Btimmer's Not Very Almost Live Quantum trip to Alaska - 5/16-23/2022

[reallyitsmema]

10 hours ago, J0Y0US said:

What time was your boarding time? What time did you show up? Were they enforcing arrival times at all? 

 

Also sorry about the Victoria excursion. 

We are also on this cruise and had an 11am check in time. We got to the port just after 10:15 and the check in was already started. We are in a suite and had received an email the night before from KK the suite concierge telling us to look for a blue banner for sky suites. No banner anywhere.  It really didn’t matter as the lines inside and outside were moving fast. Our ArriveCan QR code was checked at least three times. People were pulled out of line if it wasn’t completed. We had everything we needed and preceded through the multiple checks quickly. We were sent up the escalator for check in and were in seats just after 10:30. A few hundred were already in seats at this point. 
 

We spoke to a man who seemed to be in charge of releasing the masses to board and we asked about suite boarding. He pointed to a set of chairs to the right and told us he would signal us to board first. He also sent others to that area too. Boarding opened right before 11am. 

[Catmoon]

1 hour ago, Btimmer said:

Tge Castle & Buchart Gardens tour.

Do you know why it was cancelled? Time of excursion too late in the day? Not enough signed up? No reason?  We're on essentially this cruise next year. I have my heart set on going to Butchart but understand "things happen". 

[Btimmer]

14 minutes ago, Catmoon said:

Do you know why it was cancelled? Time of excursion too late in the day? Not enough signed up? No reason?  We're on essentially this cruise next year. I have my heart set on going to Butchart but understand "things happen". 

"Operational reasons" was all that was given.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Btimmer

[Minorhawk]

We are on the Quantum June 6th...Will be following your journey...Enjoy!!

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Minorhawk

[Btimmer]

Another Important Tip

 

if you want to eat at any of the specialty dining restaurants, make your reservation before boarding or as soon as you board the ship.  By the end of day 2, all dinner reservations for the rest of the cruise were gone.

 

We spent the afternoon watching rehearsals at the 270 venue in the aft of the ship.  It's a wonderful venue with a glass wall 30' tall facing aft and the wake of the ship. This evening it's the site of the rock n roll party.

And for those who like towel animals, yes they are present.

[J0Y0US]

11 hours ago, Btimmer said:

make your reservation before boarding

 

Can you do this with unlimited dining? From my understanding I had to wait and go to an actual restaurant.

[happy cruzer]

Also if you can't get a reservation for the specialty restaurant, can you just show up to get in?  Thanks for the report.

[Biker19]

16 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Also if you can't get a reservation for the specialty restaurant, can you just show up to get in? 

At an unpopular venue at an unpopular time/date, maybe.

[Btimmer]

1 hour ago, J0Y0US said:

 

Can you do this with unlimited dining? From my understanding I had to wait and go to an actual restaurant.

I don't know as we don't have unlimited dining.  We have been told to book all reservations through the APP.

[Btimmer]

As twangster reported in his thread last week, the internet has gotten slow to non-existent after we left the northern tip of Vancouver Island.  It's really slow sailing into Icy Straight Point.  

But it's drop dead gorgeous outside with calm waters and snow capped mountain ranges on both sides of the Quantum.

[psuboater]

7 hours ago, J0Y0US said:

 

Can you do this with unlimited dining? From my understanding I had to wait and go to an actual restaurant.

We did Quantum on the 4th with the UDP.  I was able to get reservations for Jamie's on the app once connected on the ship's wifi. Chops was showing booked solid on the app, but the first thing I did when I boarded was I went to Chops to make reservations for 2 nights which was no problem at all for 6 people. We couldn't do anything prior to boarding/connecting to Wifi with the UDP.  

[psuboater]

6 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Also if you can't get a reservation for the specialty restaurant, can you just show up to get in?  Thanks for the report.

We went to Izumi for 5 on a sea day for lunch when it opened and had no issues getting in. However, I heard the May 4th ship was 50% capacity so  your experience might vary. 

[J0Y0US]

6 minutes ago, psuboater said:

We went to Izumi for 5 on a sea day for lunch when it opened and had no issues getting in. However, I heard the May 4th ship was 50% capacity so  your experience might vary. 

 

Were they allowing carryout do you know? My plan was possibly getting it to go and eating with the rest of the family at another restaurant instead. 

 

I heard in the past this was possible but didnt know about now. I would only be getting rolls. 

[psuboater]

5 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

Were they allowing carryout do you know? My plan was possibly getting it to go and eating with the rest of the family at another restaurant instead. 

 

I heard in the past this was possible but didnt know about now. I would only be getting rolls. 

I did not personally use that, but I did see To Go orders when I was sitting there. Enjoy!

[Coralc]

4 hours ago, psuboater said:

We did Quantum on the 4th with the UDP.  I was able to get reservations for Jamie's on the app once connected on the ship's wifi. Chops was showing booked solid on the app, but the first thing I did when I boarded was I went to Chops to make reservations for 2 nights which was no problem at all for 6 people. We couldn't do anything prior to boarding/connecting to Wifi with the UDP.  

We had the UDP...and I couldn't make reservations on the app when we were onboard Navigator. It kept wanting to charge me, and was driving me absolutely bonkers. When we went to make reservations, most/many were not available. 

[Btimmer]

It's been a busy couple of days with slow internet.  Yesterday was Icy Strait Point and today we are in Skagway with 3 other ships.

 

its been drop dead gorgeous and Juneau tomorrow is expected to be the same.

 

Last night we had dinner at Izuni's and loved it!  Tonight we plan to eat at Dim Sum noodle bar.  It's not on the app's restaurant list.

 

[Btimmer]

Here's what drop dead gorgeous looks like.

 

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:16 PM, Btimmer said:

Tge Castle & Buchart Gardens tour.

What are your port times at Victoria, the reason might be by the time you get to that port both the Castle and Garden maybe closed or about to be close.

 

Sometime they extend the hours on both those places if ships are in but it may be to early in the season for them to do that right now.

[Btimmer]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

What are your port times at Victoria, the reason might be by the time you get to that port both the Castle and Garden maybe closed or about to be close.

 

Sometime they extend the hours on both those places if ships are in but it may be to early in the season for them to do that right now.

RCCL should have known the hours when they started accepting reservations.  I knew that the Gardens closed at 5; I assumed that RCCL had made arrangements for after hours viewing.  It's no major loss as we live close enough to visit anytime.

[Btimmer]

Here's some evening pictures.  We're on a slow cruise down the inside passage and will be at Endicott Arm by 5 am for scenic cruising into Juneau.

Taken at 10:40pm.

 

Panorama at sunset 

 

[Crazy planning mom]

Beautiful pictures.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

[irishgal432]

15 hours ago, Btimmer said:

It's been a busy couple of days with slow internet.  Yesterday was Icy Strait Point and today we are in Skagway with 3 other ships.

 

its been drop dead gorgeous and Juneau tomorrow is expected to be the same.

 

Last night we had dinner at Izuni's and loved it!  Tonight we plan to eat at Dim Sum noodle bar.  It's not on the app's restaurant list.

 

Can you please post the Dim sum Noodle resturant menu?  Did not know that this was an option.  The trip looks fabulous.

[Jimbo]

5 hours ago, Btimmer said:

RCCL should have known the hours when they started accepting reservations.  I knew that the Gardens closed at 5; I assumed that RCCL had made arrangements for after hours viewing.  It's no major loss as we live close enough to visit anytime.

Maybe because the Covid is ramping up again on RCL ships they just don't want people to ride all together in a bus 1 hour each way.

Maybe if you really want to see it and confirm beforehand it is actually open , take either a private car service or taxi.

[WeMissSeaView]

Did you notice when you boarded if the COVID testing was being done in the terminal or outside the terminal?  We have a 2-year-old grandson that has to be tested again when we check in.  If it was outside the terminal, we will show up early to get it done by our check in time.

[turftoe]

I will be on this trip in July with my family. Looking for any advice and pointers.

 

Thank you for posting and sharing your pictures and thoughts!