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LeeW

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  1. We last did up and back on Radiance in Aug/Sep 2022. Didn't see much of Hubbard on first cruise and rainy on second. We like sailing that time of year due to sales in all the shops and far fewer ships in port. Saw a superpod of Orca on our Juneau stop (Alaska Shore Tours now books Orca Enterprises boats that we have been using for years). You won't see many humpbacks at that time of year. We will be on Radiance again this summer. Radiance has nice heated solarium that is good for viewing. Smaller ship makes it easy to get on and off, although with Seward boarding logistics can be an issue. We used the up and back to take a fjord cruise in Seward. Note that Radiance has minimal entertainment. Lots done by crew members (good singers) in the atrium. This area can be noisy until around 11 at night, so book a cabin away from the atrium. Great crew. It was also fun watching contractors changing windows out in solarium and buffet. They have to wait a year for replacements for a specific window and can only work when the ship is stopped and low winds. They winch the glass out through the window opening.
  2. If you have MyTime dining, in the Cruise Planner go to the bottom of the Dining tab and you will see MyTime reservations there. If you have early or late fixed seating you won't be able to select a time. MyTime starts around 6:45 since they use the dining room for early fixed seating. They will also pull people from the "no reservations" line and send them to other floors if they want to dine now. Water show reservations usually show up around the first week of the month before your cruise. Keep looking, since some folks have reported this happening earlier. Muster now consists of looking at the life jacket film on tv or app, listening to the emergency call, and showing up at the muster station to be checked in. You may not get credit for the film unless you are connected to the ship wifi, but muster station person will handle it. Muster stations may be open when you board or may not open until 1 - depends on ship. Takes about 2 minutes total.
  3. Probably have a tour cancelled every other cruise although we usually find out in the ticket package on the first day. Could have been the vendor got sick. Usually they call the ship excursion folks if this happens. The island folks are still having problems getting workers. Many left during covid and haven't come back. We see a lot of tours where the owner or his wife is driving the vehicle.
  4. You might not see the aurora since it is pretty light out there at night, but with the overnight in Alta you have a good chance. Very foggy when we were up there. Many of your ports don't match the Sky sailing we did, but HIGHLY recommend the Andalsnes Troll Road tour through Norway Excursions. This tour is cheaper than those through the ship and takes you up the zigzag troll road. https://www.norwayexcursions.com/en/tour/andalsnes-the-troll-road-and-troll-wall/ Look for the guides in front of the Nordic museum, not across the street by the train station.
  5. Yup. And while the Carnival stock perk web page indicates that you can get the benefit for any cruise through Dec 31, stockperks is only processing cruises through July.
  6. Start looking for someone to take her place and might at least share some of the costs.
  7. Printed list for your sailing usually appear in your cabin on the first day. Someone may have one of these. In the meantime you can scroll through the current schedule on the app: 1. Open app and hit the person icon to get to your current cruise 2. Touch "select a different cruise" 3. At bottom of next page under Don't see your cruise? touch "Let's add it now" 4. Touch "Browse our ships" 5. Touch "Harmony of the Seas" 6. Touch the first or second cruise on the list, "Feb 25-Mar 3" This brings up the daily planner for the current cruise. Look through the different days for the entertainment.
  8. Swapping names of one person on reservation can be done up until a few days before cruising. Just contact whoever you booked your cruise with. No charge.
  9. MyTime will officially start around 6:45 but people will line up in both reservation and non-reservation lines starting around 6:20. Often the hosts will walk down the lines and ask if anyone wants to be seated now on a different floor. If so, you get escorted to another level of the dining room. Menu order and what is offered can change randomly. Typically "formal" nights are 2 and 6, usually on sea days. Look at Harmony sailings within a week of present time on the app doing the same itinerary as yours for a clue as to what you will have. If those are not available try another Oasis class ship doing a similar itinerary and ports on similar days to yours.
  10. Royal train is a charter that unloads on the pier fairly late in the afternoon. If you want to get to the ship early you need to take a bus. Actual Goldstar (and Adventure class) boards at 6 am downtown Anchorage and gets in to Seward around 11. This ends at the terminal in Seward, with trolley to pier available (although only about a 15 minute walk). We booked Goldstar for this summer directly with the railroad because we want to get to Seward and the ship much earlier than the charter train. Includes a meal (but pretty limited breakfast menu), soft drinks, two alcoholic drinks, and the glass dome view. Adventure class is seating only plus a snack bar and some space in a dome car. Slower than a bus but we considered this as an excursion and granddaughters haven't taken a large sightseeing train.
  11. Not sure there is a fix once you get off the ship. It is fairly common for photos not to show up in your folder (they use facial recognition, but when they ask for a cabin number they can punch it in wrong). They can fix this onboard. Note that they only link in pictures that have someone in your cabin in the picture and they won't add photos from iFly that require a separate purchase. Last time I tried the help because I only had one photo purchased and it should have been two. Never got a response but in my case I finally figured out that I had an extra "credit" for the second purchase. But all photos did appear greyed out on the website, unlike your problem.
  12. Last cruise a small group snorkel trip in Bonaire was sold out for a year up to about 2 weeks before the cruise. Then suddenly became available until they shut down online bookings 5 days before the cruise. We booked direct with Epic Tours Bonaire and got a similar tour with only 14 people onboard for $100 less than the ship tour would have been. Some of these sold items may be placeholders since the contract may not be finalized. Or they could be someone holding a bunch of bookings for a group and then releasing them before they get onboard (after 5 days any refund is returned as refundable onboard credit rather than to your credit card).
  13. Also often have large booths on the Promenade and sometimes booths set up around pool to sign up people for drink packages.
  14. Just remember you can't change both names on a cabin. One original person in the booking has to sail (although they can change cabins onboard to move people around).
  15. You didn't say where you are sailing from, but in general they don't allow non-suite guests in through the suite entrance in any port. Most ports are not enforcing checkin times and you can show up when you want and get in line. For example, we got in line at 9:30 last week in Fort Lauderdale and were in the terminal about 10, with passengers still getting off. Not sure the suite 1 hour rule was ever enforced, even during startup after covid. You can also keep looking at checkin times and change if an earlier time becomes available. Note also that the app never required you to fill out passport information before choosing a boarding time. You could do that and then fill in the other information later. Most folks on this board are aware of this and if they want an early time they will use the app just after midnight local port time 45 days before sailing to select their time.
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