erber

Anyone ever done an Internet speed test with the surf package to confirm download and upload speeds? If so, it would be useful information for us. We had abysmally poor internet speed both on Royal Caribbean in April in the Caribbean  and on Princess  in June in Alaska. Yes, I know northern latitude can be iffy, but the Carribean should be fine and the internet was terrible on the Allure of the Seas. (My husband needs to use it periodically for work). 

So if we wait until after boarding to use OBC it would be the same price but we would get surf instead of the streaming package? Just want to make sure. 

We are going on our first Holland America cruise in November. We are not doing the Have It All promotion as it doesn't work out to make sense for us.  We will, however, need to purchase a surf level internet package. I see the package for a 7 day cruise can be purchased in advance for $109.99. If we wait to purchase on board in order to use OBC is it a higher price? 

We got off the Southbound trip on the Grand on Wednesday. The mask requirement was adopted just a few days into our trip. Complimentary kn95 masks were provided as well.  

It was supremely stressful. Princess really didn't do well with how all that was handled. But everything else unrelated to internet or covid testing was excellent. 😍

Disembarkation was smooth. We are off the ship and waiting for our arranged transport. We turned in the Canadian Declaration form. There was no passport or ArriveCan check at the port. 

All in all a good cruise. The wifi was very frustrating but everything else was good. We had a nice stateroom, great food and the best scenery!

2 minutes ago, nini said:

Last night it probably would have been impossible due to ridiculously slow wifi speed."

 

But, the tests have to be done "within one day" of flying home to USA. It is good that people were having good luck with them.

 

I meant the wifi speed was very slow late last night, but after midnight....so it would be one calendar day before flying. 

Final day at sea. Chilly and windy. Here are a couple of photos taken late in the evening after we left Ketchikan.

This morning we saw at least 5 whales spouts, tails and all not far from the ship as we continued on our way to Vancouver. 

Starting to plan the packing strategy and final purchases to use up a bit of leftover on board credit. 

At breakfast we saw a number of people doing Emed tests. People were helping each other when things were a little difficult. But it seems they were getting it done. Last night it probably would have been impossible due to ridiculously slow wifi speed. 

We had a really fun trip! 

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

On Discovery in Mar/Apr along the Mexican & CA coasts it averaged 3.5-up; 2.5-down. Their website provides explanations about satellite coverage & reasons why closer to the poles it’s diminished.

 

 

Right now on the Grand Princess download speed is averaging 2.0 and upload around 1.0 if lucky. We are near Ketchikan at the moment headed to Vancouver. 

Ketchikan was cool, a bit rainy and overcast, but I always enjoy walking around the town and seeing the Creek Street area. 

Barbara Z. Is indeed the future cruise consultant. We met with her yesterday to purchase more future cruise credits. 😀 If we see her again, we will say hello for you! 

6 minutes ago, Ricbr said:

Love your pics!  Cell phone or DSLR?

Pixel 5a cell phone.

We are midship and have spent time at the other end of the Promenade deck and deck 8 when looking at scenery. Not sure what is going on at the back end of Promenade deck.

Today was a beautiful day in Skagway...and it actually was very warm during the day in the mid to high 70°s. We had a lovely day..however we had No wifi when we were on board the ship until dinnertime. We were told it was due to our location. The wifi returned much stronger after sailaway.  Sailaway was windy and cold. The temperature dropped and the clouds came in as we departed. 

This letter ( sorry it is sideways) was on our bed when we returned from dinner. Masks are now required to be worn indoors except when eating or drinking or when in your own stateroom. 

A few more photos from today in Glacier Bay! 

49 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

 

Oops....I am guessing "my" Liz and "your" Liz is one and the same.  She is from South Africa???  Please let her know that Mac Nut passenger sends her aloha.  I was a teacher and always had trouble putting faces (on the board) to names.  Mahalo

She introduced herself as Liz. When I see her again, I'll give her your regards! 

18 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

Sooooo close!

 

She said there were four parties ahead of us. We are having a fabulous time with family.  We are not disappointed! It is a great itinerary and almost everything on the ship has been lovely. 

We've had a lovely day in Glacier Bay. Sunny and clear. A couple of photos of the day. Tried to upload more, but wifi is not cooperating. 

14 hours ago, DougH said:

If you get a chance I would like to know the cutoff for the Most Traveled luncheon. 

I chatted with Liz Pentz,  the manager at the Loyalty desk. I think she said the cut off for this cruise is 245 days, so we almost made it. We have 236 days at sea. The luncheon is the final sea day, June 7th. We have made the cut off on several Alaska trips in the past. 

Captain just did a little broadcast and in it indicated there are 1,387 passengers on board. The Grand can accommodate 3,100 passengers when at capacity. 

Hubbard Glacier was beautiful, but the captain told us the  ship was unable to get as close as they planned due to strong winds. We watched the approach to the glacier from the bow of the ship on deck 8. It was very windy and it felt very cold. But if you went further back on deck in the sun there were passengers wearing shorts! It was a beautiful day. 

We had appetizers at the platinum and elite lounge up on One Five (on deck 15) before we get ready for dinner. 

Beautiful day today. We started off with a delicious breakfast.

We plan to spend a lot of time viewing Hubbard glacier this afternoon and have formal night dinner in the MDR before seeing the British Invasion show. So, we tried to book dinner reservations using the app but it would not work. It got to the point where it said there was no journey associated with this reservation. Then we tried booking it on the TV, but we could not add two more guests to the reservation. So, we booked "the old fashioned way", over the phone. 

11 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 Too bad you didn't have a few minutes to walk around Whittier.  I found it to be a charming little village.  Thank you for taking the time to do a semi-live.  

We did not arrive in Whittier until almost 5:00 pm. So we checked in immediately and tried to unpack, get organized and eat an dinner before sailaway. We have done the Alaska trip several times before, so we are very familiar with Whittier and the other ports. But this trip always astonishes us with the amazing  beauty! 

32 minutes ago, DougH said:

The first few hours out of Whittier are some of my favorite views. Try and be on deck for a while

Sailing away shortly....