RCL

Royal Caribbean, Travel

On a recent Royal Caribbean cruise, we got a letter in our cabin from Port Valet.  This is a service offered by the Port of Seattle to check-in for your flight, receive your boarding passes, and have your luggage sent directly from outside your stateroom to your home airport.  We didn’t take advantage of this service on our cruise (because we were staying an additional night in Seattle), but it sounds very similar to a service offered by Disney Cruise Line. read more

Royal Caribbean

Billowing Smoke
Billowing Smoke

Today was our first sea day of the cruise!  Nancy got up early and went up one deck to the Solarium Cafe to get us some coffee.  Once she returned we got everybody up and dressed.  We then decided to head to the Windjammer for breakfast.  Once we got there, it appeared that everyone else on the ship had the same idea.  The buffet was nuts and we spent about ten minutes just looking for a table.  Once we found a table (all the way in the back),  we sent groups off to get food.  The quality of the food was good and we enjoyed breakfast, but we definitely didn’t enjoy the crowds. read more

Royal Caribbean

Opening Screen
Opening Screen

On a recent Royal Caribbean cruise on Ovation of the Seas, we got to try out the Royal IQ app.  This app is available on iPhone or Android and needs to be downloaded before you get on board the ship.  We weren’t quite sure what we were going to get with the app, but after having sailed, we are happy to share what we have learned. read more

Royal Caribbean

Izumi
Izumi

While on a recent Royal Caribbean cruise on board the Ovation of the Seas, we got the opportunity to try Izumi. Izumi is a specialty upgrade restaurant found onboard a number of Royal Caribbean ships.  The restaurant has an a la carte menu.  You can also visit the restaurant as part of a dining package, which is what we did.  Since we used a dining package, we were granted $35 per person and anything additional would be charged to our stateroom. read more

Royal Caribbean

Painting on the Menu
Painting on the Menu

While on a recent Royal Caribbean cruise onboard the Ovation of the Seas, we got the opportunity to try Wonderland. Wonderland is a specialty upgrade restaurant found onboard a number of Royal Caribbean ships.  The upgrade is $45 per person.  You can also visit the restaurant as part of a dining package, which is what we did. read more

Royal Caribbean, Travel

Dunkin Donuts at Dulles Airport
Dunkin Donuts at Dulles Airport

One of the downside sometimes of getting free flights is that they tend to happen at odd times.  In this case, our flight to Seattle for our Alaska cruise was scheduled to leave Dulles at 7:00 am.  The night before our flight, I got an alert from United that our flight would be delayed by 30 minutes.  The message said that we should still show up on time, so that is what we planned on.  read more

Royal Caribbean

Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier

For the summer of 2019, we had originally decided on a 10-night Mediterranean cruise on the Disney Magic.  As we got into the Summer of 2018, we came to the conclusion that we couldn’t make the cruise work with our schedule and our budget.  We already had a few cruises in the books that we had to pay for as well as a lot going on that would make it hard to plan a Europe trip.  Canceling that cruise was a huge burden lifted off our shoulders.  read more

Royal Caribbean

Ovation of the Seas - Deck 13
Ovation of the Seas – Deck 13

We recently went on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas for a 7 night Alaska Glacier Cruise (departure date August 16, 2019).  We stayed in room 13132, which is a Category 5D Ocean View Balcony.  It is located on the port (left) forward (front) side of the ship on Deck 13.  It is located immediately under the Solarium pool deck, which was unfortunate because there were times when we could hear the noise of chairs being moved around.  We loved the location of the room other than that.  It was super convenient to head up one deck and be right at the Solarium or family indoor pool area. read more