beanbeaner

26 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I use Nikon Monarch M7 10 by 42. I love them. I use an OUFABE harness to hold them. It’s elastic and takes all the pressure off my neck so I can wear them comfortably all day long. Binos are only good if you can have them with you always and have fast access to using them. Adam carries his in a backpack. Guess who sees more cool stuff? 

Thanks for the info! 

On 12/29/2023 at 5:42 AM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

We just finished our 3rd day in Antarctica, a long day of scenic cruising in Charlotte bay, Wilhelmina bay and Neumayer channel 5 am to 7:30 pm with short periods of transition allowing for naps and eating. 
I have been able to text all along but photos stopped sending after our first day at elephant island. I probably could have tried reducing their size.  
Thank you @CruiseRaider for posting my pics and comments. 
 

To specifically answer your questions 

Christmas had a big ginger house display in piazza, lots of caroling and Christmas songs/music.  The Christmas dinner was excellent it was called Around the World and had many great choices. I didn’t take pictures of the menu. 
 

idk what’s planned for new years and I’m the wrong person to ask about entertainment. We haven’t gone to a single activity or show. The enrichment lectures have been excellent and all of those are on the TV so no need to go to the theater. I’ve learned from personal experience that to stay healthy on these long sailings (34 days for me and 16 for Adam) it’s best to avoid crowded spaces. We are here for the ports and the scenery.  
 

We have gone to MDR most days for lunch and every night except one for dinner. By the time you board there could be entirely different crew and food/wine supplies so take all of my impressions knowing that your experience could be wildly different. 
 

The tables in International ding room (lunch) and Pacific Moon have been well spaced. I am very pleased by how spread out they are. The restaurant managers we had Marius, Vitor and Borys have been fantastic as well as our server Arpan.
 

The new lunch menu was nice at first but after a while having only 3 (maybe 4) new items to choose from is boring. For shorter sailings it would be fine. 
 

The dinner menus have been fine, some better than others but always something good to have. Overall we’ve been happy with the MDR dinners.  
 

Here’s some additional information some may find useful.

 

We did the west to east route.  While the best side is outside on any scenic sailing, our starboard side emerald deck fully covered mini had by far the best views during our Antarctica scenic cruising days. Sapphire has a plethora of outdoor public spaces from the extra wide full promenade deck to the upper decks. The top of the bridge has also been open. After getting around all those spaces we’ve been able enjoy the views from our room. We also have an emerald deck aft facing balcony and it has not had the best views most of the time. Although it is a tad warmer. 
 

Speaking of cold…I’ve been to Alaska 8 times….out of SF, Seattle, & Vancouver…Voyage of the Glaciers 3 times.. all except once in April or May. This past April (on this ship) I was at Hubbard when it was snowing on us.  I grew up in NY skiing upstate every winter.  I know cold.

 

None of the following matters if you don’t plan on staying outside.  But the scenery is beyond gorgeous.  It is very different than Alaska.  I thought this would be a one and done but it is clearly not. 
 

The temps aren’t too bad 28-32 degrees F but it’s that 30-40 knot winds that just cuts right thru you. We came well prepared and have been fine. We have parkas (the one that I wore at Hubbard with just a shirt under it) that we layer over heavy sweaters and long sleeve shirts, I have a warm head band under my hat, Adam just wears a wool hat but we both will pull the parkas hood over it and zip up to our noses to protect our chins. Basically just our noses and tops of our cheeks sticking out. I found that any exposed skin would get red and feel burnt from wind and the hole in the ozone layer allowing so much UV. N95 mask helped and eye protection is a must. Of course there are a lot of folks who wear less but then they have to not stay out for more than a few minutes. 

Sunscreen and protective sunglasses are essential against the UV and glare from the arctic snow.

We have two layers of pants on and heavy mittens where the top flips down so we can operate camera and binocs.  
 

Good binoculars are required to really see the wildlife. And boy is there wildlife. The birding has been stunning, penguins on land, iceburgs and porpoising in the water and so many whales we don’t even get excited anymore. I got a video of a Humpback lifting full body out of the water flipping on its back and splashing back into the ocean……right next to the ship by my balcony. 

Thank you for the wonderful post! If you're able to share that video at some point I'd love to see it.

Also, I know nothing about binoculars, although I've been reading a bit. Can you share what you use?

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/coco-cay-port-392

 

Change to other ports as needed.

Looks like there is another ship in port that day, and it gets in an hour earlier than mine. 

1 hour ago, Weluv2cruise2gether said:

Just keeping watching. We have the WOS in December which we only booked in April. Immediately I went to book a daybed and they all said sold out. I checked the excursions everyday. About 3 weeks after booking, while out to lunch, I remembered that I didn’t look yet that day, so pulled out the phone, checked the app and lo and behold there was 1 chill island beach bed available. So before we ordered lunch, I booked a daybed!😄

I will keep looking! 

28 minutes ago, bigmoose7563 said:

I would say since they do not discount daybeds I would not see what would be the reason to hold them back until cruise time. Since no penalty for canceling many people book and then decide closer to the cruise if they really want to spend the money and keep it. Just continue to monitor for availability. 

Thanks, I'll do that. 

26 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Agree with this.

That makes sense. Thank you!

Hi, all. First cruise (I had one booked years ago and had to cancel due to a death in the family) and I picked Royal Caribbean for Thanksgiving! 

I'm really excited. A question about the daybeds, though. They all show as sold out for my trip. Does anybody happen to know if they hold any back for on-board passengers to reserve? I'd try to be on early and get to the desk right away, but I kind of wonder if there's any point.

Also, I'd love to try the Hideway, but it looks like that might not be open until Jan 2024.....

Thoughts?

@GenerationX did a great one, too. 

12 hours ago, RatherBCrusin said:

We have just returned from the NCL Escape and absolutely loved the thermal spa— especially the pool and all the heated chairs. Any other NCL ship have a thermal spa comparable to the Escape or even better?  
thanks!  

I've been having a hard time pulling the trigger on an Alaskan cruise for this summer but NCL's Thermal Spa keeps pulling me back to NCL. It looks SO wonderful. 

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

When it's all said and done in the courts, the open market will dictate cruise line policy. If there is a niche population that only wants 100% vaccinated cruising, it will likely exist (if even on one or two ships) and visa/versa.  Follow the money.

Sure. I'm not sure it's all that niche, though.

11 hours ago, armwinder said:

We have three cruises booked with NCL and were happy to see that 100% vaccination was required.  Unfortunately the rules changed mid stream and we are forced to cancel. Mixed vaccines are common in Canada and I have a Pfizer / Moderna mix.  NCL allow a mix in other parts of the world but not into or out of US ports. Things may change down the road and we are reluctant to change cruise lines as we have a long history with NCL. All other cruise lines do accept a Pfizer / Moderna mix.  

I would sit tight. I think they'll change once they have strong enough data.

16 hours ago, ShakeDaddy said:

I disagree.  If anything NCL is leading even more than ever cruise industry by excelling in the highest possible manner of safe cruising in requiring 100% crew and passengers to be fully vaccinated.  I feel this policy is second to none.  Because of that reason our future cruise business is with NCL and we are looking forward our August 7 Alaskan cruise on the all new Encore in 15 days.    

Completely agree. It's the only reason I booked at all. If anyone makes it this year, it'll be them. Responsible leadership should yield long-term rewards.