chiguy67

I think I heard it all. Remember when people we just happy to take a cruise instead of being their entire house and rearranging their cabins 😆

Will not open in Safari. Reset password, finally was able to get on the app.

It’s very similar to the dinner menu. You can see the menu on the app.

Just pack your chips along with your rice cooker, juicer, blender, inflatable bed, pillows and microwave. 😆

We’ve never had a problem with the $20pp for Playmakers. You can go multiple days.

Labadee is fine and very safe, RC would not stop if it wasn’t. It’s a secured area with guards. Been there many times and will be there in November and January.

We were on Brilliance in May and did not have a problem with the once a day cabin service. Our cabin stewart came around 11am every day we had no problems. We are not in our cabin much anyway. if we needed additional towels or ice they would bring it. Go and enjoy your vacation.

Nice to know but we never watch much tv on a cruise.

We had the Spacious OV Balcony on the Navigator in February and it really was only about 5 SF larger, you really don’t get that much room. We always Royal Up but if we don’t get it it’s ok, since we are not in our cabin much.

Jamie’s, Hooked, Izumi and Chops are open for lunch on sea days. I think Jamie’s or Hooked was open on embarkation when we were on in January. Book all your reservations as soon as you board or close enough to get the ships Wi-Fi. You get $20 per person per day at Playmakers and Johnny Rockets. If you go over that then you pay the difference. The JR on Navigator is different, it’s just a counter you order and then go find a seat near the pool. Izumi you have $39.99 for the prix fixed menu.

There are booths near the dock and we booked the Mendenhall glacier there. The tram was near the port as well. There are shuttle buses that pick you up near your ship and will drop you off near the booths to book excursions.

When we get the UDP we always tip for lunch and dinner. Depends on the service how much we tip. We usually get some great service and usually request them when we return.

Here’s an article: https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-changes-deposit-requirements-for-suites/101990#

We paid for the Blue Bus to take us to Mendenhall Glacier and it runs every 20-30 minutes. It was great. We also did the tram to the top. It was still snowy and the trails were muddy but it was fun as well.

We have T-Mobile and we had reception in the ports. Juneau was the best with 5G but Sitka and Skagway were 3G and extremely slow.

No we didn’t tender. I might depend how many ships are there.

We had a great time on our 7 night Alaska cruise on the Brilliance. This cruise left from Vancouver and went to Sitka, Juneau, Skagway & Haines and Tracy Arms Fiord. We planned on flying in a couple days earlier but due to my work we flew into Seattle the day before and did some sightseeing and then took the Flixbus to Vancouver to meet ours friends who were joining us on this cruise. Flying into Seattle is much cheaper from the US and the Flixbus was actually not bad, clean and we had a great driver and crossing the border only took about 15 minutes. Embarkation We met our friends and stayed in the Delta Hotel just a few blocks from the port at Canada Place, which was really nice. We took an UberXL to the port and dropped us off at the entrance to the port. Now this part was so confusing. No one know anything, where to drop off luggage (which is on the lower lever we found out latter) and we were told to stand in one line. We asked a few people working and they told us the same, one line for all cruise lines. That was not true, look for the blue Royal Caribbean flags and go to those doors. The "line" we were in was for Holland America, so look for the RC flags and go there. We went through security, and US Customs and were on the ship in about 30 minutes. The port is confusing and there are not a lot of signs and everyone is confused so be prepared. After boarding we went to Chops for lunch and the food and service was terrific. White we waited for our cabins to open up we had a drink at Schooners. The Ship The Brilliance looks good for being over 20 years old and it's been awhile since we were on the smaller ship. We enjoyed it and found it was more relaxing than the larger ships since we didn't have to make reservations etc. for entertainment and shows. The pools are heated so there were quite a few people use the outdoor pools and the Solarium was busy. Cabin We booked an ocean view guarantee cabin and were in #3128. It was clean and fit our needs, we usually get a balcony but we don't spend too much time in our cabin. We wondered if it was cold and rainy how much time we would use the balcony. Luckily, we had great weather at all ports, Tracy Arms we did have rain and some fog but it was still spectacular. The location of this cabin was good, close to the MDR, Centrum etc. Food & Beverage We normally get the UDP but our friends didn't want to purchase it so we ate in the MDR with them. Despite all the negative comments about the new menu and food, we found the food to be really good. IT was cooked properly, was hot and our service was fantastic. Shane and Ahmet gave us exceptional service and we were usually done with dinner within an hour. A couple sea day lunches we ate at Giovanni's and Izumi, both were great. and the food excellent. I ate breakfast in the MDR almost every day and the food was good. I have never had to wait to be seated for breakfast in the MDR, but there was usually a line which moved quickly. The staff told me that breakfast and lunch in the MDR has been busy every since the first Alaskan sailing. The drinks were good as well, we found the bartenders in the Schooner's Bar to be the best and it was always busy. The pizza at the Park Cafe inside the Solarium was good and usually had a slice or two late at night, but they do close at 12;30am. Entertainment The shows were good, we saw the headliner and ventriloquist and comedian. They were all good as well as the production shows. They did have the Quest but only about 40 people showed up, it was still fun but there needed to be more people. Ports of Call We didn't book any excursions since we were not sure how the weather would be so we kind of winged it and we had so much fun but our friends book excursions. On day 2 we sailed through the Inside Passage, make sure you get up early around 6AM because by the time I went on deck at 9AM it was far in the distance. No one told us that, but we were about to see it on our way back, usually around 4-5pm on the last sea day. In Sitka we took the shuttle bus downtown and looked around and took a lot of pictures. You can get a sunburn in Alaska when it's in the 50's. In Juneau we booked the Blue Bus to the Mendenhall Glacier and had a great time, it was sunny and warm. We walked to the waterfall, which was amazing, it is so much larger than what it looks like in the pictures. It's only about a 20 minute ride and we had a great guide on our bus. After we returned downtown we took the tram to the top of mountain which has great views. There are many trails you can go on but there was a lot of snow and mud. The temperature was about 66-68 degrees this day and sunny. We even saw someone swimming in the Mendenhall glace lake. In Skagway we walked around downtown and took in the sites did a little shopping. I did talk to a tour operator about a helicopter tour of the glacier but the only seats left were an hour before we left so we didn't book it. It was a much better price for 2 hours at around $300pp. After Skagway we went to Haines, but we decided not to get off the ship. It's a short stop and felt we had seem everything we wanted to see. The Tracy Arms Fiord was beautiful, this was the only day it rained. We could not get to the glacier due to ice fields but still it was wonderful to see. Make sure you get up early, 5-6AM. The Only Complaint The only complaint we had was the communication from the Cruise Director. We missed the Inside passage on day two because no one told us when the best time was to see it and we would be cruising it the entire day. Usually cruise directors have no bearing on our cruises but he never really told us what was going on or even about the Quest.

We have never had a problem getting the reservation times we want. We usually try and have an 8pm reservation. The only time we had a problem was with Hibachi, it was booked by the time we got on Symphony at 10:30am.

lol well there was soooooo many complaints it was hard keeping track. 😜

Let’s look on the bright side, they didn’t complain about: Lobster Chair Hogs RoyalUp Children in the Solarium Smoking in the Casino MRD attire I’m sure I left out a few others 😆 😝 😂

We took an Uber from LAX to the hotel and took the hotel’s shuttle to the port. We had an excursion in Cabo so we got off the ship about 1pm

We had a great time on the Navigator of the Seas sailing from February 3-10. It was just my partner and myself and we really enjoyed to entire cruise. We flew in the night before and stayed at the Vagabond Inn in San Pedro. It was clean and we were only there for nine hours to sleep. They do have a free shuttle to the cruise port that runs every 15 minutes, it only took about 5-10 minutes to get to the port. Embarkation We arrived a little before 10 and had a 10:30AM embarkation time. They started letting passengers on board about 10:15AM and we were on by 10:45AM. It was very quick and easy. After boarding we went to Playmakers and had something to drink and had a couple appetizers when their kitchen opened at 11:30. We had nachos and the buffalo chicken wraps and both were great. After that we explored the ship went to Jamie's for lunch at noon. Jamie's has never been our favorite specialty restaurant but this one is very good and the best one we have every eaten at. Cabin Cabins were ready at 1PM so we went and unpacked, we had a spacious balcony on the hump on deck 9. It was great, we had plenty of room but would probably not RoyalUp for this type of cabin in the future since it is about 5SF larger than a regular balcony. We don't spend that much time in our cabin except to sleep, shower and change and sometimes an afternoon nap. Our cabin steward John was great. Friendly and he put an extra mattress topper and brought some extra hangers and robes. Food & Beverage We had the Unlimited Dining Package as we have done on the last 3-4 cruises and it was great. All the food in the specialty restaurants was great. Chops was great, the filets were tender and very good we went there for a couple dinners. Hooked was outstanding in both service and food, the drunken mussels were very good and we did go for a couple dinners and lunches. Jamie's was great as I mentioned before, all the pastas were great. We ate a Johnny Rockets one lunch before we got off the ship and the milkshakes and burgers were good. Playmakers is always good and we finally went and had 24 wings and they were perfectly cooked and hot. I ate at the Windjammer most mornings for breakfast and a couple lunches before our excursions. The food was good and had no complaints. We didn't try the MDR but everyone we talked to liked the new menu. We did decide to do the Chef's Table and we are so glad we did. It was fantastic! Every course was perfect and the wine pairings were excellent. We had a great group and go to know them throughout the cruise. We also loved the Bamboo Room drinks. I really liked the On the Go. The service was great as well and that was usually our hangout place in the evenings. The only complaint was with the Lime & Coconut bar on the pool deck. The drinks, especially the Goombah Splash was terrible, not sure if it was made wrong but after that we didn't go back. But we have never had a great drink from a pool bar. Excursions We decided to do a RC excursion in Cabo San Lucas since it was a tender port. We did the Luxurious Day Sailing and i have to say it was probably one of the best excursions we have ever taken. It was about 5 hours and the cruised around seeing whales and had a great lunch and also a great snack on our way back to the dock. Although the water was a little cold it was a blast. In Mazatlán we rented a cab and he drove us around for 3 hours and it was fun. The day started with a lot of fog but by 2pm it began to lift. Puerto Vallarta we went to the beach for a few hours in the Romantic District. It was perfect with 82 degrees weather but the water was cold but you could swim. Entertainment It has been years since I mentioned a cruise director for Thiago was great, he has so much energy and made all the events fun. The 3 headliners were great: 1 comedian, 1 ventriloquist and 1 singer. The shows: Showgirls and Ballroom were very good and we enjoyed them all. Overall we had a great cruise and really enjoyed our first cruise from the west coast. We will definitely cruise our of San Pedro again.

I don’t sail until tomorrow and I don’t think my Uber will make it from Chicago to LA in 30 minutes 😆

May just take a couple Vitamin C’s and you won’t have to bring: Juicer Cutting Board Knife Glassware Dawn Dishwashing soap (or portable dishwasher) Dish rack to dry everything.

A crew member told us that the bow was for the crew, to have an outside space away from guests.