Auntiejo

Going to add that to the top of the list for next time!

Thanks so much for the update!

We dined here twice in the Enchanted a few months ago and agree - both meals were among the best we’ve ever enjoyed at sea! Just phenomenal. And we had all different things each time too. I thought I read recently that they’re switching Sabatini and The Catch locations on Discovery? Is that in the works?

That makes sense - thanks for clarifying! I'm happy that we will be able to enjoy sushi on sea days on the Sapphire in June.

I saw this on a video review recently and it was held in Vines on the Sapphire on a sea day.

Ah you’re both right! I missed the restaurant part being current. Thank you. This is great news! We loved O’Malleys so much on Enchanted! Happy to hear it will be on Discovery before we sail.

According to OP, the changes are due to happen the end of 2025, about 18 months from now.

We’ve been longtime IC fans. However there’s no question that, just as most things in today’s reality, it’s not near as good as it once was. The pre Covid IC was 🙌🙌🙌

Personally I agree with the OP. We do mostly specialty dining and casual dining and greatly value premium wines and spirits. At the end of the day we probably break about even with premiere but that zero balance on our folio upon checkout and the zero concerns of what things cost make our vacation all the better so we are all in on Premiere. If you’re content to eat in the buffet and MDR and don’t drink much it’s not worth it. It completely depends on how you cruise. It’s not a one size fits all situation!

Alaska Airlines just changed our post cruise flight home from Anchorage that was supposed to leave in the afternoon to now leave after midnight (technically the next day at 1:15 AM). Our original plan was to have late breakfast, check out of the hotel, and head to the airport. Now we've got a whole day and evening free in Anchorage and are looking for suggestions on how to spend it. We are in Vancouver 3 nights pre cruise, then NB Inside Passage 7 day on Sapphire Princess, then 2 nights post cruise in Seward and doing the 8 1/2 hour Major Marine Kenai Fjords cruise from there one of the days. Taking the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Anchorage and spending the night there. Looking for suggestions on what to do with this extra day. Don't want to do another glacier cruise since we're already doing the all day one from Seward. There's plenty of options on Trip Advisor, etc. but would love to hear from you all on personal experiences from day trips in/from Anchorage that you recommend. I fear that whatever we do won't compare with what we've already seen on the trip, but I'm probably overthinking that. Thanks!

Ok sorry one more question. What’s the deal with listening to lectures? I’m very interested In that option to get the most out of the moment but I’m worried I’ll miss epic scenery if I’m sitting in the Princess Theater while cruising thru Glacier Bay?

I just got my binoculars in the mail! I’m ready

I’m a classic over achiever so I’ll be up at 5 AM so as not to miss a thing. When I read this thread to hubbs tonight he said “Maybe we should just pull an all nighter the night before!” LOL. I’ll probably be so excited to see Glacier Bay that I won’t sleep a wink the night before regardless. thanks everyone!

Thank you for this! I'm getting so excited....

Hey I'm going to Alaska for the scenery, not to catch up on sleep! It's all good.

Ruh Roh 5 AM wakeup call it is! LOL

First time Alaska cruiser here sailing June 8th on the Sapphire Princess NB from Vancouver. Glacier Bay time frame is 6 AM to 3 PM - Will it behoove us to get up super early and be ready for scenic views starting at 6 AM, or does it take some time before it really gets amazing? Don't mind the early wakeup to maximize the sights but was just curious what the Glacier Bay timetable looks like. Thanks!

And people wonder why I refuse to eat in the buffet!

We've sailed over Thanksgiving many times over the years - always to Mexico since we're based in LA. We've done 5, 7 and 10 day voyages. We decided a few years ago we'd had enough. There's way too many kids and many are running wild all over the ship without supervision. There's also a lot of large family groups who take up large amounts of chairs at the pool, play their own music from a speaker, etc.

We were just on Enchanted in January for a 10 day Caribbean in one of the extended balcony mini suites. Mini Suite it the only way we will cruise - we just refuse to have that tiny little time capsule shower! In answer to your questions about the Enchanted - the ship was very well maintained - it's quite new - and the service and food was excellent overall. TO be fair, we do almost all specialty and casual dining. We only had dinner in the MDR once but it was quite good and service was decent but nothing special. I highly recommend Catch by Rudi and the 360 dining experience. The Royal class ships in general have more to offer as far as food venues and entertainment options. O'Malley's Irish pub was also a favorite spot of ours on board.

I think you mean Retreat pool. We couldn’t get 2 chairs on Enchanted at the Retreat pool past 7 am on our recent 10 day, which I refuse to do in a vacation. Good luck!

We had these guys on Enchanted in December. They’re so awesome! I also highly recommend the cocktail Flanna’s Elixir from the bar there. Thanks for doing this live and taking us along for the ride!

Same. Most of the time, it takes forever to get a cocktail or glass of wine in the MDR. So we usually stop by our fave bar en route to dinner and walk into dinner, drink in hand. Sometimes hubbs even runs out to Good spirits during dinner to get round 2 for our dinner because the drinks there are so superior 🤷‍♀️

On Enchanted in January we got unlimited gelato as part of our Premiere package

OK so in summary - worthwhile scenery from sailaway until twlight on embarkation day, but on the first sea day, the best scenery we will have already passed in the night? @wolfie11 When you say "unless you get up really early" - what are we talking? Like 3 AM? or like 6 AM?