sjquilter

We were on the August 19 sailing, and I came home with sunburn! Pools were warm, didn't check out the flow rider.

Holly

KC, we're on the September 28, 2017 leaf peeper cruise.

For a short cruise, I'd rather go out of Port Liberty, but Baltimore is also doable.

I realize we're in Hurricane Season, just hoping the hurricanes stay away!

I've been on 2 Alaska cruises and loved them. My husband missed the August cruise because he was ill. We're in south jersey, and we're booked on Anthem next September for the leaf peeper cruise.

I'd like to do a short (5 day maybe) to Bermuda in the spring. I don't want to scare him off- how is the trip to Bermuda in your experience from Port Liberty. Is the sea days usually rough?

Semi related, is there a pink sand beach in Bermuda?

Thanks in advance!

Holly

The same thing happened to my daughter Steph when we got off the Explorer on August 26 in Seattle. She was heartbroken, it included clothes, gifts, and both their running shoes. They had planned to drive right home to Portland, 4 hour drive, but when the luggage was missing, they went to my other daughter's, 45 minutes from Seattle.

At noon she got a call- the luggage had been picked up by another family with their luggage, and it was at the airport! They had a choice of picking it up at Sea-Tac, or it could go back to the cruise terminal. They didn't want to risk another mishap, so they went to the airport then home. She posted a pic of hurt hugging the suitcase on Facebook.

We'll carry our own luggage off the boat from now on.

Holly

We were on Explorer in August, we saw everything from tuxes to sweatshirts, and even a few idiots wore baseball caps.

Holly in south jersey

Magnets- there were 8 of us in 4 rooms. My 3 year old granddaughter drew a picture for the corridor door of each room, which we held in place with the magnets.

A lanyard- guest services will punch a hole in your sea pass, anfd you can keep it on the lanyard.

Holly in south jersey

I just read my post. Autocorrect! I carry an epi pen, not an epicenter, for goodness sakes,

I have a fish/shellfish allergy severe enough that I carry an epicenter. I also have an almond allergy. I notified RC of this before the cruise, and they instructed me to talk to the person at the podium at the MDR entrance when I boarded. They also stressed that if I ate anywhere else, I'd basically have to take my chances. I felt that was both informative and fair. My allergies were taken very seriously in the MDR. Like you say, cross contamination is the biggest issue.

Holly

We were on the Explorer the week of August 19 for an Alaskan cruise- great ship. Your cruise looks amazing! I couldn't find it in the R C book- how often do they run that cruise? What do they call it, just the PNW cruise?

Holly in south jersey

Thanks and as the kids used to say, "duh." I don't know how I missed that!

A question- if I'm on the boards, read some threads, and get off the boards, then come back later, how do I see new posts to threads without going thru all the posts in the threads that I'm following?

Thanks,

Holly

My daughter is the knitter, she found a shop in Skagway on our Alaska trip. I'm the quilter, crocheted, and counted cross stitcher. My souvenirs of Alaska are a cross stitch kit and pattern, and a yard of batik.

I have to research shops for the New England Canada cruise- we go next September.

Holly

I love that you mentioned the yarn stores you went to! Knit or crochet?

My husband and I were to go on an Alaska cruise leaving August 19 on Explorer. We're in jersey. He developed severe bronchitis, and the doc said he couldn't travel. On August 15 the TA called RC for us- we had trip insurance.

By him cancelling, I became a solo traveler, and was responsible for the whole cost of the room, less his taxes and fees. If I'd also cancelled, we'd have gotten everything back. I ultimately decided to go, because we were to go with 8 other family members, and he was insistent that I go.

My TA was able to move (on paper) my 3 year old granddaughter to my room, which took my daughter from a quad to a trio, so there will be a small refund.

My TA explained that it's like a hotel room, it's x dollars whether it's one person or two in the room.

I'm glad I went, but I'm also sorry that I caved and went, since he was still sick when I got home.

Holly

I wish they'd not water down the iced tea and the OJ and the lemonade in the WJ!

I was on Explorer in August. I've had 2 knee replacements. When boarding, and when returning from ports, I told security and they used the wand and patted me down. No big deal was made of it.

Holly

We were going to be a group of 10, but my husband got a bad case of bronchitis and couldn't travel. We called the travel agent in a panic. My husband was insistent that I still go. When you have trip insurance and only one room person cancels, the other person-me- becomes a solo traveler, and there is no partial refund. The TA did move my 3 year old granddaughter to my room, which took my daughter from a quad to a trio, so there will be some money refunded.

My daughter Manda lives about a half hour from Seattle, so I flew there from my home in south jersey the night before. Another daughter, Steph, picked me up from Sea Tac.

We got to the pier about 10:30 on boarding day. It took a while to get on board, and we went to the Windjammer for lunch. It was announced that we could get into cabins at 1:30. That's when we discovered our big problem. I was in 2624, Steph and Dan were in 2606, Polly and Randy were in 2608, and Manda and Ben and Amary and Garrett were in 2566, just down the hall. But! What we and the TA thought were entrances to the conference room, was a wall! To get to 2566 and other cabins, you had to go to Deck 4 or 5, walk the length of the ship to the other elevators, and go back down to Deck 2. What an issue that was for us all! I told the TA about it when we got home, and she said another cruise line had a defective map like that.

Other than that PIA, we were generally happy with the cruise. Alaska was amazing. On the Juneau day, I walked 14,000 steps! In Skagway, some of us took the White Pass Railway 3 hour tour, the walked 12,000 steps in town.

It's a wonderful cruise, and I highly recommend it.

Holly

We just got off the August 19 sailing of Explorer. Getting off was a nightmare. One of my daughters had her luggage go missing! Luckily we were going to my other daughter's house in Mill Creek, about a half hour from Seattle.

The luggage turned up at noon- it was at the airport! It had been picked up by someone with their luggage and taken to the airport, where the mistake was noted. (Note- always have a luggage tag!) The person calling said she could pick it up at the airport, or it could be taken back to the cruise pier. She opted to go to the airport, and head home to Portlamd from there.

If she'd had a flight to catch, it would have been more complicated. The lesson for us is to carry off our luggage ourselves.

We just got back from the August 19 sailing. The only time I needed a windbreaker and sweatshirt was in late afternoon in Skagway. In Juneau, my sweatshirt came off and on, depending on the sun.

On the ship, I was comfortable in a long sleeved shirt at night. We went in the pool and hot tub, comfortably, but we were lucky with blue skies and sunshine.

Holly