Tree_skier

Yes you need it for a bus crossing.

With the Serenade cruise last year I was just glad to be on ship with very little expectation. That being said it was a great cruise and I enjoyed it immensely. I spent and an inordinate amount of time at the R-bar/Centrum sitting with a drink and my iPad listening the band or guitar player and posting on Cruise critic or playing online chess. This cruise, as all subsequent cruises have been, will have higher expectations about activity on them. I'll let you know how things go. 😉

All the data that came from China was top notch. Please don't disparage the work of the CCP.

I have cruised to Alaska twice on Serenade. I enjoyed them both immensely. This next cruise to Alaska will be on Ovation. I wanted a larger ship which has more to do on sea days. There are 2 sea days plus embarkation day and then Victoria which is essentially a sea day for me so that is a lot of free time. The additional shows, dining options and musical entertainment are what sold me. I have been on one Quantum class before and it was my favorite cruise ever.

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/yes-you-can-actually-see-russia-from-alaska

I feel the same way. I was born, raised and lived 48 of my 56 years in Vancouver, BC and have travelled all over BC, WA and OR. Now I call central CA my home and love the sunshine but in my mind the PNW is the most beautiful place in the world. Alaska is not dissimilar and I loved my cruise there last year but in spite of having been saturated in its beauty for most of my life I am looking forward to another this year in August. I love cold to but prefer my rain in more a more solid and white form and confined to the mountains. For avid cruisers who have never done an Alaskan cruise, you have to do it. The experience is unforgettable. Thank you @Ozark_Kid for this awesome live review. It is pumping me up for mine in August.

My feeling exactly!

I have never been charged a surcharge on my account.

I had thought about doing that but I always hate the line at GS. So far I've been lucky and had no errant charges.

We did the same thing last year when we were on Sitka. I was tired and my knee was throbbing but I was glad we stumbled upon that little set of stairs. Great views from there.

The weird thing was, on one of them, someone on my Roll Call bid less than I did for the same cabin and they got it and I didn't.

I have bid three times now. Cruises 1 and 3 were considered fair and cruise 2 was considered strong. I have yet to win. Royal up doesn't seem to like me.

Really! I had it on Liberty, which is O3B as well, and it was awful!

That is why I say I follow Dave Ramsay's advice sans credit card prohibition. I travel extensively for work and it is much more difficult to travel on cash than a card. That being said, part of his objection is "vacation money" should be put on existing debt. We have been completely debt free for 6 years. My wife retired at 55 and I still add a couple thousand a month to my retirement portfolio each month. Cruising and skiing all that goes with those are my only vices.

Surf is worthless for anything more than checking email or messaging. IF you plan on doing anything other than that get stream. Surf is not dissimilar to your old dial-up internet.

I know, I have an AE that has good rewards that I am happy with also. I wanted a Visa because there is the odd place that doesn't take AE and when spending of Royal the BOA version doubles up your points.

I have followed Dave Ramsey's advice for years now with the exception of his no credit card prohibition. His main objection is there are hidden costs to the points accumulated because it encourages unnecessary spending to accumulate points. It's sound reasoning but I still like my points. 🙂 I've followed all of his other advice for years now and it has served us well.

Exactly, I finally broke down and got the Royal Caribbean BOA visa. Now I'll get double points for my on board spending 🙂

Last year we found great options for excursions right after you got off the shuttle bus. There were over a dozen vendors selling every kind of excursion you could imagine. They were also at better prices than what had been charged in the cruise planner.

Sorry I'm late to the party... I'm on Allure in December. I'm looking forward to this review.

You never mentioned the ArriveCan app in your description of embarkation. I'm assuming you had that done and that they confirmed you had done it when you checked in?

15% premium on the exchange rate 😲

It’s a trundle bed. Another twin pulls out from underneath.

I've never been to Victoria on a cruise ship. How much of a walk is it down to the inner harbor from the ship? EDIT: I just found the cruise terminal on google maps. 24 minute walk to the Empress from the port... I'm probably staying on the ship.

I should have been more specific... Prices can be all over the map. That being said, it is my experience, when looking on the website, that CB are higher priced than other balcony cabins. There will be anomalies, of course.