HelenaCruiser2012

I thought MTD was so we could have dinner whenever we wanted to without being locked into a time? That's how we've been looking at it, like going to any restaurant. I saw online that we could make MTD reservations but we didn't really understand why people would do that. We were so happy they had the MTD option this time around, it worked well for us on our last two cruises on Norwegian. Are we wrong thinking that we can be this flexible with dinner? Thanks.

Thank you all! moilly361, thanks for the link, I just read that page but it seems to dance around the question without coming straight out and stating "if you're leaving from Canada and are fully vax'd (we are) then a positive test between 11-90 days prior to sailing can be used in lieu of a negative test." Am I reading this wrong? Thanks again.

Thanks Biker19, I wish I could find that in writing somewhere on Royal's website but I looked and didn't see any reference to it which is why I called. I don't know if it makes a difference that we're sailing out of Canada and not the USA though. I'm surprised we're both still testing positive, my (mild) symptoms started on 5/17 and DH was a few days before that.

Hi all, we're sailing on Serenade from Vancouver on Sept 4th - 79 days from now. My husband and I just recovered from COVID and both still tested positive from a lab test in the last few days. I called Royal to see if they're accepting certificates or a positive test within 90 days of sailing and was told that at one time that was accepted but it's not now, we'll have to have a supervised PCR or antigen negative test on Sept 2nd, 3rd or 4th. She was very nice but didn't seem very sure of the info and couldn't tell me when they stopped accepting the certificate of recovery. Any additional information, could she be wrong?? We're infrequent cruisers and the whole testing right before the trip is making me nervous. Thanks for your help!

Thanks for posting!

Well said!

I agree that this this is about time, and I hope the cruise industry follows suit. Time for the world to go back to normal. So here's another question - an article I read says that they'll revisit this issue in 90 days, which is during our Alaska cruise. If they reinstate the testing requirement at that time, do your crystal balls say that it would be reinstated immediately, meaning that we would have to test before getting on our flights home from Vancouver??? Guess it would make sense to take tests with us just in case? Thanks.

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Hi all, hope you can answer a few questions about Serenade (Alaska cruise in September) - On embarkation day, are the Windjammer and Park Cafe the only lunch options for non-suite people (we have spacious balcony on deck 9)? The Royal Caribbean app lists Windjammer as closing at 3:00 pm every day, isn't it open for dinner too? Is Room Service the only late-night option for a snack? I remember the Cafe Promenade being open 24/7 on Mariner, was a great place to grab a cookie or a slice of pizza at any hour (and I remember how good the Range Coconut cookies were!) Speaking of pizza and cookies, where can we get these on Serenade? Does Park Cafe only have sandwiches and salads or do they have pizza and sweets too? In Chops & Giovannis, can you order extra sides? I'm sure you can't (and we wouldn't want to!) order extra main courses, but not sure about sides and desserts. How's the coffee in Cafe Latte-tudes? We purchased the DBP, so unless we want something special like Johnnie Walker Blue, it seems like we can go to any bar, and in the specialty restaurants, and order any alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink we'd like? Our last 2 cruises were on Norwegian and this was one of the perks that I think everyone had although the price of the cruise was higher to make up for it. Are the cabin walls magnetic? They were on Norwegian Breakaway and we brought magnetic hooks for DH to hang his baseball caps on the wall, was pretty convenient. I haven't seen much info on entertainment on Serenade, can we make reservations ahead of time or is that something we do on the ship? As always, thanks for any information!

We tend to over-tip but before we were married, DH used to bartend on the side and appreciates the importance of tips. The tips he made from his side job paid for our honeymoon!

Thank you all! Appreciate your help.

Hi everyone, quick question - we're not frequent cruisers and I don't remember if we are supposed to tip at the specialty restaurants or not. We already made two dinner reservations at Chops and Giovanni's on our upcoming cruise and the invoice says that the gratuity is included but, for good service, should we/can we offer something additional? if so how much? Thanks for your help!

Oh OK njkruzer, thank you!

You all may have just answered a question DH and I had about the MDR menus on the app: We weren't sure if they were accurate for each night of the cruise and were trying to plan our MDR nights according to them. So the app's MDR menus for each night aren't accurate? Thanks for any info.

How about the weather on an early September cruise? It's our first time to Alaska, leaving Vancouver on Serenade on Sept 4th. Assuming it's kind of the same as June/July, plan to bring clothes for every season and dress in layers. Flying to Vancouver means luggage limits of 50 lbs so this might be tough. When we cruised out of NYC it was so easy just to drive up the NJ Turnpike with whatever we wanted to pack! Thanks for your help.

Thank you all for the input! I love that people on Cruise Critic are so helpful. And leavitallbehind: GO BIRDS!

Hi everyone! DH and I are infrequent cruisers but excited to return to Royal Caribbean for Alaska in 100 days! A few questions - Are Royal Caribbean's ships sailing at 100% capacity? What's the biggest price drop you've seen for the UBP? I haven't seen it drop below it's current price of $64 pp/pd for our cruise, we're wondering if we should go ahead and pull the trigger on it. On NCL we liked to get an occasional "bucket of beers" and plop ourselves on a deck for an afternoon and watch the water go by. Can we get a bucket of beers on Serenade? Any Serenade tips for us? Good places on deck to just sit and enjoy the view? Any good nightlife like a good piano bar singer maybe? Any Alaska tips, like a good restaurant for dinner in Juneau (not looking for fine dining, more casual bar/restaurant where the locals go and not too too far from the pier - always worried about missing the boat!) Any excursions - either with Royal or not - for Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines, Sitka? We don't want strenuous hikes and I can't swim so no kayaking, but we do want to see the sights, wildlife, glaciers etc. Appreciate your help, thanks! Helena