Live Ovation of the Seas Alaska May 17-24, 2024 with Kmom

[harryfat1]

On 5/13/2024 at 5:29 PM, KmomChicago said:

So it occurs to me I should mention some of my mentors and idols here in CC board reviewland.  My very favorite reviewer is @harryfat1 who does not live review and in his own words,  was formerly known as CheapoDad (he gets solid value for his dollar which is what I like to do as well).  I think he's hilarious. He's an accountant so my guess is he's pretty Spock-like as I am.  He taught me the single most important lesson about cruising (and vacations in general).  Take the picture. When in doubt, take more pictures. Data is cheap, and you will never have the same chance to take the picture again. Even if you return to the same place someday (doubtful) things will be different and you will have lost the moment. 

 

Like myself, Harry doesn't always spend a lot of time on Cruise Critic in between his cruises, so if you want to actually get some back and forth conversation going, right after one of his sailings is the time to do it.  The bonus is, since he takes 80 bajillion photos and since he is very busy back at his accounting job after the vacation, it takes him weeks to post a single review so you will have lots of chances to send him an encouraging word. 

 

On 5/13/2024 at 5:46 PM, KmomChicago said:

 

He just finished one up. He started posting in January and was active on the thread until mid-April.  I appreciated this review as it was on Odyssey of the Seas, a Quantum class ship like Ovation, so he not only entertained me with his usual brand of himselfness but also gave me a fair amount of usable Quantum details. 

 

I think it's interesting you are an accountant.  All those numbers would eventually make my head spin but I am grateful you do what  you do.  I can handle like, minor bookkeeping and my taxes as long as nothing weird is going on with them.

 

Hi,

 

Wow.  Thanks for the wonderful words. I never realized I was a mentor to anyone.

 

If I had known, I would have charged tuition fees as cheapo dad needs to make money from writing all these trip reports.  CC only pays me in the form of free iced tea coupons redeemable at Windjammers between the hours of 3 to 6 PM (which coincidentally is when they are closed)…

 

Also, appreciate the referral link.  I will forward to you my standard 10% referral fee whenever CC pays me.

 

How exciting.  Alaska cruise on the Ovation.  I have been to Alaska 3 times but never with RCI so it will be interesting to see things from your perspective. We were just on the sister ship (Odyssey) six months ago so I’m familiar with the layout of the Q class but the Odyssey is slightly different in restaurant setup compared to her older sister ships.

 

Yeah, I take a sabbatical from CC during non-cruise planning/trip writing time.  We are going to NYC next month so that trip planning has been taking up a lot of my time.  But I’ll be back here on CC in July to drop in the pictures from the NYC trip as a continuation of my old Odyssey trip report as some friends from that thread are interested on seeing NYC.

 

Since the Odyssey is moving to New Jersey this winter, some people might be interested in NYC as a pre/post-cruise excursion so after your Alaska cruise is over, come over to my old trip thread in July and we can chat more then.

 

My next cruise is in December on the Carnival's new flagship, Jubilee, so I will be over at the Carnvail boards starting in August to plan for that cruise.

 

Anyway, people are not here to hear me ramble on. Have a wonderful Alaska cruise.  The scenery is amazing.

 

We now return you to your regular scheduled Alaska cruise report…

 

 

 

 

[crzndeb]

Celebrity Edge did make it to Dawes Glacier this morning, so hopefully you will be lucky. 

[TravelGirlinDallas]

7 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

Celebrity Edge did make it to Dawes Glacier this morning, so hopefully you will be lucky. 

My favorite memory on Ovation in Alaska was the glacier morning. We pre-ordered room service breakfast, got up early, and sat out on our balcony bundled up in our PJs and the plaid blankets you can borrow from the pool deck. It was a great way to experience the beautiful scenery to/from the glacier. 

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, harryfat1 said:

 

Hi,

 

Wow.  Thanks for the wonderful words. I never realized I was a mentor to anyone.

 

If I had known, I would have charged tuition fees as cheapo dad needs to make money from writing all these trip reports.  CC only pays me in the form of free iced tea coupons redeemable at Windjammers between the hours of 3 to 6 PM (which coincidentally is when they are closed)…

 

Also, appreciate the referral link.  I will forward to you my standard 10% referral fee whenever CC pays me.

 

How exciting.  Alaska cruise on the Ovation.  I have been to Alaska 3 times but never with RCI so it will be interesting to see things from your perspective. We were just on the sister ship (Odyssey) six months ago so I’m familiar with the layout of the Q class but the Odyssey is slightly different in restaurant setup compared to her older sister ships.

 

Yeah, I take a sabbatical from CC during non-cruise planning/trip writing time.  We are going to NYC next month so that trip planning has been taking up a lot of my time.  But I’ll be back here on CC in July to drop in the pictures from the NYC trip as a continuation of my old Odyssey trip report as some friends from that thread are interested on seeing NYC.

 

Since the Odyssey is moving to New Jersey this winter, some people might be interested in NYC as a pre/post-cruise excursion so after your Alaska cruise is over, come over to my old trip thread in July and we can chat more then.

 

My next cruise is in December on the Carnival's new flagship, Jubilee, so I will be over at the Carnvail boards starting in August to plan for that cruise.

 

Anyway, people are not here to hear me ramble on. Have a wonderful Alaska cruise.  The scenery is amazing.

 

We now return you to your regular scheduled Alaska cruise report…

 

 

 

 

Thanks @harryfat1! 

 

You not only are definitely my mentor, you took me over the threshold to page 5 for this report! I don't think I have ever had this much going on for a live trip report before I even get to the ship. 

 

I look forward to your next cruises and chatting about the New York pre-cruise tips as I have thoughts as well.  Also, please come back and ramble anytime!

 

Best regards, 

Kmom

[PrincessPatti]

9 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I have no choice but to post this.

 

Check out this incredible young woman REPRESENTING Chicago!!!! I love her name, I love that she’s a female Jr.! (She’s actually named after her grandmother). 
 

Can I get a little love for Chicago?

 

Yes!  I grew up in a minuscule farm town an hour’s drive south of the mean streets. I know Chicago’s reputation as well as anyone and a lot of it is deservedly not good. Really terrible. Nevertheless I love it. It is still my favorite city by a wide margin, after visiting NY, Paris, and many others worldwide. I use my Hyatt points for overnights up there whenever I can and it always feels like a magical place to me.

 

I love Chicago!  I was born and raised in Milwaukee, and spent quite a bit of time in Chicago prior to moving to Florida.  Season tickets to Chicago Symphony Orchestra provided some of my favorite memories.

[ski_mom]

I also really like Chicago!  We are from downstate Illinois (about 45 minutes north of St Louis), so I associate more with STL than Chicago, but almost every year when our kids were little we took the train to Chicago between Christmas and New Years with my mom and my sister's family.  It started as a trip to visit The American Girl store, but enjoyed the entire area.  Such good memories!  Our daughters are now 25 & 26, so our American Girl days are over, but they were sure fun!

 

 

[KmomChicago]

6 hours ago, JaneRetired said:

@KmomChicago.  I love Chicago! I was born at Presbyterian Hospital in the early 1950's, and our first home was 840 W Belden Avenue in the (now) McCormick Row House District. Back then, these houses were housing for McCormick Presbyterian Seminary students. The professors lived in the larger end units, and students in the others. I was too young to remember anything, but I have lovely photos from the house, the Chapel, which is now a music venue on DePaul University campus.I visited last year, paying homage also to my dad's first churches in Donnelson, and 3 other small rural churches nearby.  He was a student M-Th, and minister Fri-Sun. I visited our homes /parsosnages last year after my dad died at 95. ❤️ Chicago will always be my favorite city!

How awesome and cool. Thank you for sharing this! Sweet Home Chicago. 🙂

 

5 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Celebrity Edge did make it to Dawes Glacier this morning, so hopefully you will be lucky. 

Awesome, hope you are loving your cruise!

 

5 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

My favorite memory on Ovation in Alaska was the glacier morning. We pre-ordered room service breakfast, got up early, and sat out on our balcony bundled up in our PJs and the plaid blankets you can borrow from the pool deck. It was a great way to experience the beautiful scenery to/from the glacier. 

Sounds wonderful!! 

 

2 hours ago, PrincessPatti said:

I love Chicago!  I was born and raised in Milwaukee, and spent quite a bit of time in Chicago prior to moving to Florida.  Season tickets to Chicago Symphony Orchestra provided some of my favorite memories.

Yes there is no shortage of world class cultural and artistic offerings. It is a living treasure trove. Thank you!

 

11 minutes ago, ski_mom said:

I also really like Chicago!  We are from downstate Illinois (about 45 minutes north of St Louis), so I associate more with STL than Chicago, but almost every year when our kids were little we took the train to Chicago between Christmas and New Years with my mom and my sister's family.  It started as a trip to visit The American Girl store, but enjoyed the entire area.  Such good memories!  Our daughters are now 25 & 26, so our American Girl days are over, but they were sure fun!

 

 

Thank you! I was fortunate to visit Water Tower Place as a child in the 1980's heyday of the mall era. It is sort of hanging on but it is a far cry from what it used to be. I admit I usually like Chicago a lot better in the sunnier months. The week between the holidays is dark and brrr!!!

[ReneeFLL]

16 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Kitty number two that I have to leave behind in order to cruise. She is as close to me in this pic as she appears. 

Actually she is kitty number one as I adopted her first, April 2020, as an overweight senior with special needs who nobody wanted and who waited at the rescue for three years before I showed up rather clueless about what I was getting into. The orange cat posted earlier joined her about 4 months later and he’s now around five years old. 

Thanks so much for taking in an unwanted kitty. So happy you have each other. Poor baby, 3 years is 3 years to long to be in a shelter. One lucky little lady.

 

Edited May 16 by ReneeFLL

[KmomChicago]

5 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Thanks so much for taking in an unwanted kitty. So happy you have each other. Poor baby, 3 years is 3 years to long to be in a shelter. One lucky little lady.

 

Thanks for the kind words. It’s one of those who-saved-who situations. I needed her and didn’t know. I volunteer regularly now at the rescue facility she came from and that, too, is something I didn’t know I needed.

[KmomChicago]

Flight day! Lots to do before we drive up to O’Hare. We’re parking at a buddy’s house. When I went to U of I 40 years ago (😳) I made friends from the burbs. 
 

Carol who I lost to cancer in May 2004 was one.  This other friend I will see today, ran in the same circle and we share a quiet thought together each year on that date. 
 

Carol left behind a happy marriage and three children aged 5 and under. She was a person of strong faith and was fine with “God’s Plan.” I was not and was not. 
Still not now, 20 years forward. 
 

I am deeply grateful, however, for the painful but powerful lesson she taught me about living a purpose-driven life. About optimism and thankfulness. I am immeasurably richer because of her.

[wendyinvt]

I will be on this sailing as well and am heading to the airport in a few hours - safe travels!

[KmomChicago]

3 minutes ago, wendyinvt said:

I will be on this sailing as well and am heading to the airport in a few hours - safe travels!

Thank you @wendyinvt and same to you!

[odie1024]

@KmomChicago safe travels today. So sorry about your dear friend, so young and I am sure really put a different perspective on life for you.

[BecciBoo]

Settling back for a great review...I've been pricing Quantum class to Alaska for Sept. '25.  We did Radiance one time and Celebrity Solstice the second. About ready to go again!  Thanks for the review!

[BecciBoo]

33 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

a purpose-driven life

Great book.

[bobmacliberty]

Looking forward to this.  We had our first Q class experience on an Alaska cruise 1.5 years ago on Quantum R/T from Seattle.  In addition to what others have said about clothing, I'd suggest a couple of things:

1. Be prepared for changes.  We ended up missing both Skagway and Dawes Glacier (but added back Icy Strait Point, which was in the original itinerary and got replaced with Skagway).  Dawes Glacier in particular is dependent on sea conditions at the time.  No matter where you are though, the views are spectacular.

2. To take advantage of the spectacular views, check out the Two70 lounge at the back of the ship.  HUGE two deck floor to ceiling windows wrapped all around the aft of the ship.  That was our favorite place to relax and read/have a happy hour drink/eat breakfast/etc.

 

Have a great cruise!!

[KmomChicago]

We are at O’Hare eating a slightly overpriced McDonald’s brunch in Terminal 2. None of us ate before leaving the house. Flight loads in 25 minutes. We made good enough time but left minimal margin for error.

[KmomChicago]

Vacation has begun.

[KmomChicago]

Onboard! Our O’Hare flight is leaving 25 minutes earlier than originally booked. Somehow I missed or long forgot the change and thought it was 4:15, actually 3:50 but we are all good. Bag drop and security lines were short and fast. Alaska Airlines allows everyone a free carry on, so of course they don’t all fit and they were asking for volunteers to gate check which we happily did.

 

 

 

[princess76021]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

We are at O’Hare eating a slightly overpriced McDonald’s brunch in Terminal 2. None of us ate before leaving the house. Flight loads in 25 minutes. We made good enough time but left minimal margin for error.

i wish you an uneventful flight!!  but a fantastic cruise!!

hugs from texas!!

[scubagal44]

I'm here just in time, it seems!  Have a great trip!

[KmomChicago]

At the gate at SeaTac. Remind me, taxi or Uber better here? Going to the Space Needle, Hyatt House.

[edspec]

Have a wonderful time! 

[Coralc]

26 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

At the gate at SeaTac. Remind me, taxi or Uber better here? Going to the Space Needle, Hyatt House.

LINK light rail is the cheapest (Tram) . Probably after that taxi or Uber will be about the same. 

[KmomChicago]

10 minutes ago, Coralc said:

LINK light rail is the cheapest (Tram) . Probably after that taxi or Uber will be about the same. 

Yes we are on the light rail now. Not only cheap but apparently there’s an incident this evening on I 5 and it’s a parking lot.