B2B Alaska Rhapsody review Aug 24 and Aug 31

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Drama, more drama, NORO, and one sick husband.......

 

 

 

I normally don’t do reviews, but thought since there was NORO virus I would post some of our experience of our first b2b.

I am not going to complain, but rather express our opinion and thoughts of what took place.

 

A little bit about us, as you may have noticed we are D + and have been on 21 cruises with RC. We’ve been around the block; so to speak.

 

This was our third cruise to Alaska and second time on the Rhapsody.

Radiance is our favorite ship but wanted to do Alaska to escape the summer heat of Arizona, so we booked the Rhapsody out of Seattle. About a month or so after we booked we added on a second week, doing our first b2b.

 

First a little pre cruise a little drama; I got a pedicure on Tuesday before leaving on Thursday. I had a mishap while getting into the chair, my foot slipped foreword hitting the drain inside the tub portion of the chair. At first I thought I broke my big toe because I saw stars for about 10 minutes, as soon as I lifted my foot out of the tub we saw the blood, I had a huge cut on my toe and a smaller one under it. OMG, first thing that came to mind is the cruise! Oh no, what am I going to do? They stopped the bleeding and bandaged me up, I was still able to get a pedi, and it was just a little different. I had difficulty walking and needed to finish packing. I was lucky I was able to get a shoe on the morning we left and got a wheelchair at the airport, so it wasn’t so bad. I could only wear a loose well worn gym shoe, I limped for about 5 days, but I made it.

 

So here goes....Part One:

 

Pre cruise: We flew into Seattle the day before and stayed at the Holiday Inn at the Airport that had a cruise/fly rate. The reviews were good so we booked it.

This is an old hotel and would not recommend it. Although it was clean it does need renovation. Complimentary breakfast was OK and the airport and pier shuttle service was good, on time and easy to use.

 

Now for the worst part. Our room was almost broken into at 3 am. Some drunk insisted his room was 420 when it was actually 320 and security tried to let him in with out checking if that was even his room or even reregistered to the hotel. WHAT!!! :eek:

Of course the dead bolt and the latch prevented that, but scared the hell out of us.

Called the desk, they knew nothing! That morning, I asked for the MOD. Again she knew nothing! I know a little about hotels since I was MOD for Embassy Suites. First thing you do is log the incident and make a report so the next shift has the information, its called communication! This didn’t happen. The MOD said she would look into the matter and get back to us; well our van was early to the pier so we left for the ship. A few days later while in port I checked my mobile VM and the MOD left a message saying she talked to night audit and security and they told her what happened. We were compensated for our trouble.

 

 

Week one: 8/24 we were with our friends who spend the summers in WA state and winters here in AZ.

 

 

 

We pre planned to met them in the WJ on the ship the first day. We enjoyed a buffet lunch and cabins were ready after one o’clock.

We had just an OV on deck 2, I never thought I would like it, but I did! It was a great location right by the foreword elevators, only complaint was it is just under one of the gang way doors on deck 3, and when they are getting the equipment in place it was noisy, but that was only one time, so it wasn’t bad at all. There was hardly any noise from the elevators. I really liked this location!

 

The cabins are small but nice with all new bedding, drapery, carpeting furniture and all new bathrooms. One thing they didn’t do was install shower doors, still had the ever friendly shower curtain. I guess they had to cut the refit budget somewhere.

 

We found the Rhapsody to be in good shape and very nice after the refit earlier this year. We had MTD and ate every night at 7:30. We missed all the shows because of dining time, went to Quest, we took 3rd place, adult comedy show, and the casino was friendly to me at 3 card poker.

 

We didn’t dine in any of the specialty restaurants; just the MDR or WJ, all the food was good, service was good and really no complaints. If I don’t have to plan it, shop for it, cook it or clean it up then it’s all good!

 

Our fiends had cruised only one time on RC but never joined the C & A since they rarely cruise they said they didn’t care about it. We on the other hand are D+ and wanted to do the CL or the DL so the MTD and 7:30 worked out great.

 

 

 

The VCL is a comfortable place to read, whale watch, or take a nap in one of the very comfy chairs. This is one of our favorite daytime spots on RC ships.

 

 

The CL is on deck 11 in a corner of the VCL that is walled off with a door that has a keyed entry, it’s fairly small and the furniture is very uncomfortable. The CL lounge is reserved for D+ and suite guests, Concierge was Amit who was almost always available and very accommodating, we never asked for anything, he was always willing to help with anything you could want or need. We enjoyed his company a few mornings after the breakfast rush.

 

The worst part of the CL is the smell of smoke from the smoking section of the VCL. The smell comes over the open part of the wall that does not go all the way to the ceiling. It was really pretty bad. There is no smoking inside the CL. Because smoking is limited inside the ship, there is a very small area in the VCL that has maybe 6 -8 seats, at any given time there were as many as 6 or more people smoking, other times none, We had just left the CL one night, when one of the CL guests opened the side door to that area and asked them to please not smoke. Uh oh…..fight! :eek: Concierge Amit had to step in and take action. After a verbal argument he asked the CL guest to leave the CL for the night. Since we were not there at the time, I can’t accurately give all the details, only what Amit told us the following morning. As far as we know there isn’t anything that can or will be done to correct this situation.

 

 

Because of the smoke in the CL we spent our time in the DL on deck 6 aft. Again this is in a walled off in the corner of the Shall We Dance Lounge. This is much nicer than the CL. It’s much larger and much more comfortable chairs, not to mention the view! First night in the DL we were joined by Captain Rick Sullivan. He strolls in and says “Hi, I’m Rick, I work here” A really cool guy, easy to talk to and what a great memory he has. I mentioned to him I sailed with him in 2004 on the Navigator and some lady named Hurricane Frances, he remembered every detail of our adventure of missed ports, closing of the port of Miami and being “lost out at sea” for an extra few days. We talked about that for at least 15 minutes! This was his last week before vacation, second week of our b2bwas Captain Rob who likes to make jokes in his announcements, although his jokes are pretty dry. Other than his announcements, we never actually saw Captain Rob except at the Captains Corner.

 

We saw many whales from DL, great place to be during the day for somewhere quiet to read or use your ipad, computer what ever you like. However some times there are many activities scheduled in the Shall We Dance Lounge and it’s loud and just like the CL on deck 11 the walls do not go all the way to the ceiling. At least there is no smoking in there. DL Concierge Pretty Shamhu was very pleasant and friendly.

 

This was our 3 third Alaska cruise so we really are not tour people so we didn’t have any tours planned in any of the ports. A few weeks before the cruise I planned a get together with MOMMABEAN Gina and her DH Dennis. (HUGS!!!) We were both cruising Alaska, just on 2 different ships, she was on the Radiance and we were on the Rhapsody and the itineraries matched the first week for Juneau and Skagway. We planned to meet at Tracy’s Crab Shack right by the ships. We also met her friends Elly and her husband and Radiance Concierge Juan Diego. Elly and her husband are friends with other cc members travelgoddess1 Karen, they surprised her with a call from me from their cell phone; it was nice to talk to her. (HUGS) Juan Diego recognized me right away and even remembered my name! How do they do that?!? We had a great visit and were happy to finally meet in person. We have been on the Radiance 7 times, Gina and I figured out we had been on a few Radiance cruises together in the past but never actually met. On a side note, we really wanted to do the Radiance Alaska, however things just didn’t pan out with airfare, just couldn’t justify that it was twice the cost of the cruise!

 

Tracy’s Crab Shack is a little place that serves the best crab legs. These come direct from the TIME BANDIT fishing vessel and the Discovery Channels show; DEADLIEST CATCH with Captains Andy and Jonathan. Let me tell you those crab legs are enormous and TV does not do it justice! It’s a must see to believe! Because we already had arrangements to have lunch with our friends, we didn’t eat at Tracy’s. I am actually sorry we didn’t have the crab legs because they looked like they are to die for! So now I have a good excuse to go back!! We ended out get together with Gina and Dennis going hiking and we were picked up by our friends who rented a car for the day.

 

We had lunch at The Hanger, its just a hop skip and jump from Tracy’s Crab Shack and it’s right on the water where all the tour float planes are docked.We had the Halibut fish fry, the absolute best fish I have ever had, period! No matter what fish fry we have, it will never compare to this one! My mouth is watering just thinking about it, it wasn’t cheap, 2 baskets were over $40, but OMG so worth it, hey, how often will you be in Juneau for this?

 

The weather in Juneau was absolutely unbelievable, sunny with not a cloud in the sky and about 60 degrees. Actually hot by Juneau standards.

 

Sitting outside for lunch we were so hot! We are from AZ, we know hot, this was really unbelievable for being just 60 degrees. We had dressed in layers; I was sitting in just a tank top and jeans crying that I wished I had worn my flip flops. The sun was very intense and there wasn’t a breeze anywhere. All the shop workers were in heaven with this weather.

 

 

 

Our friends did the tram to the top of the mountain and said it was just beautiful up there. I had been twice on previous cruises so I didn’t go and my DH hates trams so it was a definite no for him.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we drove to Mendenhall Glacier, the place was packed. The beautiful weather and being a Sunday, it was very crowded.

The nature walk was partially closed because of bears that were active in feeding of the salmon that was running this time of year.

We didn’t see any bears, but did see a lot of their habitats and sleeping places.

 

We left the glacier and drove back into town; for a little shopping before returning back to the ship. Where the Rhapsody docks, you need to take a bus into town, it stops right at the Roberts Tram where the Radiance is docked. This is the first time in 3 Alaska cruises that we had not docked at the tram. It is just a few minutes to/from the ship at the cost of $2 pp. What is interesting about this is the second week of our b2b, the buses were free. Go figure!

 

 

 

Some of the Juneau shops had already started their end of season sales; a ton of merchandise filled the shelves and racks, although size selection was limited on some things. Of course, we had the coupon books from the ships terminal in Seattle, I don’t think I ever did use any of them or get any of the FREE items. I guess its just one of those I’ve been there and done that kind of thing, as I can only use so many coffee cups, t-shirts and other Alaska novelties! Our second week the shops had drastically marked down for the final end of season sale, I knew this ahead of time so I did most of my shopping the second week.

 

 

We had another good day in Skagway, the weather wasn’t as good as Juneau, but at least it didn’t rain as predicted. Out friends did a few of the small tours while we shopped a bit. Our mission was to buy a small suitcase. It seems my DH insisted that I had packed them too heavily and was difficult to handle 4 of them, so now we have 5! Makes sense, huh? ;) My DH returned to the ship with new suitcase in tow while I enjoyed a bench on the side walk to people watch, coffee and make calls on my cell phone to take care of a few lose ends of things regarding the hotel incident in Seattle.

 

The glacier was probably the biggest disappointment of the cruise. Tracy Arm is difficult to get into because of all the ice bergs, understandable, don’t want to end up like the Titanic. :rolleyes: We didn’t get to see any calving but did see some beautiful water streams coming down from the top of the Fjords. They said we did get really close, but having cruised previous to Hubbard Glacier we were spoiled. Now with all that said, we knew this when we booked the cruise. We knew we would most likely not get into the glacier, but still at a distance it is an awesome sight.

 

We didn’t get off the ship in Victoria BC. Our friends love Victoria and had been there before and wanted to see a few things they had missed the first time.They said the Hop-On Hop-Off bus was the best way to see the city.

 

 

 

It was a nice and quiet day to stay on board and have the ship to ourselves. Today was the first day I made it to Park View Café for the famous roast beef sandwiches I kept hearing about. I was not disappointed, they are very yummy!! Now that I finally found this gem of a place I had to visit it again for some of the other delights they have to offer. I didn’t get back there until the second week of our b2b. Again I was not disappointed with the sandwiches and salads.

 

I'm still working on the second week, stay tuned!

 

 

***

[NorbertsNiece]

Awesome!!! Thanks for taking the time to post your review. takes me back :)

[loeytalldog]

Thanks for taking the time to write this! Looking forward to more, we are trying to decide whether to do an Alaskan cruise next summer.

 

Lois

[chipq]

Very good detail, thank you for sharing.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[KJL53]

Drama, more drama, NORO, and one sick husband.......

 

 

 

I normally don’t do reviews, but thought since there was NORO virus I would post some of our experience of our first b2b.

I am not going to complain, but rather express our opinion and thoughts of what took place.

 

A little bit about us, as you may have noticed we are D + and have been on 21 cruises with RC. We’ve been around the block; so to speak.

 

This was our third cruise to Alaska and second time on the Rhapsody.

Radiance is our favorite ship but wanted to do Alaska to escape the summer heat of Arizona, so we booked the Rhapsody out of Seattle. About a month or so after we booked we added on a second week, doing our first b2b.

 

First a little pre cruise a little drama; I got a pedicure on Tuesday before leaving on Thursday. I had a mishap while getting into the chair, my foot slipped foreword hitting the drain inside the tub portion of the chair. At first I thought I broke my big toe because I saw stars for about 10 minutes, as soon as I lifted my foot out of the tub we saw the blood, I had a huge cut on my toe and a smaller one under it. OMG, first thing that came to mind is the cruise! Oh no, what am I going to do? They stopped the bleeding and bandaged me up, I was still able to get a pedi, and it was just a little different. I had difficulty walking and needed to finish packing. I was lucky I was able to get a shoe on the morning we left and got a wheelchair at the airport, so it wasn’t so bad. I could only wear a loose well worn gym shoe, I limped for about 5 days, but I made it.

 

So here goes....Part One:

 

Pre cruise: We flew into Seattle the day before and stayed at the Holiday Inn at the Airport that had a cruise/fly rate. The reviews were good so we booked it.

This is an old hotel and would not recommend it. Although it was clean it does need renovation. Complimentary breakfast was OK and the airport and pier shuttle service was good, on time and easy to use.

 

Now for the worst part. Our room was almost broken into at 3 am. Some drunk insisted his room was 420 when it was actually 320 and security tried to let him in with out checking if that was even his room or even reregistered to the hotel. WHAT!!! :eek:

Of course the dead bolt and the latch prevented that, but scared the hell out of us.

Called the desk, they knew nothing! That morning, I asked for the MOD. Again she knew nothing! I know a little about hotels since I was MOD for Embassy Suites. First thing you do is log the incident and make a report so the next shift has the information, its called communication! This didn’t happen. The MOD said she would look into the matter and get back to us; well our van was early to the pier so we left for the ship. A few days later while in port I checked my mobile VM and the MOD left a message saying she talked to night audit and security and they told her what happened. We were compensated for our trouble.

 

 

Week one: 8/24 we were with our friends who spend the summers in WA state and winters here in AZ.

 

 

 

We pre planned to met them in the WJ on the ship the first day. We enjoyed a buffet lunch and cabins were ready after one o’clock.

We had just an OV on deck 2, I never thought I would like it, but I did! It was a great location right by the foreword elevators, only complaint was it is just under one of the gang way doors on deck 3, and when they are getting the equipment in place it was noisy, but that was only one time, so it wasn’t bad at all. There was hardly any noise from the elevators. I really liked this location!

 

The cabins are small but nice with all new bedding, drapery, carpeting furniture and all new bathrooms. One thing they didn’t do was install shower doors, still had the ever friendly shower curtain. I guess they had to cut the refit budget somewhere.

 

We found the Rhapsody to be in good shape and very nice after the refit earlier this year. We had MTD and ate every night at 7:30. We missed all the shows because of dining time, went to Quest, we took 3rd place, adult comedy show, and the casino was friendly to me at 3 card poker.

 

We didn’t dine in any of the specialty restaurants; just the MDR or WJ, all the food was good, service was good and really no complaints. If I don’t have to plan it, shop for it, cook it or clean it up then it’s all good!

 

Our fiends had cruised only one time on RC but never joined the C & A since they rarely cruise they said they didn’t care about it. We on the other hand are D+ and wanted to do the CL or the DL so the MTD and 7:30 worked out great.

 

 

 

The VCL is a comfortable place to read, whale watch, or take a nap in one of the very comfy chairs. This is one of our favorite daytime spots on RC ships.

 

 

The CL is on deck 11 in a corner of the VCL that is walled off with a door that has a keyed entry, it’s fairly small and the furniture is very uncomfortable. The CL lounge is reserved for D+ and suite guests, Concierge was Amit who was almost always available and very accommodating, we never asked for anything, he was always willing to help with anything you could want or need. We enjoyed his company a few mornings after the breakfast rush.

 

The worst part of the CL is the smell of smoke from the smoking section of the VCL. The smell comes over the open part of the wall that does not go all the way to the ceiling. It was really pretty bad. There is no smoking inside the CL. Because smoking is limited inside the ship, there is a very small area in the VCL that has maybe 6 -8 seats, at any given time there were as many as 6 or more people smoking, other times none, We had just left the CL one night, when one of the CL guests opened the side door to that area and asked them to please not smoke. Uh oh…..fight! :eek: Concierge Amit had to step in and take action. After a verbal argument he asked the CL guest to leave the CL for the night. Since we were not there at the time, I can’t accurately give all the details, only what Amit told us the following morning. As far as we know there isn’t anything that can or will be done to correct this situation.

 

 

Because of the smoke in the CL we spent our time in the DL on deck 6 aft. Again this is in a walled off in the corner of the Shall We Dance Lounge. This is much nicer than the CL. It’s much larger and much more comfortable chairs, not to mention the view! First night in the DL we were joined by Captain Rick Sullivan. He strolls in and says “Hi, I’m Rick, I work here” A really cool guy, easy to talk to and what a great memory he has. I mentioned to him I sailed with him in 2004 on the Navigator and some lady named Hurricane Frances, he remembered every detail of our adventure of missed ports, closing of the port of Miami and being “lost out at sea” for an extra few days. We talked about that for at least 15 minutes! This was his last week before vacation, second week of our b2bwas Captain Rob who likes to make jokes in his announcements, although his jokes are pretty dry. Other than his announcements, we never actually saw Captain Rob except at the Captains Corner.

 

We saw many whales from DL, great place to be during the day for somewhere quiet to read or use your ipad, computer what ever you like. However some times there are many activities scheduled in the Shall We Dance Lounge and it’s loud and just like the CL on deck 11 the walls do not go all the way to the ceiling. At least there is no smoking in there. DL Concierge Pretty Shamhu was very pleasant and friendly.

 

This was our 3 third Alaska cruise so we really are not tour people so we didn’t have any tours planned in any of the ports. A few weeks before the cruise I planned a get together with MOMMABEAN Gina and her DH Dennis. (HUGS!!!) We were both cruising Alaska, just on 2 different ships, she was on the Radiance and we were on the Rhapsody and the itineraries matched the first week for Juneau and Skagway. We planned to meet at Tracy’s Crab Shack right by the ships. We also met her friends Elly and her husband and Radiance Concierge Juan Diego. Elly and her husband are friends with other cc members travelgoddess1 Karen, they surprised her with a call from me from their cell phone; it was nice to talk to her. (HUGS) Juan Diego recognized me right away and even remembered my name! How do they do that?!? We had a great visit and were happy to finally meet in person. We have been on the Radiance 7 times, Gina and I figured out we had been on a few Radiance cruises together in the past but never actually met. On a side note, we really wanted to do the Radiance Alaska, however things just didn’t pan out with airfare, just couldn’t justify that it was twice the cost of the cruise!

 

Tracy’s Crab Shack is a little place that serves the best crab legs. These come direct from the TIME BANDIT fishing vessel and the Discovery Channels show; DEADLIEST CATCH with Captains Andy and Jonathan. Let me tell you those crab legs are enormous and TV does not do it justice! It’s a must see to believe! Because we already had arrangements to have lunch with our friends, we didn’t eat at Tracy’s. I am actually sorry we didn’t have the crab legs because they looked like they are to die for! So now I have a good excuse to go back!! We ended out get together with Gina and Dennis going hiking and we were picked up by our friends who rented a car for the day.

 

We had lunch at The Hanger, its just a hop skip and jump from Tracy’s Crab Shack and it’s right on the water where all the tour float planes are docked.We had the Halibut fish fry, the absolute best fish I have ever had, period! No matter what fish fry we have, it will never compare to this one! My mouth is watering just thinking about it, it wasn’t cheap, 2 baskets were over $40, but OMG so worth it, hey, how often will you be in Juneau for this?

 

The weather in Juneau was absolutely unbelievable, sunny with not a cloud in the sky and about 60 degrees. Actually hot by Juneau standards.

 

Sitting outside for lunch we were so hot! We are from AZ, we know hot, this was really unbelievable for being just 60 degrees. We had dressed in layers; I was sitting in just a tank top and jeans crying that I wished I had worn my flip flops. The sun was very intense and there wasn’t a breeze anywhere. All the shop workers were in heaven with this weather.

 

 

 

Our friends did the tram to the top of the mountain and said it was just beautiful up there. I had been twice on previous cruises so I didn’t go and my DH hates trams so it was a definite no for him.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we drove to Mendenhall Glacier, the place was packed. The beautiful weather and being a Sunday, it was very crowded.

The nature walk was partially closed because of bears that were active in feeding of the salmon that was running this time of year.

We didn’t see any bears, but did see a lot of their habitats and sleeping places.

 

We left the glacier and drove back into town; for a little shopping before returning back to the ship. Where the Rhapsody docks, you need to take a bus into town, it stops right at the Roberts Tram where the Radiance is docked. This is the first time in 3 Alaska cruises that we had not docked at the tram. It is just a few minutes to/from the ship at the cost of $2 pp. What is interesting about this is the second week of our b2b, the buses were free. Go figure!

 

 

 

Some of the Juneau shops had already started their end of season sales; a ton of merchandise filled the shelves and racks, although size selection was limited on some things. Of course, we had the coupon books from the ships terminal in Seattle, I don’t think I ever did use any of them or get any of the FREE items. I guess its just one of those I’ve been there and done that kind of thing, as I can only use so many coffee cups, t-shirts and other Alaska novelties! Our second week the shops had drastically marked down for the final end of season sale, I knew this ahead of time so I did most of my shopping the second week.

 

 

We had another good day in Skagway, the weather wasn’t as good as Juneau, but at least it didn’t rain as predicted. Out friends did a few of the small tours while we shopped a bit. Our mission was to buy a small suitcase. It seems my DH insisted that I had packed them too heavily and was difficult to handle 4 of them, so now we have 5! Makes sense, huh? ;) My DH returned to the ship with new suitcase in tow while I enjoyed a bench on the side walk to people watch, coffee and make calls on my cell phone to take care of a few lose ends of things regarding the hotel incident in Seattle.

 

The glacier was probably the biggest disappointment of the cruise. Tracy Arm is difficult to get into because of all the ice bergs, understandable, don’t want to end up like the Titanic. :rolleyes: We didn’t get to see any calving but did see some beautiful water streams coming down from the top of the Fjords. They said we did get really close, but having cruised previous to Hubbard Glacier we were spoiled. Now with all that said, we knew this when we booked the cruise. We knew we would most likely not get into the glacier, but still at a distance it is an awesome sight.

 

We didn’t get off the ship in Victoria BC. Our friends love Victoria and had been there before and wanted to see a few things they had missed the first time.They said the Hop-On Hop-Off bus was the best way to see the city.

 

 

 

It was a nice and quiet day to stay on board and have the ship to ourselves. Today was the first day I made it to Park View Café for the famous roast beef sandwiches I kept hearing about. I was not disappointed, they are very yummy!! Now that I finally found this gem of a place I had to visit it again for some of the other delights they have to offer. I didn’t get back there until the second week of our b2b. Again I was not disappointed with the sandwiches and salads.

 

I'm still working on the second week, stay tuned!

 

 

***

 

 

 

Thanks for the review. I was on the Aug 31st cruise. I can't wait to hear what you have to say. Cruise from Hell..... I agree about the CL lounge. I finally got sick from the smoke. I travel alone and the lounge is where I spend most of my time. You were right, Amit was great. Looking forward to the balance of your review.I have been on 60 RCI cruises so I am not speaking lightly when I say worst cruise ever.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

This part is about my DH illness and not much about the cruise, ports, food, or much else because he was sick we just didn't do anything!

The second week was a total unfortunate set of circumstances.

All D+, suite guests and consecutive cruisers were assigned to Chops as our departure lounge. So as we sat in Chops waiting to be called, you know how that goes, you show up at your designated time only to hurry up and wait. There was just one other couple and the Cheif Security Officers wife as consecutive cruises.

 

We were finally called at 8:45 and we went down the escalator into the terminal, the customs officer waved us through as we told him we were doing a b2b. Then we encounter the little guy who puts everyone in line to board the ship when its time to check in. If you sailed out of Seattle, I’m sure you seen this guy, short, gray hair, glasses, beatty little eyes and has a very deep voice that sounds like he has laryngitis. Whoa! This guy wasn’t going to let us through for nothing, the Chief Security Officer comes over and tells “Mr. Know it All” that we are with him and he will take us upstairs back on the ship. Oh no you don’t says the little bugger, he was going to do thing his way no matter what! Again the Chief Security Officer says its OK, they are with me and they can proceed. Geez what does it take for this little bugger to understand? At last, but not with out his huffing and puffing that we were able to pass and go back upstairs. As I looked back from the escalator, I swear his beatty little eyes were boaring a hole into us!

 

Then, whoa, another person who takes authority too seriously. What did these people put in their coffee that morning? This person had 20 questions written all over him.... who, what, why and where do we think we are going? :eek:

Finally a very nice official looking man comes over and in the nicest way possible tells us that we can’t board until noon. WHAT! Its 9 am! I knew it all along, they are sanitizing the ship and everyone has to be off. So now what do we do, they have left us to sit there for three hours? I don’t think so. By now my DH is really not feeling well and says his stomach is feeling funny. Uh oh, please don’t let it be the NORO, but I think it may be. He hasn’t had an episode of anything, just feels funny and says he’d like to lie down. Where? On the floor of the terminal? By now about 45 minutes has passed and that same nice man comes over and I think oh boy more bad news. He tell us there is a chance we can board sooner, but not likely. Not ten minutes later he returns and pleasantly he says we are just waiting for the last passenger to disembark to make a zero count and we can re board. So in about 5 more minutes we were walking back on the ship. We get to the “bong” machine to insert your sea pass and low and behold they haven’t reset the voyage, it still shows the previous voyage date. Everything on this b2b has been one step foreword and two steps back!! But we finally make it on and of course another road block. We can’t get to our old cabin, can’t get to our new cabin, so we are in limbo with no where to go.

 

 

 

While waiting for the Muster Drill we ran into Maria, the Guest Services Manager. She was delightful and saw that DH didn’t look so good, told her about the b2b fiasco and she asked if we wanted to go to medical. Not really, he doesn’t have any real symptoms of anything, just tired. She said that if ever needed anything, just ask, she gave me her card, little did I know how much I would need her a few more times this week. Every time I saw her through out the week she asked how things were. I had to go to her for one incident that I will mention later.

 

 

 

 

We found a quiet space in the Shall We Dance Lounge that has sofa like seating and my DH sorta lay down until it was time to head up to the WJ for lunch. We got there just in time before the mad rush. The WJ has been declared a sterile zone and only the crew can serve you, this made for very long lines and some pretty frustrated passengers. They really had no idea how bad the previous voyage was and what the crew has been through to make it safe for them. Some didn’t even get lunch because the lines were too long and they just didn’t want to wait or have to be served that way. They had better get use to it because that lasted almost 5 days no self serve. Everything was served by the crew, from musicians, casino workers, singers and dancers, activities, managers, everyone! I must say they all did it with no complaints and always had a smile, even though they had very little sleep.

 

 

I know the new passengers for this sailing are completely frustrated and understandably so with the whole situation. Then there were others who were glad and appreciated it. You just can't please everyone, someone is always going to be disgruntled!

 

 

 

 

Cabins were to be ready at 3 pm, Muster was delayed a half hour and then cabins were delayed another hour and not ready till 4. One step foreword, two steps back!

 

 

 

So 4 pm comes and we are finally able to get to our new cabin. Previously we were told that they would move our entire luggage including the hanging garments in the closet. As I inserted the key into the door I held my breath thinking that nothing else had gone right so why would this. Surprise, its all there!!!

 

 

 

 

By this time my DH is desperate to lay down as all he wants to do is sleep. I asked if he wanted to go to medical, he said no, for what, he had no symptoms and was just tired and his stomach did feel a little better after he ate a little lunch. So he slept while I unpacked and got things organized. 6 pm rolls around and he pops up and says, you ready for Chops? We were going to use the BOGO offer on the first night. Sure, are you really up to it? Yep. He ate lightly, we visited the casino for an hour or so and we returned to the cabin for an early night as we were both tired and ready to just sit and relax.

 

The next morning it hit him hard, he had NORO. We went down to medical right away; he was given Imodium and confined to the cabin for at least 24 hours. I was free to come and go, but I stayed with him for awhile, but between bathroom visits all he wanted to do was sleep, so I let him rest. I would check on him every hour or so.

 

 

 

 

Day 2 of his illness he was feeling a little better but stayed in the cabin because he was weak, That night I took him to medical because he had severe stomach pains. He was treated with IV and some pain meds, he felt better and we returned to the cabin about 2 am. That afternoon he was a little hungry so we went to the WJ, he ate jell-o and some pudding.

 

We returned back to the cabin a few hours later and he wanted to nap again. I left the cabin so he could rest.We had kept the DND sign in the door. About 2 hours had past and I had just returned to the cabin to get my ipad and he was sleeping when there was a knock at the door. I didn’t use the security lock because I was headed right back out. I got to the door as fast as I could, but it was opening as I approached the door. Here was some room service guy opening the door to deliver something complimentary. I hit the roof, what on earth are you doing, where’s my DND sign??? It was in his had, he had taken it out to use his key to enter! OMG. I was furious. Remember earlier I said that I had to contact Maria from Guest Services? This is where I had to contact her? When I told her what happened her eyes got big as dinner plates, a million things went through her mind. What if I was naked? What if I was naked and alone in the cabin? What if we were….well, you know, hmmmm, fooling around? I told her I just don’t want it happening to anyone else and that maybe this guy didn’t know what the sign meant. Any way, the room service manager personally called to apologize and said he would take care of things, gee I hope the poor kid didn’t have to walk to plank or anything like that. :eek:

 

 

 

Again on Wednesday night I had to take him back to medical for the same stomach pains, he received the same treatment and we returned to the cabin. He felt great the next morning! This NORO thing just is taking its time!! But then on the last night of the cruise Thursday night he was in terrible pain and this time I went to the desk and talked to Maria, I broke down in tears and she hustled me in the back office. I told her that I wanted him to go to a hospital in Seattle; she called the Doctor to our cabin. He was give a strong sedative and pain medication, and set up for an ambulance to take him off in Seattle at 6 am in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its now been about 48 since I’ve had any decent sleep, I was afraid he would become sicker or need to get up to the bathroom. I packed up everything as we were instructed to leave everything in the cabin and they would transfer it over to the hospital. They came at 6 am with a wheel chair to go down to medical for the paramedics to come on board and take him off ship. As we left the cabin our sea pass bill was in the door, it said cash account! What! OMG our cc didn’t transfer over from the previous week, so now I have to leave him and run to GS and settle this bill. What do I encounter, a line of people, of course! I went right up to the front, apologized to everyone telling them my husband is going off in a ambulance, when one lady yells, hey, I’m in line here. Thank goodness the desk agent took care of me, but had to wait for it to get approved…it seemed like forever. Now I am running back down to medical just as the paramedics come in. I was impressed both doctors and nurses were there to make sure he was stable. They walked with us as far as the gangway. We get to the “bong” machine, DH hands over his sea pass card, it goes crazy, we have a cash account! So now they have to call the desk for approval to let us off…..here we go again, one step foreword, two steps back! Finally made it and off to the hospital.

 

 

 

Seattle: We were at Swedish Ballard, they took a CT scan of his belly. It showed an obstructed bowel. It also showed a gall stone. The Dr mentioned the gall stone and but didn't say much more about it. Now one of two things can be done about the obstructed bowel. Surgery is one of them, but first they want to try an NG tube to see if that takes away all the nasty stuff in his stomach and intestines. So the Dr goes this route. He says usually in 8 to 24 hours they will know if it works. He is admitted to the hospital.

 

So far, I haven’t mentioned we have travel insurance, we took it through RC. They were contacted the minute the ambulance was ordered. Because we had the travel insurance they did everything, booked my hotel, made all the travel arrangements home, they called twice a day to check in and see if I was alright or had any questions. It was a relief at this point to let someone else handle things as I was exhausted from the stress of DH illness and no sleep.

 

 

 

When you have travel insurance and there is a hospitalization, the insurance requires a Fit to Fly compliance from the doctor. Once that is completed they make all the arrangements. They paid for Dh ticket, I had to purchase mine, it will be reimbursed with a claim. Same thing for my hotel and any other out of pocket expenses. All we need to do is file a claim with our health insurance, wait for the EOB and then turn it in for refunds. Simple, just takes a bit of time.

 

 

 

Fast foreword to his release from the hospital in Seattle and flying home, all with no issues, he felt good, just tired ans weak, he really hadn't eaten much all week long. We were looking foreword to our own bed and pillow!!

 

 

 

We went out to breakfast Monday morning and he did very well, we ran errands. Monday night all he wanted was soup for dinner.

Monday night at 10:30 he is in extreme pain again, so I took him to our ER here. Gave the entire history of the NORO and copies of the hospital report in Seattle. They did another CT scan and ultrasound. He has a very angry gall bladder and a gall stone the size of a golf ball. They recommend to see a surgeon. He is released at 4:30 am and we already had an appointment with our Dr that morning. She took one look at him and the ER report and put him in the hospital. A surgeon was called in and he had his gall bladder removed that following day.

 

 

The gall bladder was dead and had turned gangrene. It really wasn't NORO after all, it was his gall bladder dying and giving almost the same symptoms of the NORO.

 

 

 

He doesn't remember much of the whole second week of the cruise and hardly anything of being in the hospital or the surgery.

 

 

Once the ship had returned to normal the WJ returned to self serve.

 

Sorry for all the people who couldn't or didn't want to comply with the procedures, but it was necessary and was under CDC compliance.

 

The ship and crew did an outstanding job of getting it under control. it may have been a little inconvenience, but the sick people are the ones who really paid the price.

 

 

A few comments on food and other observations.

 

 

My friend Maria at Guest Services told me that she put a family off in Juneau because they had a fight with crew member and refusal to wash and sanitize their hand upon entry of the WJ. YEAH!!!

 

 

No escargo, instead they had scallops served in the garlic butter.

 

 

The salad bar in the MDR on sea days is so good, I like the 30 minute lunch menu, it changes every day. I mostly had just the salad bar.

 

 

Lobster night was very good, actually some of the best lobster we've had on previous cruises. Our server came by with a plate of extra lobsters, no need to ask for more than one.

 

 

Art Auctions were in the Centrum, what people will do for a free glass of champagne! :)

 

CD was Casey, so much energy. Patrick was his side kick activity manager. Their morning show was always fun and quirky.

 

Horse racing was back! You didn't have to bid to own a horse, dress it up and parade it around all week. This was just the race itself. Betting was simple, if you won, it was automatically put back on your sea pass and it was just fun to watch.

 

We are glad to have all this behind us!

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Sorry for the way this has posted, the spacing is all wrong, I C&P from word to make it easier, not all jumbled together and difficult to read....sorry. :eek:

 

***

[NorbertsNiece]

OMG.

 

My DD and SIL have both had gall bladders removed but not under such circumstances. The pain is quite exceptional and often non-responsive to regular pain medication; so glad you finally got a proper diagnosis and that your husband has made a full recovery.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

OMG.

 

My DD and SIL have both had gall bladders removed but not under such circumstances. The pain is quite exceptional and often non-responsive to regular pain medication; so glad you finally got a proper diagnosis and that your husband has made a full recovery.

 

 

Thanks, I see you are a Linda too. :)

He is still weak, but getting stronger each day.

 

***

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

A couple more things I'd like to mention.

I brought my ipad and purchased a WiFi package on board the ship. I had no issues, it was quick, never really had a slow connection.

 

I've seen a lot of people asking, will my ipad fit in the safe?

It fit flat into the safe in the OV cabin, but wouldn't even fit the opening of the balcony cabin. Not all safes are the same!

 

As mentioned, we had to change cabins for the second week. We had a balcony on deck 7 starboard side (7620) Its right over the Schooner Bar.

We didn't have a much of a choice when we booked, normally it would of not bothered us, we would of been there or in the casino anyway.

 

At night they have what was called Adult Day Care... at night. A fun sing along with lots of interaction of guests and loads of laughter. It filters up into the cabin.....So just a word of caution on booking that area on deck 7.

 

***

[joand452]

Well, your trip sounded wonderful until... So sorry your husband and YOU had to go through this. I had gallbladder problems, too, but not so severe. Had it removed as elective surgery years ago.

 

We had an issue on our B2B on Oasis on turnaround day when our seapass cards didn't work, either. Not enough to turn us off going on another B2B.

 

All in all, your trip makes me want to cruise to Alaska again!

 

Best wishes to your husband for his continued recovery.

[mommabean]

I made the review! :)

 

Linda, I was so glad to spend some time with you at Tracy's. Mike looked great at that time. It's hard to believe what can happen in a few days time. I'm glad he's doing better now. I hope you are getting back to a normal life. Hugs to you, too.

 

Gina

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I made the review! :)

 

Linda, I was so glad to spend some time with you at Tracy's. Mike looked great at that time. It's hard to believe what can happen in a few days time. I'm glad he's doing better now. I hope you are getting back to a normal life. Hugs to you, too.

 

Gina

 

Hi Gina...of course you made the review! :)

Normal? We are looking foreword to that!

Did you price our post counts are almost identical?

 

***

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Well, your trip sounded wonderful until... So sorry your husband and YOU had to go through this. I had gallbladder problems, too, but not so severe. Had it removed as elective surgery years ago.

 

We had an issue on our B2B on Oasis on turnaround day when our seapass cards didn't work, either. Not enough to turn us off going on another B2B.

 

All in all, your trip makes me want to cruise to Alaska again!

 

Best wishes to your husband for his continued recovery.

 

TY Joan, our first back to back did leave us with a sour taste....I'm sure will try it again someday.

 

***

[mommabean]

Hi Gina...of course you made the review! :)

Normal? We are looking foreword to that!

Did you price our post counts are almost identical?

 

***

 

Oh, that's funny. I hadn't noticed. And now I see that we joined CC the same year, too. :)

 

I joined the month before our first ever cruise. I wanted to read reviews. I don't think I posted anything at all for a while. According to the reviews I read it seemed Navigator of the Seas and cruising was going to be horrible. :eek:

 

WOW! was I pleasantly surprised. :D

 

Gina

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Oh, that's funny. I hadn't noticed. And now I see that we joined CC the same year, too. :)

 

I joined the month before our first ever cruise. I wanted to read reviews. I don't think I posted anything at all for a while. According to the reviews I read it seemed Navigator of the Seas and cruising was going to be horrible. :eek:

 

WOW! was I pleasantly surprised. :D

 

Gina

 

 

My join date is from the conversion that CC did, I lost my previous 1200 + posts I had. I can't remember the actual date I joined prior to the conversion.

 

Won't be long before we reach the 10K post mark. :)

 

***

[mommabean]

My join date is from the conversion that CC did, I lost my previous 1200 + posts I had. I can't remember the actual date I joined prior to the conversion.

 

Won't be long before we reach the 10K post mark. :)

 

***

 

So did only some people lose their info in the conversion? I must have been part of the conversion and didn't know it but maybe I had no posts to lose at that point.

 

I think I should quit before 10K. LOL I am not a CC addict.

 

Gina

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

So did only some people lose their info in the conversion? I must have been part of the conversion and didn't know it but maybe I had no posts to lose at that point.

 

I think I should quit before 10K. LOL I am not a CC addict.

 

Gina

 

 

You may have been included in the conversion, I was out of town and even though I had access to a computer I didn't go onto CC, so I lost everything.

 

***

[bigeagle12]

WOW what an experience :eek:

 

Glad all ended well and Mike is doing fine.

 

Sounds like RCI staff did a good job. I usually opt for independent insurance but in your case sounds like RCI was really pro-active in taking care of hospital, transportation, accommodations, and flights home.

 

Let's hope all future cruises are less eventful ;)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Linda - thank you for the review. I am so sorry it ended up the way it did. Bad timing. I am surprised the Seattle docs were not able to diagnose that gall bladder problem, but they were fixated on the bowel obstruction, I'm sure. Still seems odd.... I am glad that Mike is doing better now.

 

I am glad you enjoyed your OV cabin during week 1. We have booked an OV for our Hawaii to Vancouver cruise in 2014. We booked one of the new cabins, the ones with the floor to ceiling windows on Deck 7. Did you happen to see any of those cabins? My only concern is that with the close proximity to the Centrum is the noise level. I don't expect it to be as quiet as the nice aft cabins we usually love, but hope that loud music, etc is over by 11 PM. The price of the balcony cabins is just to rich for my blood on that 13 night cruise, while the OV is very affordable. The location looks like it will be very convenient, too.

[Debitoo]

I'm glad your DH is doing better. Such a terrible experience for him. I hope your next cruise is amazing!

[Arizona Laura]

Linda..poor Mike and poor you. Mike was the sick one but it is difficult-all the worry and getting things taken care of. So glad he is better now after his surgery. Glad that RCL insurance experiences were positive. I always just purchase theirs. Hope you have both got caught up on rest and settling back in your routine somewhat.

Thanks for the review!!!

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Just now had a few minutes to look over our on line banking for all the charges of our credit card.

 

Wouldn't you know, the travel insurance charged DH's ticket, when his was to be paid by them. Their mistake and no problem in making a credit and a huge apology.

 

Then the hotel charged a 3rd night when we only stayed 2. Again their mistake and will be credited for the mistake.

 

I know there is a light at then end of the tunnel somewhere!!! ;)

 

***

[Debde]

Glad to hear your husband is doing well.

I have to give him a huge shout out because I had a gall bladder attack and was in so much pain until they took the darn thing out. How your husband withstood that pain while it was dying for as long as he did shows some pretty good strength!!!

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Glad to hear your husband is doing well.

I have to give him a huge shout out because I had a gall bladder attack and was in so much pain until they took the darn thing out. How your husband withstood that pain while it was dying for as long as he did shows some pretty good strength!!!

 

 

TY, I'll tell him. Yes he has a pretty high pain tolerance.

 

***