justKirbo

I laughed at the jokes on this thread, but I have to say, I would have complained as well. I dislike smoke and try not to walk by smoking areas for that reason. I'd be mad as all get out to be on my (non-smoking) balcony and have to smell someone's smoke. (But the jokes on here were funny.)

We took these same two shots when we were on the Ovation last month. Took some time to catch up (last I checked in was about page four!). What a fun trip! I was scared there for a bit (your wife's hip) but it all seems to be working out great. also, going back even further, I've been a fan of Dolly Parton's since I was a kid and saw 9 to 5 so I always knew I Will Always Love You was her song. When Whitney had such a huge hit with it, I remember Dolly being interviewed and the interviewer asked, "Are you upset that Whitney has a bigger hit with it than you did? [For a few years it was Dolly's signature song.]" And she responded with, "Oh, yes. I cry all the way to the bank." She's a national treasure. Looking forward to the next leg of your trip. Thanks for taking us along.

We were probably with you! Just got off yesterday and had a perfect time. I hope you enjoyed your cruise as much as we did.

Looking forward to reading along on your travels. We just got off the Ovation yesterday. We had a fabulous time with glorious weather, though I hear that's about to change. We really enjoyed the Ovation and have booked the Quantum for next year. Happy Anniversary!

I'm very sorry for your loss of Jiko.

We board on Friday and are so ridiculously excited for our first post-COVID cruise. Thanks for taking us along on yours. (And I hope our exit is better than yours but I'm guessing it'll be exactly the same.)

Love all the pics of Mt Rainier.

Following along. We board the Ovation in two weeks and we're on the Quantum next year. Looking forward to your review.

I didn't realize they were also in CA. I was pretty sure they started in Grants Pass but I thought they were only in OR and WA. I think we've been to the one you took the picture of. We used to stop in GP when driving to CA.

Hit up Dutch Bros for morning coffee. They have at least one if not more in Grants Pass.

Love your intro and I'm happily following along. We get on on 9/9 and I'm pretty excited.

You both look AMAZING on formal night. Thanks for the great report. I appreciated and loved reading along.

I'm curious where you're finding the average household income of $100k. Everywhere I look I'm only finding about $70k (I do see the same $21k for 1980 though). Thank you.

I'm so sorry you were treated so poorly at the Solarium Bistro. That's truly awful. Thank you for your wonderful report. I'm getting very excite for our upcoming Alaska cruise reading about yours. I love your style. You and Mx look fabulous.

We are sailing in about three weeks to Alaska and have to test. We don't want to test positive so we'll be masking for sure for the two weeks prior. I work in the schools, so it'll be rampant there and we'll be as cautious as possible leading up to the cruise. I'm good with testing. Honestly, I caught something nasty on a previous cruise and wish testing for other crud were possible since folks don't mind sharing their germs.

Love the update! My husband grew up in Ballard and we met while at UW. Seattle's a great town, glad you're enjoying it (and I hope you're all rested by tomorrow). Did your friend name her dog Turbo after the Kraken player? I love him and hope he's able to have a full season this year (the hockey player, not the dog, though I'm sure the dog is lovely).

Agreed. My kids start college a week after our upcoming cruise so we've all decided we'll mask up while on the boat as we don't want them getting sick and missing first days of college. We realize it's still a risk since we'll be maskless in the dinning rooms, but we're ok with a little risk. Honestly, I have zero issues with testing and wish they could test for more stuff before a cruise.

Reading this and drinking some coffee and this post made me snort said coffee. That's pretty funny. Thanks for the great report. Loved all of your pictures and stories. I hope your covid is a mild case.

Our twins start at UW next month. Go Huskies!

Congratulations on your wedding! This is my first time getting to read along to one of your reviews and I'm excited for it. We'll be getting on the Ovation next month. (Also, I have a Zia tattoo as well.)

Travel R, I have really enjoyed this review and your writing style. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us. We're on the Ovation in a month and our itinerary and ship is different, but you've gotten me quite excited.

I found a TA that I used for our DCL cruises and when tragedy struck, they were amazing. I won't travel again without using a knowledgeable and dependable TA. I don't care about the kickbacks, I care about what happens in an emergency. My mom died on a cruise and the TA we had was amazing. We were in Europe when it happened and it would have been so much worse without them behind the scenes helping us out (along with the folks at Disney). I use a TA now that I met on a previous cruise. She is incredibly knowledgeable and gets back to me so quickly. Sure I could do it all. And sure, I don't get a kickback from her. But she's there if I need her. I use her for peace of mind. I lose nothing by using her and I know she's working on my behalf whenever I need it. I'm happy to let someone get the commission from my booking.

We're looking at a different cruise on this boat so I hope we get loads of pictures from you! And I really hope all your flights go smoothly. Looking forward to reading along.

I'm enjoying your review and writing. We're not on this cruise but instead doing the Ovation out of Seattle in a few weeks. Thanks for doing this.

I was going to say I found it when searching for Ovation posts but below you mention that "Rare" thread and I actually think I found it there. You linked it in there, I believe. I honestly didn't even know there was a Live Cruise Reports section, so I know I didn't find it there. This is indeed our first Alaskan cruise. We've done Panama Canal, Transatlantic, Mediterranean, Pacific Coast, Caribbean, Mexico, but never Alaska. We're all looking forward to it. We will indeed try Doughboys on your recommendation. They look like what we'd call Elephant Ears, which are oh, so nummy. Again, thank you for this thread. I read all 29 pages. Felt as if I got to know a bunch of you ;)