volk904

On the Senerade last week. The captain took us very close. Close enough to see some walls of ice fall. We were told it was the closest they had been able to get this year. We were well past the island.

We got extremely close to the Hubbard Glacier. Cruise director said it was the closest they had been. It was incredible. Embarkation at Canada Place was by far the worst we have experienced. It is about a 4 step process where they keep moving your around the location and up and down two levels of the building. Bad flow in my opinion. Took about a hour to make it though. We have had back up lines before but never all the moving around movement. You have screening, security, customs etc but they are all spread out and on different levels. For us it was even worse because our hotel shuttle let everyone off at the street level and told us to take the elevator down. Bad mistake. My wife was very turned off my it. WiFi was not great. Pretty slow and does not work at all in some areas when you get close to the mountains. They block the Sat. Connection. My brother did manage to do the proctored covid test but you won’t need that now. No indication of required masks but there was Covid on the ship. My wife started feeling bad as soon as we got home and tested positive. My brother was doing back to back and started having cold symptoms late day 2 of cruise 2 and did a home test and tested positive. He turned himself in and has spent the last 4 days in a quarantine cabin. They have treated him really well but he has to move to a hotel to complete his 10 day Canada quarantine tomorrow when they return to port. Between Royal and his travel insurance it won’t cost him anything. I am not sure I would do a back to back out of Vancouver right now.

I sure don’t want them to end pre cruise testing. There is already covid on cruises where people pick it up probably in route to the cruise but I feel if pre testing is eliminated it will be much worse and that would really hurt the industry.

As a follow up we took the suggestion and booked the quick shuttle from the port to the Seattle convention center near our hotel. We walked off the Serenade at 745 and were through customs before 8:15. We were on the 9am sold out bus. Plenty of time to spare. The bus made a stop downtown for more passengers and we were off. Nice trip but at the border we were the 3rd of 3 buses and it took about 75 minutes to get through including talking our luggage off the bus to be scanned. Once in the US bus dropped off about 8 at a small airport and the next stop was ours. Not a bad trip. If you are going to take the bus book early. As I said it was sold out. There was a family of 5 wanted to go but no seats.

I would buy your tickets in advance for either the Amtrac Ofer quick shuttle bus they sell out after cruises. You do not say where you are going in Vancouver but if you are going to the cruise port the quick shuttle takes you to the port. We took it last week from the Vancouver port to Seattle. The bus ride was not bad but the customs at the US border was slow and took over an hour.

We arrived back in Vancouver Sunday. In our case we took a 9am shuttle bus to Seattle. We walked off self assist at 7:45 am the earliest possible and through customs before 8:15 am. I have heard the Airport is slow but hard to believe you cannot make a 12:25 flight if you walk off or request to be off early picking up your bag as long as you can find a ride to the airport without a long wait.

We stayed at the Hampton near the airport and they offered a pay for shuttle to the cruise port $15 pp. We got in late and they had a decent breakfast so it worked for us but there is no Exploring the city.

I don’t know where Lake Union is but it cost us $49 for an Uber from downtown near the convention center to Sea-tac airport on Monday 12pm.

I think there is covid cases on every cruise but the new variations of covid combined with the vax have it more like a cold or flu. With the seriousness pretty much out of the picture I don’t think people want to know about Cases and are ok with the risks. I think you can bet some people test positive when they get home.

Just got off the Serenade Sunday. I may have some answers. On embarking day we ate at the Park Cafe. I thought the WJ was open to 3:30 most days but maybe it was 3. WJ opens for dinner at 6pm Ship has good pizza but only at WJ for lunch and probably dinner. It was hot right out of the oven. Really just like Sorentos on the bigger ships. I never saw it at the park cafe. The Park Café has salads, Fruits, . RB sandwiches and other heated but sandwich’s Etc. They have a decent egg McMuffin at breakfast if you are in a hurry. Giovanis gave us whatever sides we wanted. Chops on other ships did as well. My wife got coffee the Latte several times and it was decent. If we had the drink package she would have gone every day. Walls are magnetic. Funny we brought our big magnet hooks but used them for jackets instead of drying swim stuff. Unlike the bigger ships no reservations were needed for any entertainment but you have fewer options. We really enjoyed the outdoor and partial outdoor eating area at the back of the Windjammer. First Royal ship we have been on that had it.

Just got off the Serenade this morning. It is a smaller ship so no Sorrentos but they do have the same Pizza in the WJ at lunch and probably dinner. For a 20 year old ship it is in good shape but while the beds and cabin carpet were excellent and sofa and bed tables need a serious upgrade The solarium is indoors and pretty nice. Pool and hot tubs were good. The ship has sone unique things different from other aRoyal ships we have been on. Loved the WJ outdoor earring area and the covered outdoor eating area and bar. This would be even better in the Caribbean. The Cenertium around the year elevators is about 6-7 levels of open and they play live music on the bottom level. Every cruiser is different but most things are easy to get to from this area. I would book my cabin from the center back. I have read the ship will get a major upgrade before the world cruise. Right now my major complaint would be the dinning room and bars are under staffed .

We flew last Sat night for a Sunday cruise. Arrived about 1140pm. Customs was pretty simple. Had to go to a kiosk and fill out an electronic form. It prints off and you give it to agent. took maybe 15 min. Make sure you fill out arrive Canada app.

We tested Friday at Walgreens for our Sunday cruise and Sat travel to Vancouver. NAAT test was fine. They did not charge us and had the results in less than 1 hour. They emailed and adobe doc which we downloaded and printed.

We are on the Serenade now and the Explorer last month. On both ships on day 1 they were selling the drink package at buy 1 full price get the second for 50% off. Still expensive but not the numbers you were talking.

If there is no internal damage from the fire or firefighting operation they coul possibly but it back in. Service in a few weeks if they are willing to live with with temporary pipes going straight up.

Drinks included food is extra but pretty good.

I have used the Walgreens Rapid Test on my laser cruise and again today for a cruise Sunday. My brother has used the on 3-4 cruises. No problem. Got my results today in about 60 min.

Carnival has several cruises out of Port C and Miami between the 28th and 30th. Call them and use your credit to rebook or use the cash credit to book on Royal Caribbean who also has cruises.

We got off the Explorer 4 weeks ago. We walked off and it was as fast as any ship we have been on.

We have 2 booked for Friday. They have changed the advance appointment to up to 3 days from a week.

Our last cruise the WJ opened at 6:30am on departure day. We went at 645 grabbed a quick bit and we’re ready to get off ship by 715. At 730 customs let us off. Our shuttle took us from Mia to FLL and we were in TSA line by 830 for our 1030 flight.

As others have said the Royal App on board is free. If you just want to text your kids back home you can do that by keeping your phone on just turn the data off. It will cost like $50 cents per text outgoing up incoming is free. You can check with your carrier. We always leave our phone on for emergencies just turn the data off. Also since your are going to Alaska every port in Alaska will have American cell service for free.

I took a coat and tie for formal nights for years but stopped talking the coat before Covid and have not looked back. Smart Casual is what I wear every night in the dining room formal night or not. That said on our last cruise the formal nights were the most casual I have seen. Very few suits or tux and lost of very casual looks even saw some shorts.

I would consider buying it for a price but the issue is how can I make sure Royal posts it to my account before I send money?

We booked the Quick Shuttle from the port to Seattle. Sounds like it was the best option but while it takes longer than the plane we don’t have to deal with another Covid test which is a plus. I am pretty sure you said bus takes us to the border where we take our luggage off and go through customs and then revised for the last hour to Seattle?