cruisinqt

Well I’m on my Royal Caribbean Alaskan cruise on Quantum of the Seas and I thought I’d update you. Despite being told that “in Alaska, regardless of cruise line, there is less late night entertainment” this cruise has had quite a bit of late night entertainment. As is usual with cruise lines with a younger demographic (like Royal, Carnival, NCL) there has been lots of late night activities. Last night the Love & Marriage show didn’t even start till 11:00 pm. The piano bar and karaoke bar have been going strong well past 1:00 am. There’s a live band called Rhythmocracy that puts on a show every night starting at 11 pm. And the night club doesn’t open till 12:15 am every night but it’s still packed.
 

And the comment that “Overall, Alaska seems to attract an older group across all lines” was way off. This ship has the normal younger age group that Royal Caribbean always has. And the bumper cars, laser tag, skydiving simulator and rock climbing wall were always busy with lots of young ones (and those young of heart.) As I said, the biggest difference between the cruise lines you mentioned is the age demographics. A cruise line that caters to older passengers is very different from a cruise line that caters to younger people. Both are great so it’s up to your personal preferences and what you’re looking for in a cruise. I hope this helps. 
 

On 5/23/2023 at 11:15 AM, SirronGirl said:

Any current updates on this?  I'd like to hire a taxi for my cruise day this June 15, 2023 to Vok Bath. 

This is the guy I booked. He was recommended to me by Vok baths when I asked who they could recommend that would give me a ride there. He responded quickly to all of my emails. He quoted me $150 euros round trip for my family of four. His name is Asi and this is his email:
asgrimstaxi@gmail.com

23 hours ago, kshie2 said:

Hi, what taxi service replied and how did you contact them? I am trying to contact taxis to take us from the port Seydisfjordur to the Baths but have not had any luck. We are in Seydisfjordur on 19 August 2023. Look forward to your reply. Thanks.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I’m on an Alaskan cruise right now and I haven’t been able to check my notifications lately. Fortunately I had some down time with a late port arrival tomorrow. I’ll be in Sedisfjordur the week after you so maybe the guy I’m using will available for you. His name is Asi and he’s a local that does this for a living. He was recommended by Vok baths when I asked who could give me a ride there. Here’s his email:

asgrimstaxi@gmail.com

My pvp told me when we book a cruise under one persons name we should do a mock booking under the other persons name showing what benefits they are offered on that same cruise. Once we are on the cruise go to the casino and ask them to honor the offer. Nine times out of ten they’ll honor the offer. So I get OBC, casino free play credits, free drinks anywhere on the ship and other cool stuff even when I didn’t book under my name. 

Something doesn’t sound right to me. If it’s a 2 person cabin and you paid fees for 2 people you should be able to add another guest in the cabin. I’ve done it before myself and yes it was a casino deal. Unless maybe you got a solo cabin and the extra fees were just the solo fees. You definitely need the help of a good pvp because this doesn’t make sense. 

At the Shake Spot the spiked milkshakes are amazing. The Black Raspberry Truffle and the Kicked Up Island Delight are my go to drinks on any Carnival cruise. 

Filet mignon, French onion soup, & grand marnier soufflé. 

The walls are metal so the magnetic hooks are a great way to get organized. We hang belts, purses, jewelry, hats, lanyards, etc on them.  I also recommend a pop up hamper for dirty clothes and a shower organizer for shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, razor, shaving cream, etc 

1 hour ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

SHHHHHHHHH! Geesh, now everyone is going to be in on the secret! 🙄 😆

 

Oops my bad! 🤭

12 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

I totally agree. I actually thought that comment above was pretty ridiculous.  

Me too. I’ve gotten used to the cruise snobs that like to think that the more reasonably priced cruise lines are party cruises full of drunks while the luxury cruise lines have a higher class of people. That’s just not true. I could easily go on numerous cruises with luxury lines every year. I choose not to not because of money but because I like the lively atmosphere on Carnival, Royal, and Norwegian better. To each his own. One is not better than the other, they all have pros and cons. You just have to find which one fits you best. I hope the OP figures out what’s the best option for them and has a great cruise. Thanks for your input. 

I’ve been on the Mardi Gras and Celebration twice. It all depends where you’re at and what time it is. Early mornings and late evenings after 9 or 10 pm it’s not crowded at all and you can easily stroll wherever you want to. From 10 am till 8 pm the popular places like food areas (MDR, specialty restaurants, lido), pools, shops, and entertainment lounges were often crowded during peak times. But I found certain areas like the lounge area between the Alchemy bar and the steak house to always be empty. And those sofas are super comfy. The Summers Landing area with the soft serve ice cream, soda fountains, games, and sofas was usually not very crowded and lots of fun. I just visit the popular areas at non peak times and hang out in the quiet little areas during busy times. 

3 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

I can't say I agree with that.  My last couple AK cruises have been on RCI Quantum Class ships, and all the entertainment venues were alive and kicking well into the night.  

That’s exactly what has been my experience with Royal, no matter where the ship is cruising to there’s lots going on well into the night. And it’s not the “hard drinking party crowd” either. Not everyone that likes to stay up late is doing it to get drunk. There’s lots of fun stuff to do like sing alongs in the piano bar, late night karaoke, munching on pizza while chatting with friends on the lido or just relaxing in the hot tub. With some cruise lines everything just shuts down around 10 pm but with others there’s lots going on well past midnight. One is not better than the other it’s just that they cater to different clientele. Personally, I expect lots of night time fun on my Quantum cruise in 2 weeks. 

17 hours ago, Coral said:

My RCCL did not have more entertainment in Alaska.

No they don’t do anything specific for Alaska in general. But generally speaking RCCL, Carnival, & NCL have more night time activities going on than lines like Celebrity, Princess, & HAL. And there’s nothing wrong with that, I love the pampering on the higher end luxury lines. It’s just that by 10 pm things pretty much shutdown so if someone is a night owl and likes to stay up late and have fun then they need to keep that in mind when booking these cruise lines. 

13 hours ago, Coral said:

This is more true IMO in other destinations. Overall, Alaska seems to attracts an older group across all lines. Even Carnival.

Royal, Carnival and NCL will have more nightlife with late night activities like comedy shows, karaoke, and piano bar sing alongs. But you’re right about the age demographics it will definitely be a lot higher on an Alaskan cruise, especially when it’s a transatlantic or transpacific. 

This is the equivalent to asking which car is better Toyota, Honda, or Nissan. Everyone has their preferences and everyone will give a different answer. 
 

Royal and NCL will have a younger crowd with lots more late night activities and they’re cheaper but they aren’t luxurious and won’t pamper you like the higher end lines. Princess and Celebrity are more luxurious and will pamper you but you will have an older crowd and there won’t be much going on after 10 pm at night. All of them are great cruise lines that have good and bad points. It’s all according to what you’re looking for. 

2 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

I've never had a provider give a quote like that in 5 visits to Iceland, but that price sounds much more Iceland-like than $35 would be.

Yeah when I saw the quote for 50 I was ecstatic it sounded too good to be true and unfortunately it was. I felt like $348 for round trip transportation to a place only 30 minutes away was pretty steep. Then Asgrims taxi service quoted me 150 euros which was much better so I chose them. Plus he emailed me back immediately every time I had a question. The other place took forever to respond. And after all of the arrangements were handled and finished he emailed me again to remind me to make reservations at Vok baths since they fill up quickly. I’m confident I’ll have a good experience with him. 

9 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

This math doesn't work.  5000 ISK is around $37. 50,000 ISK would be around $370 using current conversion rates.  And they use . instead of , so it would look like 50.000 ISK for Fifty Thousand Icelandic Krona

He just put 50 in the email where he quoted me (evidently they often abbreviate it like that in Iceland). It didn’t say USD or ISK. So I just assumed it was $50. But after emailing back and forth it was made clear he meant 50.000 ISK which was converted to $348 at that time using my converter. But that was over a month ago and the conversion rates fluctuate so I’m sure it’s a different price now. I didn’t go look up the current conversion I just put the amounts I had down in my notes from that time. 

If it’s a casino booking I’d call the casino. They often have offers that haven’t even been advertised yet that they can give you. I’ve gotten the free inside cabin before and called to upgrade to a balcony and was comped the balcony. You’ll probably get a better deal calling them. It’s a hassle to call but well worth it. 

My husband and I both hit a lot on the Celebration a couple months ago. 
 

2 hours ago, 7leagueboots said:

I didn't know you could bring more on board at the ports  -thanks for the info.

You’re welcome. I’d been cruising a number of years before I found out. I saw someone in line to get back on board in Aruba and they had a 12 pack of cokes with them. It went right through they never questioned anything. Now I grab some when I can especially now that they don’t carry coke anymore. 

7 minutes ago, marazul said:

Good plan.

Don't miss going to the San Miguel Market behind the Plaza Mayor.  It is a foodies paradise.  Much better than La Boqueria in Barcelona, IMO.  Plan on a prolonged lunch sampling from the many different stalls.  The Galician seafood stall is fantastic.  Try the percebes.

My husband and I are very adventurous with food so that sounds perfect thanks for the suggestions 

3 hours ago, marazul said:

The Plaza Mayor is the heart of the city.  Look for hotels between El Prado and the Royal Palace. We like the area around the Opera.  But do your research as to what interests you.

Great that’s exactly what I was wanting to know. We will be doing a nonstop overnight flight in premium seats so hopefully we won’t be too jet lagged. But we will have two full days there before heading to Barcelona via train early on the third day (I’ve heard the train ride is very scenic). We were interested in the palace, doing some shopping, and trying out some local restaurants. I’ll look for hotels in that area and I’ll research the area around the opera. Thanks. 

8 hours ago, edinburgher said:

With only 2 nights in Madrid you will have only 1 or 1 and 1/2 days there (with jetlag?) and will need to maximize your time as  it is far from an ideal amount of time for a European  city,

We would love to stay there longer but not this trip since we are doing a lengthy transatlantic repositioning cruise. Our cruise is out of Barcelona but we are flying into Madrid because it was cheaper and we had heard the train ride to Barcelona is gorgeous. We were interested in seeing the palace, doing some shopping, and trying out tapas at some nice local restaurants. We are foodies so the food is almost as important as the sightseeing. Our flight is an overnight nonstop flight in premium seats so hopefully we won’t be too jet lagged. We will have 2 full days and on the third day we will be getting on the train first thing in the morning. Hopefully we will be able to come back and stay a week in each city but on this trip it’s just not possible. 

5 hours ago, CruisieQ said:

Can you please share the names of the taxi services? I’d like to contact them for our day in port in July. Thanks!

Just to clarify, in my original post the guy quoted me 50.00 Icelandic Krona not $50 USD so it would be $348 USD. I did find a better deal with a different driver though. Vok baths gave me several taxi services to email. The one I used was asgrims taxi service for 150 euros round trip which is a lot better deal. They responded right away and gave a better price. Their email is: asgrimstaxi@gmail.com

Vok baths also gave me these other taxi services emails to contact:

hylnur@saeti.is

taxi@mjamja.is

helgig.taxi@gmail.com

 I hope this helps. 

11 hours ago, tony s said:

Try NH hotels. It is a Spain based chain and excellent 

Great I’ll check them out but what area should I stay in? I’ve never been to Madrid