mspect462

Thank you both so much!! Makes things much easier for us in Seward.

We are scheduled to take the Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic from Anchorage to Seward to sail on the Radiance of the Seas on July 22.  I had read that pre-COVID, you could drop your luggage off in an area in Anchorage and the bags would be brought by truck directly to the cruise ship and brought on board without us needing to do anything in Seward. Is this still being done now?

Thanks for the info. I am happy. Not so sure about my wallet!!

We will be on the Radiance of the Seas cruising from Seward to Vancouver in July 2022.  Usually, the casino is only open once you are in international waters. When looking at the map, it appears, we may not be in international waters on sea days and nights after ports. Is the casino still open when we are not in port?

We traveled on the Oasis in January. My sister accidentally left her vaccination card at home.  Luckily, New Jersey has a similar program to New York. She had her information on her phone and we had no problem boarding. But I can't guarantee that every port agent will do the same. Good luck. 

We are going to be on the Oasis in a Star Suite in January. We will be tipping our Genie in cash. Does anyone know if $100 dollar bills are too difficult for them to use? Should we us $50's or $20's instead?

We will be on the Oasis 1/2/2022. We will have 4 20 year olds with us. Can anyone tell me if the minimum age to gamble in the casino is 18 0r 21? We know the minimum drinking age is 21.

On 11/19/2021 at 1:14 PM, torpeedo said:

So my Binax Now I bought from Emed with a 10/5/21 expiration date will be good to 2/15/22??  I hope so.  I had thought I heard is was good through Dec. 

Originally, the kits had a 9 month shelf life. It was later extended by the FDA to 12 months. So if the expiration date on your test states 10/5/21, it is actually good for 3 more months, to 1/5/2022. Hope that will work for your cruise.

I just got mine in the mail from Optum.  Good until 2/15/2022. Perfect for my 1/2/2022 Oasis cruise

Thanks everyone for their advise. We do not have precheck so that could add time in security. The flight is back to Washington DC, so a domestic flight. Would be getting an Uber to the airport. 

Hi All!!

We are finally back to cruising. We will be on the Oasis of the Seas 1/2/2022 to 1/9/2022.  We will be in a Star Class Suite so can be the first off the ship. I have 2 alternative flights back home from Miami airport.  One is at 10:30 am and the other is at 12:00 pm.  Do you think we should be able to make the first or should we be safe and go with the second.

Much appreciate all input

I have to agree with Fiona about Bonaire. It is one of the premier scuba diving locales in the Caribbean.  If you enjoy snorkeling or scuba, I would not miss it. I did a week long scuba trip there years ago and after almost 20 dives, still only did a fraction available.

Hi All!! I am so excited to be cruising again. We are going on the Oasis in January 2022 and I would like to rent the Day-Beds on CoCo Cay.  On the reservation page, Daybeds at "Breezy Bad at Chill Island" are $149 and the ones at "South Beach" are $199. I found a map of the cabanas and daybeds that show 2 different areas of daybeds listed as "Chill Island" and " Breezy Bay".  So which of these beds are which? What makes one worth 50 dollars more? 

We did the escape room yesterday. It was loads of fun with some really cool audio and visual effects. Better than any escape room I have done on land. It was the last ship activity to appear on the cruise planner. I think it appeared about 1 month before the cruise. We had 12 people and finished in 30 minutes.

How does one sign up for laser tag?  Is it an activity that you can make reservations for (but not available on my activity list on line) or something you wait in line for once on board? If you have to wait in line, how does that work, and how long is the game?

I am sailing on the Oasis in December 22. Just went online and found the soda package is on sale for $6.50 a day ( never seen it below $8.99 a day) and the refreshment package is on sale for $17 a day. Check your sailings and see if there are sales.

I am going to be on the Oasis on December 22. I have been checking availability of shows every week. Today, I can reserve seats for Cats, Frozen inTime ice show, and comedians.  There are no shows for the Aquatheater. Do they usually put out reservations at different times? What shows besides Cats are shown on Oasis and what are your opinions of them?

 Thanks

We were on a cruise on the Allure last July. I think there were about 15 girls with their families doing the Quincenera trip. They had a private event in the ice rink area one night, but otherwise didn't affect our trip at all. The girls were lovely. The only problem I had was this was the first trip in 10 cruises that I did not pack a gown for formal night. Felt a little underdressed in my cocktail dress with all the amazing gowns and tuxes for those families. 

Just wanted to let people know: I just found a military discount on the Oasis of the Seas Holiday cruise , December 22, 2019. I know how elusive this discount is. I saved $250.  Also, if you need a handicap accessible cabin, there are 2 junior suites which can hold 3 people available, as well as some balconies. I don’t know if there are any 2 person rooms available, because I did’t need that category. ( and I don’t book handicap accessible, they just showed up in my search).

I hope this will help someone.

Yes, there are showers. The women’s showers are nice and MUCH larger than the room showers. 

You are right. It was very difficult to find much info about the rainforest hike. But since I read so many great things about Thenford Grey, I took a chance.

We were a group of 4. My husband and I are in our early 50’s and our sons are teenagers. Nowhere near in good enough shape to do the Volcano tour (my sons could do it, but not us mature adults), but I wanted to do some outdoor activity. This tour was perfect for us. I don’t know if this is usual, but we had a private tour for the 4 of us. We started out at Romney House and visited the batik factory, then went on the rainforest tour. I am guessing it was about 2 miles. We walked all through the rainforest and learned a ton about the plants and animals. There were really cool trees. Most of the hike was flat, but there was a scramble up a hill with ropes near the end. Now I do want to remind you that it rains in a rainforest, so there was a lot of mud and slick spots in the forest. Wear appropriate footwear.

Sorry, I can’t post pictures. They didn’t really turn out well with the dappled light in the rainforest.

We did this in December. Very enjoyable hike.  It was raining and the footing was a little slick in places. Make sure you wear sneakers, not sandals. Thenford Grey does a great job.

Day 2 was nice and relaxing. We have a priest on board who did a Sunday service and will be doing a midnight mass for Christmas.I did a bunch of trivia, hat a lovely dinner in the Main dining room ( fillet for me and my son, seafood linguini for another son, and duck al’orange for my husband) Everything was cooked well and very flavorfull. We went to the “majority rules “ gameshow. It was just OK. The adult comedian was hysterical,  

One note about dress code. Day 2 was formal night. I like to dress up, so I was I was in a gown and the guys were in suits. Maybe the. Christmas Cruise brings out the nice clothes, but way more people were dressed up than they were on my last few cruises. Plenty of tuxes, gowns, several gentlemn in their Army and Navy dress blues, and even one formal kilt.  Overall, very festive.

So, Day 3 arrived with a change in time. I don’t know if it was the time change or too many cocktails last night, but the gym was empty this morning.  The weather has improved and kids are in the pool. It is currently12:30 ship time, and the Solarium is relatively empty. Yes, the chair hogs were out early this morning, but have counted over 10 padded lounge chairs available. I can’t comment on the poolside chairs, because it is still too cold for me in the pools.

My husband and one son went to the sushi making class at Izumi. They had a great time, and the sushi they made was actually really good. We now have 25% off coupons for an Izumi dinner later in the cruise, Izumi on the Grandeur is ala carte, and does still have the hot rock, so I am looking forward to it.

i am now going to relax witha good book for an hour or 2.  Our Facebook/cruisecritic group has a slot pull at 2:30, so I guess I will see if we can win some money.

Hi again all,

To answer a few questions:  Yes, John Denton is the Hotel Director. Mike is the Cruise Director, and CC is the Activities Manager.  No, there is no Vitality Cafe, so no smoothies that I saw at the Vitality Spa.

So last night we had a very nice dinner in the Main dining room. Service was a little slow, but friendly and good food. My husband and sons had the prime rib and I had the fish of the day. Both well cooked.

We went to the Welcome Aboard show with Mike and a comedian, very enjoyable. We then went to see the “Who WNts to Feel lime a Millionaire?”  I got to embarrass myself in front of an audience.  If you don’t know, the US bought the Virgin Islands from Denmark, pearlis the 30 th anniversay present, and penthaphobia ( not sure of the spelling) is the fear of your mother-in-law.  Shoutout to the audience for helping with the answers.

went to bed early, and up at 6am to go to the gym.  The gym is very small: 4 ellipticals, 8 treadmills, 2 stationary bikes, one erg machine, and some free weights and weight machines.  When I arrived at the gyn, only about 1/3 of the equipment was in use.  When I left at 7:30, it was packed. So if you are a gym rat, get there early or go later in the afternoon.. There are several classes available.  There is a stetching class at 7 am every day. At 7:30 on sea days, they alternate abs and full body workout. Pilates, yoga, and spin are available for $12 and body pump for $20.

Breakfast at the Windjammer was the usual.  Ther is a whole section labelled “gluten free” and I saw a sign if the coffee shop about milk alternatives (almond, soy, and lactose free), so I would assume they would be available in Windjammer.  The buffet was much less crowded than I have seen on bigger ships.

I attended a few trivia games and am going ro rest this afternoon. I will continue to address questions and report as the days go by.

Hi all !! I am aboard the Grandeur of the Seas and will be attempting my first live report. I am not too tech savvy , so only text , no pictures.

We arrived at the port at 10:30 , and apparently the boarding had already started. It took us 30 minutes to go from dropping off luggage, to parking, through the security,  and on the ship. I was in the hot tub in the solarium by 11:30. Windjammer was not crowded so got a nice lunch. Rooms were open at 1 and we went and unpacked. Walked around the ship for a while. It is beautifully Decorated for Christmas. I am going to see some shows and will report back tomorrow. If anyone has any questions about Grandeur, I would be happy to answer.