Set Sail with 3rd Orbit Travelers! Exploring the Seas with Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Tours, Port Adventures & Travel Tips!
Unforgettable Cruise Experiences Await!
We're Kat and Sean, your passionate cruise enthusiasts here to guide you through the exciting world of Royal Caribbean cruises! Join us as we take you on immersive ship tours, explore fascinating ports of call, and answer all your burning cruise questions in our in-depth videos.
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Just went there last month and it was a total disappointment. The meal is so pretentious with no substances. The food/presentation/narrative is long winded with no relation to what are being served. The worst thing is the bread stuck on the tomato water (terrible) and then it suddenly bursted spilling the water all over my face/body/suit. But the worst thing is that the server seemed oblivious to my predicament and had the audacity to come back later to ask me how's the tomato water. I told him he should ask my suit how does it taste. After I changed my suit and came back, I asked him if he would reimburse my laundry bill and he said he would do it himself, if not he will ask the chef to do it. The next day I filed a complaint to guess service and RC gave me a voucher to do my laundry, a champagne and some "food". Regardless of the poor service, the food isn't really great. The halibut was fishy and over cooked. All in all, I won't remember it to my worst enemy. Better spend your $70 elsewhere.
I completely agree about the tomato water, it was disgusting. When I recorded my review video, I actually enjoyed the food (except for the water), but when I went back a second time with friends, I didn't like anything. I am planning on redoing the review after I go back once more, just to make sure it wasn't just that one bad experience.
How far is this from the cruise port ? And how much the cost? Thanks for the video.
It was a 10-minute cab ride, which cost me around $5 on the way there and $8 on the way back. The higher cost for the return trip was because I took a private cab. For entry, I paid a $10 deposit via PayPal and then an additional $50 once I arrived. The place I went to, Jamie's at Blue Reef in Costa Maya, offers large drinks and all-you-can-eat food. The service was great - the staff consistently checked in to see if I needed anything else. You can find more information on their website by searching for "Jamie's at Blue Reef in Costa Maya." I hope this helps.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers: thank you very much for the info. We are sailing in Oct. 2024 via WOTS. Honduras, costa maya, cozumel and coco cay. We have nothing plan we get to CM, but we might consider this. Thank you again. Cheers 😃😀🥂🍾🍺🍻
I went on two VIP beach excursions during that cruise, one in Roatan and one in Costa Maya. I booked the first one through the cruise line and it cost $250. For the second excursion, I booked directly and it was $200 less expensive. I plan to create a video where I compare and review both excursions, and I expect to publish it next month. There were positives and negatives for both and the video will show you the food, drinks, and facilities at both locations.
the bully hill valley wine, where can you get that? do you have to get it directly from them?any stores have that on hand?
Great question. It is based in NY but when I lived in Vegas and in FL, Total wine had some of their wines. I order it directly from them. Just search for Bully Hill Wine. I normally get a case and I think I get a discount when I do, but I’m not sure.
Great information , well done!
Great video! We love Giovanni's. Keep up the great content!
I love your voiceovers. Makes for a peaceful video.
Glad you like them!
DAM IT DUDE ! ............. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST.?......................NEED TO KNOW !................ HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE ??
Enjoy it and that looks good 😋
Thank you 😋
We stayed at the lodge just last week (June 2024) and had the same experience with poor guest service from the front desk. Like you, It was a luggage issue. Other than that we thought the lodge was nice. Food was ok but expensive. On the flip side, like you said in the video, the General Store had incredible deals on souveniers.
Thanks for sharing. The issue of lost luggage affected several people we met while there. In the video, I mentioned a woman who told us she had to wait two days to receive her bags. That's crazy.
We were on her December 2023 for our 9th anniversary. We loved her! My husband's favorite place is the Schooner Bar and mine is the theater! Thank you for this video tour ❤
You’re welcome and thanks for sharing your favorites!
We were in my neighborhood, sort of speak. Hope you’re having a great time. 😊
Our neighborhood as well. We live in Florida but we both work for a company in Houston, which means we are in Houston more than Florida! :-)
@@3rdOrbitTravelers oh wow. What a coincident. Hope all is good with last couple storms we’ve had. Our area was good. Tornadoes hit close by. Other than windy, we were good.
@CookandBakewithSamer That’s great to hear. We are lucky in that when we are working in Houston, the company puts us up in a hotel. That makes for a lot less stress when storms come through.
Does Radiance still have those stupid shower curtains?
Our cabin had the curtains and I don’t like them either. Sorry for the bad news.
So gorgeous ❤
Best way to see a bear....from a distance 😮
Very True!
Interesting tour, well done!
Thank you!
I drink 2 coffees before breakfast, another 1 during ( at home I have a cappuccino maker so that's what I have out. Morning tea another 1 or 2. That's just before lunch! I love the deluxe drink package because from good coffee to mocktails, cocktails and my scotch nightcap I don't have add them up and hope I'm not going over budget. And I can experiment with drinks and not feel I'm wasting money.
That definitely sounds like the deluxe drink package is a good value for you. Let me know if your experiments reveal an amazing drink that I may have never heard of. I’m all for trying new things. :-)
What time did you get off the ship in Seward? We have an 8:30 Kenai Fjord tour… hoping that’s doable!
They let us off the ship at 6am. Hope that helps.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers that helps very much! Thank you!
@@tiffanyhanson3701 You are welcome.
Hi
Hello!
Don't play so much music during your videos.
Thank you for your feedback. We are constantly seeking ways to improve, and the best method for us to do so is by receiving input from others.
Great stuff yall. Thanks! My wife and I really dig your style
Style of video
Thank you!!! That made our day!!!
Now we’re watching all the episodes together even though we saw them before 😊
I'm delighted to hear that. In the future, we will release all our Let's Cruise video series in both episodic format and as individual long-form videos. The next featured cruise will be on the Wonder of the Seas, and it will visit St. Martin and St. Thomas. I met up with another KZread creator for the St. Martin video.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers We’ll be looking forward to see those. We have been wanting to cruise out of Florida instead of just Galveston. It will be good to see the various things to see and do in the areas you’re mentioning. Thank you
Good evening. Maybe another cruise we would put it in the budget to do the Hubbard Glacier excursion. We are planning to walk on the Exit Glacier about an hour from Anchorage.
Walking on a glacier sounds amazing! The couple we traveled with in these videos did that in Anchorage. When we were trying to find his allergy medicine and his bus went by, it was coming from the helicopter that took them up to the glacier for their walk. we are looking into going back to Alaska in 2025. Hopefully this time we will be able to do something on top of a glacier. Either the dog sledding or the walk would be fine.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers that sounds pretty amazing. We are looking forward to the brand 3 days in the anchorage area.
Royal carribean keeps offering me the “bargain” price of AUD135 a day for our cruise in january. Absurd. I will just pay as i go.
So do we!!!!
I doubt the deluxe package (w/alcohol) is mathematically worth it for 70% of people - you need to drink a lot. BUT...the ease of ordering and not having to sign for every drink is a very real benefit if you are near the break even point.
Absolutely. Once you reach the diamond level in Crown and Anchor, you are entitled to four free drinks per day as a diamond member. As Kat and I are both diamond members, we get a total of eight free drinks per day. However, Kat only drinks one of those, leaving me with seven drinks per day.
Excellent video. Ya'll have become my favorite cruise channel. I really appreciate the music instead of needless explaining what a promenade is lol. T.y.
Thank you! You made our day! Here's a little background about this channel: before it focused on cruises, it was actually a sailboat refit channel. Kat and I lived on a sailboat for a few years and initially started this channel to document the process of refitting our sailboat. However, we eventually decided that the sailing life wasn't for us, so we sold the sailboat and rebranded the channel into a cruise channel. During our time on the sailboat, I was inspired by a couple of KZread sailing channels that showcased incredible places with minimal talking and great music. Although I'm not as skilled as they were, I'm striving to improve. I believe we've made significant progress, and I enjoy learning how to enhance our videos. Thanks once again!
Did you eat in the MDR at all? Just curious if an Alaskan cruises serve different foods (more seafood) that a Caribbean cruise.
Don’t hate us, but we are not fans of the main dining room (MDR). We enjoy being able to eat whenever we want, and we also don’t like how long the MDR takes. I know many cruisers who love the MDR, and I understand why they love it; it’s just not our thing. Having said that, I'm not sure if they changed their menu. The Windjammer didn’t change their typical offerings, or at least if they did, it wasn't a big change. Apologies for not being able to provide more help.
We wont be at this glacier but will certainly enjoy our trip.😊
What month were you here??
Middle of August 2023
I'm going tomorrow 😅
Have a great time!!! Alaska is amazing.
Great to see the lodge again. We were there in 2022 and much of it was still shutdown. ❤
We really enjoyed it. Our biggest regret is that we didn't stay longer.
Beautiful! Great new music as well!
Thank you very much!
Did you do a cruisetour?
We planned a 3-week trip through Alaska. It started on a cruise (Royal Caribbean), then we took a bus to Anchorage, and then a train up to Denali (where this video tour was done). The train and the two resorts in Denali were done through Princess. After that, we took another train to Fairbanks and then a plane to Deadhorse, which is on the Arctic Ocean. There are videos of the entire cruise up on this channel already, and the rest of the trip should be up in a month or two.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers thank you!
Good video! Cruise lines (especially bartenders) apply high-pressure sales pitches to sell alcohol beverage packages because many cruisers lose money on these packages. These days cruise lines are emphasizing alleged "convenience." Gratuities are included (added into) the package price. Almost all of the better cocktails, the good wines, and all top shelf brands cost more than $12.00. These up charges add up! Many cruisers lose because after a long (often hot!) day in port they do not drink much alcohol after return to the ship.
Very good points and very true!!!!
Sometimes just music and a beautiful view are all that's needed. ❤
Very True and thank you.. I actually had a request for videos like this. They don't take long to do, because they have already been edited for another video. If people enjoy them, I'll keep adding them.
Just Curious, what time of year were you in Alaska? I have a cruise scheduled in September of 25 on Radiance of the Sea, RCCL. Thoroughly enjoyed your Vlogs!!!
Thank you. Middle of August for the cruise. The entire trip was the last three weeks of August and I will eventually be posting videos on the rest of the trip. We love Alaska and will be going back!!
I am doing Wilderness & then South on Radiance. Sept 8-20
@@danieljames3454 Have an amazing trip, I’m sure you will love it. Alaska is beautiful.
5:24 View is breathtaking!!!
I think the video did a great job of showing how beautiful it is; however, it doesn't do it justice. I just stood there and stared at it most of the time when I probably should have been taking more videos with different cameras. :-)
My husband and I was on that cruise. It was amazing!
@@brendabarrios4142 It really was unbelievable.
I havent cruised on Royal yet. Planning to increase travel and adding Royal to our list.
Thank you so much for this- we are goung in September and this info will help us plan our day. Hopefully I'll have some content to add to our channel too. You're close to 1k subs 🤞🏽🤞🏽 hope you reach that. I'm aiming for that but really just got started.🎉
Thank you! Here is a Let’s Cruise video I did on Icy Strait Point. It is part of a six part Alaska cruise series that you might be interested in as well. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hmyby9OSg7K2acY.htmlsi=s4EGzZA-I3122_5H Best of luck with your channel and with your trip to Alaska!
Catastrophe 😢
Great!
The mountain view and the blue ice looks gorgeous!!!!
Was this lunch? Did they have limit on appetizers and main dish?
Both, no. :-) It was dinner and there were no limits. Now, I have only ever ordered multiple appetizers, so I'm not sure about getting multiple main dishes. I've heard from other people that you can, but I don't have any personal experience with that.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers Thanks
Well, you have to deal with doors if you didn't either select your own or got placed in a connecting room. That's why I don't do guaranteed and always look from the room I want.
Very true. We always pick our cabins as well. This cabin was a Royal-Up win. You never know what you are getting with that and I bid on an upgrade that I didn't mean to bid on. We already had a balcony and I bid on a large balcony (accidentally). I never bid on “larger” cabins.
When you saw the Holland America ship in port before you got there & still in port when you left, did you have second guesses about choosing Radiance of the Seas?
Good question. This is one of my beefs with cruising. Sometimes you have to choose between an excursion or just hanging out in the port and unless you’ve been there before, you really don’t know which to choose. There isn’t enough time when the port is great. I don’t know much about Holland America but it can’t hurt to try it once to find out what it’s like.
This could be a long answer. Before I started cruising on Royal Caribbean ships, I was a huge fan of Holland America. Their cruises are long and because their ships are small, they go to ports that Royal Caribbean doesn't. Their food is better (in my opinion). But….. I always felt like I was the youngest passenger when on Holland. At 9 pm, the ships are ghost ships because everyone is in bed. Because the ships are small, there isn’t much to do on sea days. Lastly, you can beat Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program, especially once you reach Diamond. Anyway, we are planning on going on a few Holland cruises in the next year or two. One around South America and one in Alaska. So, why Royal Caribbean for this cruise? We needed a ship to get us from Vancouver up to Anchorage (one way). The cruise was only the first part of a 3-week trip we took all the way up to Deadhorse on the Arctic Ocean. (videos will be coming for the rest of the trip). The cruise was available and relatively cheap. Finally, yes it was a bummer seeing it still there. :-(
I completely agree. It can be challenging if you've never been to a port before. That's why I go on KZread and watch everything I can find on a port and the excursions available before we go. Additionally, I almost always choose to do my excursions with a local instead of booking through the cruise line. I will soon be sharing several video series called "Let’s Cruise" where I'll showcase the excursions I went on with locals.
@@kathleenpearson1685 Full disclosure, we did choose HAL. We don't cruise often enough to be tempted by loyalty points so we are free to choose based on itinerary. The train/bus excursion that we chose is 8 hours & we are scheduled to be back in town by 4, 5 hours before our ship departs. (HAL is in port in Skagway for 14 hours.)
@@3rdOrbitTravelers makes sense... we also choose by itinerary (you needed to get to Anchorage). We don't sail often enough to be tempted by loyalty & generally are not there for the on board entertainment/activities. (I may attend an enrichment seminar - but only if the stars align. Beyond excursions, I don't plan to "be here at this time for this talk." I'd rather enjoy my time without the clock.)
Loved watching this video. Loved the beautiful scenery. Glad you’re ok with the train stop thing. I like that idea of getting out of the bus in case the train was late. With you picking the blueberries, all I could think of I should grab quite a bit and make them into a blueberry pie or sauce for the waffles and pancakes. 😂Will definitely get some chocolate bars. I know what you mean about chocolates in other countries, being originally from Lebanon and been in the US since 81, I can still state the flavour of some of the different chocolates we’ve had back then. Plus with Lebanon being a French colony for a while, all the French cakes and pastries. Now back to the cruise. 😂 Thank you very much.
Thank you, and you are welcome. There are a lot more videos coming.
I nominate your song for a grammy
Thank you.
Thank you. A lovely trip! What is the song that plays @13 minutes?
Believe it or not, it is a song I created online with an AI program.
Why did they cut your port time and not sail the inside? Is it because of issues with the ship?
Those are good questions. The port time was a definite change because when I printed out my cruise documents, the time was different. If the captain made an announcement as to why it was changed, I didn’t hear it. As for why the ship went the outside route and not the inside route, I don’t know either. It is possible it was always supposed to go that way. I don’t have any proof that that was actually changed. It just seems like it would make more sense to go the inside passage to avoid the waves. Luckily, because Kat and I lived on a sailboat for so long, we don’t get seasick, but there were definitely people on the ship that weren’t feeling well.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers I hope it’s just a fluke and not something that will continue. We go in July.
Good to see Sitka. On to the next. 😊
I'm almost done editing the video of our trip to the Hubbard Glacier. The last day of our cruise had the best weather and the most stunning views. It will be out a week from tomorrow. After that, I plan to release some ship tours and review a couple of specialty dining restaurants that I haven't covered yet. If I have time, I might even release more than one video in those weeks. The next cruise I'll be making videos for is the "Wonder of the Seas" cruise, which went from Florida to St. Thomas and Saint Martin with a stop at CocoCay. I haven't made that one yet because the weather wasn't great. It seems to be a common theme in my videos. :-) Anyway, the stop in Saint Martin was fantastic because I teamed up with another KZread channel and got a private tour of the entire island that lasted around six hours. I'll be including all of that in the videos. Oh, and the weather in Saint Martin was fantastic.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers wonderful. I’m glad you had wonderful weather and views at the Hubbard glacier. We’ve sailed out of Galveston before due to the close location to us. We want to do a Bahamas area cruise. 😊It’s ok if it rains as long as you are enjoying your company and. Doing things you enjoy doing with them. 😊 we are looking forward to seeing your videos.
And by the way, hope you reach the 1000 subscribers soon. You are so close. I recently reached my 1k with my cooking channel. I’m planning to also film my trip. I’ve been using my iPhone for videos. Will this be enough to use on this trip? I noticed you’re using like a “GoPro”. Thank you as well.
I use my iPhone a lot, mostly because it is always with me. If i am going to take video and I know the weather isn’t going to be an issue or I’ll be inside, I use a DJI Pocket 3. If I know there is going to be a lot of weather or I’ll be in the water, I use my insta360 Ace Pro. It is a GoPro clone but I personally like it better. In the Alaska videos, I was using the DJI Action 4. It is a great GoPro clone also but it doesn’t do as well in low light as the Ace Pro does. There will be a video out Friday that has a lot of footage from the narrow gauge railroad and you can see how grainy the video is when the train is in the tunnel. The camera does have a low light setting but it wasn’t set to that and I didn’t realize there was a tunnel coming up. Hope all this helps. Congrats on the 1000!!!
@@3rdOrbitTravelers Obsoletely, very helpful. I’m getting a good selfie stick for my iPhone. I’ve been reading about the Insta360 as well. I’m thinking to stay with iPhone this time and see how it goes. We will for sure watch the videos as they you get the chance to post them. I know it’s a lot of work. I have like 1/2 a dozen cooking shows I need to post. 😂 Thank you on the congrats as well.
Instead of getting a selfie stick for your phone, I would suggest getting the insta360 phone gimbal. I think it is called the Flow. That is what I used for most of the walking ship tours. It's amazing and it has a built-in selfie stick.
@@3rdOrbitTravelers good morning and thank you. My co-worker and IT have been telling me for a while I need to get a gimbal. I think I should go ahead and invest in one. My camera crew (my wife 😂) might like filming with it too.
@CookandBakewithSamer and it has a feature that it will follow you. In one of the Alaska videos (I think the first), I placed it in the cabin and then walked around giving a tour, the camera followed me around, that wasn’t Kat doing the video. Comes in handy.