Countdown!

Only 26 days and we will board the Explorer of the Seas for our Alaska cruise! With the oppressive heat we have had lately it is all the more enticing! 

Our Shuttle

I found this Seattle Shuttle for our inbound trip to Seattle for the cruise. They will pick us up at the airport, secure our luggage, then drop us off at Pike Market Place. They will pick us up at our desired location and transfer us to the ship for our cruise! This will be a great way to spend a few hours, have breakfast, etc. There are so many shops to see, one of my favorites is the Fish Market! This is a great price and for eight of us it works out to just $12.25 per person and $3. per bag! 

Slight Change

We have a slight change in plans. We will be flying up and back with the rest of the family to take this cruise. We decided not to take another Road Trip at this time. We are lacking the energy and the weather is just too oppressive to head out. 

Explorer of the Seas

Deck 6

Right now we are in Cabin 6316, Deb & Sam 6647, Steven & Saira 6651, and Jeff & Kathleen 6649. It is possible we might change these if something is available to get us closer together.  When we first booked for a June cruise, we were closer but then we switched to August and this was the closest we could get. Perhaps after the final payment date there will be other options when people cancel. Either way, we are close enough and it will be great! Not sure how well this deck plan will show up. 

Deck 6

Our Final Payment

Today we made the final payment on this Alaska Cruise. It is just one week but most of the kids are coming along and they can't take off more time than that. Haven't been cruising with the kids in a LONG time so we are really looking forward to it!

RCCL Explorer of the Seas

Itinerary

Alaska!!!

In May 2016, we began planning this Family Cruise to Alaska. A few ups-and-downs along the way but the final payment date is coming up so those who are going to go are pretty much in place now! John and I will be somewhere near Seattle camping and then do like we did for the Harmony Cruise, find a kennel for Tony and a place to park our rig. 

Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas

Some Nice Stops

Post Cruise Thoughts (We traveled 2,094 nautical miles)

In no particular order:

Diamond Perks - My favorite is the Diamond Lounge morning coffee. YUM!

WOW Bands - good, but have a draw back. You have to take them off and hand them to the staff when you want to pay for something. Sometimes they are a little stubborn  to buckle. However, they are quite handy when opening your door with hands full and you don't have to carry around your card on the ship if you don't want to. You MUST still have your Sea Pass card to exit and enter the ship. 

Voom Internet on RCCL - At least on the Harmony, it's a good deal. It works well and you purchase a DAY at a time, not X number of minutes. Therefore, if it runs a little slow you are not stressing over running out of minutes. Best Internet we have experienced at sea. If you pay for the upgrade streaming package you can even stream things via Netflix, etc. 

Largest ship in the world - It is very nice for sure, modern, lovely. We didn't feel like it was crowded at all. There is so much to do you may feel you are not "doing enough" to justify being on such a great ship. Relaxing on my balcony is one of my favorite things to do.  

Ice - Ice in your room is by request only. It is a small container and doesn't keep for very long. IF you have your room done morning and evening (we usually don't) you would be all set I suppose. Otherwise, good luck getting ice. It is just easier to bring an extra glass or two of ice with you when you head back to your cabin. 

Solarium area - It was a bit crowded on a sea day. However, there were still lounges available. Sadly, the cabanas were snagged immediately and even though people seemed to never be IN them, they still kept them. I read somewhere that after you leave your things for 30 minutes the pool staff will collect them and you can retrieve your things from them, this never happened. I did casually ask about that rule and got a look of surprise that the staff apparently didn't know about that or it was not done in the Solarium. I didn't want to make an issue of it so it was unclear. 

Sports area - It was not crowded when we were there, but that was a port day. A fun place to do things and even to just watch! 

Balconies - I think I would only choose an Ocean View balcony (which we have). The other balconies limit your privacy. I wonder about the noise level being on the Boardwalk balconies with the Boardwalk below and the Sports Deck above? We didn't end up going on the Cruise Critics Cabin Crawl, too bad as we could have seen other balconies and heard about them from the occupants.  

If I think of more I will add it later!