tortoisegirl

Compared to what? Many times the same week, Radiance was cheaper than Explorer last year.

I've looked a few times, and the cost of a one-way on any of several cruise lines was significantly more than a round trip cruise, including over a $1,000 difference on Explorer vs. Radiance. Then once you add airfare (and likely more and/or more expensive excursions for new-to-me ports), its way more. However, it may depend on when you book, what class of room (I was looking at balcony), and what time of year .

I spotted the Ovation schedule. However, it wasn't clear whether they will be doing any Pacific Coastal runs after Alaska. I'm guessing not though, as the last Alaska cruise is Seattle to Vancouver (instead of Seattle round trip), and they have previously done Pacific Coastal as round trip Seattle. So now I'm curious what route they will be doing starting September 20 2019 from Vancouver after the Alaska season!

The Ovation will be perfect for Alaska because of its large and wonderful solarium.

It looks like to start, Ovation's competition (as far as new/large ships) will be NCL's Bliss. From what I know about each ship, I think Ovation will be the better choice, as there are more indoor/sheltered activities. I was shocked to read that Bliss' headliner activities are bumper cars and laser tag, both of which seem like they wouldn't be able to be used much due to winds and/or rain.

However, neither are the "best" ship for Alaska overall, as they do round trip cruises which only hit the main ports and Tracy Arm (assumed for Ovation by comparison to Explorer). If someone is doing a once in a lifetime Alaska trip, if their budget allows, the one-way cruises with a land portion added on are typically recommended. We live in Seattle though and have treated Alaska cruises like just another vacation. Someday we'll probably do a one-way, but they are way more expensive.

I'm still non-patiently awaiting the release of Ovation's 2019 schedule. I'm most curious whether it will do the Pacific Coastal runs in September same as Explorer, as that will impact what we choose for our 2018 cruise.

My favorite dish on Explorer was at Chops, an appetizer salad with fried goat cheese and either pear or apple slices. I don't eat steak, so next time I think I might order another one as an entree too!

We have only ever used ship photographers to get 1 nice photo on a formal night each cruise. Both of us are not photogenic so we usually see 3 or 4 different photographers (with the ~ 6 photos each) to get 1 good one. Its an awesome deal to not have to pay a sitting fee and only buy what photos you want. And even doing that, last cruise, nearly all of my photos had glare with my glasses (I guess none of the photographers looked closely enough to see that was happening?).

The boarding and port photos have always looked horrible as its often hot and we've been running around and such, plus you only have one go, so we stopped even posing for them. I also don't get why they want to take photos of you at the dinner table, as then you have all the food and people and such in the background!

I don't have any experience with photos other than that though.

Were these printed or digital? If printed, I think you would have had recourse on the ship after picking up the prints. If you got the entire digital package, I could see how you may have not looked at all of them before getting home. If you paid with a credit card, you could try to get them to refund part of your charge from the cruise line, since you did already talk to someone at the cruise line. Not sure if you can do a partial dispute though.

Agreed, the mattresses, bedding, and towels could really use improvement. However, the thin scratchy towels and bedding are pretty par for the course unless staying in a really high end hotel (I can only remember liking the towels in maybe one or two hotels...it seems like all of them avoid fabric softener), but the mattress was the worst. However, once I fell asleep, I slept through the night just fine.

I'd actually love to see a cabin option which had upgraded mattresses, bedding, towels, and maybe even a remodeled bathroom (on the older ships) for just a tad more money, to have an option somewhere between a typical cabin and a suite.

I'm really excited about this as we live in Seattle and Royal is our preferred line. Too bad it isn't until 2019, as we are trying to decide on a 2018 cruise now (its probably between Alaska on NCL Bliss and pacific coastal on RCI Explorer which is 1/2 the cost). I'd love to see Ovation do a longer round trip Seattle pacific coastal itinerary (that made it further south than San Francisco), or at least offer a pacific coastal more than 1 or 2 weeks a year (such as in May, before Alaska, not just in Sept/Oct). Explorer did 3 this year (2017) but is only scheduled for 2 next year (2018). A pacific coastal itinerary is much cheaper than Alaska, and since we've done both before, its more about the vacation aspect and ship than the itinerary.

I think it will also slightly vary by balcony design. On some ships and in some locations they are much more enclosed/sheltered than others (for example on some of the older ships the lower half of the rail is metal not glass). I agree that for better chances of less wind on the balcony, you'd want the aft half of the ship, but it will vary most by ambient conditions. We like just aft of mid-ship as you feel less motion and its convenient.

The fjord-like runs (such as Tracy Arm Fjord) simply won't handle big ships.

NCL Bliss is scheduled to do a Tracy Arm itinerary June-September 2018. Time will tell if it is more of an on-paper stop where only passengers who book an excursion through NCL get to see anything, or if they will go partway in then turn around and leave (especially as like most ships they will be short on time as they are doing Juneau the same day). We are currently booked on Bliss for Sept 2018 but still deciding. We'd prefer Royal.

I've always read that often they divert to Endicott Arm due to ice at Tracy Arm, and even if the conditions are ideal, they often turn back early due to time. So, we've done Glacier Bay both times we've done Alaska (the first time as it was the first and its what most people recommend, and the second time as we were going early in the season in May and didn't want to be disappointed).

I'm surprised they didn't schedule Bliss do to Glacier Bay (I know they have at least one permit as we've gone there on NCL Pearl), as it seems like that would be way easier for a large ship and is the more desirable itinerary and could garner a bit more money. Maybe there is a reason they couldn't though? I know there are a lot of restrictions.

For many cruisers it is more about the ship than the ports and this will allow those people to experience the best of both.

It would be for us. We have been on two Alaska cruises round trip from Seattle so far, and anticipate going on many more. This is because we live in Seattle, and an Alaska cruise round trip from our home city is actually cheaper all-in than flying to Florida for a Caribbean cruise. However, its a tough choice between going on a new ship on the same itinerary we've done multiple times before which is expensive (current option is NCL Bliss, but I could see the same thing in the future with a Quantum class ship) vs. a round trip Seattle Pacific Coastal cruise on Explorer (which we did in September and loved, plus it was about 1/2 the price of any Alaska cruise, but its only offered 2-3 weeks a year).

To do a more desirable Alaska itinerary costs much much more as the one way cruises are more expensive, plus you have airfare (even if just considering Seward to Vancouver or Seattle). At this point we prioritize a "vacation" over "travel" though, ie. we care more about fun, cheap, and easy that crossing off any destinations or activities on our bucket list.

Last cruise we were celebrating our anniversary and marked it on our reservation. All we got was a couple fliers inviting us to buy stuff for our celebration. We had MTD, but I'm not sure even with traditional dining the wait staff would know unless someone in the party said something (or they overheard something).

I remember on at least a few of our previous 4 cruises (3 different cruise lines) we got free stuff a number of times in our room, from champagne to strawberries. At least one was for our anniversary (we often cruise that time in September), one was an apology, and one was because my husband made a connection with an officer somewhere.

I'm not really surprised, cutbacks and all. Even if the gift doesn't cost them much, it also costs money for the manpower to deliver it. I saw plates of something being delivered one day when I was walking through the hall. It seemed like nearly everyone was getting them; must have been a higher up C&A thing.

We also love the Promenade, but on the Explorer, the smoke coming up from the casino combined with the loud live music outside the pub made us not want to hang out there during the evenings when underway. We mostly walked through it to get from one side of the ship to the other and/or to get soda from the Freestyle machines (as the Windjammer ones were only open during mealtimes).

I've been wondering when another cruise line will bring a large and/or new ship up to Alaska. It would be awesome if it was Royal Caribbean with Quantum class; that would make a lot of sense. NCL will be the first with Bliss in Summer 2018, although that ship's pax count is just barely over Explorer's (its gross weight is expected to be way higher though).

I'm guessing Coco Cay improvements and/or Quantum class to Alaska.

I've never considered making any booking while onboard as I'd rather spend my vacation on vacation. There would have to be a pretty huge financial incentive and no downside.

We recently did MTD on Explorer. I made reservations for each night online, as we wanted later than early seating but earlier than late seating (6/6:30pm). There were two lines to get in to the dining room each night, but there was no distinction between who had a reservation and who didn't. The first night was a longer wait (20 min?), but it went quicker on the other nights.

A handful of times after checking in with the hostess they had people take a seat on a bench to wait to be seated, which I'm guessing was those without reservations. We didn't end up making it to any of the shows. On a handful of the nights (like embarkation night, when we were on an overnight in San Fran, and maybe the last night), they had a single show at 7:15pm ish, which we would have been late for. The other times it just didn't sound interesting.

If shows are a priority for you, I'd either choose regular dining, or do MTD with a reservation time near either the early or late regular dining times (approx. 5:30pm and 8:00pm, but can vary slightly by ship), although that kinda defeats the purpose of MTD. We got a table for 2 every time for dinner with MTD without asking, although often it was only 1 or 2 feet away from another table. They also try to seat you in the same section each night. I think we got much faster service as we were near the kitchen access in the back. I think most of our dinners were around an hour.

I think it can depend what the proportion of Traditional to My Time Dining the ship has. We were on Explorer recently, and deck 3 (the largest one) was MTD and decks 4 & 5 were traditional. They also used deck 3 for breakfast, and when applicable, lunch. If they are doing two decks for your type of dining you may be able to ask to be changed. Otherwise, nothing you could do short of changing the type of dining (traditional vs. MTD).

We too love to only unpack once, and to wake up somewhere new during the cruise. Especially cruising from our home port (Seattle), its just so easy.

We got off Explorer a week ago. When our wine was discovered at the security line, we were directed to a Table and handed a slip of paper about the new policy (they didn't seem to care to check the bottles were unopened or that we didn't have more than two). We asked for and received a corkscrew and glasses from our room steward (too many in fact, and no one took back any of the extras even though they sat out all week). We could have also asked at a bar. My husband did take one of the bottles to Chops out of convenience, and was charged the $15 (in fact, we were warned about it 3 times). With the other one he brought full glasses into dinner.

Are you concerned it will be too hot to sit outside, or that since the weather will be good you won't spend much time in the cabin? There will be some breeze even on a semi enclosed balcony when the ship is underway, so the temperature will feel slightly cooler. Plus, most of the time you are likely to be in your cabin is not the hottest part of the day, it is early morning and late evening.

A balcony is of value to me even if I don't end up sitting outside much, as I'm not a outdoorsy type of person. I mostly see balcony cabins as a large window through which the outdoors can be easily viewed from the bed and/or couch. Most oceanview cabin layouts and photos I've seen have a small window high over the head of the bed, and the cabin is on a lower deck. With that, you aren't really getting a view - its mostly just the natural light coming in.

Also, we like being able to pop outside if we hear or see anything interesting, like if we are in our room when we are entering or leaving port. Plus the location of balcony (and interior) cabins can be more convenient for some people, having more decks on the ship to choose from than oceanview cabins. That said, we've only ever sailed in balcony cabins.

But I did notice that the drinks were very weak, even watching the bartender measure the alcohol in (I never saw a free pour), you couldn't convince me there was anything in my drink.

I too found the drinks weak, but I'd say that about pretty any drink I order anywhere, with only a few exceptions. For example, fancy restaurants with expensive drinks tend to make them stronger, so its actually a better deal. For example, I had a Mai Tai while we were in San Francisco that was $13, but in a tall glass and crazy strong. A couple bars we went to on Explorer were better than others though, like the Solarium and Windjammer (I saw the guy make some really strong drinks first thing in the morning where he kept pouring after measuring the shot!). I have heard some cruiselines (and bars) hold the bartenders accountable for any overages over what was ordered (put into the computer), so it makes sense.

Upcharge for shrimp in Chops?

Nope. There were no up charge items on the menu, but you pay the flat entry cost per person whether you order steak or not (there were also chicken and a couple fish options on the menu, not just steak). I should have said "charge" not "upcharge", as I meant the $35pp we paid.

The one thing that has bothered us each and every time was the cigarette smoke that drifts out of the casino and up the stairs to the Royal Promenade. It was, quite simply, awful. Seriously, toward the end of the cruise my eyes were stinging and it was really uncomfortable. I wish they would do something about it but they never will.

I forgot about that! Yes, it was quite bad, and we both get the itchy eyes and headache from it. Due to that we didn't spend any specific time in the Promenade, just walked through it and picked up anything we needed (like a soda refill or a snack). I think if they had something to close off those stairs between the casino and Promenade (or even have an intense downward airflow) it would have been better. The bar outside of the casino was also unusable for us due to smoke. The area on the side of the pool with the frozen yogurt machine was also always smokey as it was allowed there. And, obviously, the casino itself. Unfortunately this has been pretty typical on most of our cruises. At least we didn't have any people smoking on nearby balconies this time.

The Celebrity Eclipse does that - the Explorer has a regular day time hours stop in Victoria on her Alaska runs.

Thanks! I guess I should have said we had never had a daytime stop in Victoria.

I got off Explorer yesterday. They offered this card on day 3 (first sea day), and I'm 100% sure it was $75 all in, as I double checked our account. The bartenders were asking everyone if they wanted one when they ordered a drink if they weren't on a package, but it wasn't otherwise advertised (no signs, and nothing in the Compass). I was very surprised it wasn't $75 + 18%, and was wondering if they would charge the 18% at time of redemption, but they didn't. We had a lot of older and high status folks on this itinerary (Pacific Coastal), but it seemed very early to be offered and very cheap as well. It was a crazy good deal as it covered 10 drinks up to $12 + 18% each, which was basically everything except the really premium spirits & wine. Even ordering the cheapest drink ($7 + 18%) you wouldn't lose money on the face value of the card.

It even said right on the "card" (actually a badly photographed slip of paper - so I stuck it in a baggie so it wouldn't get ruined) that it can be shared, and we ordered two drinks each time with it without issue. I'm glad we didn't buy more than one card though, as even that early in the cruise, we wouldn't have used two, with all the time in port. If you aren't on a drink package, as long as you are rather sure you will use most or all 10 drinks and aren't the type to lose or forget to use stuff, its an easy purchase!

About the only "real" channel we got on our recent RC cruise was an international version of CNN. Most channels were from the cruiseline (like recorded port talks or game shows, Next Cruise, and a safety channel), one movie channel I think, and some with some recorded shows (we spotted the same episode of Superstore three different times when we flipped through the channels), including some channels dubbed over in other languages. We don't watch a bunch of tv on a cruise, but often like something on in the background in the evening, and wish there were more options. It ended up being CNN this trip, especially with that Las Vegas shooting.

And I forgot - on Sunday we got NFL Red Zone, and they even showed the big game on the pool tv screen.

We (my husband and I) just got off the Explorer, which we took for a 7 night Pacific Coastal itinerary. It was round trip Seattle, stopping in Astoria OR, San Francisco CA (overnight) and Victoria B.C. They only do this cruise 3 times a year (3 weeks in a row, with this being the third, after the Alaska season), and it is the only round trip Seattle cruise that doesn't go to Alaska that I know of. It was our 5th cruise, and our second on Royal.

We live in Seattle, so the low fare (under $2,000 all in for 2 of us in a balcony) and no airfare was too good of a deal to pass up, despite this being a slightly boring itinerary. All in all we really enjoyed it, and would very much consider this same exact cruise next year, as it is the cheapest option for us by far, and we hate the long flights to Florida or whatever.

We even lucked out with nice weather and relatively calm seas. We didn't book any actual excursions, but rented a car in Astoria (to drive to Cannon Beach & Seaside), visited with friends who met us in San Fran (it was awesome to have an overnight), and bar hopped & liquor shopped in Victoria (our third time, and our only daytime stop, as it is usually 6pm-midnight for Alaska cruises). We are really into picking up interesting alcohol when we travel, and came home with a ridiculous amount between the two of us shopping at the duty free shop and the ports (don't tell customs!). Glad we brought an extra bag. There was so much we didn't get around to doing on this cruise though, as we took it so easy this cruise (lots of sleep, and read an entire novel). I wish we had a second week to try everything (even on this older ship which is lacking a lot of the cool stuff of the newer ones), but it was nice to be home as well. 7 night is about perfect. I can't believe going on a 24 day cruise, like the next one after us (Seattle to Hawaii to Australia).

My favorites:

- Food was great, especially in the main dining room. It was surprisingly good quality, from the fruit always being perfectly ripe (no crunchy melon) to red meats being good cuts and cooked exactly to order. The menu options were pretty good, a mix of classic favorites and some more adventurous stuff. There was however a large section of the menu that was everyday / didn't change. They were also good about accommodating every request, from extra veggies to me wanting the kids mac & cheese two nights since I'm a picky eater and that sounded good (and it was!). The bread and baked goods were especially tasty, likely as they are all freshly made. My husband's favorite meal was prime rib (offered two nights, the first and the second formal night), and mine was a cheese tortellini on the second formal night. They had a chilled soup most nights. The menu was a bit odd at times, as sometimes it wouldn't say the soup was chilled, or wouldn't mark something vegetarian even though it was pretty obviously that. I also didn't really get the "themes" as many of the featured entrees didn't fit that. We only went to the buffet a few times.

It was pretty impossible to eat a warm meal in the buffet as it would be cold by the time we got to the table, even if we pre-saved a table with drinks & silverware, and only got 1 or 2 hot items. We really enjoyed the main dining room breakfast. Oddly enough it had a buffet in the center than had 90% of the items on the menu, but they would bring you anything you ordered fresh, like a cooked to order omelet or even just french toast (which was way better fresh than from the steam tray, really gooey and sugar coated). Even if you would just do the center buffet at the dining room for breakfast, it is much easier as you have a waiter getting you beverages and have a table. It is pretty much the same breakfast items as the buffet, as the buffet repeats everything at least 3x.

Even at its busiest, the buffet had enough seating (you may just have to sit at a table butted between two other occupied table), which was better than we've had on other cruises. We also enjoyed lunch in the dining room on sea days. They sat us even though we showed up right before the "closing time", and the salad they mixed & cut up for you was a nice addition to the menu. We never felt rushed, even when we were some of the last ones in the dining room for breakfast or lunch. We had my time dining for dinner, and found having reservations didn't save any time most of the time. There was only a significant wait on the first night (about 20 min), and I only saw people waiting for a table after checking in with the hostess a few times (presumably those without reservations). Everyone waited in the same lines to check in with the hostess. I found out they automatically try to seat you with the same waiter each night. We got a table for 2 every night even though I would have been willing to share (they rarely asked).

- Service was very nearly as good as our first (and only other Royal Caribbean) cruise, seven years ago. My husband is pretty dead set on only cruising Royal now, and definitely not NCL (which I love for the lower prices and included drink packages, but agree the service & food there isn't as good, and we gave them two tries). I had lowered my expectations for Royal Caribbean food and service based on reviews saying they had declined over the years, but I didn't really see that. Dinner service was very quick; I have no idea how they were able to get us appetizers sometimes only 5 minutes after ordering, but it was very cool, as I hate long drawn out dinners, especially if only at a table for 2.

- Super quick check-in and embarkation. For the first time we arrived very early, about 10:15 am (although I think they said not to show up until 11am). There were almost no lines at that time, for security or check in. We went through security, checked in, then waited in the seating area for maybe 5 minutes before they let us on at 10:45am. We had the two bottles of wine, but they didn't really care about checking we only had those, only handing us a notice about the $15 fee to have the bottle opened outside your cabin (we were able to ask for a corkscrew & glasses for one bottle and walk into the dining room with a full glass, and took the other bottle to Chops and paid the $15 fee for convenience).

I had thought we wouldn't get on the ship until 11am at the earliest, but it was definitely earlier than that. We still had to wait until 1pm for the cabin to be ready though. Also, for the first time, our luggage was waiting for us outside our stateroom at 1pm. We'd typically arrive at 11am, get onboard around 1pm, and receive our luggage around the time of the muster drill. Never again! We'll be 10am people from now on, even if it meant sitting and waiting to get on for a bit (better than standing in line for 2 hours!).

- Very large stateroom (9578). It seemed much bigger than any other of the 4 balcony cabins we've had, but maybe that was primarily because this is an older ship (17 years old), and they removed the coffee tables awhile back. It is only listed as 179 sq ft inside though. Tons of storage space (we didn't even use half of it) and a large desk area to spread things out. I imagine it could all be used if you had 3-4 in a cabin though. The balcony table was larger (and higher) than we'd seen on other cruises. The hallways even seemed wider.

- We met some really great people, such as at meals, as even at a table for 2, some tables were only 1 foot away from others. At one breakfast we chatted with a couple for two hours, and kept running into them the rest of the cruise, even among 4,000 passengers.

- Starting on day 3! they sold a drink punch card which covered 10 drinks (up to $12) for only $75, and that must have included the 18% gratuity, as it wasn't charged at time of purchase or redemption. I'm guessing that drink sales were quite low as there were a lot of older and high status folks on this cruise. We ended up only buying and using one card as we had some long port days and aren't huge drinkers, but it was a superb deal (as long as you use all 10 and don't lose it), as most of the drinks we liked were $10 + 18%. The bartender was very confused when I said I'd take it only 15 seconds into his spiel, before he fully explained it (as I had read about it here)!

- Hot tub in the fitness center. I think it was a hidden gem, as there was only one person in it the first time we tried it, and none the second. It is the only one indoors, is extra large, and was published to be open 2 hours later than the pool deck (10pm not 8pm closing time). However, they use a crazy amount of chlorine (I could still smell it after a full shower), even though they change the water very frequently (nightly?).

- Many places were open later/longer than the published hours, like the buffet or pool area.

- We were able to have lunch in the main dining room on embarkation day, despite the buffet being the only published option. I think it might have been only for continuing guests, but we were actually directed there by a crewmember (possibly due to how early we boarded, before 11am), and many people ended up eating there by the time we left. We weren't all that hungry at that time, but figured it would be better than the buffet at noon!

- Prices for specialty coffee drinks and Ben & Jerry's ice cream seemed no higher than on shore, although we didn't try either.

- Our stateroom attendant was the best we've had. We only ever had to ask for something once. For example, on the first day we asked for ice and towels to be switched out twice a day, and we got that every day (ice is only on request now, which makes sense as many don't use it - I think the melted ice makes the best drinking water). Previously we'd had some hiccups, like only replacing towels with morning service, not replacing soap or kleenex, or having a towel animal towel supposed to be used as a shower towel as well. We also had the most awesome towel animals ever, and every single night. They included an epic alligator that was probably 5 feet long and made of 5 towels, and one with towel "legs" hanging from the toilet, stuck inside shoes on the floor! I imagine the guy wanted to have some fun as he probably didn't have any kids in his set of rooms, and it was mostly older folks in our area, many with mobility scooters parked in the hall.

My least favorites:

- The bathroom had clean surfaces, but needed a deep clean and maintenance, as there was mold in every shower crevice, and visible rust in large spots near the floor.

- The ship has definitely had some updates, like big (32"?) flatscreen tvs in the stateroom and newish couches, carpet, bedding, & curtains (although our shears had some holes). However, the walls and doors are still late 90s peach ugliness. They literally patched holes in the walls with stickers of the same print, which looked horrible. The surfaces we'd touch in the stateroom were clean, but other surfaces like closet doors and ceilings had visible ickiness. It could use a good deep clean, wiping down every single surface, which I imagine the stateroom attendants just aren't given enough time to do, as they seem overworked to just get the rooms done daily (it seemed like the cleaning carts were out all the time, with only a couple hours off in the afternoon). I couldn't imagine working a long day every day for 6 months!

- Our mattress was very firm and uncomfortable, but didn't keep us awake (likely as we wore ourselves out in port, walking 5-10 miles each day). Sheets were thin and scratchy, and towels were the typical hotel type - small, thin, and rough. I would totally pay a few hundred extra per week for a comfy bed, nice linens & towels, and a more updated bathroom! (as I don't see the value in upgrading to a suite as we don't need exta space or service, and I'm not sure those items are even better in suites)

The in between:

- Morning room service for continental breakfast items is still free. However, items were often cold or wrong/missing. Also beware they may come a bit before or after you specify. I imagine they have greatly cut back on the staff in that area due to the decrease in orders with the newish $8 charge (we never got around to testing out the upcharge room service option). There was an option for blueberry muffins, but I never once saw one on the ship or got one when I checked that box on the doorhanger (only weird ones like spiced cranberry, spiced chocolate, and bran).

- I liked that the cafe in the Promenade was open 24 hours, as many ships we've been on had no option like that (especially when you come back from shore in the afternoon and are starving and the buffet is closed until dinner). It always had cookies (after breakfast), which are my favorite afternoon cruise snack. However, the oatmeal coconut cookies were by far the best, but nowhere to be seen after the first couple of days. Also, they only had two cookie options there daily, and one was sugar free. Silly complaint though, I know.

- Ice skating was only available on the second sea day, two sessions of 2.5 hours each. It seemed way underutilized (likely due to the older demographic), and they didn't enforce the 30 minute sessions that the Compass described (my husband skated for over an hour during each session). They also made you wear the helmet, even after signing a two page waiver (I guess someone must have sued?).

- A lot of the coolest sounding shows (like comedy) were only quite late at night, like 10:30pm, which was too late for us. Most of the shows didn't interest us, like musicals or 70s/80s. Also, several nights only had a single show at 7:15pm (instead of around 6pm & 8:30pm), which wasn't a great option as we liked dinner around 6pm. We actually never ended up going to any nighttime show, only a daytime ice show.

- The first two (of four) ice skating shows were while we were in port in Astoria. Thankfully the one for our cabin / evacuation number was on a sea day. I guess this was in case they had to delay some due to rough seas, but I imagine a lot of folks had a tough choice in between staying in port the max time vs. seeing the ice show.

- Most of the published activities were either an extra cost (like cupcake, sushi, or alcohol tasting classes), focused on having you spend money (like an art auction, port talk, or bingo), or didn't sound interesting (like trivia or kareoke). Often the interesting stuff was all at the same time or around a meal time. However, we were never bored. We enjoyed just relaxing with the view and a book on a sea day, and eating all three meals in the restaurant and sleeping extra took up a lot of our time!

- The published time for ports was 30 minutes later than I had expected from the online information, as they listed that time (such as 8am) as arriving, and a later time (such as 8:30am) as being cleared for disembarkation. Add that to the 30 min you lose between all aboard time and departure, and you've lost an hour in each port. Something to be aware of, especially if booking early morning independent excursions.

- They were often pedalling the specialty restaurants (most often, Izumi), but just held up signs and walked around, and never approaching you (which I would have not liked at all).

I think that is enough notes. Anyone have any questions?

We were on Explorer last week and on at least a few days they had "Afternoon Tea" from 3-4pm in the buffet (after lunch, and before they closed for a bit before dinner). The day we went was nachos and tacos and such though, which I thought was hilarious to be called tea. However, I had been planning to order room service nachos, so it saved us ~$8. They were showing a big Seahawks football game just after that time so that might have impacted the menu, but I think they should have just called it "snacks", as it was quite misleading.

I have cruised RCI, Princess, and NCL, and have only ever seen anything even close to resembling High Tea on Princess, but haven't cruised them in years, and haven't gone on any premium line either. If you happen to be doing an Alaskan or Pacific Coastal cruise that stops in Victoria B.C. though, there are several options there for a nice Afternoon Tea, most notably (and expensively) at the Empress hotel.