cruiseguy1016

Alaska sailings are a lot less formal that Caribbean sailings. There will be people in the dining room wearing jeans and flannel shirts. There might be some people in formal attire. You are not obligated to wear formal attire. You will be allowed to enter the dining room wearing almost anything. As for the other "themes", my guess is that about 10% of passengers are even aware that there is a theme for any given night.

What time does your flight arrive? How far is the airport from the cruise port? Realistically, none of that matters, they aren't enforcing check-in times at most ports. Pick an early time, you'll be allowed to check in when you get there.

My wife uses whatever is in the cabin. We were on Liberty 2 years ago and it was the new style that stayed on. Onboard the Jewel last month, when we got in our cabin, it was the old style that required holding the button. She hated it. On the second day it broke (wouldn't turn on) so our cabin steward brought us a new one. It was the new style that stayed on. My wife loved it. If you get the old style in your cabin, maybe it will somehow break and you'll get the new style.

You will probably have many opportunities to tip people not associated with the cruise line. Some that come to mind are; Cab drivers from the airport to your hotel and then to the cruise port. Porters at your hotel. Porters at the cruise port. Tour guides and tour bus drivers.

The fee is $18 per person per day if you are staying in a non-suite. You can pay in advance through your TA or RCI if you booked direct. You don't have to wait until you board to pre-pay.

Congrats! Enjoy your Elite benefits.

I'm not sure how or why it happened but this is my recent experience. We were just on a family cruise a few weeks ago. We had 4 cabins. My TA (I assume it was him) set it up so that I was the "lead" member of our group. I could see everybody's reservation and I could make changes to all of them. I could see how much OBC they had. I could look at their pre-cruise purchases and I could make purchases for them. I could see all of their check-in information. I actually checked in 2 other family members that felt unsure of how to do it,

I am in the same boat (no pun intended) as your husband, I am fine with Tim's and McDonald's. The fresh brewed coffee tastes fine to me. It's brewed a little heavy for my liking so I just add a little hot water to it.

You just can't talk sense into some people.

We've stayed in a cabin like this. Sorry, I don't have pictures. They won't want the two beds for mom & dad to be pushed together. There is a ladder to access the Pullman and that ladder will interfere with the 2 beds being together.

On Jewel a couple of weeks ago, I told our waiter on "lobster night" that I understand the rule is now only one entree at a time. I told him I wanted the steak and also the lobster but I'd like them at the same time so I could have surf and turf. He said "I'm sorry, the rule is only one at a time". A few minutes later he came back and told me he asked his head waiter if he could do this for me and the head waiter told him it would be okay. I did not get two complete meals, which is not what I wanted anyway, but I did get a lobster on the plate with my steak meal.

Check in times are not being enforced at the vast majority of embarkation ports. If they decide to enforce it for you, here's the way around it. Somewhere in the fine print it says, arrive at your scheduled time with your entire party. So... you have an early time, bring "your entire party" with you to check in.

I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. I assume you have specific questions about deck 2?

Yes, lots of people have stayed on deck 2 over the years.

Actually, all you need is her name, and even that doesn't need to be correct. All of the check-in information can be edited/changed/updated until 48 hrs. (I believe that's the number) before sailing.