Live Ovation of the Seas Alaska May 17-24, 2024 with Kmom

[HeyJut]

Hope you have the best cruise. You deserve it. Went on The Bliss last month out of Seattle. Cooler then but great weather. Loved the ship.

[crzndeb]

8 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Also strongly considered Celebrity Edge because EDGE CLASS HECK YEAH

I just boarded the Edge yesterday for my first Celebrity cruise. The Ovation is special to me, since she is the one I have been on for the most legs (8). Have a great time, and hopefully your experience will me a positive. 

[AKR2011]

Welcome back! I absolutely love following your reviews and am looking forward to this one. Just a bit sad that it may be your last. Good luck as you interview for a new role at work ❤️⚓️

[KmomChicago]

Anyone who’s been on an Alaska cruise:

 

What are the main things needed on this cruise that wouldn’t be necessary on other cruises? Stuff that a newb might forget?

 

Also here’s my drink package for this cruise, leftover from Adventure of the Seas 5 years ago. 

I also bought one of the packs of bottled water from RCI. 

Pretty racy, I know. 

 

 

 

[mslaabs]

@KmomChicago I'm looking forward to following along, but will have to catch up later as I am embarking on my own cruise 5/20 (Caribbean).  We have done alaska a few times and you made a good decision not to go with NCL.  I found that they dock in some inconvenient places. Maybe it was just my sailing but it seems they fell to the bottom of "best place to park" list.  Royal, Celebrity, and Princess all good.

 

Don't forget to pack a winter hat.  That wind is cold out on the decks and you will want to be out on the decks.  You can see the scenery from inside, but in my opinion, so much better being outside to experience it all. I haven't been on Ovation so not sure if you can get to the helipad or not, but if you can... great place to be on glacier day.

Edited May 13 by mslaabs

[TNVolnteerCruiser]

Here for the fun.  Thanks for taking us along.

[MeganGC1983]

Excited to get it going with ya… then I’ll catch up after my LIVE! Enjoy every moment of it. 

[Coralc]

5 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I just boarded the Edge yesterday for my first Celebrity cruise. The Ovation is special to me, since she is the one I have been on for the most legs (8). Have a great time, and hopefully your experience will me a positive. 

Please let us know how that goes Deb. Or post a link on here please. We are booked for our first Celebrity cruise as well. TY. 

[Coralc]

2 hours ago, mslaabs said:

@KmomChicago I'm looking forward to following along, but will have to catch up later as I am embarking on my own cruise 5/20 (Caribbean).  We have done alaska a few times and you made a good decision not to go with NCL.  I found that they dock in some inconvenient places. Maybe it was just my sailing but it seems they fell to the bottom of "best place to park" list.  Royal, Celebrity, and Princess all good.

 

Don't forget to pack a winter hat.  That wind is cold out on the decks and you will want to be out on the decks.  You can see the scenery from inside, but in my opinion, so much better being outside to experience it all. I haven't been on Ovation so not sure if you can get to the helipad or not, but if you can... great place to be on glacier day.

 

I had my winter hat alright. I purchased it on clearance at Walmart for $5. It was during their Dog fur/China fur scandal. LOL. Which prompted me to look at the label, which said "Unspecified Fur". It was REALLY cold that year. And I will continue to take it on future trips. ☺️

 

 

Edited May 13 by Coralc

[KmomChicago]

6 hours ago, mslaabs said:

@KmomChicago I'm looking forward to following along, but will have to catch up later as I am embarking on my own cruise 5/20 (Caribbean).  We have done alaska a few times and you made a good decision not to go with NCL.  I found that they dock in some inconvenient places. Maybe it was just my sailing but it seems they fell to the bottom of "best place to park" list.  Royal, Celebrity, and Princess all good.

 

Don't forget to pack a winter hat.  That wind is cold out on the decks and you will want to be out on the decks.  You can see the scenery from inside, but in my opinion, so much better being outside to experience it all. I haven't been on Ovation so not sure if you can get to the helipad or not, but if you can... great place to be on glacier day.

@mslaabs thank you for the advice, much appreciated. I’m assuming there will be sufficient deck space if helipad is off limits but I will see who I can sweet talk into special dispensation. 😊

I do plan to attend whatever talks they have onboard about such things. My understanding is Princess and HA are better about having naturalists and other expert guides onboard to help you make the most of things but I assume there will be a glacier talk or something.  
 

Lastly ship exploration is probably my favorite cruise activity so I will also try to scout alternatives and have a plan in place. The teens will probably watch it all on their virtual balcony. 🤷‍♀️

 

[KmomChicago]

11 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Alaska!! Looking forward to your review!!

@ninjacat123 hello buddy. Great to have you as always. ❤️
 

 

11 hours ago, HeyJut said:

Hope you have the best cruise. You deserve it. Went on The Bliss last month out of Seattle. Cooler then but great weather. Loved the ship.

@HeyJut Yeah I do have slight FOMO about this decision as Breakaway class was off to the side, waving its arm around saying “pick me, pick me” and I didn’t. Too many great options, what a problem. 😂
 

10 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I just boarded the Edge yesterday for my first Celebrity cruise. The Ovation is special to me, since she is the one I have been on for the most legs (8). Have a great time, and hopefully your experience will me a positive. 

@crzndeb I also hope you’ll share your impressions. I would only go on the same ship 8 times if the port was walking distance from my home!! 😂 I did Celebrity over 20 years ago and it was very nice but the industry has evolved so much that those experiences are no longer very representative. Edge class is a little on the small side for me but the style and amenities and food and entertainment obviously more than compensate, and as they say, bigger isn’t always better. I have loved almost everything I have seen about that class of ships.
 

10 hours ago, AKR2011 said:

Welcome back! I absolutely love following your reviews and am looking forward to this one. Just a bit sad that it may be your last. Good luck as you interview for a new role at work ❤️⚓️

@AKR2011 yeah the timing on the work situation is a drag but I plan to bring it! Thanks for the encouragement!

 

7 hours ago, mslaabs said:

@KmomChicago I'm looking forward to following along, but will have to catch up later as I am embarking on my own cruise 5/20 (Caribbean). 

Hope to hear about your cruise as well! Enjoy!

 

6 hours ago, TNVolnteerCruiser said:

Here for the fun.  Thanks for taking us along.

@TNVolnteerCruiser great to see you here, thanks for the support. ❤️

 

5 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Excited to get it going with ya… then I’ll catch up after my LIVE! Enjoy every moment of it. 

@MeganGC1983 I will be watching you too!
 

4 hours ago, Coralc said:

Please let us know how that goes Deb. Or post a link on here please. We are booked for our first Celebrity cruise as well. TY. 

@Coralc I searched her posts and they linked me to someone doing a live on her current cruise where she’s adding a few comments. 

[KmomChicago]

So I am not going to get too far into it prior to embarking, but in addition to my job reorganization and its stress, I am also dealing with a significant unforeseen personal family issue. Significant enough to outweigh the stress of reapplying and interviewing without a guarantee of staying employed. 

 

I’m still grappling with how much to share as it will 100% impact this trip. 
 

If a crystal ball would have told me about all of it, there’s no way I would have scheduled this trip for May, 2024. Full stop. 
 

Yet here we are, heading right into it regardless.

[KmomChicago]

Alaska Airlines.

 

So imagine you have a cruise planned and you wait for flights to become available and find exactly what you want on a highly rated airline you’ve never flown and book it and forget about it for a while and a few months later, a plane LITERALLY FALLS APART IN MIDAIR. 

[KmomChicago]

I work in pharma quality and I have a natural risk-based mindset. This serves me well in my work. My work is sometimes scary because of the risk involved and I have a whole lotta respect for that risk. See a pattern?

 

Humans are imperfect and always will be. Quality control is about robust systems that reduce potential impact of the inconsistency and risk of the humans. Reduce as it’s almost impossible to eliminate risk entirely. Unfortunately.
 

Even following quality systems to the letter cannot always guarantee perfection but it is by far the most important, effective, reliable strategy.
 

Nothing gives me worse nightmares than learning about a poor quality culture in a high risk manufacturing organization.

[KmomChicago]

So IMHO, Boeing is really the problem here, not Alaska Airlines, though they absolutely erred in failing to immediately investigate pressure alarms on previous flights of this specific aircraft.

 

Most disasters are not due to one error or failure but rather a series of safety lapses, any one of which, prevented, might / probably would have avoided the situation. 

 

Every day heroes in manufacturing are doing their jobs and preventing failures and we never know about it. Real heroes don’t wear capes. 

 

Yes I know how to evaluate a deviation, thank you very much, and I have done so as much as I can get the info on this incident. I have used disasters like Space Shuttle Challenger and the compounding pharmacy fungal meningitis outbreak as learning examples for quality training.
 

It is chilling and amazing how lucky everyone was related to that flight. You just don’t get closer to disaster yet incredibly evade it very often.

 

We will be flying on a 737 though not the exact model that failed. 
 

Anything can happen and I understand the risk of flying as well as the safety statistics compared to other forms of travel. The risk is very low but the consequences are about the worst. Ironically with the heightened awareness and related oversight, possibly this will be the safest flight of my life. 
 

Or perhaps not.

[KmomChicago]

What I really don’t get is why anyone ever thought this door plug was a good idea. If some of the 737’s won’t need a door in that spot, how about we don’t pre-cut a hole there in the first place?

 

Obviously they cut all the same door holes in every 737 in the same places, then plug some of them after the fact.

 

This seems an unnecessary risk and I question how a plugged hole would ever have equivalent structural integrity to the original uncut fuselage. Actual doors are risky enough. 
 

I speculate (but don’t know, not an engineer) that seams and secondary structural additions in general are preferably avoided and add all sorts of longer term maintenance considerations even if they are safe and integral at time of manufacture.

 

[KmomChicago]

This guy is just one of several reasons I am less inclined towards leisure travel going forward. I really hate leaving the furs.

[odie1024]

@KmomChicago I know you have a lot going on but I think once you board that ship all that mayhem in your life will be in the background and hopefully you enjoy it with the kiddos. You definitely need this and doing the review will help.

 

Sending you positive thoughts.

[KmomChicago]

9 minutes ago, odie1024 said:

@KmomChicago I know you have a lot going on but I think once you board that ship all that mayhem in your life will be in the background and hopefully you enjoy it with the kiddos. You definitely need this and doing the review will help.

 

Sending you positive thoughts.

Thanks Odie. The review is already helping me compartmentalize, pack that other stuff away for some hours at a time.  

[edspec]

@KmomChicago I run cold, always, so my tips on what to take might not be helpful but things I was grateful for on our Quantum cruise last month are:

1. A light jean jacket to wear over every outfit

2. Black boots which went with most everything I wore so added extra protection against drafts.

3. Two hoodies

4. Spanx faux leather leggings which I wear with a hoodie for day and glitzy top at night.  Easy, easy outfits which were warm AND they worked with the boots.  

 

What I wish I'd brought:

1. My cruising pajamas instead of beach cover-ups.  On warmer cruises I take t-shirt type cover-ups to sleep in and was on auto pilot when I packed so went with those.  My sleep cover-ups aren't worn outside of the room, they're in case I order early morning room service and want to appear fully dressed before opening the door. Would have much preferred my long sleeve, full length pajamas this time.

2. Fuzzy slipper type socks to wear in the cabin and to bed.  I should have brought 10 pairs, one for every night...didn't bring one 😞

 

DH laughed at me when I packed the jean jacket but apologized after I received several compliments from other women who obviously run cold like me. 

 

 

[SenatorsFan]

What a beautiful boy @KmomChicago. 😻

[Hogladyrider]

@KmomChicago...I am late to the party but finally have arrived!

 

I so enjoy your style of writing and writing is so therapeutic!   You got this and you have earned a fun filled vacation.  Alaska is like no other and you will be making life time memories!

 

Safe travels and looking forward to following along.

 

PS - I am right there with you regarding future cruising, for different but similar life altering changes, may be cancelling 3 booked cruises, but have time to decide.  Partner is having some health issues....another reminder to live each day like it is our last!

[Kellie in Texas]

@KmomChicago I have not read one of your threads before but will read this one; you are fun to read. Sorry for all the personal issues going on for you right now.

 

I know some other folks have posted about fur hats and other fuzzy stuff but don't assume that every day in Alaska is going to be freezing cold. Definitely dress in layers and bring some lighter-weight clothing. It can get warm during the day. And don't forget some kind of raincoat or poncho. So basically bring everything in your closet. 😄

[TravelE]

I am here and excited to hear about all of your adventures.

 

We are also embarking on our own Alaska Graduation Cruise this Sunday on the Westerdam. I am hoping for some Northern Lights in Juneau!

 

[mkcurran]

Thank you for doing this. I'm currently shopping cruise lines, so I'm always down for a good review.