love2driveinct

We were in CC on the Millennium's 6/24 Alaska sailing. My husband is not a big fan of the buffet, so he was pleasantly surprised to find out about our being able to dine in the MDR on embarkation day. We had a wonderful, quiet, relaxing lunch and it was a great start to our vacation! (I will say that two of our three kids left hungry because there was nothing on the menu that they cared for. They were too excited to care, though. We headed up to the buffet later in the afternoon to grab them some snacks.)

I just returned from a cruise with a large group booking (900). It was not a charter, obviously, but it did affect my cruise experience slightly. Would I have changed my cruise if I'd known? No. This was the right cruise for us.

The main ways we were affected were 1) dining reservations hard to get, 2) half of food in buffet was for the group (but open to us to try if we liked -- some of it was quite tasty), 3) various areas of the ship being closed off for group events. All in all it wasn't a big deal to be a little inconvenienced and we found the folks in the group to be respectful, polite, and classy.

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sillymonkey23, I'm really enjoying your review. I was on the 6/24 NB and had a similar experience -- it was a wonderful cruise and vacation in all respects. I feel like I'm sort of re-living my vacation while reading your review. :)

As far as Select Dining goes, though, I was told I could only make reservations one day at a time once onboard. I could call no earlier than 9am the day before. This was a pain and it left me wishing I'd made all of my reservations at home. I had to arrange my schedule around being near a phone at that time because waiting just a few hours could mean a dining time that wouldn't work for our family. (In one case the only time available was 8:30 so we passed on it & ate in the buffet.) I'd recommend to anyone -- especially a group -- to make reservations for the whole week online and then make adjustments if needed/able to later on.

All of that being said, we had a group booking of 900 people onboard with special dining times and special foods, so that possibly made everything associated with booking dining that much more complicated and difficult.

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CruisinHarvey, We just got home from the northbound cruise that was right after this one. I found the entertainment very good, but my kids (18, 15, & 11) were disappointed that there was no comedian, magician, or hypnotist. 1960's and 70's music, an Elton John tribute, an amazing impressionist who did people they weren't familiar with, and a Broadway music show were all things they didn't particularly enjoy. They've asked if we can sail RC next time.

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We were cruising the same week but on the Millennium and I still can't get over how we lucked out with the weather! Glad you had such a fun vacation.

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Oops, meant to say "what it's worth". I think the lack of sleep + jet lag is hitting me now... Lol

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But it is not us flying that far, it is not us trying to make that connection. I wish him well. It can be done but it won't be fun.

We are very fortunate that it worked out well. We told our kids to hustle and they did as instructed. They are getting to be great travelers. :)

I would do it all again the same way if given the same choices of flights. Taking these flights gave us almost a whole day in Anchorage, which was worth a little bit of worry over making the connection out of EWR.

Btw, I'm a "she", for what's it worth. :)

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Luggage arrived perfectly and all is well. Thank you everyone for the tips and suggestions!

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I'm happy to report that we made our connection with time to spare. Taking the C to A shuttle was the key.

Sitting on the plane right now and hoping our luggage follows us to our final destination.

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I look forward to having a few minutes to sit down and take the time to respond to this, but as I sit here in our Anchorage hotel room we are on the tail end of a 12-day Alaska vacation with our three kids ages 18, 15, & 11. Everything has been spectacular and I definitely have some suggestions. Will post soon!

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I just called (right at 9:00) and while I didn't get my first choice of time, I got pretty close so I'm satisfied. Will need to remember to do it again tomorrow morning.

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I agree that making the reservations as far in advance as allowed is great advice. I wish I'd done that. I made the first night while at home, and the second night onboard, but the third night I could get only 7:45 (we took it & snacked earlier) and the fourth 8:30 (we declined and ate in the buffet). Our youngest is 11 so we prefer to eat around 5:45/6:15.

I was told that onboard you can only reserve one day at a time and can call at 9am for the next evening's reservation. I'm sitting in my stateroom now waiting by the phone so I can call for tomorrow's dinner and wishing I'd made reservations for the whole week when I first booked the cruise.

Although we didn't have a choice because Fixed seating was full when we booked, I thought I'd like the flexibility of Select. Not so much. Lol

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On the Millennium right now and just checked the room service menu -- no wings. I can say with a good degree of confidence that there haven't been any wings in the buffet, either, because my kids would have been in heaven if there were. Not sure about the pool grill -- we haven't eaten there yet because it's closed a lot of the time due to weather.

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I was in the solarium the other day and every single lounge chair was occupied or reserved. Every single one. My daughter and I walked up and down the aisles checking carefully. There were only about 10-15 people in the pool & whirlpools at that time. We were tempted to move a few towels but instead went and sat outside in the chilly Alaska air. Plenty of loungers available there. Lol

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I ended up calling Captain's Club and they said they would register me. I was happy with this solution.

Unfortunately I haven't received any emails, but my X vacation planner says not to worry and to inquire on board.

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Quick question -- I can't remember whether the two bottles need to be in your luggage or your carry on or does it matter? Also, if I bring a 12-pack of Diet Coke can I put it with my luggage or do I have to carry it?

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Ironically we ended up in CC's because they were the only two side-by-side cabins left on the ship. [emoji4] It wasn't something we were looking for.

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People should be friendly enough to say here like to see?

 

Are you one of them to offer the person next to you? :)

 

Today My camera can zoomand capture nice and close to say no need for Bin's

I definitely would share. [emoji4]

Wish I had a nice camera, although my phone does a decent job.

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I sure am glad I asked! Thank you everyone. We'll bring two pairs from home and use the CC ones as extras.

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We are sailing next week with five of us in two CC cabins. According to the X website, each cabin will have a pair of binoculars. I'm trying to minimize what I bring from home, but I know binoculars are a must on an Alaska cruise.

So as the thread title states... are the X binoculars any good?

Despite our late arrival I was up at 5 am! The internal clock knows no times zones. Oh well. Did some reading shower etc and facetimed the kids.

 

About 1030 we took a cab to Canada place. It was a MOB SCENE outside. We got dropped off a block or so away and trucked inside. We dropped our bags with the longshoremen and got outta there!

I hadn't even thought of the time difference affecting me like that... so glad you mentioned it. Not that there's much I can about it, but it's good to know. We are also flying from the East Coast so will be adjusting to the same difference.

I'm sad to hear that it was a mob scene... I see on the schedule that there were two ships at Canada Place that day. I understand it would be very crowded if there were three, but that is too bad it was so crazy with just two. Sounds like you made a good decision for brunch, yum!

The signs say 16

Thank you!

Can anyone confirm exactly what "adults only" normally means for the solarium pool? Is it 21, 18, or 16 & over? We are sailing on Millie with kids in these age groups and it would be helpful to know ahead of time.

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Yes, the second Chic (formal) Night is the night BEFORE the last night on board. So on a Friday-to-Friday sailing, the second Chic night is on Wednesday night. Sidenote 1: This is also the lobster night in the main dining room. Sidenote 2: The reason it is on Wednesday is because everyone is packing the last night and many skip the MDR then. Sidenote 3: The first Chic night is the first at sea day, or on Saturday on a Friday-to-Friday sailing. Hope that helps.

Yes, that helps tremendously! That was exactly what I assumed to be true, and I was pretty sure I'd read that here on the boards somewhere, but I just wanted to double-check since we'll be on the same cruise (w/o Sitka obviously). Thank you!

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FunInTheSun9, do you remember which nights were Evening Chic on your NB cruise? I looked through the dailies and I see it noted on Saturday, but I can't tell what the second night is...

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