Does anyone enjoy Royal Caribbean?

[Wulfwyn]

Alaska will always deliver.   

Last year we went 3 times. 

Royal Princess May 2022 early season RCL Ovation OTS August 2022 mid season 

 NCL Encore Oct 2022 late season. 

 This year Celebrity Eclipse  August 2023. We did this to get the fill of 3 new lines to us.  Princess has been our primary line before covid.   Of the 4 lines, RCL would be our last choice to cruise with.  We have a great price for the cruise.   We had friends joined us on that trip. Food OK, Lots of families with kids. To us, the layout of the ship felt crowded in some areas.  Lines for everything.

 

  As to the website, for looking for deals, yes you have to check all the time for flash sales.  This not for price of cruise.  It's for sales on excursions,  dining, beverage packages  Like your water package, I got a 24 bottles for $14.   Excursions up to 35% off.  So watch for those deals.  

 

Next year we are back to Alaska for early season, was planning on a Holland America cruise, except the itinerary was changed from Glacier Bay to Endicott Arm.  So we changed to NCL Encore.  

 

Wulfwyn 

[cruiser2015]

11 hours ago, MartaMartian said:

Cruiser2015, we’re on Ovation departing Seattle 8/23/24. 
 

I did not know about the MDR salad bar on RC, thanks! I did thoroughly enjoy my MDR breakfast and lunch on the Sky. Can’t wait for more on the Bliss!

 

Panama Canal transit is definitely a bucket list for me, hope you enjoy it!

Thanks.

I was curious about the date, hoping you were not in a fringe period.

Oh no, poster in #11 says they killed the lunch time salad bar.

Sniff...

🙁

[MartaMartian]

24 minutes ago, Wulfwyn said:

Alaska will always deliver.   

Last year we went 3 times. 

Royal Princess May 2022 early season RCL Ovation OTS August 2022 mid season 

 NCL Encore Oct 2022 late season. 

 This year Celebrity Eclipse  August 2023. We did this to get the fill of 3 new lines to us.  Princess has been our primary line before covid.   Of the 4 lines, RCL would be our last choice to cruise with.  We have a great price for the cruise.   We had friends joined us on that trip. Food OK, Lots of families with kids. To us, the layout of the ship felt crowded in some areas.  Lines for everything.

 

  As to the website, for looking for deals, yes you have to check all the time for flash sales.  This not for price of cruise.  It's for sales on excursions,  dining, beverage packages  Like your water package, I got a 24 bottles for $14.   Excursions up to 35% off.  So watch for those deals.  

 

Next year we are back to Alaska for early season, was planning on a Holland America cruise, except the itinerary was changed from Glacier Bay to Endicott Arm.  So we changed to NCL Encore.  

 

Wulfwyn 

We’re going in August as well, right before school starts. I know school is already in session for most of the country so I’m anticipating fewer kids. What was your experience sailing that month (as far as weather, ports excursions)?

When I was researching RC there was lots of excitement about the Black Friday sales. I did pick up some discounted excursions but the other packages didn’t seem like a great value. I’ll keep checking back. 

[Wulfwyn]

Our cruise was Aug 12-19 2022.  We have gone to Alaska  in August  2013, Rain Ketchikan, Juneau  Sunny and 80, Skagway cloudy.  Majestic Princess 2021 Rained all thru cruise.   Ovation OTS 2022 Rained in Ketchikan also we had to dock at Ward cove.  Rained for Juneau.   Skagway cloudly.  Sunny in Victoria.   Eclipse 2023 Cloudly for Icy Stait point,   Hubbard Glacier rain, Juneau cloudly.  Ketchikan nice and sunny. 

Mix bag of weather. Temperatures 70

 

For your Endicott Arm experience. I highly recommended to do the small boat experience.  Yes it is experience,  but will worth it to get up close to the glacier.  You will meet your ship back in Juneau as the Ovation is just docked and still have the full port day in Juneau.

 

[Wulfwyn]

2021 August Cruise 

[MartaMartian]

Beautiful! 🤩 

I hope we get to see bears! Which port or excursion gave that opportunity? I do have an excursion booked for Fortress of the Bear in Sitka but it seems more of a zoo type thing. 

[Wulfwyn]

1 hour ago, MartaMartian said:

Beautiful! 🤩 

I hope we get to see bears! Which port or excursion gave that opportunity? I do have an excursion booked for Fortress of the Bear in Sitka but it seems more of a zoo type thing. 

Both times Ketchikan.  This last time in August  we saw over 20 bears.  It's the Bear Walk.  Unfortunately I not able to pull it up on RCL website 

Black Bear, Wildlife & Nature Walk.  

[Wulfwyn]

This year's bears.  Yes I did catch the Bear unloading. 

Wulfwyn 

[Wulfwyn]

Fortress of the Bear from our May 2022 cruise. You will get to see Eagles, Black Bears and the Costal brown Bear

[nimbex1970]

I understand!  We just sailed our first NCL, and getting used to the website and navigating dining and such was a challenge.  I spent time on the NCL boards here reading each post and asking questions to help me acclimate.  I also watched youtube videos of the ship I was going to sail on.

 

NCL anytime dining is excellent.  The vibe is more casual, although this is true for Alaska sailings in general. 

 

The RCCL ship will have better activities for your almost teen.  Consider this though, you will likely have excursions every port day and be quite tired from a full day of activity, but wearing out those kiddos is harder, lol.. so your son will likely love the activities at night on RCCL. 

 

I think your choice is excellent if you are satisfied with the itinerary, thats all that Alaska is about anyway.  It takes time to get adjusted with a new line, hang in there and have a great trip!

[SPacificbound]

We have cruised a lot with Royal Caribbean and have enjoyed all of our cruises. Your 12 yo should really enjoy the RC cruise you have booked, and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy also.

[trivia addict]

I have cruised since  2005, and have over 50 cruises accomplished.  
Have cruised  Royal, Celebrity , Norwegian, Disney and Viking. Have  cruised with my children when they were young, then as  they were adults, then with grandchildren, and also many times with friends, some of whom I met on cruises. 
Every single line and every single ship on those lines have given me a different experience. All had things I liked and didn’t like, but I loved I them all.

Choose an itinerary, a price point and a date that works, and  start your own memories.

Don’t worry about what others think. We all are looking for something different,

[cruiser2015]

28 minutes ago, trivia addict said:

I have cruised since  2005, and have over 50 cruises accomplished.  
Have cruised  Royal, Celebrity , Norwegian, Disney and Viking. Have  cruised with my children when they were young, then as  they were adults, then with grandchildren, and also many times with friends, some of whom I met on cruises. 
Every single line and every single ship on those lines have given me a different experience. All had things I liked and didn’t like, but I loved I them all.

Choose an itinerary, a price point and a date that works, and  start your own memories.

Don’t worry about what others think. We all are looking for something different,

Bravo!

Beautifully stated.

[Canbylancer]

I have only cruised on RCL and NCL.  At least 4 times each.  

 

Royal is a lot better in their main dining room food and entertainment (since NCL has cut most of their broadway plays).  RCL is better for kids activities and private island experiences.  I love the different sections of the Oasis class ships.  

 

NCL is better with their inclusive alcohol and free time dining.  They are way better at connecting you to the ocean on the waterfront.  On Oasis class ships, you wouldn't tell if you are cruising at all. 

 

My preference, if equal is Royal.  More to do, less nickel an dimed, late night pizza.   

[marktwothousand]

The newer RCCL ships just blow everything else out of the water in terms of things to do and entertainment. NCL’s best ships barely graze what RCCL offers on its best ships. For kids, these new RCCL ships would be amazing. They might not even get off the boat. 
 

For food, alcohol and partying, NCL is much better in my opinion. Part of the problem on the new RCCL ships is that there are SO many venues that no “one” place or party brings everyone together in the same space. The size of the Royal ships and events create the effect that things feel quite “dead” pretty early on in the night compared to NCL.

 

i would definitely do a Royal ship again, but yes they are expensive with the alcohol packages…

[carb]

On 12/3/2023 at 10:56 AM, MartaMartian said:

I did a lot of research and even made a spreadsheet comparing Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, and Royal. I looked for long port times and the availability of covered pools and things like go carts. 
 

None of the NCL ships sailing to Alaska have covered pools! I saw lots of reviews complaining that NCL docks farther away, and you have to wait for shuttle busses, then feel rushed to get back to the ship due to shorter port times. I also hear that the racetracks are closed a lot on sea days due to wind. 
 

Ovation has a covered pool (in fact 2, one adults-only), you get hours longer in port, and their bumper cars are indoors, so there’s a higher chance of being able to use them. 
 

I liked the Sky. I think it’s more like classic cruising where you get to know your fellow passengers and staff. It seems the Sky is doing an around-the-world cruise in 2025, leaving from NY and ending in Korea. Sounds like a nice way to see the world! If it were just me and my spouse, the Jewel one-way from Vancouver to Seward sounds like the perfect Alaska cruise. But gotta keep the kiddo entertained so RC it is!

 

Bigger ships intimidate me in a way, although I’m sure I’ll have a fine time on the Bliss and Ovation. 

I thought Bliss has a retractable roof over its pools?

[hallux]

5 hours ago, carb said:

I thought Bliss has a retractable roof over its pools?

if any pool does it's the one in The Haven.  Otherwise, no, all open-air...

[Oceansaway17]

On 12/2/2023 at 9:20 PM, MartaMartian said:

Thanks for the reply. I definitely looked into Princess for my Alaskan cruise. They seemed to have great programming and activities for Alaska and some cool ships up there as well, like the Majestic Princess which is designed for the Chinese market. Would have done it if it was just my husband or with younger kids.  I think it’s kind of like NCL where you have the sail-away no frills package, the FAS, and the FAS+. They have the Medallion instead of a card, which sounds more convenient. 

well do not sail on the grand Princess as she was the wrong ship for Alaska. The

pool not covered and they load folks on the ship on upper decks in the middle by atrium.

During port day the whole center of the ship was chilly and even the guest services desk wore winter coats all day long.  The aft area if wet would rarely be wiped down.  A mess of a ship for Alaska.

 

NCL ships like Bliss and Encore ae great because of the front of the ship observation area.

Just check the port times as they have lesser time in port.