Cheryl H

Rita's Cantina has been converted to a Rita's Crabshack on the Radiance specifically for her Alaska season. An entire restaurant of nothing but seafood including the crab cakes.

Wow, I did not know that. Didn't they do that once before with the Seaview Cafe, before they removed it to make that area Samba's? Wonder how it is different from the Seaview Cafe. Thank you for the information. We'll check it out.

I found the best salmon ever at a restaurant in Juneau. Sorry I forgot the name, but if you ask someone when you get there where the best seafood is, they will probably direct you to this place

Great thanks! Wonder if it was the Twisted Fish in the Taku building. We ate there last time and loved their fish and chips. I just don't know if there's crab cake there. But we'll find out. :-)

I sure wish Radiance would make an exception on the no crab cake......what a shame to be up in Alaska with all that fresh seafood and no crab cake on board. May have to research the best crab cake available in the Alaskan ports. Taking my Chops money and buying seafood ashore.

Well shoot. We always do Chops twice during our cruise on the formal nights. But with no crab cake and the disappointing version of mud pie, we may skip it. I may just order the Chops steak in the MDR and forget it. What a shame.

I suppose I could check out Giovanni's or Samba's on Radiance. We actually preferred Chops over Samba's last time.

I don't understand the upheaval about a baked potato either. Those are cheap and we have them all the time at home. But crab cake is harder to re-create at home. I was able to duplicate the mud pie at home. It is fantastic.

What a bummer.

If you want, you are welcome to view our 2 Alaska picture books in the link below. Mostly we wore short sleeve shirts and our rain coats, with a couple of days of needing the fleece jackets underneath.

We had so many pictures, that I had to make it into two photo books. If you go to the link below, then click on photos and videos...then you see the photo books. The one with the snow capped mountains is book #1. The one with Mendenhall Glacier and waterfall is book #2. Then after the book is opened, you may have to click on full screen to see the pictures.

We tacked on Seattle & Victoria before our northbound trip out of Vancouver.

I hope you all have a fantastic time. We can't wait to go again.

Cheryl H, we have cruised several times but never to Alaska. I have packed saddles for our cruise and wondered if my feet would freeze :)

I will change, of course, when out on deck.

Were you comfortable with sandals @ dinner?

Yes, I wasn't cold at all. To me, the temperature in the main dining room was the same temp as on our warm weather cruises. And I only felt the twinge of "I'm the only one in sandals" while we were all waiting outside the dining room for the doors to open.

After dinner, we generally go back to our room and change back into our jeans to go to the show. It seems like I had a casual pair of burgandy colored shoes for walking around the ship with jeans on. Then I had sneakers for walking around port. I purchased waterproof sneakers for the trip, but it turned out that I did not need waterproof. I also packed a pair of flip flops for the pool/hottub.

We packed too many jeans for our Alaska cruise. This next time, we are just taking 2 pairs and sending them down to be laundered halfway through the cruise.

I took 1 pair of black slacks and about 4 tops to match for dinner and then repeated some of them.

The only thing I felt odd about was I packed black sandals to wear to dinner so I wouldn't have to pack knee hi hose for under my black slacks. I felt like the only person in the dining room without socks on. Next time I'm packing my black Clark shoes and some dark socks. (gone are my days of packing heels for each dinner outfit.)

We packed a waterproof light jacket and purchased fleece jackets for under them on the trip. Fleece jackets were everywhere ranging from 19.99 to 39.99.

Have fun on your trip!!

Yes, we usually purchase using insuremytrip.com. But this is our first experience with a next cruise certificate and a booking date of October.

I spoke to Allianz. She sold me a policy. We discussed the $300...she at first said it had to be a good faith deposit of less than $300....then she changed her mind and said since it was $100 per person, then she thought $300 would be accepted. And she confirmed on the phone that our pre-existing conditions are covered...however, she said it won't say that in the wording of the policy. The only proof I have of what she said is our recorded discussion. She made our recording a part of the policy notes. So apparently if there's a claim and confusion about the pre-existing, we are to have them go back to the initial recording of our conversation today.

Thank you all for your help. Next time I will insure our initial deposit. I did not realize I could buy trip insurance with no destination assigned.

Great question. This is widely misunderstood in regards to Open Bookings. It will vary between travel insurance companies. Most have an exception for "good faith" deposits (ie. a deposit $100 p/p or less).

 

I usually use Allianz and their policy is "Deposit date is defined as the date upon which trip dates, rates, and itinerary are confirmed and a full deposit is made. A "good faith" deposit will not be considered an Initial Trip Deposit if: 1. the deposit is less than $300; and 2. trip details are not determined at the time of the good faith deposit."

 

If you are using Allianz, this will apply to you. Otherwise, double check with your insurance provider before purchasing the policy. Like I said, generally there will be exceptions for open bookings :).

I've never heard of Allianz, but our deposit was $300 because we actually booked the certificate for both of us plus our 9 year old son.

There's another insurance policy through insure my trip called CSA Custom Lux that says pre-existing waiver exclusion waived provided the insurance policy is purchased prior to the FINAL payment due date. However, when I plug in the cost of the cruise, the cost of the policy was $450. And it would probably go up when I add in the cost of the air.

I'll go look at Allianz, just in case it might be good faith deposit of $300 or less. But if it is indeed less than $300, we might not be able to use them.

Thanks so much for the info. I guess next time I purchase a next cruise, I need to check on purchasing an open insurance policy, if there is such a thing. I suppose I could just say it's 3,000 and pick a location and double check that the amount and location can be adjusted if necessary.

So we bought our first next cruise certificate last October. We finally selected a cruise we liked and booked a few days ago. Normally I book the insurance next through insure my trip, within 21 days of booking so that we get the pre-existing condition part waived.

Here's the kicker...our booking still has the original booking date from October, even though we just now selected our cruise. So the fellow at insure my trip wants me to call RCCL and ask them if they'll change the booking date to match that we recently decided on which cruise. OR buy a higher priced insurance policy (twice the cost)

OR I wonder if I bought RCCL's trip insurance, if the pre-existing condition would come into play. I don't know very much about RCCL's trip insurance.

Does anyone else have any experience with this? Do you purchase insurance immediately when you book the certificate? Or later when you decide upon the cruise. I hate not having the pre-existing condition waived. Probably the only reason we would ever cancel a cruise at the last minute would be due to medical reasons either for ourselves, or our parents. And what would you probably do for this cruise? Book the more expensive policy, or maybe check into RCCL's trip insurance? I have no idea about their pre-existing policies.

I agree with the Barb's Fish and Chips. Yummy fish and we watched the kids feeding the seals. Also stop in Rogers Chocolates on Government Street. Love their candy (especially the victorian cremes) and I think they have ice cream now too. Next door to Rogers Chocolates was a neat jade store.

We've done the high tea at the Fairmont, and Craig Darroch castle (which is more of a house, but still neat).

We also did a carriage ride which was enjoyable too.

I think I might agree also that teens might be bored at the gardens, unless they are into photography. My husband likes taking pictures of flowers (and the occasional bird. Ha!) Although he's far from being a teen.

Have fun planning your trip!

We already booked our Sept 2015 Alaska cruise on the Radiance. For one thing, I'm picky about what cabin I want. We did take advantage of the buy one get one half off....but to me, it seems like this sale just brings the price down where it ought to be. Anyway, we are locked in on that price. I'm going to keep watch in case it goes down. RCCL will do a price adjustment up until final payment....and as another said, be sure that your agent won't charge you to do the adjustment. We booked ours ourselves.

Now we wait. Plenty of time to consider tours and pre-hotel stay....that keeps my mind busy for awhile. Ha!

I can tell you we got the new card last fall...and we did qualify for the free companion airfare, but for us, it was not a good deal. We were sent a letter with our code to redeem our free airfare...however, when I was ready to purchase our tickets, the exact flight I wanted was $350 on the airline site, but when I went over to the third party site, they were charging a whopping $550 for the tickets and for the free one, we would have to pay taxes and fees for it.....so we weren't really getting anything for free...in fact, because we needed 3 tickets, we would be paying more than going through the airline direct. I was so disappointed.

We actually have two cards going...the old one, and this new one. And when it came time to redeem our points, it let me pull points off both card accounts to get shipboard credit.

I can tell you our experience. We have a RCCL Visa and instead of converting it, I just applied for the new Signature one in hopes of getting that free companion airfare benefit.

So now I have two RCCL Visa's. On our last cruise, I was able to pull points off both of them to get shipboard credit. As far as the difference, the new Signature one is supposed to let you use the points on Celebrity or Azamara.

The free companion airfare was a joke. We received a letter with a code to claim our airfare. So when I was ready to purchase, I already knew the flight I wanted and the cost ($350 per person). However, when I went to the companion airfare website, the exact same flight was $550 per person, plus you had to pay the fees/taxes of the free companion air ticket...plus I needed a third ticket for our son. So they charge higher costs than the airline does so it's not really free. Boo on them!

So we never got to use our free companion air.

I got the same flyer this week asking me to upgrade our old Visa to the signature.

Oops, forgot to say about the D1 versus E cabins.....I was thinking that the difference might be a loveseat versus a sofa? But someone else may know better than I do.

PS: We're about an hour from you! Hello fellow Hoosier!

There are some photos of our 8002 room in the link below, but I couldn't tell you what page they are on. Look for the photo books that are New England/Canada. We did that cruise twice. I think there are room photos in both books.

We had 8002 on the Jewel of the Seas twice. It was on the port side. Just 1 window, but it was sort of bay window with a window seat. The room had plenty of space. The side room for our son had it's own closet and dresser.

As far as our view....the window was dirty for the entire cruise so taking photos from it didn't work very well. But we did enjoy looking out for land or watching for the tenders. I found I really really missed having a balcony. Also we missed the tub from our junior suite on a previous cruise.

But as far as space goes, it was a great room.

Enjoy your cruise!

Yes, I saw you had more than one book, on the first one, you had just barely got on the ship when it ended, but, that was enough for me to see it. Your son is beautiful and looks so happy! I dont want to hijack the clothes discussion, but, I might be poking around in your books some more. ;)

Sure! Poke around all you want. And have fun in Alaska! I wish we could re-live that whole trip again. It was perfect, except next time I want to go Southbound.

Cheryl, I love your photo book! Now, I see what can be done with one. I'm also a 1X planning a trip to AK. I just may wait and buy clothes when I get there as well, stick to carrying the basics from home....

Thanks! I actually had 2 photo books for Alaska. I did an 8 x 8 book and it only let me have so many pages...so I had to do part 1 and part 2.

The latest book I did was a 10 x 10. I think I like that size better. I did them on Shutterfly. It was really easy. When I uploaded the pictures from all three cameras, it put them in date and time order for me. You might make sure your cameras are all set for the same date and time.

On Shutterfly, if you don't see the layouts, backgrounds, and stickers, borders you want, you can click to add more into your project. Also you can use a photo as your background. I did that several times.

I ordered a couple 1X fleece vests from Columbia for a Christmas present for my husband to give me. Ha! I love the black one. I can slip it on every day over a long sleeve top.

Well, enjoy your trip!! Wish we were going again soon. We'll get back there again some day.

\

If you log in to the RCI site and go to your cruises and clilck on the Enchantment cruise, you should be presented with all the options available on your cruise.

Thanks, I did that, but the all access tour was not listed anywhere. I noticed a review thread saying that she did the all access tour for 75$ a couple. I was thinking most of the all access tours cost about 150 per person. It was the first I had heard of charging per couple. So I wanted to confirm the cost.

Thank you all. I just dropped an email to the concierge on Enchantment.

I didn't read through all the pages here. Is there a way someone could tell me if I could write the Enchantment's concierge? Some of us on our meet and greet thread are wanting to inquire about the price of the all access tour on Enchantment.

Thanks!!

My husband just gave me the AOK to apply for the new card in order to get the bonus points and airfare benefit.

Has anyone said why they are switching us all to this new card? I wonder what the benefit is to RCCL and Bank of America.

Okay, one more question.....I am Platinum plus Visa.....so when I am automatically transferred to the new card, will I be able to get the 10,000 bonus points and be able to qualify for the airfare bonus....or is that considered only for brand new applicants?

Thanks!

Nevermind, found it using the above link. Thanks!

Yes and they are hoping to have it done in January 2014. There is no annual fee for the new card. You can read all about it here http://www.royalcaribbean.com/dealsandmore/offer/visa.do?cS=NAVBAR&pnav=3&snav=5

Thank you!!! How do I find out more about the 2 for 1 airfare benefit?

I didn't read all the posts on this thread....but will all RCCL Visa's be transferred automatically? Is there an annual fee on the new card?