emilygrace

We were on the Brilliance Oct. 1-12 and I have almost the exact same photo of lower and upper Quebec City, but mine was taken from outdoor seating area at the back of the Windjammer! Truly a spectacular scene, especially if you love architecture, as I do.

We were on the Brilliance in October and I went in the game room to see if there were any jigsaw puzzles. The game selection looked pretty sad. I don't recall seeing a MJ set, but if there was one I doubt if all the pieces are there. None of the boxes were closed and they were just all piled up on top of each other.

That is the first report I have ever seen first hand of a bag being delayed because of the porter putting the tag on. It ends a long streak as I've been waiting to hear that.

And I do think this is the reason our luggage was so late because I kept asking our cabin steward about it, describing the bag in detail, and when he finally showed up with it and I saw the tag I knew that was the reason. It's not like they were still bringing bags to all the cabins.

oops!

The only time we've had to have the porter write out a baggage tag for us we didn't get our luggage until 10 pm that night because the cabin number was illegible. I would rather print mine out at home, put clear packing tape on it and secure it with zip ties to my luggage.

Sherri,

Best. Review. Ever.

Seriously, I have enjoyed this trip as if I were there with you.

I'm sorry the Serenade and RCL let you down, but I do think there is some merit to what one poster said about this being a port intensive cruise leading to less activities on board. But the activities (number of them, scheduling, etc.) and the writing of the Compass is definitely controlled by the CD,so that might be your answer right there. I was on a cruise one time and the first day there weren't that many activities and that evening I went to function that was also attended by the CD. I commented on the lack of activities and she said that she always used the first day to assess the demographics on board and planned everything from there. I have to say we had a TON of things to choose from after that.

I am now going to check out your blog.

Every stateroom I have been in on the Jewel (3 times) has the bed near the balcony, so the sofa is between the bed and the bathroom, opposite the vanity.

Why do we go back or stay for trivia that we have done before? Because we are usually playing with different people on our team each time which changes the dynamics of the game. We don't really care about the prizes (especially since they have become so boring) and usually give them away to folks on the ship.

And we are TERRIBLE at general trivia, but we still go sometimes just to see what the questions are. On our westbound TA on the Jewel last fall one of the CD's staff was running the trivia and I swear he must have stayed up all night researching the most obscure stuff! At one game our team got 3 out of 20 right......and the winning team had 4 out of 20!!!

The funny thing about them using the same trivia questions year after year (and on all the ships) is that if "their" answer is wrong, it stays wrong. We participated in one Name That Tune trivia and one of their answers was wrong (right song name, wrong artist) and EVERYONE playing told them this but the person running the trivia said sorry, that's the answer from corporate. The following year we were on a different ship and the same thing happened when this song was played and they still had the wrong answer! It irked DH to put down the wrong answer in order to get it right!

And I totally agree on bringing back the ShipShape program. It was a lot of fun and I'll admit I participated in a lot of activities I probably wouldn't have without that motivation.

I don't take a purse when I cruise. On the ship I just have my seapass card on a lanyard and my lip balm in my pocket. I recently bought this bag for excursions because I can use it cross body or as a shoulder bag. I put my glasses in the pocket that is for a cell phone (vertical narrow pocket) and my camera fits in the square zippered pocket for easy access. The inside has lots of storage and slots for credit cards, so you don't need to take a wallet if you don't want to. Comes in lots of cool colors, too.

http://www.ebags.com/product/baggallini/walletbagg-large-crinkle-nylon/47357?productid=791917

Yes, they have them in Alaska too. A friend of mine sent me her DI card and I got all of them for her. She had forgotten her card on her Alaska cruise.

In Skagway, if you have the White Pass train booked you will get a train charm if you show your ticket. This is in addition to the regular Skagway charm.

I would have to say Scott on the Radiance. We have had him both times we've been on the Radiance....how lucky are we! It was like being served by a younger Morgan Freeman! Maybe it was because these were our first two cruises ever, but I was so impressed with his quiet dignity.

I have breezed through all the posts on this thread and I've noticed an overwhelming predominance of excellent servers from Turkey! I wonder why that is? I would have to say our second favorite waiter was Adem, who was from Turkey, and he was on the Jewel in 2004. I remember him introducing us to Ahmed!