First Cruise since Covid - back to Alaska!
It was okay. Just got back today. The scenery and the ship itself was spectacular. June and I had a restful time. The wait staff and cabin staff were excellent, almost overly attentive. To my surprise and disappointment, I found out my cabin mate cannot go in the Diamond Lounge with me. I was told they cut that many years ago. My last RCI cruise was 2018 and that was not the case. They were not very nice about that and if looks could kill from the Diamond concierge I would be a dead woman. They said the room was too crowded and they had to cut back. There were 4 people in the room. I still had the 4 free drinks a day but none of the bars seemed to really comprehend that. Some days I got the 4, 2 days I was charged. I had to call and get the charges removed and then they took off a real charge that should have stayed, so another call to correct that, but it never did get fixed. The atmosphere of festivities aboard was rather nonexistent. No welcome from the captain or farewell. No Naturalist onboard or anything like that. I realize it is Covid but the Captain or a Naturalist could be on the stage and distanced. Some rooms are for vaccinated only. They only want 4 on an elevator at a time. That was not a problem because there were so few people on the ship. Weather was as expected in Sept. You had to wear a mask in public spots, restaurants until you sat down. It wasn't really a problem. The mask on the airplane was mandatory of course. Also, not an issue but when dragging a suitcase, it would have been nice to get more air! The shows were 1/2 good, 1/2 not so much. We had a nice variety of old movies for free on our TV.
The itinerary:
