gwt119

Has anyone done the snorkel tours offered at Upachaya resort?  The snorkel tour includes pick up at the cruise port,  2 snorkel stops on a pontoon boat from the property, lunch and transport back to the cruise port.  I liked that the numbers are kept small and it sounds like there is good snorkeling with no crowds from the reviews on TA.   We are on Harmony arriving in November ( which I understand is rainy season).  Any input would be great. TIA.

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Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed. Yea, I'm pretty sure that the larger class ships would be excellent for entertainment and activities. I've heard all about them. Some day I'll get on one.

I guarantee once Sakari sees the aqua show on Oasis class she will want to be in the show when she grows up!

Yes, you will see the hippie guy on Railroad Alaska. He has a huge greenhouse for growing food ( and who knows what else-lol) and there was a segment on him installing a wooden barrel hot tub for keeping fish to use as fertilizer for the crops. He also helped another lady homesteader build a line/pulley to get water to her house.

If you watch the show, I met Animal two years ago taking the train to Seward to board Radiance. He was working as a conductor. My one brush with a celebrity!

------Nancy

The Windjammer was, well, ridiculous. I consider myself somewhat of a foodie insomuch as I love food. All the reviews I read that had a negative tilt to Windjammer had me ready to accept whatever prison like cafeteria food they were going to try to push on us. WELL well well let me tell you about my first meal of Prime rib, horseradish sauce, mashed potatoes, lentils, more fruit than I probably should have ate, and roasted veggies. Heyyyyy, don't judge. I ate last at 8 am and it was now 2. I was pretty hungry and, well, down right thrilled at the choices.

 

Remember folks, it's a buffet. There will be things you don't like. Sooooo try, try again. I'm pretty sure no one has died from starvation on a cruise. Wink wink.

 

Here is my ONE and ONLY nod to the great food debate; the desserts on the buffet. My word are they beautiful. So colorful and glossy. Strangely though, very tasteless. Even those Ranger cookies? I'll just call them the best of the worst. That way I won't lose some of you readers. Haha! Keep the faith on the desserts though, because the main dining room is coming!

I agree with you about the desserts- they LOOK fabulous but are tasteless. The exceptions are the key line tart and the chocolate souffe with the expresso sauce. The best dessert I've ever had was the birthday cake my TA arranged for me- that was sooooooo yummy!

We stopped Talkeetna for lunch and I did a couple of periscopes from there. I snapped a few more photos and thought I’d share them.

 

The small town of 800 people had a rustic and hippie flavour. I didn’t smell any Patchouli but I did get the occasional wafting smell of marijuana in the air. They say it is a small town of unique individuals, and I’d say I found one in this guy.

 

 

This store might not help him, or maybe it does?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I looked, but I could not find Patrick Swayze.

 

 

 

 

 

Pucker up big boy.

 

The hippie guy in the back of the pick up I recognize from the Railroad Alaska tv show. He's quite the character. I love Talkeetna- we were there on a Sunday when there is a small farmer's type of market with lots of local artists selling their work. Got a puffin carving.

We will be visiting St. Lucia for the first time. Did you do anything special there? How did you feel about the Island?

We did this itinerary in January on Serenade. St. Lucia is gorgeous! We used Spencer Ambrose Tours and did the Jalousie/Sugar Beach break. You pick up their boat at the dock, they do a drop off at the Sugar Beach, provide lunch and snorkeling equipment. There is a snorkeling park there at the beach. The Sugar Beach resort is there as well- beautiful posh resort with the gorgeous view of the Pitons. Afterwards you get a tour of the island by water on the way back to port. Definitely would do it again.

We are on the 10/4 NE/Canada cruise. Still no reservations open for the shows. I called Royal to check that I hadn't missed it , and the agent said it will open up anytime between 60-90 days prior to sailing. He confirmed the show reservations hadn't been loaded yet.

I know hair dryers are provided, but from past experience my thick hair takes forever to dry using the one in the cabin. Has anyone taken their own hair dryer? Were you able to use it or was it sent to the naughty room? Thanks!

Pghsteelerfan- We are signed up for the Spencer Ambrose tour to Jalousie/Sugar Beach when we are in St. Lucia. The pictures I've seen for that beach are outstanding. Can't wait to snorkel there! Thanks for all your input- it helps with planning( which is as much fun as the trip itself!). And stop feeling bad! Things change in 2 years that you have no control over. I appreciate your passing on information when you had a good experience.

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Pghsteelerfan- Thanks for your help. My back up plan may be to go to Boatyard for the day. Mitsugirly's cruise report made it look appealing. If I do hear from Patsie I will post here. I am subscribed to this thread. And don't feel bad - you had a great experience with Patsie and wanted to pass on the info. Stuff happens in 2 years!

 

 

Thank you Nancy. I just feel so bad. I'm just afraid that since that was two years ago, Patsie may no longer be doing tours. I sent Patsie another email to see if that goes through. As NCTribeFan mentioned, internet is sometime spotty on the islands, so that may be a possibility. I do remember before that same cruise on Liberty (Sept. 2015) we also booked a tour with Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia. We'd toured with them before and after booking is confirmed, they normally send a confirmation email that includes instructions. We had no problem booking but for some reason, our email server (Comcast/Xfinity) was blocking their confirmation email and we never received it. When I contacted them through their website, they let us know that they tried sending the confirmation email a few times, but each time it came back as rejected (or was it failed?). We gave them another email address (my hubby's) and their replies came though to that one, with no issues. Actually, I'm going to email her again and give her the other email address just to see.

 

I've seen a lot of great reviews of the Boatyard, including Mitsugirly's, so that looks like a great back up plan. We were at the Barbados Hilton on our 2013 cruise (same itinerary) but passed Carlisle Bay, where Boatyard is located. Kind of a long story on the Hilton...short version is we were in a taxi van waiting for it to fill up, everyone else in van wanted Hilton, so we just decided to go there too. It was ok, kind of pricey and the swimming area was very small and the water was rough on that side and not really something I'd recommend. That is just around the corner on the far edge of Carlisle Bay. But Carlisle Bay looked GORGEOUS...that water! You can't go wrong with it. But I'll be sure to let you know if I hear anything from Patsie.

 

Holly

Pghsteelerfan- Thanks for your help. My back up plan may be to go to Boatyard for the day. Mitsugirly's cruise report made it look appealing. If I do hear from Patsie I will post here. I am subscribed to this thread. And don't feel bad - you had a great experience with Patsie and wanted to pass on the info. Stuff happens in 2 years!

gwt119...(tried quoting but it's not quoting correctly)

 

Pghsteelerfan- As of today I have not gotten a response from Patsie. Thank you for your help with trying to get in touch with her. I really appreciate how helpful folks can be on this board.

 

 

I was actually just on here to get back to you and I feel terrible about this. :( As I mentioned, I also sent Patsie an email the other day and I hadn't heard back from her by yesterday morning, but waited an extra day to get back to you. I know that Carnival Fascination was scheduled to be in (and was in) Barbados yesterday (Wednesday, August 16). I was thinking she may have been busy preparing for tours, which could be a possible reason there was no response. As of this morning, I still have not heard back from her either. The email I sent to her has not come back as invalid/rejected and I have been double checking our "junk" email box but have nothing from Patsie. It has been two years since our cruise and tour with Patsie, so it's possible she may no longer be offering tours.

 

 

I would definitely try to come up with a back up plan. On most of the islands there are always taxi drivers available, and willing, to do "private" tours for cruise passengers. In Barbados, there are taxis allowed in the cruise center area but those have special permission and may just be taxis that transport passengers to and from local beaches but I'm not sure of the reason. But if you exit the cruise terminal area (past the parking lot), there should be taxi drivers available. In Barbados, make sure you get a set cost. When you get quote, it may seem expensive but they may be giving you a total in Barbados dollars, which is double (ex. $20.00 Barbados dollars = $10.00 USD). But you may be able to get a driver for a period of time, at a reasonable cost, that will take you to Paynes Bay (or other west coast beach) and then drive you over to Barbados' east coast for some sight seeing, or it may be done in reverse. We try to stick to private tours since we have missed out on beach time or other sites in the past because other passengers held things up.

 

 

If, by chance, I do hear back from her, I will immediately come back to let you know. Are you subscribed to this thread? I feel terrible about this since I'm the one who put the recommendations out there. I always like to help out here, if I can. CC and other members have been so helpful to us in planning our last three cruises and getting the most out of them as possible. I love the Ports of Call section since I have been finding so many different things to see/do that I never would have known about. There is so much to see/do on the southern itinerary out of San Juan that I'm "arm twisting" my husband to do this one again. :)

Pghsteelerfan- As of today I have not gotten a response from Patsie. Thank you for your help with trying to get in touch with her. I really appreciate how helpful folks can be on this board.

Pghsteelerfan- I am very interested in doing a tour like you did with Patsie. I used the email you provided. I emailed her yesterday but haven't heard back as of yet. Is this the correct email?

Thanks for your lovely detailed cruise reports. They are helping me plan my Southern Carib cruise on Serenade in Januuary.

 

 

 

 

 

I just sent Patsie an email to the Patsietaxi@hotmail.com email address...I will let you know whether or not I hear back from her. :)

Pghsteelerfan- I am very interested in doing a tour like you did with Patsie. I used the email you provided. I emailed her yesterday but haven't heard back as of yet. Is this the correct email?

Thanks for your lovely detailed cruise reports. They are helping me plan my Southern Carib cruise on Serenade in Januuary.

NCTribeFan...I'm still around and saw your question. :) Yes, we were able to do a private tour that included a couple of hours at Payne's Bay Beach (which is just gorgeous) in the morning and then at noon, we were picked up for our tour of the east coast of Barbados, which included Bathsheba and a few other stops that we really enjoyed. I would be happy to provide you with the information if you are still interested. Our driver was Patsie Nurse with JP's Taxi Service and we were very happy with her, just loved her, and really enjoyed our day in Barbados and all we were able to see. I was able to get this information from fellow CC member Dirkgun since they had done a similar tour, which he wrote about in his review. They used Patsie a couple of times and have really enjoyed her. This is Patsie's contact information: Patsietaxi@hotmail.com is her email and her cell number..... 246-264-7413 or 264-571-8291. She was very good with the communication and I heard back from her the afternoon that I sent the first email.

Yeah, I'm really curious about the internet issues. Aside from Skagway we had no problems with the internet at all, and we alternated between 4 different phones, a tablet, and a laptop. We had the 1 device surf + stream. There was one other person on our roll call who said they had no problems, everybody else had issues.

 

Now, I never did the speed test, and I've never had internet on a cruise before so I can't compare, but it was faster and more reliable than I was expecting.

My husband is in computer security and he said part of the problem is that there aren't enough routers and the placement of them on the ship is poor. Too many people and not enough capacity.There was only one router near our aft cabin and it was to cover the aft and most of the hallway. You would lose the connection, try to re-connect, get a message you couldn't get back on, then have to log in all over again. It is really deceptive advertising to market it as high speed internet. I get we're in Alaska and at sea, but high speed it is not.

Any updates? We're scheduled in June :)

Just got off 5/27 Radiance cruise. I couldn't tell that anything had been done in dry dock at all. She's tired. Our balcony was being painted in port. You see rust everywhere. Voom is a joke- don't bother. We constantly got dropped off service, maybe would have 5 minutes of internet, then lose it again. There are still plumbing issues- yellow water a couple of days. My friends cabin flooded twice. I feel RCI is neglecting the smaller classes of ship and focusing too much on Oasis and Anthem class.

Good and interesting to hear your thoughts on the cruise. We just got back from the same cruise.

 

Sorry they couldn't get the cake correct -- that is a lot of stress over something that should have gone off without any trouble.

 

I agree Voom was horrible. And the sad thing was each day, Guest Services had a different answer for why it wasn't working that day. What really confuses me is that some people said they had perfect connectivity. Wonder what's happening that some people had trouble regularly, and some people had none. Does it prioritize certain devices?

 

I agree that the staff was really good. Our stateroom attendant was spectacular and our waiter and assistant were phenomenal.

 

Our whole hallway had toilet issues (filling with yellow water, not really flushing) two days.

 

My one last thing that just went wrong was an offhand comment the shopping lady Kimberly made, saying I was too poor to get the last charm (on the last sea day) for those cheap Diamonds International charm bracelets. She sort of let her mask down when telling me she hated people trying to scam the system by not spending enough to get the charms ... fortunately, I can buy online the one she wouldn't give me. Her comments were just so at odds with the way the rest of the people who worked on the ship had been acting.

We were on the 5/27 sailing. The VOOM service was non existent. I have an issue with RCI false advertising high speed internet, you pay money expecting this and get nothing of the kind. Guest Services was terrible- really rude.

We have done this same itinerary previously on Radiance in 2013. I found a lot of differences in service and state of repair on the ship from 2013. I love this itinerary- we had a great time in each port. In Seward we did the Kenai Fjords cruise of Resurrection Bay- finally saw puffins, sea otters, seals, orcas and the Holgate glacier calve! Juneau and Ketchikan we had nothing planned and just wandered as we liked. We did the Alaskan Brewery tour in Juneau and loved it- it's really a talk in a viewing room and tastings. We had a employee who really LOVED beer and taught us a lot about the process. Also did Mt. Roberts tram. Skagway we did the Yukon train and bus tour. In Icy Strait we did a whale watch tour with FISHES. I do not book excursions through Royal- I prefer other touring companies.

I was disappointed with the state of repair on the ship. You could not tell the ship had been in dry dock at all. They were painting our balconies in port. You still see rust everywhere. She's tired. The VOOM service is a joke and RCI is blantantly advertising high speed internet when it is nothing of the sort. Service was spotty at best. You would get kicked off service all the time. We got a one day refund after complaining of bad service because there was no service at all in Skagway. My husband is in computer security and he said the servers are crap. Guest Services needs training in customer service- rude and I don't appreciate friends being called liars when they complained about the internet. Managers of guest services always seemed to be "on break" when friends with the flooded cabin wanted info on what was being done. Most of the crew appeared to be brand new and not sure of what their duties were- our room steward never introduced himself and didn't understand English very much. The My Time was a disaster- the starboard side could not seem to handle seating people or the computer was down. They kept telling people if you like your server and table site you need to reserve the same time every night. Which defeats the purpose of my time dining. The food in the dining room was the usual cruise food- nothing special. Service was fine. We ate in Giovanni's and Chops which was excellent.

The shows were fine, and there were plenty of activities.

We spent a lot of time in the Pub because they had a great singer in there. The Colony Club is a lovely place to relax and have a cocktail.

Beware if you have been assigned Cabin 8625. Friends had this cabin and it flooded twice. It must have flooded previously since it was musty smelling and damp the first day. Communication was lacking and repair of the problem was slow. Our friends had to stay in an "emergency" cabin which was the size of a closet with a twin bed for 2 people. It's no fun to come back from an excursion, find your cabin wrecked and have no where to go. Finally a balcony cabin that had been under repair got fixed for my friends to use for the last 2 days of the cruise. Finally RCI offered 25% off another cruise for all of the difficulties. You tell me if you would find that acceptable for no use of your cabin for 4 out of 7 days.

Despite all these hiccups we had a great time. We were in a group of 26 and we cruise together every year. We made the best of it. I love Radiance class, but I think RCI is neglecting the smaller ships and concentrating too much on the big classes of ships.

This is just my opinion- no need to flame because I saw problems.

I second the vote for Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau! We were there two years ago at the recommendation of a crew member and plan to visit again this May. It is a casual place right next to the dock.

We ate at Tracy's Crab Shack in 2013- fantastic. Best crab bisque I've ever had- I could eat a vat of it. Crab cakes were good and I'm from MD so I know what a good crab cake is. We;ll be back on our cruise this year.

I've never been to Alaska before. In four weeks we'll be taking a weeklong cruise from Vancouver to Whittier in a balcony stateroom and I'm having trouble trying to figure out what to bring to wear. My in-laws took an Alaskan cruise years ago in July and m-i-l kept telling me how COLD it was and they froze. I asked what kinds of clothes/outerwear she packed/wore but she couldn't remember so I'm guessing (based on past experience) they were just unprepared and probably wore summer clothes. I read the Top Ten Things to Pack on an Alaskan Cruise, which was somewhat helpful, but not specific enough, and have searched through this thread. I'm looking for better wardrobe guidance than "Dress in layers". The only thing I'm sure of is what dressy/dinner outfits I'm going to bring.

 

Some info:

My cruise stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. We signed up for a couple of excursions in Skagway: Mushers camp, and the White Pass railway. In Juneau we're thinking of going to Mendenhall Glacier on our own. In Anchorage we will be taking a post-cruise "glacier cruise" on a catamaran. Lastly we'll be spending a couple of days in Denali.

 

Here's what I would like to know...

 

Do I need to bring my winter jacket? Or would a spring jacket paired with a fleece hoodie (i.e. "layers") be sufficient? Do I really need hat and gloves? Is this ONLY for when you're on deck looking at glaciers (I know it can be windy on deck, especially when the ship is moving), or also for other parts of the cruise? Should I pack both a winter coat AND a spring jacket?

 

Do I need rain gear? We're not planning anything outdoorsy, such as hiking or kayaking, but I'm thinking my rain pancho might be a good idea. Waterproof shoes? That was in the Top Ten list article I mentioned above.

 

On land, what should I expect? Will it to be warm enough for jeans, short sleeves, and light jacket or fleece? Is it possible it will be warm enough for shorts? Do I need long-sleeved shirts? I understand one can never really predict the weather, and I will check the weather in the ports before I pack, but just to get a general idea of what to expect would be helpful.

 

Is it chilly inside the ship (Coral Princess)? Will I need sweaters to wear in the theaters and dining room? Winter, spring, or summer pajamas? I assume we can control the temperature in our stateroom.

 

Is there an enclosed pool on deck?

 

I like to pack light so I don't want to bring a lot of unnecessary clothing. Any (specific) help you can provide will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Our last south bound AK cruise in 2013 started out cold and got progressively warmer. I ski so I packed like I do for a ski trip- Gore Tex shell, fleece zip up jacket, gloves, scarf, wool hat, baseball cap. I packed a cashmere cardigan which was lightweight but warm. I have snow sneakers from LL Bean that I brought which I wore on the cold days, otherwise wore sneakers for touring. I wore jeans most days. I had shorts that I wore in Vancouver. I packed a lot of long sleeve knit shirts and a few short sleeve shirts. I wish I had packed a few more short sleeve shirts- that day we did the White pass train it was 85!

A typical day I would start out wearing a long sleeve shirt,jeans, cardigan, fleece jacket and scarf. As it got warmer I shed-lol!

This trip I think I'm going to take my fleece vest in addition to my usual outerwear. Our trip is early in the season and the temps are looking to be in the 50-60's.

If you don't have a Gore Tex jacket, get one. It will keep you warm and dry.

:D Hey, we are next door neighbors!

LOL- Hi neighbor! Won't you be my neighbor?

Yes, it does! :)

Terrific!!! I love to read on the balcony- hope weather co-operates!

Our favorite cabin! Have it for our 8/5 & 8/12 B2B this summer! :)

 

I am surprised that cabin was still open for booking. Usually one of the first

to go. Big balcony, lots of sun (which is welcome in Alaska). Enjoy! :)

Yay- we have this cabin for our 5/27/16 cruise. So glad to hear it's a big balcony. Does it have room for 2 lounge chairs and a table and chairs?

The stabilizers are being replaced.

Great review so far! We are traveling on Allure next summer doing the Eastern itinerary so I'm preparing early-lol!. My daughter was 18 last year, and found on Oasis it was easy to meet folks her age even though she aged out of the teen clubs.

If you go to Falmouth again, RCI offers an excursion called Chukka Beach Break that takes you to a beach 20 minutes from the port and can include a jerk chicken lunch if you choose the excursion that includes lunch. Gorgeous beach with a bar and lots of chairs and umbrellas. Best $42 I spent.

Keep the gorgeous pictures coming!

I just finished your detailed review and wanted to say thanks! We are sailing Allure next summer and I'm already excited! We sailed on Oasis last year and loved it so I wanted to know if there were any differences on Allure. Your pictures are fantastic. I think the only area you didn't photograph was the crew quarters! Your enjoyment and sense of fun really shone through in your review. Thanks again!

Pancho's Backyard has the best food! It's an courtyard setting with marimba players. If you go to their website they have a coupon for a free margarita. And it's no wimpy drink just because it's free! It was more tequila than mixer! Los cinco soles(in front of Pancho's) is a very nice store and you don't bargain(which is something I hate in any port). There's another bar a block off the main street called Wet Wendy's that has the most HUGE frozen drinks- you get the entire contents of the blender for your drink. Look for them on TripAdvisor.

:)

Yeah we really need to return to Cozumel at some point in time, there is just so much to there, and who doesn't love authentic mexican food? well other than my bf ;) :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: