SilkySal

This is what it says on our cruise for Utopia UDP next February: What's Included Specialty dining for dinner every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days. For venues with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $20 food credit — with the exception of Izumi in the Park, where you’ll receive a $10 food credit. Credits can only be used once a day. For ships with Izumi Sushi, you’ll have a choice of a prix fixe menu, or a $39.99 food credit for the a la carte menu. For ships with the following venues, these are included with an additional surcharge: Izumi Hibachi/Teppanyaki — $15 surcharge. Wonderland by DaDong — $24.99 surcharge. Royal Railway — $49.99 surcharge. Chef's Table — $49.99 surcharge. Izumi Omakase — $59.99. Empire Supper Club — $130 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard. For applicable sailings, Holiday Celebration Dinners are included with a $49.99 surcharge. This will be charged once onboard. You may also want to read this recent posting:

Just tried that trick but it's no go for our B2B in February but I'll definitely keep trying!

Tom talked me into writing an email to Mr Bayley explaining the problem of opportunity for some higher C&A members and UDP purchasers that they might miss out on dining at the Royal Railway and something should be put in place to offer it a few days before opening reservations to the general public. Not an accusatory email, just an informational one to consider Royal's loyal cruisers. Not sure if anything will come of it but I did try for all of us. Fingers crossed!🤞 Good luck and cheers!

Thanks! We've heard that the bookings for the Railway are open up through December. Sadly, ours isn't until February and I'm watching it closely! Congrats on snatching your reservation!

As far as credit cards go, we've taught our now adult children to never charge anything on a card that they cannot pay off without incurring service charges. To date, we taught them well! Maybe we're a couple of the lucky few and feel very thankful for that. Hope I'm not bragging; just very proud of them!

Yes, I experienced the "loyalty thing" when I cruised and shared a cabin with a P friend of mine. I was allowed to join her for specialty restaurant breakfasts and several other P events. Of course, we asked first. I was very impressed!

We also have the UDP for our 4-night on Utopia in February. I am watching our phone app everyday to see if reservations open up for the Railway. I intend to reserve the Railway for the 3rd night of our cruise for my birthday. Then, after we board the ship, we intend to go to our concierge and ask for his/her help to add that reservation to our UDP and credit any prepaid funds back to our CC on file or as a refundable OBC. Not sure if this will work but that's our plan. If you do not have a concierge, maybe Guest Services can help you with it. I'm afraid if I wait to try to reserve it on board, it may be sold out, as I hear reservations for the Railway sell out pretty fast. Good luck to us both!

I don't mean to brag but our total cost for a Boardwalk Balcony on Utopia for 3 nights next February was $1,712.44 including prepaid gratuities, ship insurance, and all taxes. We're also doing a B2B and for the following 4 nights for the same cabin our total was $1,783.44. We wanted to see the brand new Utopia, so didn't think the prices were too bad. However, I booked this B2B a few months ago and prices continue to rise, so very glad I booked when I did!

I could be wrong but I've heard that if you have a "care giver" in your cabin, they can share the same perks/benefits. Yay or nay?

I have never observed bathroom art in any of the women's restrooms on any of the ships we've cruised. Not fair IMO. Women sit, men stand, so you'd think the men should keep their focus on what they're doing and not looking up at a wall.😲 No offense intended. Is there art in the men's sit-down stalls as well?

Bon Voyage and Happy Anniversary!! Woohoo!!

In my experience, most shows do not open for booking until after you check-in; however, I try to check my cruises daily to make sure. You may want to join your cruise week roll call on this site and your fellow cruisers will usually post when shows are available to reserve. Good luck! Cheers!

Following along as well! We board Utopia next February 7th for a B2B. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!

If you're familiar with your "My Cruises" account, you can view your purchases and payments there. Easier to look up on a personal laptop vs a phone app. If you're not tech savvy, you should call your TA as @Ioman suggested. Unless, since you're using a TA, you may not have that option.

Nope, not for our February B2B. All specialty restaurants are available to book, except for the Railway. Sometimes it's there but unable to reserve and sometimes it's not there at all. I have been constantly looking daily at the app and on the web, and it's unavailable to reserve.

The World Class bar on Solstice was our every night hangout! They even let DH smoke his own Old Fashions! Those bartenders were fabulous!

On a good note, it's included in your drink package, so try it and, if you don't like it, pitch it!

I read that also but some think that putting it on-line to reserve pre-boarding was a mistake, which will probably be honored. They have since not allowed any more booking pre-cruise, so I guess we'll see what happens next. Hopefully, someone can tell us if we will have to wait until we board to make reservations for the Royal Railway. We bought the UDP for our 4 night and we want to reserve the Railway for my birthday. Fingers crossed!

I've been hearing that the Utopia Royal Railway Station has been selling out as soon as it appears open for booking. Some are saying that they mistakenly put it on-line and that you are only supposed to book the Railway on board. Can you check and verify what's what? TIA!

Cafe Promenade specialty coffees include things like caramel macchiato, my fave! Tastes just as good, if not better, than Starbucks! They will also add alcohol if you want. Enjoy!

We'll be on Utopia in February and I booked the UDP so I could dine at the Railway Station but it's not on my app for that cruise yet. It worries me that it's selling out so quickly. Wondering if they save any spots for those with the UDP? Would definitely not be happy if I am supposed to wait until we board the ship to make reservations and the Railway has already been sold out. Maybe I should book the reservations when I first see it on the app, then cancel it once on board and have it included in the UDP. Any advice is welcome!

Some hot tubs are pretty hot though so may cook to rare.😜 Sorry, my bad!

They're found in the hot tubs a lot!

Googled this; however, it does not give a specific time. Maybe someone else can narrow down a timeline for you. Showing results for when to see bears icy strait point alaska Search instead for when to see bears icy straight point alaska The best time to see bears at Icy Strait Point, Alaska is May through September, when the bears are most active: Late April or early May: Bears are coming out of hibernation and looking for food June to August: Bears are mating and eating grasses on the tidal flats Bears are most active at dawn and dusk during the spring and summer, but you can still look for them almost any time of day. Sightings are more likely when bears are actively searching for food. Icy Strait Point is a great destination for bear watching because of the high concentration of bears on Chichagof Island, which National Geographic has nicknamed "Bear Island". The island has 1–2 brown bears per square mile. Some tour options include: Icy Strait Point Excursions Offers a 3-hour wilderness and bear search tour on Chichagof Island that includes round trip transfer from Icy Strait Point and vans with individual seating Hoonah Travel Adventures LLC HTA Main Offers a Wilderness Tour and Brown Bear Search that includes exploring Chichagof Island and learning about the wildlife and culture from a guide Alaska Shore Excursions Offers a 4-hour Icy Strait Exclusive Wildlife and Bear Search Tour that includes roundtrip guided transportation and bottled water Reviews mention: “…do here. We went on a wilderness/bear search. Didn't see any bears but our guide Chad was friendly and was very informative and knowledgeable. Everyone in our…” Jul 26, 2022 Denise Caffey “…then took us right to where the bears were. We had an excellent sighting of a mother bear and cub. I strongly recommend riversalaska.com for an off-the-beaten…” Jun 22, 2022 Pieter Ras Featured snippet from the web In July, the salmon start their migration from the ocean up the rivers and we find the bears feeding in coastal rivers and streams. In August and September, the salmon have made it further up the rivers to shallow streams where the bears chase them.

May just depend on the "motion of the ocean".😉