firewife09

can you put 24 cans in one cooler (2 people worth) or do we each need our own small cooler?

If you don’t have kids the Solarium is awesome to just sit and relax and enjoy the scenery. We also loved the tables around the outside pool. Favorite Bartender = we don’t drink so not much help there. Things not to miss = make a list of what is important to you (we really wanted to see the glacier so we got up really early) but also remember you are on vacation so relaxing should be a key part of your experience.

We loved the ship and the only negative I had about our cabin was it is a little narrow but otherwise it was great!!

My 12yr old had a blast both on the boat and at the ports BUT I did make sure to book excursions that he was interested in. we explored Ketchikan on our own (not by choice, excursion was canceled) and I wish we would have done Victoria on our own (no need for an excursion).

If you want to book a paid session for any day you can book it right when you get on the ship WiFi the first day on the royal app. I booked it the moment I sat down on embankment day.

So there are two option for IFly - one that is free and a lot shorter of an experience. And the second option is a longer experience and I believe was $29 each. It is a blast and I highly recommend.

We had two medical incidences on this cruise - one in Ketchikan and one in Juneau. We were not updated to the reason but are hoping those individuals are now safe and healthy.

We also got off on Westlake. It is an under ground station so you will need to walk outside to the sidewalk to get to the hotel. Super easy walk - took at most 10 minutes.

I’m finally negative but still feel like something is sitting on my chest. Hubby and Kiddo are still positive - ugh. Thankfully it was pretty mild but still I have never been so tired.

We did the Alaska Sled Dogs & Musher's Camp - it was sooo much fun!!

Last Day - Saying goodbye to Quantum We woke up at 7am and got ready for the morning. Headed to Wind Jammer for breakfast and patiently waited for our group to be called. We were group 22 and were called approx 8:30am. Getting off the boat was a breeze for us. We were off the ship at 8:45am, picked up our luggage in the cruise terminal at 9am (I repacked one of the bags and added the stuff we had kept with us to get ready in the morning). Got in the taxi line and were in a taxi by 9:45am. Taxis to SeaTac are a $40 flat rate. We were at the airport by 10:20am and had dropped off our bags, gone thru security by 11am. We grabbed McDonald's at the airport and headed to our gate ready for our 2:45pm lift off........ Only to be delayed - ugh. New time was 3:30pm. Flight home was uneventful and smooth. This trip was everything we wanted it to be and more - our family had such a blast. I would definitely do this cruise all over again. The one downfall of the cruise was that I started feeling pretty crummy about two days after we got home and ended up testing positive for Covid, then Hubby got it and finally the kiddo got it. We are all vaccinated and boosted but I wouldn't wish this virus on anyone. It for sure took its toll on all three of us. We were diligent about using hand sanitizer and washing our hands etc.... Just know that this is a risk of cruising in this time. Please feel free to ask me any and all questions. I probably left a few details out. From our family to yours thanks for reading our review - This trip is now a family core memory.

Day# 7 - Victoria, BC We were due to arrive into port at 5pm so we had our whole morning open. I was feeling better so we ate breakfast and I was going to pack since the next day was our last day. Our flight was not leaving until 2:48pm the next day so we didn't have to rush off the ship. We were given luggage tags and found that our group was going to be called really early so I headed to customer service to get a later group. They had no issues changing our group. You may also need to head to customer service for more luggage tags - they only gave us 4. We opted to place our luggage out at 10pm tonight and pick it up the next morning in the port. I had packed an extra bag just in case we had bought a bunch of souvenirs and we ended up using this bag to pack out all the stuff we needed the next morning to get ready. It worked out great. We headed to Wind Jammer to grab a late lunch and then off to the theater for our excursion. We were to meet in the theater at 4pm. This was the one port that I wasn't sure what to do - I picked a Historical Walking Tour and if I had to do it again I would probably do Victoria on our own. Don't get me wrong we saw some cool houses and things but I could have done the same tour myself. It was a VERY windy day!! Kiddo found a park and a merry go round type drink shaped ride haha. A lot of the homes belonged to the Historical Society. The Historical Society will pay part of the home owners property tax every year but the owner has to keep the historical integrity of the outside of the house. Meaning the paint color can never change, if your house needs to be painted and your paint color is no longer made then you need to find someone who can copy the exact color. You can see that the homes have very unique colors. We came across a park that had a huge watering can. The person leading the tour told us it was an art installation. Me being the curious one saw a group of big circles on a wall. I told the kiddo - go push one of those thinking it would make a noise or something. Oh no - it was a splash pad for kids during the summer. We ended up getting a few people wet in the tour. It was a good laugh. Can you see the peacock in the tree. We were told that they don't fly but they are great hoppers. This was at least 20feet in the air. A really cool school that is still up and running. Random deer in the middle of town. The tour guide said that these deer are a huge menace. They have no fear and will just stand in the middle of the street or walk into stores. We actually witnessed this group crossing the street and just standing in the middle of the road. The tour was about two hours long. We broke off from the group early in search of food only to find out that almost ALL food places close in Victoria on Sundays at 6pm. We ended up getting a few beaver tails (highly recommend) and doing some souvenir shopping. We headed back to the ship getting a little lost on the way but finally making our way back. HOT TIP: Victoria closes EARLY!!! If you are going to do an excursion and explore the city afterwards just know that most places will be closed. This is the one port that I would change what we did. We would just explore on our own. We still had a fun time but really didn't feel like we got to experience Victoria. We got back on the boat, put our luggage in the hallway and then headed down for some pizza. We were starving!!

Day #6 - Second Day at Sea We slept in - it was so nice not to have to wake up to an alarm clock. We still got up around 9am. This day was suppose to be relaxing but I woke up not feeling the greatest. I had brought with me Covid tests just in case we needed them. I took one and tested negative. I chocked up the icky feeling to having more ocean movement and a mild case of sea sickness. Kiddo spent most of the day at the Teen Room and Sea Plex. I spent most of the day in bed and hubby roamed the ship and relaxed. We did have reservations for Chops and the Show that night. I rallied and headed to dinner with the boys but the moment I entered Chops I couldn't hang. I asked if my meal could be given to my hubby to go and they said yes with no issues. Headed back to the room and straight to bed. About 20 minutes later there was a knock at my door and the steward had sent my meal to me as room service. What an amazing gesture. The boys said this was the best meal they ever had - hubby tried to take pics of food. lobster bisque Caesar salad - really good dressing Filet - cooked perfectly. This is what the kiddo had - he said it was awesome. Hubby's meal - I can't remember the cut. We ended up not going to the show. HOT TIP: If you book a reservation for a show and don't show up to that reservation then you will not be able to book another show reservation on the app.

Day #5 - Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier plus Juneau We woke up early this morning 5:30am because we didn't want to miss the glacier. It was already so bright outside. The weather was cold and gloomy kind of spitting rain definitely not a downpour. We had booked the NorthStar Extended Session for 7:30am and I was worried we weren't going to see anything. We had planned ahead and had room service delivered this morning so that we could stand on our balcony and drink coffee and have a light breakfast. You started to see icebergs the closer we got to the glacier and they were progressively getting bigger. People who had booked the NorthStar earlier missed the Glacier and ship spin. So be aware even though the Cruise Planner states 5:30am you are still traveling into Endicott Arm. We headed up to the NorthStar approx 7:20am - kiddo and hubby got a regular hot chocolate and I opted for the spiked hot chocolate. What I didn't know was that they didn't allow drinks in the ball (which was fine but I would have gotten our drinks after our trip instead). We got so lucky with the NorthStar - the sun was just coming out and we ended up in the ball right when the ship started to turn. Due to all the icebergs the ship was not able to get close to the glacier. We in fact didn't see it at all. Would I recommend the NorthStar - definitely. Would I suggest doing it during the glacier morning - For Sure. My only caution would be to have low expectations. We used OBC to pay for the NorthStar so I wasn't too upset when we didn't get closer to the glacier, it was still gorgeous. We headed to the Wind Jammer for a bigger breakfast - I was super excited because they had congee in the buffet. We admired the scenery as we headed towards Juneau. Kiddo ditched the parents to go play some xbox haha. and ended up finding a duck. I was super excited for Juneau - we had booked two excursions thru Royal. The first was Alaska Sled Dogs & Musher's Camp and the second was the Gold Creek Salmon bake. We at first were going to book the Glacier/Helicopter Dog Sledding excursion but I couldn't talk myself into getting into a helicopter. I was super grateful that we didn't book that excursion because they ended up all getting canceled in port. This was the first day of the cruise that it really rained. We got off the ship around 1pm and walked around Juneau and checked out some shops - didn't really find anything that we HAD to have. We met up on the dock for our excursion at 2:15pm and it started to pour rain - ALOT of excursions got canceled. It was about a 15 min. shuttle ride to the Musher Camp. HOT TIP: Do this excursion too!!!! Right when we got to camp we board and sled and got a 1 mile ride from the dogs. It was soooooo much fun. The rain added to the atmosphere. If you can sit in front of the sled I highly recommend it. These dogs are powerful, we were moving so fast on the sled (there are seatbelts on the sled). And these dogs LOVED what they were doing. HOT TIP: Wear clothes on this excursion that you don't plan on wearing for the remainder of the cruise. They will get muddy, you will smell like dog and it will be totally worth it!! After our sled ride we got to check out the suspension bridge and learn about the Iditarod. It was fascinating. And then the best part of the whole excursion..... PUPPIES!!!!!! They had six 7 week old puppies - ours was named Cadbury. And five 1 week old puppies (not named yet). If there are newborn puppies it is not guaranteed you will be able to hold them. They allow it every other tour group. We got lucky. We left this excursion and headed back to the dock. Our Gold Creek Salmon Bake wasn't supposed to happen for another 1 1/2 hours but as we were getting off the shuttle we saw the Salmon Bake bus and asked if we hop on their bus. They had no issues. The food was good - they had salmon, salad, clam chowder, corn bread, baked beans and potatoes. There was supposed to be dessert somewhere but we didn't find it. There is a short trail behind the salmon bake that we checked out after eating. You could also try your hand at gold panning. We took the bus back to the ship, the shuttle consistently runs so you could leave this excursion whenever you were ready. Got back to the boat at 7pm. Headed to Wind Jammer to make a dessert plate and ended this night with some competitive Uno Flip. Next Day - 2nd day at Sea

Day 4 - Sitka I want to move here!! I LOVED Sitka - I felt that it was the least touristy of the ports. Our plan for today was get off the boat and explore Sitka in the morning and then head back to the port for our Zodiac Adventure and Fin Island Excursion. We had breakfast in Wind Jammer and watched the boat dock. The dock for Sitka is not walking distance to town. They do offer a free shuttle that picks up at port and takes approx 15 minutes to get into town. We had an awesome driver who gave us history and facts on our drive. You will see that the kiddo has his phone in the above picture. He is a huge Pokémon fan and we got good service while in the ports (all ports except Canada). He was super excited to play Pokémon Go in all the ports and catch the rare Alaskan Pokémon haha. I have a love and obsession for old cemeteries. Actually all cemeteries and Sitka has two that I really wanted to see. They were handing out maps of the town before we got on our shuttle so I immediately plotted our route to the Military Cemetery and the Russian Cemetery. Since our excursion didn't leave until 12:45pm our goal was to get back to the shuttle at 11:30am just to be safe. Here is the photo blast of our walk to and thru the Cemeteries. So we went the back way to the Russian Cemetery by accident and the kiddo was actually the one who found the walking path. We were walking up a road and the map told us to keep walking and do a loop but the kiddo found an opening in the forest and wanted to explore before we got to the Russian Cemetery. The path actually ended up being a walking path straight into the cemetery - super fun accident. this cemetery had a creepy, beautiful and ancient feel to it. Here are just a few of the many photos we took. The above was the actual entrance to the cemetery. All the paths were clearly marked on where to walk so thankfully we weren't too nervous about stepping on someone's resting ground by accident. We got back on the shuttle to head back to port at 11:30am to head back to the boat to catch our excursion. HOT TIP: DO THIS EXCURSION!!!!!! We had picked the Zodiac Adventure and Fin Island Excursion. We were hopeful that it wouldn't be canceled and thankfully it wasn't. This excursion was amazing, again we booked it thru Royal and it consisted of a Zodiac boat ride and then a crab and prime rib lunch on Fin island. On the Zodiac we saw tons of wildlife - jellyfish, starfish, sea anemones, a mink, approx 20 juvenile and adult eagles, 3 otters, a bald eagle nest with momma eagle in it, and the highlight of the whole trip (unfortunately the photos are on my hubby's camera) but a humpback whale had died the previous week and had settled on one of the island beaches. As we were turning the corner to check it out in the zodiac we came across a brown bear snacking on the dead humpback whale. It was amazing!! We all tried to keep quiet but ended up scaring the brown bear and it galloped off. This was a first for everyone even the Zodiac operator, she had never seen a bear in the wild. Once we were coming down from our high of seeing the bear we headed to Finn Island for a late lunch. The food was really good - they had salmon, prime rib, crab legs, bacon wrapped asparagus, salad, clam/salmon chowder, green beans, potatoes and lemon bars and chocolate cake for dessert. This was the first time that the kiddo had crab legs and he went to town. Lunch was all you could eat and we definitely got our fill. This was super kid friendly excursion. They do operate rain or shine, we had beautiful weather but you could get wet. We got back to the boat at approx 4:30pm and then here is where the day got interesting. The three of us were waiting in line to reboard and all of a sudden there is a harsh announcement over the load speakers. It was Bravo, Bravo, Bravo - the security personnel quickly had us back up and we came to find out that there was a fire on deck 13. The whole boat ended up losing power. They let us board but we weren't allowed to leave the port until the boat had been cleared by both the fire department and the coast guard. We ended up being delayed approx 3 hours and finally left around 7:30pm. We finished up the evening with a fierce Yahtzee competition and a plate of desserts. Next Day was Endicott Arm and Glacier Bay along with Juneau.