DandDM

I know there are bigger issues some are dealing with, but…. will have diamond drink vouchers for that last day?

Captain just announced that the Ovation will not arrive until 2pm on Thursday. Apparently we don’t just have the delay due to diverting course, but also need to wait for the tide to get under the bridge. 

Yes, prayers for the passengers and their family. Glad they were able to get this done - it’s been windy! 
 

I haven’t heard any announcements about our schedule and any potential changes on arrival time in Vancouver. Did I miss it somehow?

Captain announced this afternoon that we’d be making full steam to San Francisco to medivac a passenger. He estimated that a helicopter could meet us at 200 miles out. At this point, he was not willing to project what this would mean toward our ETA in Vancouver, BC. 
 

Will update as we learn more. 

Interesting!  I couldn’t find specific info on how they are going the match, any one see that? This might mean I’ll be visiting the old mirage casino in Las Vegas soon. Also hope this doesn’t mean they are terminating their partnership with MGM…I’ve got a lot of mileage from that over the years!

thanks for posting. 

I've always heard back within 24 hours or so.  However, the concierge can work magic on board, so if for some reason they didn't act on your email request, they can probably make things right once you talk to them in person. 

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

Was this the amount of champagne they were serving for the tasting in each glass?

No, I started drinking before I thought to take a photo!  They had us drink half of each, then revisit with the food. 
 

I don’t think I’d started in the glass to the right…

2 hours ago, DennysDad said:

Is this an event in the planner?

The one on Oasis was not, the bartenders in Vintages were pushing it during the week. 

Did it last month on Oasis. Had a lot of fun, three tastes, plus a bonus. We had a small plate with cheese, strawberry, and chocolate to pair with the wine. Surprised I didn’t take a photo, but got this one of the flutes. I will probably do it again.  
 

On 3/25/2024 at 2:56 PM, MrCruze said:

The Apr 30th'24 sailing on Ovation from Honolulu to Vancouver is a crazy good deal right now.

 

Guarantee Balcony is about $1321 all-in for two.  Add in a kid under 12 for an extra $111.  This would work out to an astonishing $52pppn.

 

Thank you for posting this!  I am booked; got a balcony (chose the cabin) for $1585. Was concerned about airfare, but found a first class seat on a direct flight from Seattle for $489! Arriving two days early so will have a full day in Honolulu, then many relaxing sea days 🙂

Cheers,

5 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Again, no. Sorry. The online/precruise difference is US$5pppd, but the upgrade price is $10pppd (plus 18%). The reason given is that the online/precruise is discounted, for both I guess, but more so for Elite.

Good to know. The upgrade would be an easy choice for me, based on prices I’m used to on Royal, but from my one experience with HAL and what I’ve seen on these boards, not sure. Will research more!  
 

Cheers

42 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

No. Discussed here frequently. You have to wait until you are on board, and do it immediately, before buying any drinks.

Thanks for the info!  

I just booked an Alaska cruise with the basic ($11) HIA package included. Is there a way I can pay to upgrade to the Plus/Elite ($15) package pre cruise?  I can see both packages in my cruise planner, but no option to upgrade. If there is a way to do this, can I assume the cost to upgrade would be the same as the difference in package prices shown online?

Thanks!

17 hours ago, KEG21552 said:

Congratulations on a great finish

Thanks!

14 hours ago, HBE4 said:

Thank you for a great trip report & the race update.  Seems like a late start for a race, is that to avoid the heat? I didn't think Vegas was that hot this time of year.

 

And I can't think of a better way to reward yourself than with an In-and-Out burger. 

They talk about the heat, but agree, it’s not usually too hot. I think it has a lot to do with traffic as they couldn’t get away with closing the strip to vehicle traffic mid day. 

11 hours ago, perfect match said:

You had a great race! Thank you for the update.

I’ve done a few Run Disney races when I was younger and before my knee and hip replacements. They were a lot of fun, Disney characters everywhere. Unfortunately, when discussing activities restrictions following my surgeries with the doctor he said no running or bungee jumping with a bungee cord around my ankles. Since I’m really not much of a runner and even the thrill seeker in me has no desire to try bungee jumping I really promised him I wouldn’t do either of those things! 😂

Haha! I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some bungee jumping going on somewhere around here this weekend🤣 Thanks for following and posting in the report!

The race itself was huge!  Read that there would be 27,000 participants. 
 

Could write a lot about this crazy and new experience for me. I haven’t run an organized race like this for a while and never one this big.  Only in Vegas could you get a selfie with showgirls. 

Lined up at 4:30, did not pass the start line until 5:15 (note that each bib has a chip which was read at start and finish, so was not ‘penalized’ for late start). Some photos waiting to start. 
 

Finally running, very entertaining course. 

Despite the crowds, had a good run. Three minutes faster than training run on ship…

Reward for all this, stopped for an In-n-out burger!

Have some pains this morning, blaming the standing around and time between stretching and starting the race. Could also be my age 😃

Undecided if I’d do this again, right now the answer would be ‘no’. With what I learned about the race would do things a bit differently which might make it better, so will let things settle for a few weeks and think about it more. 

Race is done!  First off, run from the other day, did a route that avoided the overpasses. Note that these blocks were a mile long!  Always thought Las Vegas blocks were huge!  
 

Quick run update. After a long flight from Miami and a quick stop, primarily to do laundry and repack, in Tucson, arrived in Las Vegas last night. View from room. 

To the reason for the post, went for the first Vegas practice run. Very pleased to report that I didn’t have issues with breathing at this altitude. But the overpasses really slowed me down. Had five in each direction, so ten total. Because of that, overall pace wasn’t great, but I’ll share the splits as I did pretty good when flat. 
 

1 hour ago, perfect match said:

Thank you very much for a great cruise report. We’re back on Allure in about 2 months, so hearing about your time on Oasis certainly helped me get excited - not that I need any help getting excited about going on a cruise. 😂

 

You also helped me get fully on track with my own exercise program. I had started to struggle with getting my workouts in due to a decline in my own motivation. Seeing you getting all of your workouts in helped me get back on track with my own. 

You are welcome!  Having an ‘audience’ helped motivate me 😀

Enjoy your cruise…Allure is my favorite. 
 

Cheers,

After a couple experiences of going to GS and only being able to get five or ten ones, now bring all the change I think I’ll need. Feel like the fat cat in a Below Decks episode when I get on board with my thick envelope of tip money 😎 

Also, after I get to know the bar staff, will usually wait until I’m done for the evening and tip $5 or $10 instead of dollars with each drink. 

8 minutes ago, Coralc said:

Very enjoyable cruise report! Thanks for taking the time. Good Luck in the race! 😊

 

New Orleans is a very fun city! But I think it is probably more fun to have a friend go with you to encourage more exploration. I find that when I am by myself, I tend not to be as adventurous about exploring places. Not because I am nervous, I just lack motivation. 😁

Thanks for your comments!  I have to agree with your message as I sit here in my hotel room watching the Daytona 500 instead of exploring more of Miami…but it did get kinda cold out 😃

1 hour ago, fla33023 said:

Thank you for taking the time out of your vacation. I really enjoyed your review. I'm not a runner by any means but it was fascinating to see you stick to your goals during a cruise. My next one is in March and I will certainly take the elevator but I want to push myself to do steps more. I will think of you! Safe travels home and looking forward to the race review!

Have fun on your cruise, good luck on those stairs 🙂

1 hour ago, gambler said:

Thank-you for a great review. Good luck on the race.

Thanks!

1 hour ago, sddsddean said:

Thanks for a great review…looking forward to our 3 weeks on Oasis in April.

 

Thanks also (and fla) for comments on tips.

 

Simon

If Roman or Sherwin are working in Vintages, say hi for me!  Hope this gave you some useful info!

Cheers,

I've rambled enough.  Final, general, thoughts.

Very glad the trip was two weeks. The first was a bit of a blur and I would have been bummed to leave that quickly. By the end of the second week I was ready...could have stayed longer, but felt the time was right.

Really, really, enjoyed the bartenders (Sherwin and Roman) in Vintages. Met a lot of people there, drank too much, and just generally had a good time. As much as I like to plan, never know what a cruise is going to be like; this one was the Vintages cruise!

Regarding my decision to make this a 'running cruise' - I'm happy with that. Sure would have been nice to sleep in some mornings and not think about what I was ordering, but it was worth it. I still ate a lot (probably too much for my goal) but I feel good about how it went down. Don't know if I'll ever have the need to push myself this much on a future cruise, but if I do, know how to do it.

Finally, stairs!  Made it all two weeks without an elevator!! Was very tempted after some runs (especially St Thomas) and when I just wanted to quickly get something up or down the stairs. Could probably write a page on my thoughts on stairs and all the tricks and strategies I used to keep it going!  Also sure I built up some stair specific muscle, but unfortunately, don't have any stairs in my regular life to keep that up. I guess it will be useful next week in Vegas and taking the street overpasses. Related - I'm on the third story of my hotel. Other than bringing my bag up here, have still been using the stairs.

You now know more than you ever wanted to about what I thought about this cruise; please let me know if any questions. 

As I posed earlier, will come back with any updates, especially about the race, but I'm pretty much wrapped up with this trip.  Six AM flight tomorrow 😞

Thank you everyone for following, happy cruising!

Continued...

Itinerary. Chose these cruises because of the ship and superbowl; didn't really think about the stops. This might not be a popular opinion, but I don't have any real desire to go back to either private island.  If I want to do a beach stop, can do at other ports, but I never do because I don't really care for beach days. Wouldn't NOT do a cruise just because it is one of the stops; I think of them as sea days.

Have no problem with Nassau and St Thomas; talking to others, regret (a little bit) not doing any excursions. Finally, no desire to stop at any Jamaican ports; been to three different ones and have stayed in a resort, and can't think of a reason to get off the ship in the future. 

I may talk about this later if I get that far, but for future cruises, want to do more stops in Central/South America and Panama canal.  I'm a history fan so enjoy the Mayan ruins and old civilization stuff 

Superbowl. Guess I should talk about that. I ended up having a good time, but only because I paid for a seat. To be part of the crowd and get a decent free seat, probably would have needed to claim the seat 60 - 90 minutes before kickoff. If I was with a group, might have been more fun. As I put in my earlier post, I wish they had the game on in more venues with different viewing options. And since there is a suite lounge and a suite debt, seems like they could have set up an event on one of those spots...

Future cruises. This goes back to my comment about ports.  For once in as long as I can remember, do not have any cruises booked.  Usually, I book one on the ship and already have the next one or two set up already. When I booked these two, they were four and five on the list. I spent a fair amount of time looking at options while on the ship, and got some ideas the Next Cruise folks (both for Royal and Celebrity) but didn't find one that jumped out. Some friends recommends a few Celebrity opitons that I will keep looking at.

What I found was that the newer ships had very boring (in my opinion) itineraries and very high price tags. When I found cruises that were interesting, they usually left from less popular ports, were on older, small ships, and were still very expensive (but cheaper than the big ships).  The two I found most interesting was a partial Panama transit on a small ship out of (can't remember which it was) Tampa or Galveston. Then there was a Mexico cruise out of New Orleans that was priced well and I've never been to New Orleans so could do that.  I almost pulled the trigger on that one, but I want to do more research on New Orleans first.

So nothing booked...