disneykins

Thanks for the review, we are doing the same 11 day in 2 weeks. Love your attitude, some of the negatives you listed, I have seen others say never again, it ruined my cruise, lol.

Like you we matched to Diamond from NCL. For embarkation, do you just show up at your scheduled time and find the Diamond line or can you show up anytime and go to the diamond line?

For debarkation, did you carry your own luggage off or can diamonds put it out the night before and still get priority debarkation?

Did you have any trouble getting show reservations? Or Butcher Cut reservation?

Thanks,

Debbie and Tony

Great review, thanks. Love looking at the menus and planners to prep for our trip. Going on an 11 day in Feb, really looking forward Ocean Cay (we go there twice). Budget traveller too, in an inside cabin.

Tony and Debbie.

We are thinking of booking for Feb. 19 on Mera and would love a half full ship. Is it half full for all 11 days or just the 4 day segment and then it fills up with the 7 day segment? That is Presidents Day weekend too, will that make the 4 day segment full?

Thanks,

Tony and Debbie

19 hours ago, JT1962 said:

My suggestions in order based on prior excursions:

#1 - Icy Strait Point - Glacier Winds or Hoonah Travel Adventures

 

# 2 - Juneau - Juneau Whale Watch  Whale Watch - Mendenhall Glacier Combo

# 3 - Seward - The longest Kenai Fjords cruise you can do with Major Marine

 

These are the 3 companies we are booked with. We have Juneau on the northbound leg, then Seward on turnaround day and Icy Strait Point on the way back. I think we will keep Juneau and Icy Strait Point and maybe cancel Seward. We don't want to do only one in case we cant dock that day or miss the port for another reason.

Thanks for all the answers. Sounds like Icy Strait Point with Glacier Winds is the best choice for getting close to the whales on a small boat (I think our tour has 13 people).

Which port is best for whale watching tours? We are on Radiance of the Seas B2B Sep 9 and 16. We have booked private excursions in Juneau, Seward and Icy Strait Point. They are each about $400 for 2 people so kinda pricey to do all 3. Any recommendations on which one to cancel? We booked them all online and can cancel any time but we really want to see whales close up and preferably in smaller boats.

Thanks.

Tony and Debbie

Just read the last few pages and I think I've got it straight. We are Canadians flying from Toronto to Vancouver and boarding Radiance of the Seas for 7 nights to Seward. We are staying on board and returning to Vancouver, so a back to back cruise with 2 different reservation numbers. Do we need to do ArriveCan before boarding in Vancouver or do we do it 72 hours before our arrival back in Vancouver? 

Do we need a Covid test to fly Toronto to Vancouver? Do we need one to board the ship in Vancouver? Do we need another test on the second cruise?

Nice to have a board where we can get information specific to Canadian travelers.

Thanks,

Tony

We are looking at doing an Alaska cruise in Sept. 2022. Never been before but are frequent cruisers. Should we do the 7 day round trip out of Seattle or 7 days  from Vancouver to Seward and stay onboard for the 7 days back to Vancouver? Is there that much more to see and do on the 14 day roundtrip? I know it goes further north but is it really just more of the same, mountains and cold, lol? We are Canadian so sailing out of Vancouver is easier and money is no object (lol, always wanted to say that but really we have FCC to use up before end of year that would cover most of the cost).

Thanks,

Tony

We have been reading other cruisers reports and it sounds like everything is running normally. One show was cancelled last week, don't remember which one. The only port missed has been Grand Cayman and they told us that in an email last week. It hasn't been replaced and is a sea day. Great Stirrup Cay seems to be hit and miss, as always based on weather. I think you can do your own excursions everywhere (Ocho Rios might be limited).

I know what Cruise Next certificates are and Cruise First, but what are Cruise Next Lite certificates and what do they cost?

Thanks,

Tony

Sorry to hear about your hassle with Royal testing. Glad to hear the rest of your trip went well.  When your wife was picked for the test at the border, where do you take that and who pays for it?

Thanks,

Tony

I have a B2B coming up. I submitted the Shareholder Benefit form 2 weeks ago. For cruise # 1  I have  $100 obc. For the second cruise, I have $50 obc and my wife $50 obc. Neither one says anything about it being shareholder benefit. Could it be something else and my shareholder benefit hasn't been applied yet? Or maybe it has been applied to one but not the other? I am not expecting any other obc besides this.

Confused.

Thanks.

I submitted the paperwork for the shareholder benefit and got the auto reply that they had received my email request. The next day I received an email amenity confirmation that said "item  # TG 50" the quantity was one at $50. My wife also received the same benefit. Is that the $100 obc for shareholder credit or something else? I thought the obc would be $100 in my name since I own the shares. It doesn't matter really, I just want to make sure I'm getting all the  obc I can.

Thanks,

Tony

Thanks for all the answers.

Tony

Is the gym open now? Is there a change room, showers available? Is there a sauna available, I know some of the older ships had sauna, shower, change room but not sure about the Escape.

Thanks,

Tony

4 minutes ago, julie3fan said:

FWIW, I just returned from a B2B on the Bliss.  The bottle I bought on the 1st leg wasn't returned to me until the end of the 2nd leg.  YMMV.

That's what I was afraid of, lol. I know its worked in the past. Our B2Bs are different reservation numbers and different cabins, I wonder if that makes a difference?

Haven't thought about this in a while. If we bring wine onboard, what is the corkage fee and when do we pay it? We are B2B2B and want to bring on a special bottle for our middle cruise (anniversary). There was a time they would confiscate it and return it at the end of the cruise. Then we would have it in the cabin at the start of the second cruise. Can we still do this, or do they charge you corkage when boarding?

What about if we buy a bottle in the islands on cruise #1, they confiscate it but give it back on last night so we have it for DIY cocktails on the balcony on cruise #2 & 3? We are on the Escape in February and don't have the booze package on any of the cruises.

Thanks,

Tony

We're on that cruise too, wondering about what to do. Looks like Taino bay is similar to Costa Maya, lots of  shopping and bars, restaurants right at port, or you can venture out into town on your own. Walking to the Umbrella street and I think a fort looks interesting but I wonder how safe it is? 

Tony

Good explanations. To add, if you get the upgrade you don't get to choose the cabin. So you could go from an inside that you chose in a location you like to a balcony in a location you don't like, maybe too far from the elevator. We have done this, but always figured the worst balcony is better than the best inside cabin, if you get the price you want, lol.

Another problem, if you have a B2B in an inside cabin, you can bid on a balcony upgrade for both cruises. You might get both upgrades (or just one of them), but they might be in different balcony cabins, meaning you have to pack after one cruise to move.

Tony

We made final payment 2 weeks ago on Escape February cruises. I'm booking 2 more tomorrow for a B2B2B2B. Price is about $400 per person less than same time next year. I have CN's expiring that I don't want to lose.

We already decided we were going to Florida for the 2 cruises so why not add 2 more at a better price. We're retired so very flexible if anything cancels. Our main concern is if we test positive on one of the cruises, it will mess up the rest. We are driving down from Canada so we could just quarantine in a Florida hotel until the next cruise, I think.

Tony

From another thread, Star was at GSC taking crew (probably with Covid) from Encore last night.

Tony

So sorry to hear about Pauls test. Nice to see you making lemonade out of lemonade, though. We have been following since we are doing a B2B on NCL in February, then a week in Florida and boarding the Odyssey on March 12. We are driving down to limit our contacts but our biggest fear is what happened to you guys, catching it on one cruise forcing us to miss the next. Hopefully NCL handles it as well as Royal did for you.

Good luck with the future testing and getting home.

Tony and Debbie

Thanks for this. We are  doing a B2B on Escape in Feb out of Port Canaveral, hopefully it will be as smooth.

What would have happened if you tested positive? Or were identified as a close contact? Did you have to pack everything, just in case?

I just read your current cruise has been turned around, hopefully you are well. The refund and FCC sounds like a decent compensation though.

Tony and Debbie

I have the BPPV as well. I had my first experience with it just before a trip to Disney World. I was worried about not being able to do any rides. My doctor recommended the Epley manoeuvre and it worked well. I learned how to do it myself just in case. I rode everything at Disney, even the upside down roller coaster, lol. I thought the plane might have been a problem but it wasn't. Then we cruised and had no problem. We've cruised 5 or 6 times since then and haven't had a bout. 

I find like someone else said, I get it when it get up too fast, or turn my head too fast. My first bout was about 3 years ago when I was 62 and I had it maybe 5 or 6 times in a year, always when I was at home, usually getting out of bed, lol. Now I haven't had it in over a year. Sometimes, I'll move suddenly and think I'm going to have an "episode" but I just steady myself and it seems to go away.

I'm glad you mentioned this because I am cruising in a month and can't even remember how to do the Epley, so off to YouTube I go. I've never taken medication on a ship, but we always take some anti-seasick meds with us, just in case. They're probably expired we've had them so long.

Tony

I'll have to watch for this on my B2B in Feb. on Escape. What ship are you on? What was the procedure for B2B, do you actually have to get off the ship and line up to test again?

Thanks,

Tony