BrusselsGirl07

Just be aware that if you choose the non-refundable deposit (NRD), it also means that you can't take advantage of any price drops without losing your deposit. I have a couple of cruises booked, and in the past when I have seen a lower price I have phoned RCI, and they have amended my booking to reflect the lower price. I noticed that a cruise I had booked had dropped by $1000, so I phoned RCI, and was told that as I had booked using the NRD (which I did not even realise I had done that), and the only way to take advantage of the price drop was to cancel my cruise, lose my $400 deposit, and then rebook at the lower price. I went ahead and did that, as it still saved me $600. Just as an aside, when I rebooked, I asked what the fare would be if I chose the refundable deposit, and it was $2000 more, so I booked again with a NRD. Later that night I was showing my husband what I had done with a dummy booking, and the price had already popped back up to more than I had originally paid, so I was happy to have gotten the price drop in that small window. The price has increased ever since.

The pizza at Sorrento's on deck 4 was also very good. We only ate there once, but it was fresh and delicious. It is included in your cruise fare (no extra charge). I also had a really good hamburger in the English Pub. It was served with the most delicious sweet potato thick cut chips. It was worth paying for. There is quite a lot of food that you can order in the English Pub on deck 4 (at an extra charge), and it is freshly made once ordered.

We have done a few Christmas cruises, and almost always spot a family at the harbour telling the kids they are going on the cruise! The kids are always so excited, and it is lovely to see.

So I'm planning a surprise cruise for my OH and me, planning to go in Feb. I want to give it to the Mr. As a combined anniversary/Christmas present (anniversary is end of Nov so it's close to Christmas) so I have to keep it a secret until THEN and I have NO IDEA how I'm going to manage that :D.

SO here I am, the one place I can talk about it freely!

 

I've never sailed with RCI (have been with Carnival and P&O) before but I've heard good things and I'm so excited!

I loved Explorer, so hope you will too. I did break my leg on the Flow Rider on Explorer, so just be careful if you go on it! The medical team were pretty great and I have some unique scars to remind me of this cruise!!

Oh?

With the 'OH', I think OP is referring to Other Half.

If I have the Classic Alcohol Package included as part of an offer when I booked my cruise, can I upgrade this when I get on board to the Premium Package? Would I just pay the difference between the two packages?

I will. They responded to my email and said that I made the change myself! Of course I have written back asking for details - I would not have changed my room, unless there is some way of accidentally upgrading yourself?? Anyway, will see what they come back with. My husband is not worried, he says we are not on our balcony much anyway, but I was looking forward to all the space in that balcony.

Had you booked and paid for you cabin? I have absolutely no idea if having paid for your holiday in full would actually make any difference with Royal Caribbean but you'd think it would be locked in?

We have an Aft cabin booked (and paid for) for the 3rd of January 2017 cruise, hope we don't get bumped, though I think our cabin type is only in the aft...

Hopefully someone will be along with a more helpful reply...sorry x

HKA

Yes, booked and paid a long time ago. But searching these boards I see this happens all the time! My original room was next to a royal family sweet and all I can think is that someone booked that and wanted the room next door so they 'upgraded' us.

We are looking forward to Explorer coming to Australia for her second Summer visit as we are booked on the Christmas and New Year's sailing to Fiji and the South Pacific. I have just noticed that we have been moved from the aft cabin I originally booked (9692) to a hump cabin (8318). I chose the aft cabin as there are 6 sea days on this sailing and the aft cabins have such big balconies including lounger chairs. I have seen photos of the hump balcony and it looks pretty small in comparison, although the views should be amazing. I am not sure if there is anything I can do about it but hoping that someone who has stayed in a similar room can let me know if the balcony is really not that small on the hump?

Hello! Please add:

22 Dec ... BrusselsGirl07 ... Explorer of the Seas ... Christmas/New Year Pacific Islands and Fiji

Thank you!

Another great catch up. I will miss the next one but an invite will be done on the FB page.

 

October meet up looks like we may be cruising the on the MV Southern Cross so the times may change from 2 pm to whenever it sails.:D

That is a great idea! Hopefully we can make it!

Sent to you! There are two books, hope you enjoy them! Yvette

Awesome! I really enjoyed the attention to detail and beautiful pictures. The amount of planning you did is obvious in the good results you had. We are on the same cruise on Millennium in June with a 4 day land excursion. Not as long as your trip but will give us a taste. I have bookmarked your report for future.

 

Have you ever thought about doing a travel blog. I would love to hear about your African adventure if you have a link. Last year I started a blog after reading such great reports on http://www.travellerspoint.com/ There is no charge and it is a good way to keep all of your adventures together.

 

We went to Galapagos a few years ago on Celebrity and it was a trip of a lifetime.You will love it.

 

Again thanks so much for the time invested in this fabulous report. It will help so many others in planning their trips!

 

Happy and safe travels

Hi Cindygad - thanks for your kind words. I hope you have a wonderful time on your adventure to Alaska. I did put a lot of time and effort into researching our trip, and I know my husband and our friends really appreciated me doing it. I love to research holidays and am always planning something.

I have not done a travel blog. This was my first photo review, although i think I have done a couple of other reviews on here with no photos. This one took me so much time I am not sure I would do it again - if you could just upload your photos quickly directly to the site it would be better, but having to upload them and then transfer them across was a pain. I will have a look at the blog link you provided as that could be a good way of doing it instead.

I did two shutter fly albums of our African adventure. If you send me your email address I can send you the link to look at them. Africa was another incredible adventure.

We loved the Galapagos (and Expedition) as well - just amazing. Looking forward to going back next year. So much world to see and explore!

An AMAZING trip report.

 

DH & I were on a Southern Caribbean cruise last month and everyone said GO TO ALASKA!!! After reading your review, I see why!!

 

Your photos are incredible. I think it's time to start planing!

 

Are you happy that you did the land portion first and then the cruise? Or would you rather have done it the other way around?

 

We'll probably only have 2 weeks for Alaska, so a week on land and a week cruise. Trying to decide southbound with land tour first or northbound with land tour after.

Thanks, we did have an amazing time! It was easy to take incredible photos as the scenery was so beautiful and we were very fortunate with our wildlife sightings.

We were very happy with the way we did the trip, and would not change anything. I guess the only downside was saying goodbye to our friends who did the land tour with us, as we boarded the ship feeling a bit sad. Personally, I don't think there would be a big difference in doing the land section before or after the cruise. For us, we had a long flight before and a long flight after, but if I lived in the States, I would probably finish the whole trip at the point that was closest to home and do the longer flight to Alaska before your trip. To me, the flight to my holiday always seems much shorter than the one going home.

Hope that helps - have fun planning!

Thanks for your review. Looks like you had lots of fun and the photos are wonderful.

Thank you! We had an amazing time, and I can't wait to go back one day.

We stayed at Susitna Place Bed and Breakfast. Loved it - very close to the town centre, so you can walk everywhere; nice breakfast; beautiful views from the back deck; very comfortable accommodations. I would stay there again.

Thank you Karen_G! I got so much out of the Alaska thread before we left on our adventure, I thought it would be fun to write a review of our trip, and now I have a record of it. Although I put so much time and energy into the review, I am yet to do the photo book that I usually do after each holiday.

Alaska was such a wonderful adventure for us, I can't wait to go back one day.

Thanks so much for the pictures and write-up on the Tony Knowles bike trail. We had already decided to do that but now we are even more excited! I think I also added Glacier Brewhouse to our to do list after reading your review.:D

Hi there - the Tony Knowles Trail was great to ride on, I really enjoyed it. Seeing the Moose was just amazing!! Good choice on the Glacier Brewhouse, but try and book before you go. The line for people without a booking was long.

Hi,

 

We are looking to buy a good camera for Alaska. I love taking pictures and have a canon powershot sx50, point and shoot but feel want something to give better pictures. What body do you use for the canon?

 

Irene

Hi Irene - we have two Canon bodies, but Bill is in South Africa for work at the moment and took them both as he went on a weekend safari. When he gets home tomorrow, I will check and get back to you. Alaska is the perfect place for taking photos, the scenery and the animals are magnificent!

Amy, that is such a coincidence! I am gad you are enjoying the review, it was such a fantastic holiday. I just love Alaska. I am really looking forward to crushing with you in Norway! Yvette

We like to cruise at Christmas/New Year and have only sailed with RCI and X and so usually the options are New Zealand and South Pacific.

But for our main vacation during the year we are lucky to be able to explore the rest of the world, sometimes this involves cruises and sometimes not, but we like to try and include 2 weeks of cruising and 2 weeks of touring and exploring on our own.

It is not surprising that Alaska, Europe and the Caribbean are the top choices for cruising Australians, they are lovely places to cruise.

We did the same thing, drove up to Denali and spent the night, a day in Denali and stayed overnight again, and then a day driving back to Anchorage. Had a really fun time and just stopped to take photos as we felt like it. Denali was wonderful.

We went to Talkeetna and did a flight seeing trip around the Mountains and landed and walked on a glacier - just spectacular. Just past the turnoff as you drive towards Talkeenta is the Flying Squirrel Bakery. This cafe was just excellent as we stopped there twice. There is also a Birch Syrup place on the same road which was interesting to visit. I did a photo review of our month in Alaska, the drive Anchorage to Denali and back are in the first few pages with lots of photos: http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2093748

I hope you get to visit the SeaLife Centre, it is just wonderful. We also did the Puffin and the Octopus encounter - the Puffin encounter was my favourite. Without the encounters, 1.5 hours at a minimum would be enough to visit the centre.

Our day out on the Kenai was also a fantastic experience, but we did that the day before. We visited the Sea Life Centre the next morning and boarded the ship that afternoon.

Sounds like you don't have as much time - but hope you have a wonderful day.

We went with Misty Bay Lodge and had a great time. There were 6 of us. It was a very misty morning, but we managed to find one very frisky whale who breached many times. Here is a link to some photos of the boat and the whale starting from post #149: http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2093748&page=8

Hi mygreyhound66 - Seeing the whales breaching and bubble-net feeding was incredible, we were so lucky. The pod of Orcas was also truly amazing. Not long until your June 12 departure, I hope you have an amazing time!