CatLadyFemme

So far, yes. Apparently we are getting shuttles (busses, not tenders) to take us along the dock to the safer area in town. It’s tomorrow, so will keep you updated! Fingers crossed; we were set to do Skagway in 2022 when the rockslide hit and they changed our route. Would really hate for it to happen again, although of course, safety is paramount!

We did indeed swing by the LGBTQ meet up the first night. It was the usual; the two of us, plus our friends (queer trans man and queer cis woman) sat while the cis gay men sat separately, despite my invite to connect our two groups. We did find another queer cis woman to join us, and had a lovely time talking for hours, so worth while, if not still frustrated at the in group divisions. I tried both the Shirley sunset mocktail and the watermelon mint lime aid. Both were tasty but nothing to write home about compared to the blueberry mojito mocktail. Yesterday was the first sea day; we slept in, with MxCatLady catching some breakfast at WJ, before we headed to my lunch in the MDR. They just got cheese sticks (with ranch instead of marinara, as they had just eaten), while I had pre ordered the corn cakes (quite tasty, though not as much flavor as I had hoped), the chili with no cornbread (tasty but SO spicy and they brought it out without the listed sour cream and cheese, so I had to wait on those to make it edible), and some fresh fruit. A solid if not inspired meal. Then we just meandered around board, looked in shops, hid some ducks, took some pictures, etc. We had plans to maybe do something, but to be honest, we have both been so burnt out with work and the state of the world that we just rested and napped and listened to our book. Took a shower, shared our extra motion sickness patches with members of the group on the other site that had posted they were ill, got to participate in our first 9 person gift exchange (we still need to drop ours off! So fun!), and then got dolled up for dinner. Usually we go all out (trans Atlantic included tux and ballgown, flapper dress and pinstripe suit, etc.), but we went more low key formal for this cruise, and we’re still in the top 20% of fanciness I’d say. MDR dinner was fine. I just got a large butternut squash soup and crème brûlée as we were doing Jamie’s later. MxCatLady got calamari (not good; overdone), beef tenderloin (very good), and apple cobbler (delicious!). Our servers have been lovely. More chill time after and they took a nap while I read my own book, before we did a 9pm meet up at Jamie’s with our friends for a double date. It did NOT disappoint! The normie got the aranchini (everyone LOVED these), the burata (I also got a GF version; also absolutely delightful); a rocket salad, garlic mashed potatoes, short rib, salmon, carbonara pasta, shrimp pasta, and a small order of the truffle pasta; the only “ok” item was the salmon; folks raved about the others! I had the burrata with GF bread, the charred broccoli, the GF version of the truffle pasta, and the risotto. Broccoli and risotto were fine, pasta was delicious. Everyone got their lemon cheese cake and tiramisu to go, while I had half of a way too big scoop of raspberry sorbet before leaving. They had the cab and white zin, while we tried both the mocktails; the lemonade was excellent while the other was a little lack luster. After filling up on Jamie’s, we got into comfy clothes, enjoyed the waves, and finished our first audio book of the trip (Men at Arms, by Terry Pratchett, for those following along at home), and then to sleep for another day. also! My first time getting a towel penguin!!! Today you could feel the ship moving. Not a TON or as much as some tough patches I have been on, but enough that some folks didn’t feel well. I love feeling the boat rock slightly; it helps me sleep…but definitely bring patches or bracelets or something to help you on Alaska trips, as the sea tends to be a bit more emotional than on the Caribbean.

Day one! My friend from yesterday was kind enough to pick us up from the Maxwell Hotel and drop us off at the port. There was a little chaos with no porters being near the accessible loading zone, and then getting lots of different answers about where to go for a wheelchair, and them being super backed up with wheelchair pushers (plus some total Karens being SO rude to staff), but I will still say Seattle is the best U.S. port for embarking and disembarking. Overall, people are super nice and it was very quick. As we got onto the actual ship, my former student/D&D friend and his partner who we had only met once before happened to be right behind us! Both sets of us did our muster station check ins, and MxCatLady and I swung by the MDR to make sure my celiac disease/gluten “allergy” (it’s not an allergy as much as an autoimmune condition, but allergy is the best language to use for safety across language barriers) was in my file, and to see our table, as I had emailed a few weeks ago to ask from a quieter, out of the way two top to reduce overwhelm/overstimulation. Everything looked good, so we all went up to the Solarium with me doing a little tour guiding as we went. I love being on the same ship, and we have also sailed Anthem, so things feel very familiar, which I love. MxCatLady and I started off our cruise with virgin blueberry mojitos (yum!), and I grabbed some salad from the solarium bistro while MxCatLady went in for mashed potatoes and baked ziti. After we started getting too warm around 1:45pm, we said goodbye to our friends and headed towards our stateroom, which thankfully, was open early! MxCatLady is SO good to me an unpacked all four suitcases, setting up our home away from home for the next week. After many years cruising and learning here too, we bring magnetic hooks to hang lanyards, ear defenders, my robe, etc.; an over the door shoe rack for glasses, belts, scarves, gloves; a blanket for sitting on our balcony; an inflatable mattress pad (this time, we are tying a double one for the first time); a plug that is NOT a surge protector and allows two plugs (my heating pad and their CPAP) and three USBs; and a collapsible bucket our steward filled with ice for us so we can fill my ice packs. He was also kind enough to grab a vase for the flowers, and holy cow does that elevate the experience of our stateroom. I feel vintage cruise vibes, ala Phryne Fisher or High Seas. Yes please! Then we sat on our balcony for our sail away. We have the early seating for dinner, and knowing where our table was meant we could skip the chaotic line. Night one is always a big complicated with allergies. I was trying to get the spinach artichoke dip with veggie dippers (as the chips are not GF; this ship has no Johnny Rockets, so no GF fryer on board!) and a cup of the tomato soup. The soup came through (though tasted like tomato sauce?), but the dip turned into a plate of cooked carrots and broccoli. Which isn’t the worst thing ever, but I can imagine would be disappointing for some. Nothing on the mains menu was GF AND veggie (the stuff portobello caps have couscous in them, and it’s hard for them to do something different in the spot), so I asked for the veggie curry of the day with rice and raita. It’s not on the menu, but they ALWAYS have one, and it’s usually pretty good as the crew eat it. Today was no exception. For dessert, I did a dark chocolate custard (doubled checked to make sure no gelatin). I had a Shirley Temple, and then some Earl Grey tea with dessert. Conversely, MxCatLady ordered off menu. They had the crab cakes (delicious!), then prime rib (solid; it was very good but not amazing), and the key lime pie (also “solidly good”), accompanied by the bread basket (fresh and tasty), a virgin blueberry mojito, and also Earl Grey tea. I also placed orders for MDR lunch and dinner tomorrow. Not great options, so I asked for the soup at dinner to be served as a meal size, and then we are going to meet our friends at Jamie’s late night around 9pm. I am so looking forward to that! On our way out, one of the head waiters stopped us. It was Bing Bing, who we met in 2022 when we were last on the Quantum. She was working in Wonderland and helped set up a lovely meal for us that met my dietary needs, and we also gifted her one of the unicorn ducks we were hiding…and she remembered us! I love when things like this happen on Royal, it makes it feel just that more special. Now we are on our balcony with the blanket, just enjoying the waves and the sun beginning to set. The plan is to swing by the 10pm LGBTQ meet up in Vintages, and then I may need some more pain meds, as my body is still pretty cranky from yesterday’s tide pooling. Food pictures are not uploading…are folks interested in seeing them? If so, I can putz around. Otherwise, I won’t worry about it!

Ah ha! Looks like I need to take screen shorts of my pictures to keep them small enough to post. Please enjoy a few pictures to go with the above!

Not sure why photos are being funky and uploading as black! Sorry 😬 Today we started by being picked up by my bestie from week one of college (circa 2002). They took us to Kerry Park first to get a lovely view of the city, and then we headed to Pike Place. MxCatLady had never been, and while I have been multiple times, I have always pined over of the flowers and never gotten any. However, I read you can bring them on board and your steward will give you a vase, so that’s my plan. We also got some hot masala chai (yum!), lavender and blackberry flavored apple cider (also yum!), truffle sauce and balsamic pearls and various flavored pepper jellies (which the truffle shop was nice enough to put in my box to ship home), and MxCatLady got some orca pictures and a Sasquatch hoodie, while my bestie got a moon phase hoodie. The two of them put me on the viewing platform to recover some spoons, and picked up some fresh fruit and vegetarian cheeses to have picnic. We then piled in the car, and headed to Alki beach. They have an accessible ramp down to the rocky beach, and we got to look at lots of types of seaweed, grabbed some rocks, dipped my toes in the pacific, and made friends with some crows. Once properly chilled, we headed back to the hotel for our little picnic, and said good bye until they take us to the pier tomorrow. Next, a nap was in order, and now, I am noshing on vegan Thai food (this one from Araya’s Place) while we repack for the ship. Boarding is at 11am, and we cannot wait!

Our flight was fairly uneventful; we watched the Disney movie Wish, which was super good and fairly apropos given the current climate. All luggage made it, I didn’t lose my hoodie at the airport, and we took an Uber to our hotel. We are at the Stay Pineapple Maxwell Hotel nearish to the Space Needle. MrCatLady and I stayed at the one in University City previously; this one is similarly fun/funky, and has better rooms (imho). Really lovely amenities! No, we have no idea why pineapple, nor if they know it is a sign for swingers 🤷🏻‍♀️ Yesterday, we did some delicious gluten free and tree nut free baked goods from Nutflour, an all GF bakery. Oh my gosh y’all! Other than the meh lemon bar, everything is so amazing and delish. We then took a 5 hour nap. Long Covid is an experience. Ooof. For dinner, we got a 6 pack of GF vegan tacos from Mas Veg. Today, my close friend drove up from rural Washington. We shared vegan Thai from Kati Thai, adventured around Capitol Hill, and got fried cheese curds, a mezze platter, and a mead flight at A/Stir, an all gluten free restaurant and cider/cocktail bar. I love being able to be safe! Our day was finished with time from a friend from middle school. I love the seating options in the lobby of the hotel! Tomorrow, we are connecting with my best friend from college, and going tide looking, and to pick up flowers to bring on board. until then…

Glad we finishing packing last night; it was a rainy morning and the UberX I ordered turned out to be a Toyota Prius, so opted to only bring only my cane and not my walker. We had a very smooth check in at DTW and made it through to our gate with plenty of time to spare. For those wondering, we are using KN95s for mid risk situations, and FloMasks with SipValves on the plane to stay hydrated over the 5 hour flight. Here is to an easy flight and adventure to our hotel.

Awww thanks 🥰 And yes! We love Quantum; we were on her to Alaska (slightly different stops) in August 2022, and then on her sister ship Anthem for a transatlantic last May. We find them much better size for us than the Oasis class ships that are just too big and overwhelming for us.

Hello - it's time for another live review! I'm CatLadyFemme, a professor at the University of Michigan, a cat lady , and a fairly experienced cruiser. I am autistic, and disabled/live with chronic pain, and so walk with a cane, plus I am a vegetarian and have Celiac disease, so am super duper gluten free. I’m in the middle of this picture of my family. It’s been a rough school year, plus with political issues, multiple genocides taking place world wide, and just feeling burnt out, I absolutely cannot wait to get on board, and feel like I can finally breathe again...I hope. In addition to things like photos of the rooms, pools, etc., I will post about finding vegetarian GF food (we've had some AMAZING luck like with Belic on the Explorer, and some not great experiences where I ate iceberg salad and berries for days), and access/ADA issues. Oh! I'm also queer and nonbinary (as is MxCatLady), so there may be some stuff about the LGBTQ meet up, etc. I like to stay in inside reading or playing games, or you might find me enjoying the hot tubs. Yes, even when it is fairly chilly (see my May 2023 review of Voyager in the Baltic). One of my partners, MxCatLady, will be joining me. They run a Starbucks on land (sadly, cannot use their discounts aboard), and this is their fourth time on a cruise and second time to Alaska. We were supposed to go with our whole neuroqueer D&D group, but in the end, only one friend and his partner will be joining the cruise, so we will be mostly on our own. We both will likely frequent the shows depending on how crowded they are, napkin folding/towel animals, observation decks, and the pools. We'll be dressing up for dinner (but not as much as usual; manage your expectations, fashion followers!), and plan on fair an amount of MDR, with some occasional meals at Jamie’s and Izumi. We'll be staying in an accessible ocean view balcony. So stoked to be able to sit on the balcony with a soft blanket, listen to audio books, and enjoy the water. We have early seating at dinner, like seeing most of the shows (though may skip if crowded), and both have the 4 free Diamond drinks - I cannot drink alochol, and they don't drink much, so mostly mocktails for us! We also have internet packages. Currently have no plans other than wondering around at Icy Point Strait, and are scheduled for a non RCCL mine exploration and gold panning adventure in Juneau, the train in Skagway (I loved it a few years ago with MrCatLady, but our last trip in August of 2022, Skagway was canceled due to a rockslide. MxCatLady loves vintage trains, so we are super excited), and a sunset whale watching trip in Victoria. We are celebrating 5 years together. Here is a picture from our commitment ceremony in 2022. I should note I am immuno compromised, and despite isolating for two years, I finally got COVID in January 2022. We are both dealing with some pretty seriously long COVID syndrome. We also know getting it more than once can be additive, so at my HCP’s advice, we will be masking indoors or in crowded outdoor spaces. Please don’t argue COVID stuff with me, and I won’t spam you with peer reviewed studies, and we can all have a nice time. Our trip starts tomorrow, Friday May 3rd, flying into Seattle. We are staying at the Stay Pineapple Maxwell Hotel. Saturday, I will be hanging with my close friend who is driving up from rural Washington, and Sunday will be spent with my BFF from undergrad; they found a space for us to go tidepooling that is disability accessible! Plus there is an all gluten free restaurant with a patio, and several vegan Thai places that deliver and are good with celiac! Let me know if you have any specific questions or requests; otherwise, I'll try to do regular updates (assuming the internet isn't wonky), post occasional pictures, and hopefully induce a small amount of envy. Oh! And if you see us on board, come say hi 💜

I loved that so much too!

This I am not sure about. My guess is likely yes?

Sorry all! The internet was a bit rough, and I struggled a lot with long COVID symptoms, as well as getting normal people sick, despite masking and using our air filter. There were definitely lots of people who had COVID, and many other people just regular sick, and of course none of them would wear a mask. Currently sick in our London hotel, but with better internet. That said! Here are some professional pictures to tide you over, and I will try to recreate some of the best days.

Day 3 was more of a relaxed vibe, at least until figuring out lunch. For the first time ever, they are doing fine changes at noon each day. I was told, by multiple staff, to follow the time on the app and the sign boards. We had 1:15 lunch reservations. So at noon original time, we looked at the app, assuming it would now say 1pm…but it didn’t. So when the app said 12:55pm, we went to Jamie’s, a bit early…or so we thought. We were told it was now 2pm and we were late. Which was frustrating given that we were following what we had been told. The host did what felt like dressing us down for being late, including telling me to follow an analog watch…something I didn’t even own. That said, they did seat us eventually. I know we were not the only people with issues; some folks missed their iFly appt and were charged. Changing clocks at noon rather than midnight is such a silly idea. Lunch at Jamie’s was great. This time my burrata camera with GF bread (the same mediocre stuff, but this time it was hot and toasted and actually pretty good). They made a special version of the truffle sauce that was safe to eat and it was SO good, as were the GF posh fries. MxCatLady said the burger was tasty, but way too much food, and really liked the polenta crisps as well. We skipped dessert as we were full, and went to go hide more ducks, followed by some time out on the balcony. Goddess, it is so beautiful and healing here. Exactly what we needed. Followed our balcony time with some napping. We left the room a little after 7pm to give our steward the opportunity to clear out our trash and provide fresh towels and ice for my ice pack. After day 1, he has been great. We don’t need much, and what we need, he definitely provides. Before dinner, we went up to deck 14 and found a little nest in the Solarium. It’s so beautiful there too, and just the right temperature to curl up. MxCatLady wasn’t really feeling sushi, despite our Izumi reservations, so they grabbed cheese fries and chicken nuggets from Johnny Rockets. We asked for our same server, Hien, again at Izumi, and she was wonderful a second time. MxCatLady tried sake for the first time and really loved it, so that was fun. And dear reader, this is where I made a poor decision. I’ve never been a big drinker, and I haven’t drank alcohol in 3 years since finding out I am mildly allergic to it, in that it triggers MCAS flares that hurt my joints, muscles, nerves, headache, and stomach stuff. But they had this delicious sounding cocktails and I LOVE sake cocktails annnnnd I had free diamond drinks and I ordered it. Drinking it was absolutely delish and divine. I would be ordering it every night. But then today (day 4), I woke up in so much pain that getting out of bed has become difficult. So the good news is that this has validated my allergy and decision not to drink; bad news is I’ve been hurting in bed today. My own dang fault. that said, this time I got full veggie rolls instead of half, while MxCatLady had the firecracker shrimp, and a fried shrimp roll (which came as a half roll), and got an avocado roll for me. We took the Mochi to go again, grabbed some water from deck 4, and headed to the room to listen to our Becky Chambers book.

Yesterday was first formal night, and if you have followed me before, you know that I (and MxCatLady) love love love to dress up. At the beginning of the pandemic, I bought a few ball gowns on major discount with the hopes to eventually wear them, and this was a perfect place to wear my red siren gown from Kiyonna. MxCatLady bought their first 3 piece suit and had it tailored (trans masc bodies are super hard to fit in suits, so I am extra delighted for them!). We skipped dinner in the MDR after last night’s showing, and instead we to Spectra’s Cabaret. It was about two thirds full, and our drink server (the watermelon mint lemonade was tasty!) told us upstairs was a better place to see from, and those couches were lovely. there IS an elevator too, in 270. so…I was on meds that make me a little woozy, but that served in my favor. I liked the music mash ups a lot, and the digital backgrounds (at least after the Janet piece and before the weird appropriative piece) were similar to what I put on at home to mellow out before bed, so it was a nice vibe. However, then it bled into this weird piece in which they had two (apparently) white or at the least, definitely not South East Asian, women dress up in traditional SEA/Indian dress, with one singing in Hindi (and clearly not her native language), while an actually SEA woman was played on the screens on traditional Indian garb, with no context. It made me SO uncomfortable, and it just kept going (was one of the longer pieces). It literally felt like the white solan taking the voice away from and playing dress up while the silenced Indian woman danced for her pleasure. At least 4 smaller groups of people left during this. Usually I love this kind of show, but that totally soured me on it. I could also see a lot of the very traditionalist passengers not liking it because it is too risqué (maybe for children? I would take my kids there if I had any) and because the main singer was in heels and some low key drag outfits (which I loved, but cannot imagine this doing well out of Florida given current political climate there). I’m just not sure who the audience is for this? However, it was our first show, and I was glad to get to see something in Two70 finally. After this, we took a break on our balcony and then headed to Wonderland. They didn’t show up quite as fully for me as they did on the Quantum Wonderland, where they literally made me a GF veg version of every little thing MxCatLady had, but they really showed up with the main dish; rice filled stuffed pepper and zucchini and potatoes. Filling and yummy! They *did* give me items with gelatin because they don’t seem to realize it isn’t vegetarian, so I ate around some of them, but all in all, really lovely. And they made a mocktail version of the cotton candy drink. So fun! Looking forward to going back. MxCatLady said the best two things they have had on this trip so far were the liquid lobster and the risotto in a spoon (followed closely by the mushroom soup at Chops). They also love the short rib, and the World desert. After this, we walked around a little bit, listened to some more audio book, and eventually went to Sorrentos to get late night pizza. They had issues when I ordered a GF pizza; they knew the routine. There were some communication issues, and they forgot to actually *start* it in the back, but once we got it figured out and I got my hot pizza about half an hour later, everything was good. and thus, with an Agatha Christine playing on my nightstand, ends day 2.

Omg that would be so gross lol 😂