Eddie Wilson

22 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I'd call C&A: 800-526-9723

I emailed dining about coordinating 2 reservations, should I have called C&A first?

My issue was not resolved by e mail correspondence 

Eddie

Thanks dude (retired)

Thanks for that info GM.  We are also boarding soon.

How was the headline entertainment?  Was there a nice cover band?  Did you find any “can’t miss” excursions?

Most importantly (tongue in cheek), what are the questions to trivia sessions?

 NO, I REALLY DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!  Just for me, maybe not you, but B2B cruisers, or the guy last year who was on board the ship for months, getting 20 out of 20 on EVERY game, while the best of the rest may be at 15…That is a SHALLOW VICTORY.  

Glad and to see a nice report on Explorer.

Eddie

I agree with you, but it still seems strange to me.  It has the note about all the other changes with dry dock (lots of them); Where did they come up with the May 7 date?  Where did they come up with the redesigned cabin artwork?

It does not really concern me, but I thought the OP may be interested since the request was for one of 4 specific cabins.  

Eddie

19 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It is extremely rare for Royal to reconfigure existing cabins that will stay as the same category  during a drydock 

Ourusualbeach, I agree with you, I thought that strange.   But I came across this last night, I assumed any changes would be done at dry dock because I can't see where they would have time to change while not in dry dock.

Tell me how you read this.....it is at https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/Explorer-of-the-Seas

Then look in the blue box for the following note:  

Please note:

Next drydock in April 2020. Adding The Perfect Storm ...........Rockets Express and Starbucks. Click on tab for deck plans starting May 2021 to see changes.

So if you click deck 9, and the Starts Mat 7, 2021 tab, gosh darn if its not a completely different room layout.  

I think its sort of strange?

Eddie

Cello 56, 

I think those rooms will be part of the March/April dry dock face lift.   I was on a site last night that showed a redesigned room, just a bit smaller, for sailings after dry dock.

Eddie

Just by chance DW and I will be in one of the cabins in early Feb.

When we booked we were told “Spacious” window cabin, and that it was larger than standard cabins 

I can check it out and get back to you

Eddie

Did you happen to see the Switched On Band?  They were on our cruise last Feb and were one of the best nightly music bands.

Eddie

Way too early to predict, but I seem to recall, as one hurricane was approaching Miami on a Sunday they actually kept the ships due to arrive that morning safe at sea, a couple of hundred miles away. Think about it, not only the safety of the ship itself, but with the airports closed, no sense in debarking thousands of passengers only to have them try to find somewhere to sit out a hurricane.

On that occasion, I believe they docked the next morning, and sailed exactly one day late. 

Of course, there is an issue for the next arriving guests, hopefully they can get to the port on time. 

Another issue is, how much room is there at the port, as other ships may have there scheduled return on Monday. They may need a traffic cop.  

That is all hearsay evidence, as my wife and I were on a cruise about a month later, and someone on board told us that.  

If I remember correctly, they ask you to circle a time frame, and the times are 30 minute blocks.

So 6:00 -6:30.        6:30 - 7:00.    And so on.

We ordered simple coffee, tea, fruit, toast, etc on mornings we had early shore excursions.  We ordered once for the 6 to 6:30 AM, and a couple of times for 7 to 7:30 AM. They were always on time, that is within that 30 minute window.

Our first cruise was when Empress of the Seas was recently christened Nordic Empress. A 1990 faux pas by RCCL as the name was not consistent.  But other things were not consistent with today’s cruising. Such as....I shot skeet off the side of the ship. Could you imagine them handing a patron a gun?

Another was “flaming babalu” served as a desert, with dozens of waiters parading into the main dinning room.  One could feel the heat. I guess that may be deemed a fire hazard today. 

In the vein of safety, I don’t miss either of those items.

I also remember the farewell show“If I were not upon the sea, what me?”  Seen it several times and laughed at it each time.

For something that has not changed in my 29 year tenure with RCCL, is the friendly, professional, and well trained wait staff and room stewards.  On our last cruise, I mentioned to the main dinning room head,  “How is it that RCCL knows that in each of our cruises, they assign to our table the number 1 wait staff and room stewards on ship?”

Looking forward to putting that last quote to the test on many more RCCL cruises in the years to come.

We were on Radiance last week and did the tour Wednesday July 30. They ran both morning and afternoon runs, 3 or 4 different trains each, so I guess all is mostly back to normal.

We were the first train of the morning (8:10) and also did the extra few miles into Canada before the turn around. This added about 45 minutes to the tour. Apparently they did the same in the afternoon, as the ship was delayed leaving Skagway by about an hour waiting for some train passengers.

Eddie

We are arriving in Vancouver late night, around midnight, and plan on taking taxi to pier the next morning .

Any suggestions for nice hotel relatively close to airport?

On northbound cruise debarking in Seward, how early can we safely book flights out of Anchorage?

Looks like there are flights at 4pm, 8pm and midnight.

Can we safely take the train to Anchorage and arrive in time for the 4pm flights out?

If not, and we choose the 8pm flights, what can we do in Anchorage after arriving in the afternoon? Any place to stow luggage?

Thank-you for your input.

Eddie Wilson

Dear experienced Alaska cruisers, could you please help me with some travel information, tips, or do's & don'ts (or if this is covered in another section, please direct me).

On Radiance embarking in Vancouver, if originating from eastern time zone, is this one that is just better served by leaving a day early? If I have to, can we fly into Vancouver the morning of sailing?

Upon arriving in Seward, which is the best way to get to Anchorage to fly back east, and how much time should one allow?

Thanks so much, been 5 years since last cruise, never been to Alaska.

Eddie Wilson