Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 4 #1 Share Posted July 4 This post was recognized by LauraS! "Congrats on your first "Live from..." Thanks for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic! See your post featured on our: Click: Cruise Reports page. When you return, please consider submitting it to the site for publication as well: Click: Write a Review" BeforeSunsetLemonade was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' Hello CruiseCriticers! We’ve been long time wallflowers of this informative site gathering helpful suggestions over the years to make the most of our cruises. Though, we have never once posted or engaged in any friendly banter, we figured now could be the time to add to this collective with our thoughts and perspectives on how we cruise. CRUISE HISTORY We started cruising together back in 2009 on the Carnival Elation and have since sailed on 15 cruises (1 on Carnival, 1 on Royal, 2 on Celebrity, 5 on NCL, and 6 on Princess). We aren’t particularly loyal to any cruise line and typically choose a cruise based on schedule, itinerary, and price. Living in California, the majority of our cruises are of the Mexican Riviera or California Coastal variety. We have also cruised in the Caribbean a handful of times and have done one Mediterranean cruise. Separately, I’ve done an Alaskan cruise, while DH has been on two Atlantis cruises. PRINCESS HISTORY Our Princess journey began in 2014, which we titled our Pathway to Platinum. At that time we were living in Long Beach, CA and were a short 10 minute drive to the Port of San Pedro making it very convenient to jump on a ship. During that year, Princess was running weekend cruises allowing us the ability to cruise and not take any time off. So on Friday we would leave work at noon, oftentimes continuing to be on a conference call while boarding and going through security, and then we would be the first walk off passengers on Monday morning to start our workweek. This was also the time of the Great Recession and Princess had a deal where your entire cruise fare was given back to you as a future cruise credit to use on an upcoming sailing. So during this year, we booked mini suites for these weekend cruises, with our ultimate goal of ending 2014 sailing five times on essentially one cruise fare, obtaining Platinum status, and ending this journey in a balcony cabin on a 7-day New Years Cruise. In 2014, we did achieve Platinum status having sailed twice on the Golden and once each on the Sapphire, Star, and Crown. However, since achieving Platinum, we didn’t sail on Princess for 10 years and never experienced any of the Platinum status benefits until this year. ABOUT US We’re a gay couple with this year celebrating our 17th anniversary. We have no kids and no pets. We’re both in our mid-40s, though quickly approaching our late-40s. We’re both American born, with me growing up on the west coast and DH growing up in the midwest. We’re an interracial couple, with DH being white, while I’m a second generation Filipino American. Being Filipino on cruises is a unique experience as I can often overhear and understand communication in my family’s native language while walking throughout the ship. It also allows me to interact and engage with crew affectionately in many ways that others cannot. We both travel for work, each independently achieving Lifetime Platinum Elite status on Marriott. We also each maintain airline status on different airlines, so we often fly separately when going on trips. I’ve maintained A-List status on Southwest for close to two decades, and was 1K on United for five years, though the pandemic interrupted that and now I’m sadly only maintaining Silver status. We enjoy traveling to new places, experiencing new cultures, and savoring great meals. Cruising allows us to do just that. In addition to cruising, we also take land based vacations venturing around the entirety of the US inhabited jurisdictions (still needing to visit NC, WV, and the Northern Marianna Islands) and internationally to the Philippines a number of times, Japan twice, London twice, once to Dublin, once to Paris, once to Rome, and many times to Mexico. Now living in San Diego, CA, we take advantage of the CBX crossing giving us the ability to walk across the border directly into the Tijuana airport to take a Mexican domestic flight. It was so great during the pandemic where we would land in TJ, go through immigration and customs, jump into a shared ride service, and be home within an hour of landing. In addition, because we were considered land based crossers, there was no requirement to test on entry or return, making it less of a hassle to find someplace to test or figure out what to do if one tested positive. Now, with travel back in full force, we still take advantage of CBX for the cheaper domestic flights to travel throughout Mexico, it just takes longer to get home. OUR TYPICAL CRUISE We often cruise to disconnect, especially in the early days where WiFi wasn’t included and we could just leave our phone in the room safe. We also enjoy being on the ship and often choose not to go into town if it’s a port we’ve previously been. On the ship, we tend to start with a hot beverage, me with hot tea and DH with coffee. Then we do a workout with a group a class, typically a cycle or a HIIT class. This is followed by reading or playing games in the afternoon, with our favorite being Mexican train dominoes. We prefer to lounge in the shade and choose to find lounge chairs in the quieter places on the ship away from the main pool. We don’t typically go into the pool or use the jacuzzi. We do enjoy pre-dinner drinks and listening to the musicians in the smaller venues. We will mostly eat in the MDR, though will indulge at least twice in a specialty restaurant. We rarely go to the production shows, sometimes go to the comedians, and typically skip the game show type evening events. Our favorite activity is just meeting people and hearing such diverse perspectives from people all over the world. We also really enjoy going to the captain and crew talks, learning about the ship, how they operate, and hearing what it’s like to live on the ship. While in port, we don’t typically do excursions and would just prefer to explore the city on our own. Though, if we were to do an excursion, we book through the cruise line as the logistics just make it easier. We also don’t typically go into the casino, and really only gambled on our Celebrity cruises because those casinos were non-smoking. If we do gamble, it’ll most likely be craps. As far as drinks, we do enjoy a cold beverage, but we have never reached the 15 drink per day limit. We don’t typically order cocktails from the menu as we find those to be overly sweet. Instead, we will order Aperol Spritz’s or beer during the day, where I prefer lagers or micheladas and DH prefers IPAs or a Peroni. In the evenings, our pre dinner drinks can vary from an extra dirty vodka martini, to a Negroni, an old fashioned, a whiskey and ginger ale, or a vodka soda. We do always request a name brand spirit for our drinks. During dinner, we enjoy wine and have no problem with paying the extra charge if the wine isn’t covered by the drink package that we’re on. Our evening will always end with a Disaronno on the rocks. THE FOCUS OF THIS LIVE We don’t take many pictures, so if we remember, we may take pics and may post the Patter, which randomly we call the pizzette. We will not post pictures of the dining menus. You may get pictures of the ship, the scenery, and things we do in port. We also don’t do the evening production shows and won’t even pay attention to what those are nor what time they happen. We’ll tend to recap our day with commentary and reviews leaning towards our experience while being on the cruise. We’ll share the daily chisme from the things that we do or from things that we observe. We will talk about our drinkitas and food that we consume. We’ll share our thoughts on the small venue entertainment and comment about the service. We’ll also share our planning and prep for this journey, including how our Discovery Princess Super Bowl/Mardi Gras/Chinese New Year/Valentines cruise in February 2024 factored into planning for this Alaskan adventure. So if you choose to follow along, that’s what you’ll get from us in this live. So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 4 Author #2 Share Posted July 4 BOOKING After finishing our 2022/2023 New Year’s Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Celebrity Solstice, we began planing for our next cruise and decided on Alaska with Glacier Bay National Park. With Princess’ reputation for Alaska and having our Platinum status, that we’ve never used, we settled on Princess. Next, we decided that July 2024 would be the best time for us to go. With good friends living in Tacoma, WA, we agreed to spend some time with them prior to embarking on the cruise out of Seattle, WA. With a quick search, we found the July 6th sailing on the Discovery Princess, meaning that we could spend the Fourth of July with our friends. With Discovery being the newest Princess ship sailing at the time of booking, we became even more interested in this particular sailing. We have also always wanted to have a true aft facing room and agreed that Alaska would be the best place to sail in one. With that, we were set with the itinerary and schedule, and began to search for deals. We started looking at booking directly with Princess to understand what their baseline price would be. Since we’re top tier members of a big box club (our TA) and, since we have their cobranded credit card and get 2% cash back on booking travel through them, we also looked at their price for this cruise. Through our TA, the price of our chosen cruise was virtually the same (our TA’s price was two dollars more). In addition, our TA was offering $150 of onboard credits, plus $450 in a gift card to their brick and mortar store once the trip completed. So with that, we selected our room, booked through our TA, and paid our deposit. ADAPTATION OF PLAN Prior to booking our flight, we shared what we got from our TA with our Tacoma friends and they decided to take advantage of it too. So, we changed plans and decided to spend the holiday at home and to just meet them on the ship. We found a great direct round trip flight on Alaskan Airlines that would get us to Seattle by noon the day before embarkation and quickly booked that. We then booked our pre-night stay at the Moxy Seattle Downtown as they had the cheapest rates of the Marriott branded hotels in the Seattle Downtown area. We’re not big fans of the Moxy, having just stayed in one in Dublin, with their open concept including no actual closet, no drawers, and little desk space, that it doesn’t make it an easy room to stay in for the week. Plus they have those annoying automatic bright lights that turn on at night when you’re trying to use the toilet. However, we figured we could deal with the Moxy for one night. BOOKING DINNER AND EXCURSIONS One of the Platinum perks is the ability to secure dining reservations once the cruise is booked. Linking our friend’s reservation to ours was super easy as we just needed their booking number. We setup a virtual call on a Friday to catch up and plan for the cruise. We were able to identify which specialty dining we wanted along with the dates and times. We settled on booking the Catch on the first sea day and the Crown Grill on the second to last night. We also discussed dinner reservations in the MDR for the other nights. DH and I are big fans of the Deadliest Catch, so booking the Deadliest Catch Crab Fisherman’s Tour excursion in Ketchikan was a must book. Our friends decided to pass on this excursion. In Skagway, all four of us booked the Klondike Summit to Sea Bicycle Tour. While in Vancouver, we all booked the Butchart Gardens, though we have since cancelled as the itinerary changed from originally arriving at 7:00 PM to a revised arrival of 9:00 PM. Once we cancelled, the cost of the excursion was automatically credited to our credit card within a couple of days. For Juneau, DH once had Alaska as part of his region, so he is very familiar with Juneau. With that, our plan is to explore the city on our own. Since we booked our excursions eight months ago, the prices have gone up considerably, so we’re glad we prebooked all these in advanced. For example, we paid $129.95 per person for the bike tour in Skagway and it’s now $204.95, while we paid $219.95 for the Deadliest Catch tour and now has a price of $349.95! ADDING ON A PRE CRUISE With our friends joining us and with a port intensive itinerary, we identified that we wouldn’t have much time to experience the Discovery. This led us to search Discovery’s full itinerary and we found a 5-day cruise out of San Pedro starting on February 10, 2024. This sailing would have Chinese New Year on the 10th, the Super Bowl on the 11th, Fat Tuesday on the 13th, and Valentine’s Day on the 14th. The cruise itinerary only had one overnight stop in Cabo San Lucas, MX, arriving on the 12th at noon and departing on the 13th at 1:00 PM. We once were on a cruise during NFL wild card weekend and had such a blast that we have always been looking for an opportunity to do another one. Cruising on the Super Bowl, being able to experience the Discovery before the Alaskan cruise, and with the deal though our TA (2% cash back on the cruise, $25 onboard credit, and a $120 gift card once the trip concluded), sealed the deal. So, with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizonaperson Posted July 4 #3 Share Posted July 4 @BeforeSunsetLemonade Looking forward to following along on your live AK cruise. Very informative so far. Enjoy all the scenery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 4 Author #4 Share Posted July 4 OUR 360 EXPERIENCE ON THE MEXICAN RIVIERA CRUISE As the friends joining us for this Alaskan cruise weren’t interested in 360, we decided we would do it on our Mexican Riviera cruise. Yes, this is pricey, but it’s certainly in line with a nice land based dinner. We have done the Le Petit Chef on Celebrity, which we thought was cheesy and a bit racist, so we knew what to expect with how the meal would interact with the projection. However, we were certainly wrong. This exceeded our expectations. WELCOME The check in for the evening is under the stairs in the main atrium. Once checked in, they take your picture and hand you a cocktail with an aquafaba foam stamped with the 360 logo. Once everyone was gathered, we were then escorted through Sabatini’s (now the Catch by Rudy) by a violinist while being greeted by staff. Yes, those dining in Sabatini’s were staring at us as we were paraded through the restaurant. We were told which seat was ours and were escorted to that seat. The violinist continued to serenade us as we were seated. Once seated, our host greeted us and in front of us a picture of the 360 logo with our name under it appeared. FIRST COURSE First course had pitted olives, viscous olive oil, a tzatziki sauce, and pita bread paired with a lovely cocktail. The olive oil was incredible. If no one was watching I would have picked up that bowl and slurped it up. Since this was the first course, we didn’t take into account that the dinner is timed and they don’t wait! They give you plenty of time to enjoy, though if you’re not eating fast enough, they will take the plate once they are ready to move onto the next course. SECOND COURSE The second course was the most perfectly cooked, tender, melt in your mouth octopus topped with caviar and surrounded by micro-greens. Of all the dishes in the evening, this was my favorite course. The combination of favors with the complexity of textures made this dish spectacular. This course was paired with a white wine. THIRD COURSE We then were brought the third course of a caprese salad. The buffalo mozzarella was creamy, the tomatoes were just tart enough, and the basil was very fresh. FOURTH COURSE The fourth course was pasta al limone. This course would be our second favorite of the evening. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, while the creamy lemon sauce provided the perfect balance of savory and tart. They do share the recipe up on the projection, so be ready to snap a picture of it to recreate the meal at home. Additionally, they infused the room with a lemon scent enhancing the lemon flavor. Additionally, this is where the projection on the table comes into play with the lemons dancing on the plate while you eat. The experience of the sights of lemon groves and the projection of the table where it reacts to touch, the smell of the aroma, the elevated narration to explain each course, and the taste of the dish is a well balanced experience for all the senses. FIFTH COURSE The fifth course was prosciutto and other cured meats, which was great, though the star of this course was the wine. The Grenache is aged underwater where sea creatures envelop the bottle. There are only a limited amount of bottles produced each year and we were honored to be able to indulge in it. SIXTH COURSE With the sixth course, we were treated to a perfectly cooked tenderloin with charcoal salted butter. It is true that one cannot choose the temperature of the steak, though trust the chef, as these were exceptionally prepared. The charcoal salted butter certainly added to the steak, though the steak was perfect on its own. This was topped with a deep fried prawn, which added some texture. SEVENTH COURSE The final course was inspired by a honey and lavender custard. Once again, they infused the room with a lavender scent to enhance the flavors. It was a nice dessert to end the evening. OVERALL IMPRESSIONS We have had many amazing culinarily experiences including dining at Michelin star restaurants, memorable prepared food at fancy establishments, and some spectacular food from unexpected eateries. In fact, my top most memorable meal was eating fresh caught uni at the old Japanese fish market in a nondescript food stall. That uni melted in my mouth, was so buttery, briny, and sweet, that I still salivate at the thought of that meal. This experience was well worth it. It is certainly a better executed event than the Le Petit Chef on Celebrity. The use of the projection was not gimmicky and instead added to the playfulness of the meal. The thoughtfulness of the narration was done to prepare the senses of what was to come. The use of aroma to fill the room enhanced the flavors of dishes. Each course was also paired really well with the alcoholic drink that went with each course. Princess certainly put something together to allow all one’s senses to be engaged throughout the experience. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Would we do it every time we’re on a ship that has this experience? Probably not. Are we doing it on this upcoming Alaskan cruise? No. Is it worth the money? Yes! At $149 per person, it’s a reasonable price to pay for the elevated service and chef (Princess) selected meal for the evening. So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voljeep Posted July 4 #5 Share Posted July 4 8 minutes ago, BeforeSunsetLemonade said: OUR 360 EXPERIENCE ON THE MEXICAN RIVIERA CRUISE As the friends joining us for this Alaskan cruise weren’t interested in 360, we decided we would do it on our Mexican Riviera cruise. Yes, this is pricey, but it’s certainly in line with a nice land based dinner. We have done the Le Petit Chef on Celebrity, which we thought was cheesy and a bit racist, so we knew what to expect with how the meal would interact with the projection. However, we were certainly wrong. This exceeded our expectations. WELCOME The check in for the evening is under the stairs in the main atrium. Once checked in, they take your picture and hand you a cocktail with an aquafaba foam stamped with the 360 logo. Once everyone was gathered, we were then escorted through Sabatini’s (now the Catch by Rudy) by a violinist while being greeted by staff. Yes, those dining in Sabatini’s were staring at us as we were paraded through the restaurant. We were told which seat was ours and were escorted to that seat. The violinist continued to serenade us as we were seated. Once seated, our host greeted us and in front of us a picture of the 360 logo with our name under it appeared. FIRST COURSE First course had pitted olives, viscous olive oil, a tzatziki sauce, and pita bread paired with a lovely cocktail. The olive oil was incredible. If no one was watching I would have picked up that bowl and slurped it up. Since this was the first course, we didn’t take into account that the dinner is timed and they don’t wait! They give you plenty of time to enjoy, though if you’re not eating fast enough, they will take the plate once they are ready to move onto the next course. SECOND COURSE The second course was the most perfectly cooked, tender, melt in your mouth octopus topped with caviar and surrounded by micro-greens. Of all the dishes in the evening, this was my favorite course. The combination of favors with the complexity of textures made this dish spectacular. This course was paired with a white wine. THIRD COURSE We then were brought the third course of a caprese salad. The buffalo mozzarella was creamy, the tomatoes were just tart enough, and the basil was very fresh. FOURTH COURSE The fourth course was pasta al limone. This course would be our second favorite of the evening. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, while the creamy lemon sauce provided the perfect balance of savory and tart. They do share the recipe up on the projection, so be ready to snap a picture of it to recreate the meal at home. Additionally, they infused the room with a lemon scent enhancing the lemon flavor. Additionally, this is where the projection on the table comes into play with the lemons dancing on the plate while you eat. The experience of the sights of lemon groves and the projection of the table where it reacts to touch, the smell of the aroma, the elevated narration to explain each course, and the taste of the dish is a well balanced experience for all the senses. FIFTH COURSE The fifth course was prosciutto and other cured meats, which was great, though the star of this course was the wine. The Grenache is aged underwater where sea creatures envelop the bottle. There are only a limited amount of bottles produced each year and we were honored to be able to indulge in it. SIXTH COURSE With the sixth course, we were treated to a perfectly cooked tenderloin with charcoal salted butter. It is true that one cannot choose the temperature of the steak, though trust the chef, as these were exceptionally prepared. The charcoal salted butter certainly added to the steak, though the steak was perfect on its own. This was topped with a deep fried prawn, which added some texture. SEVENTH COURSE The final course was inspired by a honey and lavender custard. Once again, they infused the room with a lavender scent to enhance the flavors. It was a nice dessert to end the evening. OVERALL IMPRESSIONS We have had many amazing culinarily experiences including dining at Michelin star restaurants, memorable prepared food at fancy establishments, and some spectacular food from unexpected eateries. In fact, my top most memorable meal was eating fresh caught uni at the old Japanese fish market in a nondescript food stall. That uni melted in my mouth, was so buttery, briny, and sweet, that I still salivate at the thought of that meal. This experience was well worth it. It is certainly a better executed event than the Le Petit Chef on Celebrity. The use of the projection was not gimmicky and instead added to the playfulness of the meal. The thoughtfulness of the narration was done to prepare the senses of what was to come. The use of aroma to fill the room enhanced the flavors of dishes. Each course was also paired really well with the alcoholic drink that went with each course. Princess certainly put something together to allow all one’s senses to be engaged throughout the experience. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Would we do it every time we’re on a ship that has this experience? Probably not. Are we doing it on this upcoming Alaskan cruise? No. Is it worth the money? Yes! At $149 per person, it’s a reasonable price to pay for the elevated service and chef (Princess) selected meal for the evening. So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 3 hours? do 'they' get upset if you don't try every course? - I might could sneak in a bite on some of those 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 4 Author #6 Share Posted July 4 5 hours ago, voljeep said: 3 hours? do 'they' get upset if you don't try every course? - I might could sneak in a bite on some of those I don’t think they get upset. They just take it away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 5 Author #7 Share Posted July 5 PREPARING FOR ALASKA One of our favorite things to do is look out into the distance and see what other ships are around us. For this trip, we’ve taken it a step further and compiled a list of cruises that we should expect to see on this adventure. We started by looking at which ships would be in port with us, then looked up those ships itineraries. In addition, to assist in packing, we also looked up the weather forecast for each day. Here’s what we should expect: July 6, 2024 Seattle 3:00 PM Ships in Port PCL Discovery 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM NCL Bliss 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM HA Eurodam 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM Forecast Sunny 51° - 87° Precipitation 2% Sunrise 5:19 AM Sunset 9:08 PM July 7, 2024 Cruising Forecast Partly cloudy 51° - 65° Precipitation 6% Sunrise 5:17 AM Sunset 10:14 PM July 8, 2024 Juneau 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM Ships in Port PCL Discovery 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM HA Eurodam 12:30 PM to 10:00 PM HA Koningsdam 1:30 PM to 10:30 PM CCL Miracle 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM X Edge 1:30 PM to 10:00 PM NG Sea Lion 6:00 to 10:00 PM Forecast Mostly cloudy 53° - 69° Precipitation 6% Sunrise 4:06 AM Sunset 9:58 PM July 9, 2024 Skagway 5:30 AM to 8:30 PM Ships in Port PCL Discovery 5:30 AM to 8:30 PM HA Koningsdam 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM CCL Miracle 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM X Edge 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Forecast Mostly Cloudy 57° - 70° Precipitation 19% Sunrise 4:00 AM Sunset 10:11 PM July 10, 2024 Glacier Bay 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM Ships in Port PCL Discovery 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM HA Koningsdam 6:15 AM to 2:45 PM Forecast Overcast with rain 49° - 58° Precipitation 58% Sunrise 4:13 AM Sunset 10:03 kPM July 11, 2024 Ketchikan 7:00 AM to 1:15 PM Ships in Port PCL Discovery 7:00 AM to 1:15 PM NCL Bliss 6:30 AM to 1:15 PM HA Eurodam 6:30 AM to 1:00 PM HA Koningsdam 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM PCL Royal 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Viking Orion 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM Oceania Regatta 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM Forecast Overcast with showers 53° - 62° Precipitation 38% Sunrise 4:21 AM Sunset 9:22 PM July 12, 2024 Victoria 9:00 PM to 11:59 PM Ships in Port PCL Discovery 9:00 PM to 11:59 PM NCL Bliss 8:00 PM to 11:59 PM HA Eurodam 8:00 PM to 11:59 PM Forecast Sunny 56° - 71° Precipitation 5% Sunrise 5:25 AM Sunset 9:12 PM July 13, 2024 Seattle 7:00 AM Ships in Port PCL Discovery 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM NCL Bliss 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM HA Eurodam 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM Forecast Sunny 59° - 79° Precipitation 5% Sunrise 5:25 AM Sunset 9:03 PM ITINERARIES OF NOTE We were also interested in what each ship’s schedule would be and put together this table. The number in parentheses is the number of times we will be with that ship, with the all caps indicating what port we will share with that ship. Ship Dates Schedule NCL Bliss (4) 7/6 to 7/13 SEATTLE Sitka Juneau Icy Strait Point KETCHIKAN VICTORIA SEATTLE HA Eurodam (5) 7/6 to 7/13 SEATTLE JUNEAU Glacier Bay Sitka KETCHIKAN VICTORIA SEATTLE HA Koningsdam (4) 7/6 to 7/13 Vancouver JUNEAU SKAGWAY GLACIER BAY KETCHIKAN Vancouver CCL Miracle (2) 7/5 to 7/15 San Francisco JUNEAU SKAGWAY Tracy Arm Fjord Sitka Prince Rupert BC San Francisco X Edge (2) 7/5 to 7/12 Seattle Ketchikan Tracy Arm Fjord JUNEAU SKAGWAY Victoria Seattle NG Sea Lion (1) 7/8 to 7/13 JUNEAU Leconte Bay/Thomas Bay Sumner Strait Wrangell Island Misty Fjords National Monument Ketchikan PCL Royal (1) 7/6 to 7/13 Anchorage Hubbard Glacier Glacier Bay Icy Straight Point Juneau KETCHIKAN Vancouver Viking Orion (1) 7/3 to 7/13 Seward Valdez Yakutat Bay Skagway Icy Strait Point Juneau Sitka KETCHIKAN Inside Passage Vancouver Oceania Regatta (1) 7/9 to 7/19 Seattle KETCHIKAN Juneau Skagway Icy Strait Point Hubbard Glacier Sitka Victoria Seattle PACKING Looking at the schedule and the weather forecast allowed us to figure out how to pack. Additionally, CruiseCriticers have given us helpful suggestions on what to bring, including: Binoculars Magnetic hooks Air freshener Umbrellas Travel bidet Gloves for the buffet (other people are disgusting 🤮) Blue tape for the annoying automatic lights Post-it notes for communicating with our room steward MagSafe Medallion Wallet CASH TIPS We’re aware that this is a controversial topic, and maybe it’s because we’ve been traveling for work for so long, we often bring extra cash tips for our room steward, dinner servers, and bar staff. While we also keep the automatic gratuity, we value the hard work that the staff provide and feel that we should provide additional tips for those that served us personally. Since we hardly ever keep cash on hand, we did go to the bank to withdraw what we needed for this trip, which is the last thing we needed to do before we depart. So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare vickykay Posted July 5 #8 Share Posted July 5 Looking forward to your review. Have never been on Alaskan cruise but thinking of one in the future. Enjoy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare azbirdmom Posted July 5 #9 Share Posted July 5 We will board the ship the day you disembark. It will be our 9th Alaska cruise, we need to escape the Arizona summer (118 today!) and there's no better place to do it than Alaska. I used to assemble the weather forecasts by day too but I learned that the weather can change quickly in Alaska. So it's best to pack layers and waterproof things so you're ready for anything. You'll also find that the HAL ship will be the only ship at the same port with you in Seattle. NCL docks downtown, right across the street from the Seattle Marriott Waterfront. Princess and HAL dock roughly two miles north of there. Have a wonderful time! Will be following along. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 5 Author #10 Share Posted July 5 52 minutes ago, azbirdmom said: We will board the ship the day you disembark. It will be our 9th Alaska cruise, we need to escape the Arizona summer (118 today!) and there's no better place to do it than Alaska. I used to assemble the weather forecasts by day too but I learned that the weather can change quickly in Alaska. So it's best to pack layers and waterproof things so you're ready for anything. You'll also find that the HAL ship will be the only ship at the same port with you in Seattle. NCL docks downtown, right across the street from the Seattle Marriott Waterfront. Princess and HAL dock roughly two miles north of there. Have a wonderful time! Will be following along. Thanks for the info about HAL and NCL. Super helpful! Enjoy your trip! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 5 Author #11 Share Posted July 5 PACKING Packing yesterday was a bit of a chore. Bringing sweaters and cold weather clothes, plus waterproof shoes, and coats meant that we had to bring a non-carryon size bag. Since we have no status with Alaskan Air, it also meant figuring out how to keep the bag to under 50 pounds. We were able to get everything we wanted, though we decided to forgo the waterproof shoes to get our bag to weigh 49.6 pounds. GETTING TO SAN With all the news hype of how busy the airports were going to be, we decided to give us plenty of time to we live about 10 minutes drive to the airport, so instead of leaving an hour before the flight, we left our home two hours before and ordered the Uber at 7:00 AM. When ordering, it gave us an estimated 4 minute wait and it was right on the estimate. Once at the airport, it was certainly busy, but not as crazy as we thought it would be. We printed out our luggage tag, dropped it off, and found the TSA Precheck like. It’s days like this that we’re happy to have Global Entry, TSA Pre, and Clear to help expedite the security line as the traditional security line looked like it would take at least half an hour, whereas we were through security within 5 minutes. FLIGHT When we do fly together, we will sit aisle and window and hope our middle neighbor is pleasant. For this trip, a middle-aged heavy set woman sat between us. She proceeded to take EVERYTHING out of her carryon. There was five charging cords, two headphones, three drink bottles, and a bag of cashews. On the flight, she asked to use all of the charging ports including the charging ports in front of both our seats. It’s always comical to see how others fly. Beyond that, the flight was uneventful until we landed at SEA. We actually landed 20 minutes early, and because our gate was still occupied, they held us on the runway. Twenty minutes later, they announced that the plane at our gate had pushed back, but we couldn’t pull in since there was no ground crew and that we would circle the runway waiting for the ground crew. Twenty minutes later, we pulled into our gate. SEA is under construction, though they still guaranteed that bags would be at the baggage claim within 20 minutes. They announced on the plane that our bags would be at baggage claim 14. We proceeded to claim 14 and no bags. After waiting 20 minutes, the bag claim begins to move and on the screen shows San Jose, so clearly not our flight. We hear a rumor that our bags have been moved to bag claim 8. So, DH follows a group of people down to 8. However, this bag claim is used by United. So DH, proceeds back and on his way he sees bag claim 12 with a whole gaggle of bags and miraculously spots our bag. There was no sign indicating that is where our bags would be, nor did they ever make an announcement. So DH came back and told all around me where our bags were. So now 45 minutes since we exited the plan, an hourish total since we landed, we proceeded to order our ride share. RIDE SHARE We figured it would be expensive, but wasn’t expecting it to be that expensive. We were certainly wrong. Uber quoted fairs of $70 to $80, with Lyft about the same. Though we chose Lyft since I had a 25% off promotion. In total though, it was still $54 + $12 tip. MOXY We’re staying the night at the Moxy Downtown Seattle. While new, I could not stay in this room for more than a night. This room is tiny, with barely any space around the bed, no closet, no desk, no drawers, and surprisingly, no fridge. The location, though, is great. There’s a CVS down the street, where we picked up some water, and tons of restaurants around. We ended up at the Local, where they have daily happy hour M to F from 2 to 5. We got there just as happy hour started, and in time to watch France eliminate Portugal. After lunch, we grabbed some iced drinks and walked around Lake Union. As it’s really hot today, there were many people swimming, boating, paddle boarding, and just being in the water. We’re now bacrk at the hotel room, taking showers and are looking forward to meeting some from friends for dinner. So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherryf Posted July 6 #12 Share Posted July 6 On 7/4/2024 at 11:31 AM, BeforeSunsetLemonade said: The final course was inspired by a honey and lavender custard. Once again, they infused the room with a lavender scent to enhance the flavors. This is the first time I've seen confirmation that they pipe in lavender scent. Thank you! Now I know I will definitely NOT do the 360, due to allergies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XBGuy Posted July 6 #13 Share Posted July 6 9 hours ago, sherryf said: This is the first time I've seen confirmation that they pipe in lavender scent. Thank you! Now I know I will definitely NOT do the 360, due to allergies. Perfectly understandable. My wife has similar problems, and we have debated whether or no she would be affected by the induced aromas. She is not allergic to. say, lime, but we are not sure that the lime aromas that would be introduced are 100% natural. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wink87 Posted July 6 #14 Share Posted July 6 12 hours ago, sherryf said: This is the first time I've seen confirmation that they pipe in lavender scent. Thank you! Now I know I will definitely NOT do the 360, due to allergies. Agree. We are in an owners suite in Sept and received an invite to experience 360 for free. Pass. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serious Cruisers Posted July 6 #15 Share Posted July 6 Awesome review so far thanks! Last week review was a gentleman with some 'issues' that had nothing to do with cruising 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KarmaCruisers Posted July 6 #16 Share Posted July 6 Enjoy the cruise; we just got off of her and she’s in fine shape. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 6 Author #17 Share Posted July 6 STARBUCKS RESERVE We woke up really early this morning at 5 AM when the sun rose. The early morning rise really does wonder for not being able to sleep. We lounged around a bit, read, showered, and got our stuff ready for the day. By 7:30 AM, we made our way to the Starbucks Reserve. Getting there that early, we had our pick of seats and plopped ourselves right at some bar seats. We both ordered some salmon brioche sandwich, while DH had an almond milk coffee drink, and I had a tea latte. We sat there for about an hour enjoying our leisurely breakfast, while the hectic of the store happened around us. GETTING TO THE SHIP After dinner last night, we went to QFC to see if they had the Coffeemate Italian Sweet Cream creamer. Seeing as they only had one left, we strategically hid it behind some other creamers hoping it would be there in the morning. After Starbucks, we went back to the same QFC, and lo and behold, it was just where we put it. So we grabbed that, a bottle of Chandon, checked out, and headed back to the Moxy to grab our luggage. We ended up ordering an Uber from the Moxy at 10:45, we’re picked up promptly at 10:47, these Ubers are quick in Seattle, and were dropped off at 11:00 AM. The fare was slightly more than what we expected. When we were dropped off, there was a LONG line that snaked around. This line was for people dropping off their luggage. We decided to forgo this, and instead were directed around the line to right to the security check. The line for the security check took about 5 minutes, and within 18 minutes of being dropped off, we were right on board! LUGGAGE Seeing as it was only, 11:18 and rooms wouldn’t be available till 1:00, we found some seats in the Wheelhouse bar. DH had the great idea to see if the room steward was out there to ask if we could just drop our bags off. He found our room steward, asked if we could drop our bags off, gave him a $20, and came back down to retrieve me and our luggage. Thus, we were free of our luggage and proceeded to meet up with our friends. UNPACKING After chatting with our friends, we decided to grab a light lunch at the International Cafe. They had a mixed seafood soup, which was ok, though the caprese salad sandwich was amazing. By this point, it turned to 1:00 and they announced that our rooms would be ready. Since we had all our luggage, we unpacked, ironed the shirts that needed to be ironed, and made our way up to the adults only pool for sail away. We’re now relaxing with our Aperol spritzes watching the land pass us by. So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 6 Author #18 Share Posted July 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallyj Posted July 6 #19 Share Posted July 6 @BeforeSunsetLemonade, did you not know or desire a ‘sit down’ lunch in the Ketchikan dining room from 11:30-1pm? The embarkation lunch menu is unique and the only day Orange Soufflé is offered. Many passengers make this a not to miss opportunity if arriving to ship early enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Fishbone Posted July 7 #20 Share Posted July 7 @BeforeSunsetLemonade I'm loving this trip report! Keep it coming! Safe travels to you both! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 7 Author #21 Share Posted July 7 1 hour ago, wallyj said: @BeforeSunsetLemonade, did you not know or desire a ‘sit down’ lunch in the Ketchikan dining room from 11:30-1pm? The embarkation lunch menu is unique and the only day Orange Soufflé is offered. Many passengers make this a not to miss opportunity if arriving to ship early enough. We did know about the embarkation lunch, and decided to skip it for the start of this cruise. When we took the Cabo cruise in February on the Discovery, we went to the embarkation lunch and wasn’t too impressed. That could be due to our fault though, since we ordered the veggie burger, which was smashed garbanzo beans, with carrots, peas, Lima beans all mushed together. We were expecting a fake meat, much like a beyond burger, so when we got that mush of a meal, it didn’t satisfy us. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringsPalm Posted July 7 #22 Share Posted July 7 Thanks for posting this. I love reading detailed reports! I was smiling while reading your research. I do much the same. It's so satisfying to feel as prepared as possible. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 7 Author #23 Share Posted July 7 DAY 1 EVENING ACTIVITIES After spending the afternoon relaxing on our aft facing balcony, where we saw a pod of dolphins enjoying the ships wake, we showered and got ready for dinner. We met up with our friends at the Crown Grill Bar for some pre dinner drinks, with DH getting a Negroni and I had an extra dirty kettle one martini, which was not as briny as I prefer, though still very drinkable. The two bartenders, William and Oscar are fantastic. We enjoyed chatting with them while they made our drinks. For dinner, we went to the Ketchikan MDR at 6:40 and the line to be seated was only five parties deep, so we were seated within 7ish minutes. We had a four top that had views outside to the water. It was amazing having the sun out and seeing land while we ate dinner. For dinner, I started with the gravlax and the Greek salad. The gravlax was accompanied by slices of beets, radishes, and salmon roe and when eaten together was spectacular. The Greek salad was a mixture of cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, and feta dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. The main course was a cod dish that I absolutely cleaned the plate. Our server Ossbert and his assistant Joepep were amazing. At the end of the meal, Ossbert asked us if we would like to have this table and their service for the rest of the cruise and we said YES! So, for the rest of our time here, we can just walk straight into the MDR to our table. AFTER DINNER ENTERTAINMENT After dinner, we headed over to Take 5 to listen to some wonderful jazz. Our friends retired for the evening, though DH and I weren’t yet ready for bed. So we headed to the Crown Grill Bar for some Live Music with the Two Voyagers, which were two guys on electric violins playing 80s and 90s pop. They were just on and were engaging enough, so we decided to head to O’Malley’s for the Irish Music with the Rambling Rovers. These two fellas told small tidbits between songs and the music was lively, upbeat, and engaging! That ended our night, So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 7 Author #24 Share Posted July 7 DUCKS! When we got to our room, we were greeted by a duck placed at the entrance of our door. On the bottom was drawn the state of Idaho. This morning, when we awoke, we found another duck, though this time it was on our balcony. It’s been fun finding these ducks, as we’ve never found any on our previous cruises. We suspect that they are from the room next door. RANDOM ROOM THOUGHTS Having an art facing room is wonderful. It’s so peaceful to just watch the wake and hear the constant churning of the water. Also, because our room is extra deep and partially covered, there is virtually no wind back here, making it pleasant to sit. ROOM PHONE On our room phone, the light to show that one has a message kept blinking, so we called guest services and they walked us through how to clear the light. We just had to simply unplug and replug the phone and the phone would reset. INTERNET The internet is ok. Sometimes slow. BREAKFAST ROOM SERVICE We ordered breakfast to be delivered from 6:30 to 7:00 and at 5:50, we had a knock on the door with our food. It was actually perfect since we had been up since 5:00. Having our own creamer made it extra special morning. So with that… Till we wave 🌊 again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BeforeSunsetLemonade Posted July 7 Author #25 Share Posted July 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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