyView showed the class had reached its limit, but they had lots of extras during this workshop.

I believe the International Dining Room is open for lunch, but you may be advised to do the buffet as I have seen on the current trip. Skywalker's, the covered pool deck (lower pool level has windows that look out) and throughout the buffet. We had marvelous weather in Glacier Bay today - many people were in the outdoor hot tubs to enjoy the Margerie Glacier! At the closest points, windbreakers were key though.

The Family Fun Zone opens at the same time as the kids club, and this is the room with skee ball and a few other activities. I have seen a pair of adults enjoying the games without kids, it is not supervised and in a seperate room from the clubs so it didn't feel too creepy 🙂 Kids club opens on most days for 3 blocks of time - morning, afternoon and evening. The kids patter I shared above has the times. You don't need to drop off/pick up on the dot - you can do so anytime in those windows. The staff are good and involved and maintain the peace well 😅 They also make changes to activities based on the number of kids (e.g. last night's kids bingo didn't happen since there were only 4 children present, much to my child's chagrin). Because our trip has only 20ish kids total, they have been merging the children together (age ranges 4ish-12). At most, I think there were 8 kids total in the room as a maximum so far. I haven't seen any teen in the room at all, which is good. Not sure the handful of teens are using the teen hangout room at all - I haven't seen any entre or leave during my times up at the kid zone. I work in children's science education for a living and everything I see with the staff, the space and activities looks right to me 👍👍

Someone is doing a Semi-Live of our trip (Sapphire April 29-May 10) - check that thread for some patters 😊

1) Do they give pagers to parents for the younger kids while on board (I assume not when ship is in port!)? They seemed to have a few pagers but I was not given one. My kid is in the mid-range group, I'll ask if they aren't super busy! 2) Do you know if they have any arcade games in the younger kids room (ages 3-5?). I thought I saw an air hockey table in the pictures. There is a Foozeball table and two skee ball (side-by-side) machines in the parents-welcome fun zone, then in the room for 8-12s an air hockey table, a row of computers for videogames, a tablet that acts as a jukebox with pop songs. I was quite impressed with the current selection of kids books in the library - Amulet, Harry Potter, Geronimo/Thea Stilton, Rayna Tellegmere graphic novels, etc. but sad to hear they can only be enjoyed in the club (though fully understandable!)

They have added new carpets which isn't particularly exciting, but you can tell as they're giving off lint because lots of people are walking on them for the first time (most notably on the stairs). Attended the "Ship Navigation - View from the Bridge" today and the First Officer mentioned lots of confirmation about propellers, height of the ship, etc. Nothing super specific.

A few notes for followers on this Live. Currently on this ship as well! Super friendly staff, ship is super clean and in great condition. Does not feel very full, but I haven't heard the total pax count yet (maybe at the M&G we will find out). Coffee has not transferred to the Lavazza brand deal yet. Dinner was delicious at our slightly later visit to the International Dinning Room also, but our waiter & his partner had a rough day. Slow, no drink orders, took forever to even put our order in, water glasses stayed empty for long times, had to get a HW twice to be looked after. 2h30 minutes for dinner ☹️ Going to try a different dinning room tonight for formal night.

I was desperately looking for the following prior to embarkation! Sharing this for other travellers with kids 🙂

Thanks @Thrak - I checked and it's being offered in the Vivaldi Dinning Room 😒 Good to know folks can suggest changes and that they are listened to!

Thanks! She has started knitting this year and can do pretty well once cast on! I have read elsewhere that Kids Club may only be available June - August, so we are preparing in case they aren't available. 🙂

I have! I am planning to go to the M&G to get to know a few other people 🙂 Several have said they are doing the ducks, so that will be great fun to search for!

Just finished reading your epic 18-page LIVE! Thank you posting so many pictures, details and answering questions @travelin.sisters - I am very excited for our upcoming trip!!

What an adorable puppy! 😍

Just over 2 weeks until my first trip with Princess with my 8 year old. 🤩 I was wondering if there are actually board games in the library or in the family lounge as listed, or if that's hit & miss. Also, for the Knitter & Knatter sessions, are needles and yarn provided or do we bring our own?