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

[WeMissSeaView]

The ship has now sailed and the next cruise has started.

[sdear]

Thanks for the great review !  Going to miss logging in to see what was next !  Congrats on the job !  Safe travels !

[djyellowsub]

Congrats on the perfect Beatles trivia score!  I am impressed with you,  I am a lifelong Beatles fan and couldn't have done that well although I did score 14/15 on a Beatles trivia one time.  Of course someone got a perfect score.  Perhaps it was you! I was convinced I was going to marry Paul when I was 12 even though he was 27 and lived in a different country.  I cried a gallon of tears when he married Linda.

[KmomChicago]

2 hours ago, djyellowsub said:

Congrats on the perfect Beatles trivia score!  I am impressed with you,  I am a lifelong Beatles fan and couldn't have done that well although I did score 14/15 on a Beatles trivia one time.  Of course someone got a perfect score.  Perhaps it was you! I was convinced I was going to marry Paul when I was 12 even though he was 27 and lived in a different country.  I cried a gallon of tears when he married Linda.

I was only 3 when the Beatles broke up but when I was old enough I was deeply in love with them all anyway - this was the 80’s and I loved the 60’s versions of them. 

[KmomChicago]

We finally made it to O’Hare which CLOSED briefly due to severe weather on our final approach so we cruised around in bad turbulence for a while!

[KmomChicago]

I decided not to drive home tonight so I booked a fancy suite at a Chicago Hyatt on points for tonight. On the hotel shuttle now. I will post pictures.

[perfect match]

Thank you for a great review @KmomChicago! I have loved following along with you on your cruise. Congratulations on your successful interviews! 

[bobmacliberty]

 I always seem to run into weather at O'Hare.  Not my favorite.  

 

Thanks for a great review! 

[dani negreanu]

Thank you for a riveting review. Like your sense of humor, and glad you remained employed 👍

[KmomChicago]

19 hours ago, Glide_Path said:

How was the taxi line? Was it a Uber XL again with all that luggage?  

Thank you for sharing your adventures.
Good luck with the follow up interview!

More on this. The taxi line was truly nightmarish as was the exit from the terminal building. People simply were not moving forward out of the doors. I assumed we were waiting to get to a customs official but we were simply waiting-like 20-30 minutes just to get outside. 
 

I expect backups getting in when you have multiple choke points like security and check in desks but not just to leave.

 

It seems the backup was going to the right which was buses and taxis, not the left for the walkway to rideshare. Very frustrating.

[KmomChicago]

15 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

The ship has now sailed and the next cruise has started.

Yeah the machine chugs along, one week not so different than another for all those behind the scenes who are not on vacation. 
 

For us it’s a major milestone in our annual schedule but just daily life for others.

[KmomChicago]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 I always seem to run into weather at O'Hare.  Not my favorite.  

 

Thanks for a great review! 

I don’t love Chicago as an airport city but I guess I am relatively accustomed to it. The logistics of getting to O’Hare or Midway from home are not convenient to say the least. And traffic on the departure and arrival loops for pickup and dropoff can be a parking lot particularly at O’Hare.

[sdear]

2 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

More on this. The taxi line was truly nightmarish as was the exit from the terminal building. People simply were not moving forward out of the doors. I assumed we were waiting to get to a customs official but we were simply waiting-like 20-30 minutes just to get outside. 
 

I expect backups getting in when you have multiple choke points like security and check in desks but not just to leave.

 

It seems the backup was going to the right which was buses and taxis, not the left for the walkway to rideshare. Very frustrating.

So after experiencing all this...which would be the quickest ride to the airport as it seems the lines for buses was long?   Rideshare?     We are doing this cruise in July, and starting to plan our airport transfers now.  Thanks for any recommendation !

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, sdear said:

So after experiencing all this...which would be the quickest ride to the airport as it seems the lines for buses was long?   Rideshare?     We are doing this cruise in July, and starting to plan our airport transfers now.  Thanks for any recommendation !

If doing it again I would do rideshare from the rideshare stand - even though it is a walk, it's a lot more navigable than the taxi and bus craziness just outside the terminal -  to Westlake shopping center then Link light rail to SeaTac.

 

Link will be a walk at the airport from the station through the parking garage, but it won't back up like car traffic did which was really kind of a big drag. Backed up for a mile or so from the terminal!

Edited May 25 by KmomChicago

[KmomChicago]

Now that the cruise is a full day in the rear view mirror, but while it is all still fresh, a few thoughts on the overall experience. 

 

First up: The Itinerary - because that was the foundation choice for this voyage, the first decision made.

 

The Alaska scenery really is, most definitely, worth seeing yourself. I am extremely fortunate to have travelled a lot and seen a lot of the USA and a good sample of the rest of the planet.  The Alaska coastal region that I viewed on this trip, is easily among the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen anywhere. For me its only rivals have been the Big Island of Hawaii and Machu Picchu in Peru. 

 

For me, the shorter voyage just partway up Southeast Alaska was "enough."  Fully understanding that there is A LOT more Alaska up there. I think for sure a younger Kmom at a much different point in life would have preferred a one way voyage with additional land days before or after closer to Anchorage. 

 

This sailing was probably the last one, or at most, second to last, before the K-12 crowd takes over for summer high season, and a massive proportion of the fellow cruisers were couple in the middle-age to retired bracket. I would assume that for many of them, this easy look at Alaska is enough to satisfy the urge.

[bobmacliberty]

2 hours ago, sdear said:

So after experiencing all this...which would be the quickest ride to the airport as it seems the lines for buses was long?   Rideshare?     We are doing this cruise in July, and starting to plan our airport transfers now.  Thanks for any recommendation !

 

We had a relatively easy experience getting a taxi at pier 91, other than another porter trying to cut in front of everyone else and take our taxi (our porter wasn't having it).  There was a line, but it was moving continuously and took less than 10 minutes.  They were pretty efficient in getting people and taxis in/out quickly.  We were the only ship that day, and we waited until many passengers had debarked before leaving the ship.  I imagine that the taxi wait will vary greatly based on one or two ships at the pier and when during the debarkation process you leave (i.e. is everyone else leaving at the same time).  We normally would have walked to the ride share area, but my wife hurt her back during our cruise so chose the closer option.

[junior8]

KmomChicago thank you for a wonderful review!!

 

[SenatorsFan]

Thanks for the review @KmomChicago. I hope you had plenty of opportunities to relax and recharge while enjoying the beautiful scenery and time with the kiddos. 😻

[KmomChicago]

Next topic: Royal Caribbean as a cruise provider

 

I am going to get flamed for this, but honestly RCI and Carnival are so similar for me as to be borderline interchangeable. So I will tell you what, for me, each one does a little bit better than the other, and what I think is practically identical. 

 

What Carnival does better: 

1. Fun Ship vibe. 

2. Rock bottom price (usually). 

3. The most embarkation port options.  

4. Same deals booking direct or via a travel agency.

5. Uniqueness of Joe Farcus ships. 

6. Guy's Burger Joint, Blue Iguana, other included fast food options.

7. Ship on a Stick trivia prizes.

 

What Royal does better.

1. Cosmetic maintenance of the ships.

2. Slightly (noticeable but just barely) higher tier clientele.

3. The absolute, bar none, best new ships in the industry.

4. Live evening entertainment quality and variety.

5. More accurate and challenging trivia and similar game activities.

6. Better stateroom size and design on the newest ships.

7. Lower passenger count per ton of ship, theoretically less crowded.

 

What they both do about equally well.

1. Incredible international crew, staff, officers providing the same service.

2. Private island / private beach destinations.

3. Buffets and MDR.

4. Good variety of stuff to do onboard.

5. Standard selection of domestic itineraries.

6. Overall crowd control. I don't usually feel more crowded on Carnival despite the stats that suggest I should.

7. Mix of all-inclusive and upcharge pricing - in both cases once you pay for the cruise and gratuities, you never really need to spend another dime onboard, but there are plenty of very similar ways to do so if you want and the pricing models for all that jazz also look pretty similar to me.

 

I want to note here - I am not including comments on beverage packages.  I know the booze limit at Carnival is a factor for some cruisers. If I were a travel agent selling cruises, it is something I would possibly discuss with potential passengers for both lines.  However, it is not relevant to my own experience either way.

 

None of the items I note above is either a slam dunk or a deal killer for me so really I have no particular reason to prefer Carnival or Royal as cruise lines overall. 

 

[RoperDK]

37 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

Next topic: Royal Caribbean as a cruise provider

 

I am going to get flamed for this, but honestly RCI and Carnival are so similar for me as to be borderline interchangeable. So I will tell you what, for me, each one does a little bit better than the other, and what I think is practically identical. 

 

What Carnival does better: 

1. Fun Ship vibe. 

2. Rock bottom price (usually). 

3. The most embarkation port options.  

4. Same deals booking direct or via a travel agency.

5. Uniqueness of Joe Farcus ships. 

6. Guy's Burger Joint, Blue Iguana, other included fast food options.

7. Ship on a Stick trivia prizes.

 

What Royal does better.

1. Cosmetic maintenance of the ships.

2. Slightly (noticeable but just barely) higher tier clientele.

3. The absolute, bar none, best new ships in the industry.

4. Live evening entertainment quality and variety.

5. More accurate and challenging trivia and similar game activities.

6. Better stateroom size and design on the newest ships.

7. Lower passenger count per ton of ship, theoretically less crowded.

 

What they both do about equally well.

1. Incredible international crew, staff, officers providing the same service.

2. Private island / private beach destinations.

3. Buffets and MDR.

4. Good variety of stuff to do onboard.

5. Standard selection of domestic itineraries.

6. Overall crowd control. I don't usually feel more crowded on Carnival despite the stats that suggest I should.

7. Mix of all-inclusive and upcharge pricing - in both cases once you pay for the cruise and gratuities, you never really need to spend another dime onboard, but there are plenty of very similar ways to do so if you want and the pricing models for all that jazz also look pretty similar to me.

 

I want to note here - I am not including comments on beverage packages.  I know the booze limit at Carnival is a factor for some cruisers. If I were a travel agent selling cruises, it is something I would possibly discuss with potential passengers for both lines.  However, it is not relevant to my own experience either way.

 

None of the items I note above is either a slam dunk or a deal killer for me so really I have no particular reason to prefer Carnival or Royal as cruise lines overall. 

 

I agree with your comparisons. I have settled into mainly Royal, with a dash of Carnival.  They each have positives.  Even though I am in my mid-sixties, I don't care for Princess (too stuffy and old fashioned) and I really doubt that Celebrity would be exciting enough for us.  Each has a good casino program, so that is where we are comfortable right now. 

[crzndeb]

I think what tips me over to Royal, is the discount I now receive as a solo traveler, and the perks I get. Unfortunately as the highest level on Carnival, you just don’t get a whole lot (I don’t use the free laundry). I will be on the Panorama in Oct. from Singapore to Long Beach. I do like their longer Journey cruises and they do have the laundromats on older ships. I think their free lunch options are better also, even though I don’t eat Guys Burgers….LOL

[KmomChicago]

Topic #3: Food

 

There were lots of included meal options on this ship, Windjammer buffet and MDR, Solarium Bistro, Cafe Promenade, Sorrento's Pizza, Two70 Cafe, Fish & Ships, and Dog House.  Some of these have certain upcharge items in addition to the free stuff.  It is really nice to have so many included choices. 

 

There are several upcharge venues like Chops, Izumi, Jamie's Italian. I personally don't have any interest in paying for extra food on a cruise because I can't even fit in all the included places, which are good enough for me.   My 18 year old, however, has always jonesed for some molecular gastronomy, so we did Wonderland.

 

It was good, but I don't know that I liked it or the whiz-bang presentation drastically more than any other good restaurant meal I have ever had.  I ate every morsel since it was right in front of my face and I hate to waste anything.  I am glad my teen just loved it.  We also did the Taste of Royal lunch the last sea day, various sample dishes from around the fleet including a filet mignon from Chops.  Likewise it was all good food but I guess I am just about all fooded out at this point in life. None of it really excites me except the fact that I don't have to cook it or clean up afterward.

 

I like Windjammer because of the variety, the flexibility of when you go and I can get just a bite or two of something unusual to try it without ordering some giant portion.

 

I had one day where I just had the coffee provided in my stateroom for "breakfast" and never got hungry until about 2pm, when we all went to the Windjammer and I had a big late lunch. Then I was not anywhere near hungry for dinner. So I had just the one big meal all day. 

 

Other days I visited Windjammer for breakfast, lunch, or supper but again due to previous meals, was not really hungry and just fixed myself a small plate.

 

Overall the food on the ship was fine, as I expect on any cruise.

 

 

 

 

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, RoperDK said:

I agree with your comparisons. I have settled into mainly Royal, with a dash of Carnival.  They each have positives.  Even though I am in my mid-sixties, I don't care for Princess (too stuffy and old fashioned) and I really doubt that Celebrity would be exciting enough for us.  Each has a good casino program, so that is where we are comfortable right now. 

I think you might like Celebrity. I found them to be very good 20+ years ago when I tried them, and I think they have gone up a notch, especially witih Edge class. In the unlikely event that all the stars align, I would consider them again.

 

59 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

I think what tips me over to Royal, is the discount I now receive as a solo traveler, and the perks I get. Unfortunately as the highest level on Carnival, you just don’t get a whole lot (I don’t use the free laundry). I will be on the Panorama in Oct. from Singapore to Long Beach. I do like their longer Journey cruises and they do have the laundromats on older ships. I think their free lunch options are better also, even though I don’t eat Guys Burgers….LOL

I am getting away from a lot of meat but I usually do have at least one Guy's. I will never get to a high tier status on either RCI or CCL than I have now, so that won't figure for me. I also like the laundromats on Carnival, but my last cruise with them half the machines were out of order!

[KmomChicago]

Topic #4 Ship Overall

 

 

This ship is only about ten years old, and it is a beauty.  According to Wikipedia, the Quantum class staterooms are on average, 9% larger than Oasis class. There are only 373 interior cabins, and again according to Wikipedia, they all have a virtual balcony.  If you read my review you know I prefer inside rooms and in this case we had 3 people in two adjacent rooms, 9233 and 9633, behind a locable vestibule door just leading to those 2 cabins. I liked that setup very much and the rooms were dark and quiet.

 

I would place the ship overall between Adventure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas, the smallest and largest, as far as how much I liked it.  The Two70° space was my favorite place on this ship.  It is a two story lounge / theater on decks 5 and 6 aft.  Spectra's Cabaret was the best show but they were all good. 

 

The North Star was the differentiating factor for why I ultimately chose Quantum Class for this cruise, and it was only meh.  I was happy with this ship and it is beautiful. The Solarium with its 3 tier shallow pool is quite nice, and there is a second, family enclosed pool for these cold Alaska voyages. 

 

It is a beautiful, enormous, well designed, spacious ship, comfortable, modern, spectacular.  However, with so many stunning megaships around nowadays, it did not have what I would call a novelty factor, something that made it somehow more spectacular than what I have seen before.  

 

Would I sail this or another Quantum class ship again? Sure, though I almost never actually repeat.  Would I specifically seek out Quantum class again? No, but again, only because why repeat when there is some new shiny object out there somewhere?

[KmomChicago]

Topic #5: Kmom's future as a cruiser

 

Well this is it. What's all this blabbering about maybe cruising again and maybe not? 

 

I think I can say the following with 99%+ certainty. 

 

I will never again book a trip from Chicago solely for the purpose of taking a cruise.  I am not enjoying the cruises themselves enough to deal with getting to and from a port from this place I call home. I hate the flights and the ever increasing turbulence. I hate sitting around in the airports waiting on delays. I hate the transfers from the airport to the hotel and then to the ship and vice-versa all the way back home.  I have tried driving across America for cruises and I hate that too.   I hate it all too much to do any of it just for the purpose of taking a vacation.

 

Now it is entirely possible to get near a port for some other reason, work, or family, or something else, and then add on a cruise while I am going to be there anyway. I may travel to see my kid at college in Florida in a couple of years and grab a 3 night weekender from Port Canaveral, for instance.

 

Disney Magic is the oldest ship still sailing that I ever sailed before. Maybe I want to repeat my two separate 3 night sailings from the 1990's as a Cast Member out to the Bahamas so I can come back here to Cruise Critic and rant to everyone about how much better it used to be. That could be fun, right?

 

Perhaps someday in the future I will live somewhere else and that place will be within a morning's drive of a port. If that is the case, I won't care what ship it is, how big or small or tacky or beige, old or new, or the Walmart of the Seas or the Neiman Marcus of the Seas.  Convenience will win the day.

 

Maybe I will retire from pharma and get a gig doing phone sales for a line, and do that just long enough to take about 8 cruises at employee rates, splurge for the internet package onboard, and work from the ships until they find me out and send me packing. 

 

So there is no way I can say I won't, or don't want to, cruise again. I am just not going to do it anytime soon, and I am not going to do it quite the way I have done it in the past. 

Edited May 25 by KmomChicago