Cruise Raider

The combination of the two is what I was I was was referring to. If that’s a direct quote, my apologies for not making it more clear. The only ones that seem to be complaining about this recent change are the standard fare passengers.

You really haven’t given me a response to change my mind, though. The procedure was implemented to order anything, including items off the beverage package, initially during the restart to keep CoVid at bay. But, it is overwhelmed the staff. Can you imagine the outrage if that service was discontinued? I can tell you, I think it would be worse that the massive complaints they are encountering due to the very small charge we are seeing now. They really couldn’t hire another 24 staff members to handle the increase in orders once capacity was raised to 100%! That may be an arbitrary number but I bet it is not far off the mark!

Although, probably with reluctance as they didn’t want to get any complaints! I am pretty sure they won’t miss this type of passenger being onboard! Seriously, I don’t think they will have any trouble if a revenue producing passenger takes their place.

Bravo 👏 They would much rather not have those that are chronic complainers or super demanding without bringing in any additional revenue! What business wouldn’t?

It comes to mind that the charge for room service has brought on by passengers themselves. Or, orders one at a time not even thinking of the extra stress it puts on the system. While discussing this topic onboard with another passenger that was quite disappointed with the mere $5 charge, she noted that used to be able to just call room service and order items that aren’t on the menu. I want and omelet with extra this, extra that! This requires extra help for “special orders” which everyone seems to think is so very acceptable. Passengers seem to say ‘jump’ and have heard back, ‘how high?’. I’ve seen it time and time again .. even here on cruise critic. They want spaghetti and it isn’t on the menu but someone has to take the time to prepare spaghetti for those guests that just think every rule should be bent for them … multiply that by 3000+ or even by 1000. I get why the changes were implemented.

We are currently up in Alaska on the Ruby and the StarLink is working quite well!

Javi says hi back to you! We just love him .. always kind and so very funny!

I did want to clarify that I don’t think the blue line va the green line is a loss of a perk. Both lines, or should I say, the lack of lines, whether blue lane or green lane, were the same.

I see your second question has been answered. We have yet to hit the casino and it seems really smoky in there so it may be something we miss out on for this cruise. I love the triple play video poker machines and they are only on the smoking side of the casino. Anyway, there are no more scheduled arrival times. We’ve been pretty successful showing up between 11:00 - 11:30 AM with very little wait time for check in and boarding the ship. We are still on in time for lunch that way. I’m sure you will have a great time next week on the Ruby! The staff is great and the entertainment director, Lauren, is amongst the best in the business. I feel as though there have been some degree of cutbacks, even since last month. None of them are dealbreakers for us, though. We are still enjoying this cruise so much!

So, we usually order off the app about once a day. We’ve so far noticed the following items that have been taken off the menu: Turkey Sandwich (they still have a club sandwich that has turkey and bacon) Chicken Salad Sandwich Chicken Tacos Chips and Guacamole There’s probably more but those are the things we’ve ordered in the past that are no longer available. it may have already been available in the past but have never ordered dessert from the app. It does show that they have SMIZE ice cream crayons available in the different flavors for $6 each.

We are docked in Skagway this morning down by the helicopter pads. I believe it will be a bit of a longer walk into town but at least not a tender port for us. There are cloudy skies and cool but no rain in the forecast. Yay!

The one production show so far was Magic Can Do. Despite the very talented singers and dancers, we just did not like the show! I believe their other production shows are Colors of the World and Stardust. We’ve seen both those shows many times in the past so will probably skip them as well. They’ve been having so many activities and live music all over the ship so we certainly won’t be at a loss of finding something to do. There was the funniest comedian we’ve seen in a very long time in the theater the first night. They filled the theater with the Crooners piano player as entertainment had to be scheduled on the spot. I think Libby Riddles was possibly going to be on stage last night before our stop in Juneau was canceled. There have been singers scheduled for other nights. There’s really nothing scheduled for tonight as they will be having “puppies in the piazza”.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the 50% off on select cruises if you book while onboard is still going on through the end of the month. While I booked several cruises on the list while we were on the Emerald last month, I booked one last sailing on this cruise on which I was debating. The policies and restrictions seem to be different on different ships. It’s all good, though. On our previous sailing, the cruise was to be paid off at the time of booking. Not so on this booking I made yesterday. Also, I was able to get additional OBC on bookings made on my last cruise but not on this one. No complaints from me .. just happy to get such good deals on future cruises.

So, the entertainment director’s skills were put to the test today and I give her an A+ for filling in the day with activities and lectures. She did an amazing talk on life in England from the view of a ‘peasant’ throughout history. We weren’t sure what to expect but it was a great talk! The tribute to Elton John show this evening only featured one Sir Elton John song. While I can appreciate the immense talent of the performer, it was mislabeled. But again, I believe it was thrown together on a matter of hours so, I will give them a pass. The food at the pub lunch was excellent this afternoon. We’ve been skipping dinner in the MDR and opting for some light snacks in the PES lounge instead. As with previous nights, the snacks have not disappointed us at all. The service is also fabulous there and of note, Frank plays the ukulele and sings some fabulous songs for the guests in Skywalkers during the happy hour. This is such a treat!

I was told you couldn’t share the price fixed menu from the GastroPub but cannot imagine you can’t share the charcuterie board from Vines. Since you can take it to wherever you’re seated, how would they even know. The GastroPub is different as it is a sit down restaurant.

We love Javi! I will definitely pass the message to him!

Oh .. and almost forgot to mention, they have the crab shack offered today, starting at 12:30 PM.

Now, we have successfully transferred the very ill passenger off in Ketchikan, we are well on our way to Skagway. The skies are cloudy with a little sun peeking through but no rain and the seas are super calm! They’ve scheduled a pub lunch for our sudden sea day! Yay! They have also scheduled some extra games and naturalist presentations. Kudos to all for the quick rescheduling!

I’m afraid we will miss you again! we will be on the Royal up north by then. We will meet in person one day! 🤞

We are watching the totem pole carver with great interest in the piazza. I find the enrichment programming so interesting. So, not to be rude, I’m posting this a bit late. We are not stopping in Juneau tomorrow after all as we have another medical emergency onboard, one that can’t be airlifted off .. so, we will make an unscheduled stop (not a port call) in Ketchikan tomorrow to disembark the gravely ill or injured passenger. Our first stop will now be in Skagway. I realize people’s vacations are important to the, but we saw some people absolutely disgusted that we had to miss Juneau tomorrow. Needless to say, I have zero empathy for those upset about this. Imagine if that was one of your loved ones needing care. Anyway, to not break my cardinal rule of negativity on this post …I will leave it at that!

Currently, it’s just the additional charge plus 18% that you will pay if you have the plus package and purchase a drink over $15.

I’m onboard right now. While the captain did announce no flash photography was allowed, he didn’t forbid photography. However, nobody on the port side was allowed in their cabins, the entire pool deck, including the buffet was closed and nobody was allowed up on the open decks. I can’t imagine how someone that was not defying the captain’s orders got a video of the evacuation. Perhaps they did it through a window on one of the lower decks. Just of note, it was passengers on one cruise coming in to San Francisco a number of years ago that prompted these rather strict rules. The captain kept ordering people off their balconies and they wouldn’t comply. When it also happened last year on the Ruby, I noticed that the captain wouldn’t allow anyone on the entire side of the ship to be used for the e actuation to meet up in Club Fusion. I don’t think they were allowed back into their cabins until the wee hours of the morning. If the procedures are delayed because of the lookie loos, it puts the passenger and the rescue team at greater risk.

At todays vegetable carving demo!

I just have to say, thank you all for keeping this post civilized and not just a forum to complain. I was hesitant to start a live from feed because of all the negative comments on here and on FB. But, you all have restored my faith in humanity. I just wanted to relay what I’ve noticed without having to defend my experiences and happy to do so since nobody has gotten nasty on this thread.

OK .. a few things I’ve learned .. Rombauer Chardonnay has been discontinued, at least on this ship. They still may have a few bottles left but are only selling it by the bottle. The only Chardonnay they have by the glass is canyon road, pennifolds, Schaffer Ranch. but now for the good news, they are offering lunch in the Crown Grill and Sabatini’s on alternating dates on sea days. It’s the same price as dinner but offered at a better time for some people .. namely us! We saw this on the Emerald last month, too! I’m excited for my cruises where I have purchased the premier package. I can’t eat that much at night and still feel comfortable enough to sleep. So, this is a perfect option for us. I help they keep this change permanently.