tortoisegirl

If you miss your dining time, don't have time for dinner in port, are too late for WindJammer, I'd consider these options:

Room Service.  $7.95 + 18% gratuity per cabin fee.  But that's low per person for 2+ in a cabin.  You can order more food that just for the cabin, but I wouldn't stretch it and order for more than 4 people for example (plus that would only increase the wait time).  It's also the easiest option, especially after a long port day.  You can even get cleaned up while you wait for food.  We found the food fine (at least in 2019) - the biggest issues were wait time and temperature.

Sorrento's Pizza.  Included.  Open late.  May have a few sides in addition to pizza.  Last cruise their pizza was actually good, way better than pre-2018/2019, when I considered it nearly inedible.

Cafe Promenade.  Included.  Open 24 hours.  Sandwiches and cookies and similar lite fare.

Amber and Oak Pub.  Per item fee.  Would likely total more than room service, as a burger is ~ $8 for example.  Open late.

Solarium Bistro.  Included.  Seats until 8:30pm per the app for our Ovation Alaska cruise this summer (a bit later than 8:00pm for WindJammer).  So this may be the only option for a complimentary sit down dinner after 8pm.  Dinner is Mediterranean style buffet with some other made-to-order options (some of which may have an upcharge).  Although I'm not sure they'd like you to do made-to-order if you walk in between 8 & 8:30.  We really liked their food on our last cruise in 2019 by the way.  They are also a great option for a quick breakfast that we found way less crowded than the WindJammer, without sacrificing too many options.

However, after a long active Alaska port day, we tended to just want to grab something quick or get room service, not even go to WindJammer or the MDR assuming we weren't too late, as we just wanted food, a shower, and sleep!  So knowing your options and keeping things flexible is a good way to go.  I wouldn't try to make arrangements for a different MDR time unless you're sure you'll be up to it.

Also, if you're running late for WindJammer or Solarium Bistro, you could either head straight there from the dock, or send one or two people to drop off backpacks and such at a cabin, and get them a plate of food.  You can also take food out of venues, such as if you get there right before they close and don't want to be the last group.  Although on late all aboard time Alaska port days, it's common for the WindJammer to be quite full right at closing, due to all the people who miss the MDR.

18 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

This is not a great itinerary for a 5000 pax ship.  You will be in the open ocean the first day and then again after you leave Icy Strait Point if you use Cross Sound, which is the shortest route to Sitka.  You arrive at Icy Strait Point at 5pm.  Assuming that the new dock is finished, you will disembark about a 1/2 mile from the cannery.  If not , you will have to tender.  Unless you are doing an excursion, there is very little to do at the cannery And less to do in the town of Hoonah (pop. 800), which is a mile or so away.  With an all aboard time of around 9pm, you will have four hours there.  Sitka is similar.  If you can fit on the dock, you will be 5 miles from town and have to use a shuttle bus to get there along with the 5000 other passengers who want to get to town.  If you can't get on the dock, you'll have to tender.  Both of these towns are great, but they are really not prepared for 5000 or more pax (depending on what other ships are in on that day).

We were on the first Alaska cruise on Ovation in May 2019, an 11 night including Icy Strait Point and Sitka.  Agreed it was a lot of open ocean time, as any round trip Seattle cruise has, and not the best itinerary (it might actually be the worse I've seen), but it also has some pros as mentioned.  I thought I'd add that we docked in both ports.

The dock at Icy Strait Point was an easy walk to the cannery and then to Hoonah for able bodied folks (or else they had golf carts to & from the cannery and shuttle buses to & from Hoonah).  Agreed, there are few options there as its more of a village than a town or city.  We did a bear search (private) that left from the cannery, then got dropped off in town, but couldn't find any place to eat (only a few options and they were all out of food by then), so we walked back and went to a cannery area fish & chips place for a late lunch.  Agreed that with that short of a port time there will probably be very few excursion options.  However, just enjoying the scenery and taking a walk along the nice path to & from Hoonah is a viable option, especially earlier in the season (by September it gets dark early).  I've heard whales are often seen from shore, although we didn't spot any.

The dock at Sitka was far away as you said, so the only option was the (free) shuttle buses.  Oddly enough we had zero wait on the way to town and about a 20 min wait on the way back.  I thought Sitka was well prepared for us, better than I expected for the first Ovation docking there.  Although I didn't find any excursions to pre-book that did exactly what we wanted, I planned out a route on a city shuttle bus (meant for locals) to the bear and raptor places, but even better, found a direct cheap bus option to book at the drop off point that I hadn't seen mentioned online.

We went to Solarium Bistro on Ovation in May.  The first time for dinner, and we both loved the food (I am a picky eater tending towards vegetarian and I was super happy with only eating the buffet appetizers, and hubby got the skirt steak), plus it was quick and quiet.  The second time for lunch, and it was just a smaller Windjammer buffet, no Mediterranean at all (we would have left without eating, but it was right when lunch was ending, and we were hungry).  Highly recommend for dinner if you like Mediterranean and/or healthier food.  Not recommended for lunch, as there wasn't much selection, although it was less crowded than the Windjammer (I'd alternatively recommend Cafe 270 for a light lunch if you're on Quantum class).

On our May 13-24 Ovation cruise (which was a different 11 night itinerary), there was an older man who did a series of talks on Alaska, and talked for a few minutes at 1 of our 2 glacier stops.  However, he wasn't that great of a speaker and the material was a bit lacking, so we stopped attending after a few talks.  I heard they had someone else giving talks for cruises after ours, so yes, they will likely have someone.  In general I thought they could have done much more Alaska enrichment, by comparison to our NCL and especially Princess previous cruises to Alaska.  However, we picked Ovation for the ship, itinerary (as it had mostly different stops than our prior 2 Alaska cruises which were 7 nights), and as its local for us.

no free in-cabin movies on Ovation last month

Also chiming in that on Ovation last month there was no steak option.

14 hours ago, mickeygirl78 said:

I booked the udp for my October cruise. It’s my first time with specialty dining. I’m confused by the comments about it being too much food. We typically eat in the mdr each night and get all three courses (sometimes getting two apps each). I’m expecting to do the same at specialty.

 

Are people saying it’s too much just because of the lunches? We decided for $25 a day (we paid $175 for our 7 night cruise), it was worth it just for dinner and if we do any lunches it’s a bonus. We will certainly do lunch on embarkation.

I would vote that doing specialty multiple nights in a row is too much food because the portions are larger and the food is richer, so even only doing 1 app + 1 entree + 1 dessert I won't finish it in a specialty when I often can in MDR.  I couldn't do more than a few specialty dinners on a 7 night cruise because its on top of already eating larger portions, more frequently, and richer foods on a cruise.

calamari (best I've ever had)

pasta (I don't get fresh pasta very often, although I wasn't personally a fan of the shrimp with the tomato sauce, so I just ate the pasta)

lemon meringue cheesecake & brownie (best desserts we had of the cruise by far, and some of my lifetime favorites too, but super rich - we took them to go and had them a few hours later on the balcony, which was an awesome decision - they skipped the ice cream on the brownie and put them onto one plate, and it fit in the fridge fine)

We actually liked Jamie's much more than Chops on our last trip (in May, on Ovation), both food and service.

I bring my own tea, as I've found the selections lacking.  Its easy to get free hot water, although there can be quite a wait in the dining room at breakfast (hot water often didn't arrive until after the food).

Its a total toss-up.  Can be t-shirts & shorts some days in ports down to cold/rainy/windy on a glacier day.  Definitely layers.  A thick winter coat is probably too warm and won't give you options.  My list:

- t-shirts

- 1 full zip long sleeve fleece

- 1 lightweight hooded waterproof rain jacket (I think good options can be found  > $50)

- jeans / regular pants (and 1 shorts/capris)

- lightweight package rain pants for glacier day and/or if have lengthy outdoor excursion on rainy day; they also help keep you warm if windy ($30 type are fine as may not even be worn)

- regular socks

- possibly 1 pair wool socks (for glacier day & outdoor excursions if cold/wet day; can wash in sink; too warm for typical days though)

- water resistant low hiking type shoes (like Merrell, that you have broken in; true hiking boots are overkill for most unless actually going hiking, and heavy & bulky, but having wet feet is miserable, so I think this and a rain jacket are two areas to consider spending a bit of money if you don't have them, and can reuse too; some folks just say to spray waterproofing on existing sneakers; an added bonus of good shoes is added traction when wet, and a bit more warmth)

- 1 hat/earmuffs

- 1 pair thin gloves

- water resistant ish backpack (for excursions & glacier day, for your extra layers, water, snacks, etc; or can put a disposable rain poncho over it, but that is a pain)

We always get a print of 1 or 2 formal photos (~ $20 each?) and one of the portfolios with a ship photo,  itinerary, and a spot to put our photo.  Since we only cruise once a year or less, its a nice souvenir, plus the portfolio makes sure the photo gets home undamaged.  We have a decent scanner at home and that has worked just fine to get a photo on Facebook or whatever to share with family.

Its a great deal for us as we'll go to several backdrops/photographers and get the 5 or so photos taken at each, then get to pick out our best shot.  If we have someone just take 1 or 2 shots, chances are one of us will have our eyes closed or otherwise look weird.

Just don't wait until the last night to get photos.  It was a disaster on our last cruise, several times I waited in line for 15 minutes just to be told to come back in an hour...just for the 2 prints.  I ended up staying up late to wait, as they wouldn't give a refund or drop them at our room, and I didn't want to wait until the morning and possibly forget or have them say it still wasn't ready.  Next time we'll be sure to do formal photos on the 1st formal night and get them before the last night (as the 2nd formal night was the night before the last night).

I saw something about a hot dog place in the listing of Ovation food venues (and no JR or KFP) somewhere online.  Definitely some inconsistencies though so it may be a wait and see.

What kind of weird potato chips did you get? I got hooked on the ketchup chips, and I'll be buying some next year on our Alaskan cruise. Should I be on the lookout for another fun flavor?

Ketchup and All Dressed (a mix of all the flavors on every chip) are probably the most common. We also found Maple Bacon and Poutine (cheese & gravy). Shoppers Drug Mart seemed to have a nice variety, both individual and large bags, including flavors from the typical brands (like Ruffles), and Canadian ones (like President's Choice "World of Flavors").

my favorite cruise drinks:

mai tai (I actually got a couple strong ones on my cruise last week, that never seems to happen on a cruise)

mango daquiri

white Bacardi and pineapple juice

Yes we do. Mostly because I want to wipe areas which are often overlooked (tv remote, drawer handles, light switches, balcony door handle & table), plus I want to wipe where we will be placing our clean underclothes (as who knows what was previously put in the drawer). While I am at it I get all the major surfaces and such too. I'm usually surprised by how little grim I find. I know the wipes don't kill everything and us and our cabin steward will bring in more germs, but it takes all of 15 minutes and puts my mind at ease.

I rarely tip over the automatically included amount, as 18% on a $12 drink is equivalent to more than I would usually tip on land. The exception is if they give extra alcohol in my drink.

Alcohol. Its fun to pick up bottles that we can't buy at home, to taste the region. I brought about 2 cases of cider home from our last cruise. Easier to do when you aren't flying home though. Even with us disembarking at our home port it was time consuming to pack them all up.

Also, interesting local candies and snacks. Although we picked up a bag of weird potato chips in Canada and they were a huge pain as we had to hand carry them to they wouldn't get squished. Non chocolate candies are the easiest.

Other than that, it is usually only things that can be used in daily life - I'm over magnets, keychains, figurines, etc.

We're locals (Seattle) and did this cruise last year, and are leaving this Friday to do a repeat. Last year in Astoria we rented a vehicle and did a short road trip to Seaside and Cannon Beach, less than an hour away, but it may be too late for availability for this year (although you might as well check, and maybe even call that morning an hour or two after the ship docks and ask if there were any no-shows though, as many rentals require no deposit). We went through Enterprise (walked there, about 15 minutes away) and they were super super swamped, line out the door, as it is a tiny place, and many had the same idea as us. They were decently efficient though and we didn't waste too much time. They do bus trips out that way, but I hate large group bus trips and having only a set amount of time, and renting a car was hardly more expensive.

This year we plan to stay in Astoria (we hardly saw any of it last time) and just do the "riverfront" walk and check out some breweries and shops and such. Wouldn't be surprised if we were back on the ship early. Last year they actually did 2 of the 4 ice shows the afternoon we were docked in Astoria, so enough people must skip it or come back early for that to make sense for them (that and they probably want to leave the second sea day free as a back up in case the seas are too rough for any of the earlier shows).

Agreed it is not a very exciting port at all, nor it is often visited by cruise ships...it is the only option between Seattle and San Francisco though, and you can't get too far south of SF and still make it back to Seattle in 7 nights. All in all its an awesome deal for a cruise which leaves from the NW. Going under the bay bridge in SF was a highlight, as is the overnight there.

Also, a pro tip, even though the pools and main hot tubs are outdoors, there is an indoor hot tub in the middle of the (indoor) gym. We always had it to ourselves. I think it closes a tad early (9 or 10pm?), so just double check the hours.

For me its one of those ideas that I think sounds awesome at first, but not so much once you actually think about logistics. I would think that if you are on a ship which does the same itinerary week after week for months straight, turn around day especially would quickly get old. As would spending the time to book all the cruises, and trying to get the same cabin.

As great as a balcony is, I would pick great excursions over a balcony, as Alaska excursions are very pricey. For glacier viewing and such you would likely want to be out on a deck where you can easily switch sides. Glacier bay is amazing, and if you think this will be a one-time Alaska trip, I would try to go there. The one-way (or longer than 7 night) itineraries are also superior as they go further up into Alaska.

The most likely area of rough seas is the sea day for itineraries leaving Seattle, as they go out into open ocean. We have done 2 round trip Seattle cruises and I was definitely feeling it that day on each, even with meds, but had no issues for the rest of the cruise. I have heard that the round trip Vancouver and one-way itineraries are better in that regard. I've always liked the idea of aft balconies, but haven't booked one yet due to the motion thing, and that you can get quite a bit of shuddering vibration back there, especially on lower decks.

We haven't done the drink package on Royal, as even though we like our drinks, especially on vacation, I don't think we'd break even unless we really tried, and that isn't a good idea. We wouldn't normally purchase bottles water or coffee drinks, although I probably would if we did the beverage package, so I wouldn't factor that in. We just couldn't drink enough on sea days to make up for the lack of drinking on port days. Plus I just can't see spending that much on booze for a vacation, as its nearly half the cost of the cruise itself. I would however love the idea of not having to think about drinks and money (besides the max dollar amount covered), as I find myself not getting as many drinks as I'd like as to stay in our budget.

We bring on the allowed 2 bottles of wine, get individual drinks when we want them (especially on sea days), and look out for the drink card. Last cruise it was $79 / 10 drinks including gratuity, so an awesome savings for a $12+grat drink. Even that had us buying more drinks than we probably would of, to use up the card in the 2-3 days left, but as the cost was so low, it was about even. We also tend to drink in port as we like to try local food (especially seafood) and beverages for lunch and such, plus buy bottles to take home (the best souvenir!). I think last cruise our bar bill was $200-300 for the two of us for the week (including the drink card, but not duty free alcohol).

So for us it is not a good deal. If you think you'd average 4 specialty drinks (martinis, blended drinks, etc, which are $11-13) every day, it probably would be. Less so if you drink beer or simple mixed drinks. There are only a handful of wine options which stay under the max, although you would only have to pay for any overage, so if you drink a lot of wine it could still be a good deal.

I agree that MDR is usually closed for lunch when in port from my experience on Royal, NCL, and Princess.

We have been on Royal, NCL, and Princess. Liked the food best on Princess, but taking everything into account, Royal has been the best fit for us. The food on NCL was pretty blah, and a big reason we are unlikely to try them again (gave them a second chance hoping food and service would be better on a different ship, but not so much).

I wouldn't be surprised if some food was pre-prepared and microwaved on any cruise ship - I think that is pretty common on land in chain restaurants too, allowing them to remain consistent between locations and get orders our quickly. Food is quite subjective though, and probably varies from ship to ship too.

At least as of the last time I was on NCL (a few years ago), if you chose the free beverage package promotion, you had to pay the gratuity on it. But it was a line item on the booking, so it would be paid prior to sailing. I'm guessing that poster's reference to about $100/person/week is the gratuity on the list price of the free beverage package.

It is only freestyle dining in the main dining room, although you can make a reservation for a certain time and/or request a certain waiter and/or location. If you look at the entire list of dinner restaurant options, more are paid than not, plus a higher number of options overall than many other cruiselines, although there are more seats in the included restaurants.

I am not aware of any onboard fees on NCL besides the expected things like gratuities, specialty dining, upcharge coffee, shops, photos, etc. Any item which has an extra cost should be indicated as such and they would request your card.

I have read here that you do not need them need them, although it will take a bit longer to get through the line as they will have to look you up in the system when you arrive. So, I wouldn't worry. Have a great cruise!