Just booked our first RC cruise to Alaska, July 5, 2019!

halfmonkey

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 25, 2011
Woo hoo! We're super excited. It'll be our first trip to Alaska, our first trip through RC, and our first time in Seattle (port city). We booked it through Costco and will be getting quite a bit back in cash cards. Plus, we booked using the Costco Visa card so we'll be getting some good points with that too.

So now that we booked, I'm hoping you fine folks can help us out. Just like when we booked our very first DCL trip, we need help with tips and tricks for our first RC trip. Since this is our first trip with RC, I don't even know what questions so I should be asking so please jump in and offer any kind of tip and trick.

Some information as it may help with your tips and tricks. It'll be 7 of us. 3 kids, ages 11, 10, and 6 at time of travel plus two grandmas. We booked two rooms. Unfortunately they don't have connecting rooms like on DCL that can accommodate 7 of us so we had to book one room and then book two rooms over. We're planning on spending 5 nights in Seattle to explore the city prior to our cruise and come straight home to SoCal after the cruise. Since the cruise leaves on Friday, July 5th, we'll be able to spend July 4th in Seattle. Looking forward to that! Side tips....where should we try and stay to get the best view of fireworks without having to leave our hotel and mess with crowds? It seems like the best fireworks fire off on or near Lake Union?
 
So looking up which ship you're on... Ovation? Nice.

Make sure you register for Royal's online portal. The data on the main page is still kind of sparse but believe me, it's 10x better than what it was 2 months ago.

In any event, portal access lets you get into the Cruise Planner. Right now, you'll probably see some of the standard add-ons like Beverage Package, Specialty Dining and Internet. Shore Excursions will pop up soon if they haven't already, and roughly 4 months out from your cruise the free Entertainment schedule will appear. You'll need to book shows through the Planner.

Note: I'm not sure about when North Star appears in the Planner, but you have to do it through there. I'd guess that in Alaska, it will be very popular. Might be a charge though.

I'll be interested to find out what you end up doing in Seattle. Only been there a couple of times for a Day trip from Vancouver. Basically went to Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. So I was super-touristy.
 
So looking up which ship you're on... Ovation? Nice.

Make sure you register for Royal's online portal. The data on the main page is still kind of sparse but believe me, it's 10x better than what it was 2 months ago.

In any event, portal access lets you get into the Cruise Planner. Right now, you'll probably see some of the standard add-ons like Beverage Package, Specialty Dining and Internet. Shore Excursions will pop up soon if they haven't already, and roughly 4 months out from your cruise the free Entertainment schedule will appear. You'll need to book shows through the Planner.

Note: I'm not sure about when North Star appears in the Planner, but you have to do it through there. I'd guess that in Alaska, it will be very popular. Might be a charge though.

I'll be interested to find out what you end up doing in Seattle. Only been there a couple of times for a Day trip from Vancouver. Basically went to Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. So I was super-touristy.

Yes, we're on the Ovation. I specifically looked for a cruise on the Ovation because I was looking at the cruise ships that sail to Alaska and the Ovation looks way nicer than the other two ships sailing.

Thanks for the tip of logging into the Cruise Planner. I didn't even think of setting up an acct on RC's website like how we log into Disney's cruise website to register. Didn't even cross my mind. I wasn't able to do anything, at least not anything that I tried to do like book entertainment, dining, or drinks. It looks like I can only book excursions so far.

Never been to Seattle so I'll be buying a Seattle travel book and reading about what there is to do. We'll do the usual like the Space Needle and the Pike Place Market for sure. Also, like I mentioned, we'll be there over the 4th of July so I'm also planning around the festivities too. I've done some research and it looks like they shoot the fireworks over Lake Union.
 
Congratulations on booking. You should enjoy yourselves. I did a similar cruise in 2016.

Food for thought items for you as you plan. Since you are an experienced cruiser some of it will probably be common sense, but I'll put it down anyway.

Dining: Where you eat is very much a matter of preference and what type of clothing you want to pack for dinner. The Windjammer is a buffet open for all three meals and typically opens for dinner at 6 pm; it is casual (no swim suits) dress. All of the other restaurants require reservations, the one exception is if you are already assigned a time in the main dining room. They also have dress codes ranging from casual to dressy casual to super dressy (formal night/captains dinner). Some of the special restaurants you will be able to book in cruise planner in a few months.

Cruise planner (RCL's online portal): I have a love-hate relationship with it. Drink and internet packages typically start showing up 365 days before the cruise, as will most of the specialty dining options. Shore excursions will start being added after the 365 day point. If you want to do some pre-planning, look at what is being offered this year, or on cruises at the beginning of next season so you know what you like and do not like. You will also start receiving emails from RCL with discounts for drink and internet packages and some shore excursions. Do not book your drink packages - if you choose to go that route - without it being on sale. If you know there is something you want to do at one of the stops that is not a listed excursion, reach out to RCL Private Journeys and they can help customize something for you.

Motion Sickness. Even if no one typically has a problem, take the medication/bracelets/candy with you. The only cruise I have ever had a problem on was this one. The first night out of Seattle we caught the tail end of a really bad storm and the first sea day the ship was pitching. I spent most of the day sleeping in self defense; in talking with others on board there was a long line for the ship's doctor for medication.

Other things:
*There will be an arcade on board. If your kids are into that type of thing find and read the small print regarding charging on their SeaPass card at the arcade. You may not be able to do that until 90 days out though.
*Lay out the rules for the kids charging anything to their SeaPass card - milkshake at Johnny Rockets, cupcake at the cupcake shop, items at the store, etc.
*Start looking for lanyard holders for their SeaPass cards. The card will need to be held in a plastic sleeve attached to the lanyard. If they have Disney ones use them on RCL. No one will (or should) care.
*At check in your kids will be given color bracelets that they will need to wear the entire trip. The bracelets are coded with their muster station information on it and are mandatory for all children under a certain age (not sure if it is 11 or 12).
*Have your kids go to the Kids Club meet and greet the day you get on the ship.
*Your state room will be tiny with 5 of you in it. If possible have the kids pack in duffel bags instead of suitcases, or make them share a suitcase. This gives you less to store in the closet or room.
*If you receive information about ‘Luggage Valet’, and your airline participates, I strongly suggest paying the fee. The program will take your luggage from the ship to the airport saving you the hassle of having to collect it after disembarking. The program is not offered at all ports.
*The last night your luggage needs to be outside your door by either 10 or 11 pm. Make sure all items that you keep out will meet TSA guidelines.
*Sign everyone up for Crown & Anchor.
*Every time you get on the ship you will go though security, it is similar to TSA.
*The fewer electronic devices the better, or plan your charging schedule carefully. Depending on the ship I have had only 2 outlets in a stateroom.
*Plan for rain and cold and be thrilled if it is warmer than you expect. The day you go to the Fjord it will be much colder than you expect. While I was there much later in the season, it was colder than I had planned for (had a few 40 degree days!). The day it rained umbrellas were pretty much worthless because of the wind.

Hope this helps.
 


Enjoy your cruise! We will be on Ovation just a couple of months before you, sailing out of Sydney to New Zealand. For our cruise, only excursions and spa packages are available to book at this point. We were told to expect everything else July/August so I am keeping my eyes open just in case but not expecting much for awhile yet.
 
Motion Sickness. Even if no one typically has a problem, take the medication/bracelets/candy with you. The only cruise I have ever had a problem on was this one. The first night out of Seattle we caught the tail end of a really bad storm and the first sea day the ship was pitching. I spent most of the day sleeping in self defense; in talking with others on board there was a long line for the ship's doctor for medication.

Oh! I didn't think sailing in the summer that motion sickness would be much of a concern even though sailing to Alaska is a cold area. Since we've never been to Alaska or Seattle before, does it still get bad weather even in July where it's bad enough to rock the boat and cause bad motion sickness?

So something that I noticed as I was going through the dining options. It doesn't look like the Ovation of the Seas has a brunch buffet like DCL has with Palo. Can anybody confirm this or did I miss it?

As far as dining is concerned, we have an 8pm dining time. Does the dining work like how Disney works where they rotate you through the different dining rooms? If not, can someone explain to me how RC works with their dining?

Does anybody have any recommendations as to which specialty dining we should book? As a family? Just the two of us? For just the adults? If the regular dining rotation food is good, maybe we'll book our speciality dining for our lunch meals instead?

Does RC do tastings like how DCL does mixology?

Can someone explain how drinks work with RC? Do you have to pay for all of your drinks unless you get some kind of drink package? In other words, is there a charge for soda, kids juice, milk, tea, etc or are these drinks free and the drinks package is for the speciality drinks like wine, beer, or cocktails?
 
Oh! I didn't think sailing in the summer that motion sickness would be much of a concern even though sailing to Alaska is a cold area. Since we've never been to Alaska or Seattle before, does it still get bad weather even in July where it's bad enough to rock the boat and cause bad motion sickness?

Storms can happen at any time, any season, and not all storms make landfall at the same strength they were at sea. You might have perfect seas the entire time, or you might not.

So something that I noticed as I was going through the dining options. It doesn't look like the Ovation of the Seas has a brunch buffet like DCL has with Palo. Can anybody confirm this or did I miss it?

As far as dining is concerned, we have an 8pm dining time. Does the dining work like how Disney works where they rotate you through the different dining rooms? If not, can someone explain to me how RC works with their dining?

Does anybody have any recommendations as to which specialty dining we should book? As a family? Just the two of us? For just the adults? If the regular dining rotation food is good, maybe we'll book our speciality dining for our lunch meals instead?

Does RC do tastings like how DCL does mixology?

I have never been on a Disney cruise so do not know what they offer. On RCL some type of food is typically available from 6 am until 9 pm. Windjammer (the buffet) is typically open from 7 am to 10:30 am, 11 am to 3:30 pm and 6 pm until 8 or 9 pm. Food is also available at both a coffee shop and pizza place. Your 8 pm dining reservation will be for the main dining room. In my experience the specialty dining restaurants are only open for dinner. As to what you book, take a look at the menus posted on line and see what appeals to you. The handful of times I've eaten in the main dining room I found the food to be quite good. Any tastings would be part of specialty dining.

Can someone explain how drinks work with RC? Do you have to pay for all of your drinks unless you get some kind of drink package? In other words, is there a charge for soda, kids juice, milk, tea, etc or are these drinks free and the drinks package is for the speciality drinks like wine, beer, or cocktails?

Water is available free of charge. Basic black coffee and tea is typically available at the Windjammer. Anything else - soda, juice, bottled water, specialty coffee, non-alcoholic fancy drinks (for example virgin strawberry daiquiri) and alcoholic drinks - has a charge (and mandatory tip) per drink if you do not have a drink package. There are different types of packages so take a look. If the adults only want a glass of wine at dinner, it might make more sense to just pay for that each night instead of buying a package that includes alcohol. We typically do the Refreshment Package - which covers anything but alcohol - and RCL ends up losing money on DH as he drinks a lot of iced coffee and pop.
 



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