Trip Index
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As mentioned in my
last post, I was working towards my
Master Cruise Counsellor certification and one of the requirements was to sail on two 7-night cruises, on cruise lines not previously submitted in my
Accredited Cruise Counsellor application. I had already sailed a
7-nighter last June on Celebrity Equinox in the Mediterranean. I didn't have a specific destination in mind for my second cruise, but this past February, I saw a great deal for a balcony room on a 7-night Alaska cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's
Jewel of the Seas, so let's go!
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| our Alaska itinerary |
The cruise started in Vancouver, BC and ended in Seattle; I purchased a one-way flight to Vancouver on Alaska Airlines and a one-way flight from Seattle on Southwest Airlines. Kaleb and I planned to stay the night before the cruise in Vancouver, at the
Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel on a travel agent rate, and one post-cruise night in Seattle, at the
Hilton Seattle hotel, utilizing the anniversary bonus free night certificate I received by fulfilling purchase requirements on my
Hilton HHonors Reserve credit card.
To put our packing abilities to the test, Kaleb and I decided to cram everything for the cruise in a carry-on and a backpack for each of us. We planned on not going to formal night in the dining room so Kaleb could forego packing a suit, which helped a lot.
Here is what I packed for a 7-night cruise:
1 navy-blue knee-length dress
1 leopard print dressy top
2 smart casual blouses
1 casual long dress
1 pair of black leggings
1 sweater
3 lightweight
thermal tops
1
wicking t-shirt
1
packable down jacket
1 waterproof shell jacket
1 bikini
1 pair of
hiking pants that zips down to shorts
1 pair of athletic capris
1 pair of flip flops
1 pair of
trail runner shoes
1 pair of gloves
1 knit beanie
1 floppy hat
2 pairs of socks
enough undergarments for the trip
cosmetics and toiletries
Of course I planned to re-wear some of the items. (not the underwear hopefully)
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| all this stuff... |
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| ...packed in my carry-on |
I love to use
packing cubes as I can smash my clothes into them and keep my carry-on organized. I also use plastic grocery bags to bundle my shoes and keep dirt contained. I stuffed small items like socks inside my trail runners.
My backpack contained toiletries, electronics, and miscellaneous small items. On the day of travel, I wore a pair of skinny jeans, a cotton t-shirt, a zip hoodie, a scarf, and a pair of Tieks
black patent ballet flats.
Our Alaska Airlines flight to Vancouver had a short layover in Portland. The jet was small (operated by Horizon Air), with a 2-2 row configuration. There was enough legroom and the cabin was bright and airy. One nice perk is that Horizon offers
complimentary beer and wine, which Kaleb enjoyed.
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| Bombardier Q400 jet |
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| decent legroom |
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| sandwiches we bought at the airport |
|
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| what entails "wholesomeness"? |
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| complimentary beer and wine offered |
When we arrived in Vancouver, we got through customs and immigration, then headed to the bus stop to catch a free shuttle to the Sheraton. The hotel shuttle was shared between Sheraton, Hilton and Marriott, with the Sheraton being the last stop. Since it was around midnight, check-in was quick. Our room was comfortable and quiet.
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| king bed |
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| decent sized room |
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| one of these is complimentary |
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| Starbucks and Tazo refreshments |
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| good size bathroom with tub/shower combo |
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| plastic cups... |
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| safe and refrigerator |
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| the view outside in the morning |
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Friday morning, we planned to check out of the hotel at 11:30am and take the
Canada Line rail from Lansdowne Station to Waterfront Station and walk a few blocks to
Canada Place, where Jewel of the Seas was boarding. (I had also done the same thing on a
girl's cruise a few years ago) Lansdowne Station was a few long blocks from the hotel. When we got there, it turned out that the transit company had some service disruptions
earlier that morning and decided to give everyone a free ride...how convenient!
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| normally it'd cost $4 CAD on weekdays |
Embarkation was a bit mismanaged. It seemed like there wasn't enough staff to police the lines. There were two ships in port, Jewel of the Seas and Celebrity Millennium. The signage in the cruise terminal for each ship was not clear (or at least was not placed further back in line) such that passengers found themselves standing in line for the wrong ship. Some people became irate and were venting at the closest staff member, who eventually got so fed up that she angrily screamed at her subordinates, telling them that they need to put people in the right line. The atmosphere was pretty tense. It got even worse as we got deeper into the terminal. The lines moved very slowly; I think it was almost the longest I have ever waited for embarkation. Then we entered a room where there were chairs set up in organized rows for people to sit and wait. One lady was directing folks to sit down in groups; then each group was called to get in line to clear immigration. (since the ship was stopping next in Alaska) This line eventually got backed up such that it snaked next to some of the people sitting down. Kaleb and I were part of a group that was sitting in the farthest chairs from the immigration line. As I watched the process unfold, eventually I knew that the chairs closest to immigration would be recycled and new people would be directed there. This, in addition to the line overlapping the seating, was ripe for mutiny due to human nature, especially if passengers were getting tired and hungry. (or should I say "hangry"?) The new people sitting down had just entered the waiting room and had no idea that there was a "pecking order" to who would be next to join the immigration line, so when they saw the end of the line pass their way, a few of them got up and added themselves to the line. This was witnessed by the couple of hundred people who were sitting patiently, and guess what? One by one, everyone decided to get up and join the line. It didn't help that the lady that was originally policing the people had stepped out of the room. Chaos ensued! Kaleb and I continued to sit patiently and laughing at human nature at work. A couple next to us also stayed; we both remarked that we've waited this long already and eventually will get on the ship, so why push and shove? Finally the one staff member returned to the room and saw what was going on and stopped new people from entering the room entirely until we all were cleared through. I didn't experience any of this the last time I was here, but then again, I think we arrived earlier, so if you're embarking on a cruise from Canada Place, it's best to show up early.
Immigration was done via electronic kiosk; I swiped my passport, answered a few questions, then took a printout to the next available U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer to finish. Then it was off to ACTUAL check-in. Due to my having
Platinum Crown and Anchor Society status (Royal Caribbean's loyalty program), we were able to get into a priority check-in line to bypass the crowds; the queue was empty, so we were able to get our SeaPass cards right away and board the ship at last after standing in line for two hours!
Our balcony room was on deck 9 starboard, at the very front of the ship. The unmarked door at the end of the hallway probably went to the bridge, as leaning out on our balcony rail, we could see it jutting out and officers walking back and forth.
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| king bed |
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| can be separated into two twins |
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| I pre-paid an excursion |
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| I think I see the captain |
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| bath with sliding shower enclosure |
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| convenience is expensive |
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| inside the mini-bar |
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| Platinum Member offers |
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Day 1 Cruise Compass and inserts:
It was time to eat! We hit the buffet...nothing too exciting.
Then we roamed around the ship, then played a quick game of mini-golf.
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| the theater |
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| main dining room |
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| Day 1 dinner menu |
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| Day 1 dessert menu |
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| warm covered pool area |
Sail-away was delayed due to the long lines in the terminal so we decided to have dinner. Our cruise cards didn't have a table assigned despite my having selected 6pm dining at booking; we found out that we were moved to
My Time Dining instead. It wasn't a big deal since it was just the two of us. We went to the My Time Dining podium outside of the main dining room and selected a 5:30pm reservation, table for two. I was wondering so many two-tops could be accommodated since it's usually difficult to secure. It turned out that the dining room ingeniously put together several two-tops that could make a long table for 8 or 10, so the tables were easily separated for smaller parties. One waiter and assistant could then service all the tables, whether they were two-tops, four-tops, or larger. The result of this is interesting; you have implied "privacy" because the tables are separated, but you could choose to talk to your table neighbors since they were literally inches away.
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| table 622 |
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| two other two-tops are inches away |
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I was delighted to see escargots on the sail-away menu, but it wasn't very good. The garlic butter sauce was foamy with an unpalatable yellow-green color and not much flavor. I think I was spoiled by Celebrity's escargot, which I had almost every dining room dinner on my
Mediterranean cruise! Overall, the food wasn't as good as Celebrity. We decided not to eat in the dining room the rest of the time since the buffet offered a similar menu.
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| packaged butter and fresh bread |
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| escargots are under that sauce |
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| smoked fish rillettes |
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| Asian coconut seafood soup |
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| salmon |
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| grilled pork chop |
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Sail-away finally happened during dinner, two hours late. We saw the ship sail under
Lions Gate Bridge through the dining room windows.
Then dessert came:
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| carrot cake |
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| blueberry peach crumble a la mode |
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We returned to the cabin and enjoyed the views from our balcony.
Tomorrow is a day at sea, then our first stop of the cruise - Juneau, Alaska where we have a glacier helicopter ride in store! Stay tuned...
***
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