sie625

It's not close to the rail, but we recently stayed at the Embassy Suites and it was great. Good breakfast, 2 free cocktails at the managers receptions. The ~$14 uber down to the area by the Hilton and the 3rd Ave market easily made up for the price difference in the stay. 

And while we didn't wind up staying there, the Lakefront Anchorage was great for lunch, and looked like an overall good place to stay. Though from what I remember, the price was pretty high to stay there, which is why we wound up at the Embassy (Hilton points). 

Going back to at least 2010, if I needed any paper currency, never brought it with me, just went to an ATM and historically got the best exchange rate that way. And credit cards always the best option if you didn't need to pay with "cash"

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The only true dress code is no swimwear, so this makes sense.

 Easy way around the no-swimwear rule for WJ, wear the robe. I'm only half-joking as I told my MIL that this was fine on a recent cruise, and washy-washy guy was fine with it. 

We took the train trip before last, this time (about 2 weeks ago), we used a private tour that included a full day, stop for a hike, go to the Anchorage Wildlife Conservation Center, etc. About 6.5 total I think, but wanted do try it instead of just making the straight drive. It wasn't the cheapest thing, but since there were 6 of us, it was well worth it. 

Believe they also have just small group (shared) direct transfers as well since when our sprinter van showed up with the name on the side different groups of people showed up. Company was called Welcome Anchorage, I think they are relatively new, but were great. 

In Vancouver 2 weeks ago, my father in law wanted to pay in USD at a relatively high end lunch, was told that it would be at 1-1, and currently we are at about 0.73 CAD-USD. Which is practically stealing as a practice.

I put my foot down, paid with my no foreign transaction fee CC, and he handed me $280 in USD (it would have been $380 if we did the 1-1 and paid in USD), which was useful to lose at the roulette table. 

Can't speak to being Prime or Signature, but was just able to show my seapass and get chips at table games, convenience fee applied. Usually took a grand total of like 45 seconds. 

Just got off the Radiance, hot toddy and irish coffee were 2 of the drinks of the day, and quite tasty. They also had some local Skagway spirits available. 

That being said, a tropical drink in the hot tub still tastes as good as it does in the Caribbean. 

Just got off the Radiance, and certainly had no issues ordering multiple apps and entrees every night. Can also confirm that the 1 lobster rule was in effect, and stated right on the menu that more tails could be had for $16.99 (separate from the every night "Add-ons".

Of our group of 6, only 5 ordered lobster, as 1 has a shellfish allergy. When our waiter brought out our entrees he said "you can still get 1 more lobster, maybe she just forgot to order it" (he was well aware of the allergy since we did traditional dining and he was our waiter every night). I thought it a nice gesture, and we said, "yep, i think she did forget to order it" and he brought another one out. I'm sure this is waitstaff specific, but our waiters were great all week. 

One other observation was that although the 1 lobster rule was in effect, I found the tails to be larger than I remember on past cruises.

On 9/7/2022 at 12:59 PM, sowhat said:

Which of the Royal Caribbean fleet have the capability of connecting  to shore side power and switching off their main generating power engines while  in port ?

I think the answer is, all of them CAN, whether they do or not is based on the different aspects discussed above. 

On 6/11/2024 at 9:02 AM, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

6. NO TAKE-BACKS: Once the bid has been assigned,  you are where they put you.

This is the main reason I don't like it. If this was run by RCL and they called to ask, or even if you had a 24 hour window to say I don't want this upgrade because of the location, then sure.

But the variability of location for an upgrade, and not being able to decline just isn't worth it to me. 

If you were on Freedom, 8 of you could stay in the 4 bedroom family villa, and others stay in different rooms, If my memory is correct, the table on that balcony seats exactly 14. Wouldn't do it every night, but certainly possible. And then you also get a private hot tub!

Had this happen to me again yesterday, but they again let me "change" it to the exact same one I used last time, which defeats the point. . 

While not fresh ginger, I always travel with Chimes ginger chews, and they work!