OVATION May 13-24 *LIVE* in ALASKA w/lots of photos

[AlanF65]

13 minutes ago, CruiseKeeper said:

Maybe we should have taken a few extra spins at Endicott.  I’m missing our snow covered mountain range views.  

They should have left at ZOOM SPEED the fastest on the seas

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, dubldeck said:

as far as the app goes, can you only access it on-board? or will I be able to access during embarkation at the pier?

You have to connect to the ship's wifi for the app to work - that could be at the pier.

[CruiseKeeper]

Anyone watching the whales port side?  There was an announcement.  There were several whales.  Pretty cool, at this slow speed we’ve turned into a whale watcher excursion.  

Edited May 23, 2019 by CruiseKeeper

[AlanF65]

38 minutes ago, drusierdmd said:

Got Verizon 3g back at 

TY, TY

 

Was able to do a SSL connection that I wanted to do today instead of tomorrow

Thanks for the headsup

[Hoopster95]

18 minutes ago, CruiseKeeper said:

Anyone watching the whales port side?  There was an announcement.  There were several whales.  Pretty cool, at this slow speed we’ve turned into a whale watcher excursion.  

 

Yep, we were able to see them with our roller skates on from every window in Seaplex. Thx to Capt Hendrik for the announcement 👍

Edited May 23, 2019 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

39 minutes ago, Sunny AZ Girl said:

At your service! 😎

 

 

Lol!! Awesome 👍😁

Thank you Ginny 

 

If I don’t see you and your posse this evening, safe travels home. I’ve got your cards so I’ll be emailing you a few photos 

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Just now, Hoopster95 said:

 

Lol!! Awesome 👍😁

Thank you Ginny 

 

If I don’t see you and your posse this evening, safe travels home. I’ve got your cards so I’ll be emailing you a few photos 

Great! I am so glad we finally had a chance to meet in person. 🤗

[shoreline6726]

Although the "Port Valet" luggage service is provided by the Port of Seattle for free, I have read on another thread that Royal is adding on a whopping $25 per person charge in order to use this service. That sounds awfully high to me. Can anyone chime in on the amount Royal is adding on for this "free" service out of Seattle?

Edited May 24, 2019 by shoreline6726
add on a few words

[CruiseKeeper]

2 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

Yep, we were able to see them with our roller skates on from every window in Seaplex. Thx to Capt Hendrik for the announcement 👍

 

Way cool .   Next was a pod of orcas starboard side.   We missed them.  

[CruiseKeeper]

1 hour ago, shoreline6726 said:

Although the "Port Valet" luggage service is provided by the Port of Seattle for free, I have read on another thread that Royal is adding on a whopping $25 per person charge in order to use this service. That sounds awfully high to me. Can anyone chime in on the amount Royal is adding on for this "free" service out of Seattle?

 

As far as we know and have heard from the concierge,  it is free.   We are using it tomorrow.   

[twangster]

16 minutes ago, shoreline6726 said:

Although the "Port Valet" luggage service is provided by the Port of Seattle for free, I have read on another thread that Royal is adding on a whopping $25 per person charge in order to use this service. That sounds awfully high to me. Can anyone chime in on the amount Royal is adding on for this "free" service out of Seattle?

 

The port may offer it's own luggage valet service but it isn't the same as Royal's.  

 

Royal's is offered at ports like Port Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral and Seattle.  Mid-cruise you register and they (Royal) check your luggage with your airline using your record locator.  They also provide boarding passes pre-printed and ready to use at the airport.  These are provided before the ship touches the pier.  So while the Port may offer a similar service, it's isn't the same as Royal's.

 

Personally I find it well worth it.  Simply walk off the ship.  If the port also offers it, use it, but carry your own luggage to the port's service.  

 

6 minutes ago, CruiseKeeper said:

As far as we know and have heard from the concierge,  it is free.   We are using it tomorrow.   

 

Free in GS and above, the rest pay.

Edited May 24, 2019 by twangster

[AlanF65]

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

The port may offer it's own luggage valet service but it isn't the same as Royal's.  

 

Royal's is offered at ports like Port Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral and Seattle.  Mid-cruise you register and they (Royal) check your luggage with your airline using your record locator.  They also provide boarding passes pre-printed and ready to use at the airport.  These are provided before the ship touches the pier.  So while the Port may offer a similar service, it's isn't the same as Royal's.

 

Personally I find it well worth it.  Simply walk off the ship.  If the port also offers it, use it, but carry your own luggage to the port's service.  

 

 

Free in GS and above, the rest pay.

The offer sheet in the room was for the free Seattle service. There was no charge, your flight needs to depart after 12.

Contrary to last year some international flights were included.

[CruiseKeeper]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

 

The port may offer it's own luggage valet service but it isn't the same as Royal's.  

 

Royal's is offered at ports like Port Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral and Seattle.  Mid-cruise you register and they (Royal) check your luggage with your airline using your record locator.  They also provide boarding passes pre-printed and ready to use at the airport.  These are provided before the ship touches the pier.  So while the Port may offer a similar service, it's isn't the same as Royal's.

 

Personally I find it well worth it.  Simply walk off the ship.  If the port also offers it, use it, but carry your own luggage to the port's service.  

 

 

Free in GS and above, the rest pay.

 

We are in a balcony, still free.   

[twangster]

13 minutes ago, AlanF65 said:

The offer sheet in the room was for the free Seattle service. There was no charge, your flight needs to depart after 12.

Contrary to last year some international flights were included.

 

3 minutes ago, CruiseKeeper said:

 

We are in a balcony, still free.   

 

You guys just cost my cabin attendant his tip.  He didn't provide it.  

 

[shoreline6726]

Thank you everyone for the info on the luggage service.

[CruiseKeeper]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

 

 

You guys just cost my cabin attendant his tip.  He didn't provide it.  

 

 

I was concerned since we have such a late flight.  After speaking with Bing (btw, she’s great) we confirmed with Loyalty.  He said flights up until midnight will work.   

[AlanF65]

Fish and ships pics

[twangster]

11 minutes ago, CruiseKeeper said:

 

I was concerned since we have such a late flight.  After speaking with Bing (btw, she’s great) we confirmed with Loyalty.  He said flights up until midnight will work.   

 

Spoke to the concierge.  Got the form even though it's too late to use it.  My cabin attendant is a dud, it was supposed to be delivered on day 3.  

[Hoopster95]

On 5/15/2019 at 6:50 PM, PCWalton1 said:

I have an ask. Have you seen this young lady? She worked the Coastal Kitchen desk on our Asia cruises last year. If you see her can you show her this picture and tell her Marie says Hello. 

 

 

Hey Bill, heading to WJ tonight I was positive this lady was at the CK desk... I had to surf back for this picture. By the time I had it, she was gone and a striped officer was at the desk. I showed it to him and he assured me the woman who was there is not this lady... this lady is now off this ship.

 

[Coralc]

That's great Alan! You managed to get in and get photos of Fish& Ships. Good job! 

[Hoopster95]

What’s wrong with these pictures?

 

Note the plating, presentation, etc ... 

Taste? Meh.... 

 

Appies were escargot & crab cake.

Entree chicken Marsala with a grand total of 4 green beans, 2 cherry tomatoes and a dollop of lumpy mashed potatoes. The chicken was ... well.... warm chicken. Being Italian, I make chicken and veal Marsala much better.

Desert was warm chocolate cake... which came out lukewarm, was brittle and broke into pieces. So much for “warm”. The waiter informed the Maitre’d Who came over for feedback and thanked me... he would tell the chef. He then proceeded to lecture us for a 10 on the survey.

 

Best part of the meal was a 20cent scoop of pineapple sherbert.

 

Where was this meal?

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

Fast forward to tonight....

 

Roasted lamb with mint jelly, carved right in front of you

 

Crispy pork belly with apple sauce, roasted green apple pieces, grilled onions/carrots/red peppers

 

 carved turkey with cranberry sauce.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Hoopster95

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

Fast forward to tonight....

 

Roasted lamb with mint jelly, carved right in front of you

 

Crispy pork belly with apple sauce, roasted green apple pieces, grilled onions/carrots/red peppers

 

 carved turkey with cranberry sauce.

 

Must have just missed me.  I was outside one last time.  The fog shrouded Olympics look stunning tonight.

[twangster]

FWIW - the HDMI inputs are easily accessed using a Samsung remote from home.  

 

Watched the final GoT episode recently, once Voom "Slug and Stumble" permitted, on my cabin TV with an HDMi cable and adapter for my phone.

[Hoopster95]

And desert was better yet... choice of upside down pineapple cake, mousse, cheescakes, ice cream with any topping you want (Oreos pieces, choc sauce, white choc chips etc etc etc) ... awesome! 

 

And what I personally keyed in on right away? The warm chocolate rice pudding. And it was very warm... add a scoop of vanilla ice cream that

melted right in, oreo pieces and white choc pieces ... YUM YUM YUM! The “Light and Sweet” section of WJ is excellent, and where I got the gooey coconut ranger cookies fresh out of the oven. Great dinner tonight, much nicer than yesterday.

 

Thank God I have not had hardly any MDR/MTD the last several years... it has really become even a worse issue (can it possibly get any worse?) if last night’s offering was any indication. 

 

I am sorry to say that Windjammer fully outperformed MTD/MDR ... as was my expectation on this sailing from my MTD experiences  the last few years. Sigh 😕

In my very humble opinion, if you want very good full service meals in great ambiance, get the Unlimited dining package and do specialty the entire cruise.

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Hoopster95