Turtle05

Slightly off topic...years ago I witnessed a "fanny pack pub crawl." Best use of fanny pack ever.... just so my post doesn't get deleted, I generally just carry my phone, and I often wear clothing with pockets. I get cold easily, so it's a non issue for me to roll in a hoodie in a lot of weather. 

I booked right at the 90 day mark and got my assignment about the 80 day mark.

Do they use periods in Australia? I almost went blind trying to read that. 

I booked my first gty. It's a GS, 90 days out. It was the cheapest available suite, as JS was not available. Of course I'm hoping for an upgrade, but all the GS on the Anthem seem to be mid ship, so location shouldn't be a big issue. We don't usually book so close to sailing, but we made a late vacation decision. It's kind of nice to be 90 days out already though!

I think I'll take two of my cocktail length dresses and leave the long ones here. Outside of my husband's military balls and rare outings such as the theater, I never dress up. I own more dresses than I wear in a year, so it's nice to dress up on a cruise.

I have done this tour twice' date=' and each time the provider has been Blue Hawaiian. They are a great company, so call them. I agree about the weight surcharge, but I would also be concerned about the leg room.

Good luck and aloha:)[/quote']

 

I used BH as well. This was not a cruise vacation. It is the best way to see it, as many places are inaccessible other ways.

I read through the CC reviews, and no one says anything about safety issues or accidents or anything that remotely supports these claims.

It doesn't change anything for me. I'd actually rather pay up front and not worry about it. For Alaska, the price difference just isn't there for booking private, and I do like the "insurance" that comes with booking through Princess.

Thanks for sharing! I've been incredibly nervous about cruising in early September. It was the only time we could go, and I previously cruised in mid May. I had fantastic weather last time.

Another note on the military/veteran OBC, it applies to all members of the cabin who are current/former military, so both my husband and I got credit because he is active, and I am a vet. :)

I suppose it depends on what is or important to you when you look at the differences between the two. In all honesty, I chose to Allure over the Oasis a few years ago because I wanted to see Chicago instead of Hairspray. I haven't looked at your particular cruises, but as mentioned, overall price considerations (including flights), day of departure, itinerary, what's offered on board, etc. I would also consider what types of cabins are still available, but some people don't care about that.

Exceedingly annoyed. I served, and my husband is still in. I don't know the exact dollar amount, but I've lost in the thousands of dollars due to cancelled and moved vacations. I've gotten smarter, but we recently had to move our cruise due to deployment, and it cost us $700 to move the flight ($200 per ticket change fee plus a $300 price difference). Nonrefundable flights just cost too much (twice as much). I hope it works out for you.

I used mine on excursions, but if they were already paid for a second yours are, I would use it for a couples massage, one maybe two specialty restaurants, and/or gratuities.

It can hurt. I fell back, and the impact made it to where I could not tilt my head back much for a day or so. I gave up on stand up surfing, but the boogie boarding seemed to only attract kiddos. This was on the Allure, where they have two flow riders, one dedicated to each type. I don't recall that being an issue on the Liberty, where they had one flowmroder and dedicated times for stand up versus boogie boarding.

Some, if not all, of the Princess ships have corner aft mini suites. They aren't annotated on any of the deck plans, but they have wrap around aft balconies.

My husband is also military. If someone looked down on me for wearing the same dress again I'd probably ask them what little they have going on to even notice. I know it's easier said than done to say, "don't worry about what other people think," so I do wish you luck and I hope these types of ladies aren't the ones you make friends with. I don't get involved in FRG and such things, so I keep my friend group small, and it extends outside of the military. I know some great ladies through church and work. Sorry, I know that's off topic a bit, but those ladies need to learn how to stick up for one another versus being concerned with someone rewearing a dress. Honestly, it means that person isn't wearing the same dress they are if they get a new one every year.... rant complete.

I always re-wear mine. I don't have ballgowns but I do have a couple floor length formal dresses. I usually take one floor length formal and one cocktail dress.

Thanks. Since I booked both rooms, I had to call in to book, so the option to check it during booking wasn't there.

I like that most of it is set up in advance. I'm a huge advocate for prebooking excursions. I don't want to deal with it while on board, and I tend to get anxious about that type of stuff. I loved that on the Allure I was able to prebook shows, too. Some people are not enthused about all that, but I know what I want to do, and I want to ensure I get to do that without having to beeline for the excursion desk and show up ridiculously early for a show. To me, this allows me to maximize my vacation.

I have never extended a cruise with time on land, but it's just because of time restrictions for work. Even if I had the time to take off, I would not want to be out of work for that long. That's too much burden on my coworkers, and where I work, people don't take that much vacation at once. I would like to do this with an Alaskan cruise and perhaps a European, Asian, or other cruise that takes me far away from home.

We do balance our cruises with strictly land vacations. Currently, some places don't appeal to me via cruise ship. We spent a week on Kauai, and we would like to revisit Hawaii at least once more, but I think for us, cruising would not allow us to do as much as we would like. I also don't presently wish to cruise Europe. I'd rather spend a good amount of time in a given country and go beyond the coast.

I do not have a TA. How do I mark my reservation as "do not upgrade?" I chose very specific rooms (aft suite and corner aft mini suite) and I don't want to be moved.

My dad has very specific dietary restrictions regarding his stage four kidney disease. Should I list this on his reservation or should he just manage it himself based on what he eats and orders? Or should we hit the MDR shortly after boarding to notify someone there? My parents will likely eat all dinners in the MDR. I've seen comments/complaints about dietary restrictions not getting to the right person.

Does your itinerary have any short port days (other than GB)? I ask because for pricing reasons, the GB day is considered a sea day versus other actual port days, and pricing on port days is a little cheaper. For example, my Princess Alaskan cruise is going to be in Victoria at 7:00 PM, so I scheduled a couples massage in the afternoon and got the slightly less port day rate.

We use CitiXXX credit and debit cards. They do not use anymore the notice of travel abroad.

 

Currently they use the alert system, this system sends you SMS and email of each transaction with your cards, deposits and charges. With this system it is very easy to detect an unrecognized charge instantly. Such that you can report to your bank and request the blocking of the card because it has been compromised.

Playing a little devils advocate on this one....most of our phones don't work regarding text messages when cruising, and I'd imagine a lot of folks either don't check their email at all or less frequently while cruising since the internet isn't the greatest. Cash is probably your best bet. Also using a credit card versus debit is preferred because debit is basically cash, so if they clean you out, you are SOL, whereas credit is not as detrimental. Also perhaps consider using your lowest limit card or lowering your limit temporarily. Big difference between someone maxing out a $5000 limit versus $20000.

I went to Alaska in 2010 with a friend on the NCL Sun. I did not enjoy the Sun, but the cruise was great. We did the big three stops: Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. I did whale watching and Mendenhall in Juneau, a nature walk in Ketchikan, and White Pass in Skagway. White Pass is considered the "thing to do" in Skagway, and while I did enjoy it, I won't be doing it again on my next trip. A lot of folks recommend the extended trip with the bus/van ride because you get to see more. I did recommend WP to my parents who are in their early 60s.

This time around I will be on Princess, going to the same three stops with a brief interlude in Victoria. We will also see Glacier Bay, which I am pretty enthused about. In Juneau, DH and I are kayaking and playing with sled dogs. I would have liked going whale watching again, but unfortunately the timing doesn't line up with our kayak tour. We could have signed up for a non-Princess sponsored tour, but DH said he'd rather play with puppies. My parents are doing the whale watching and Mendenhall tour. In Ketchikan, we are (hopefully) taking a float plane to Misty Fjords. Despite what my signature says, I actually rebooked my cruise for early September, and weather is iffy at that time, so I hope the plane is still a go the day of! In Skagway, DH and I are rock climbing and rappelling while my parents go on WP. Then we are all doing the Glacier Point wilderness adventure. Here's a video.

I had to move my cruise, thus that included cancelling all my prepaid excursions and rebooking. I got my refund within days. I specifically waited for the refund before rebooking. What were the circumstances for cancelling that took six months? Was it within days of the excursion, or well in advance? Were you on board? I don't really have an issue with prepaying if it means I get what I want. Waiting to get on board not only makes me anxious but also detracts from the actual vacation. I don't want to have to run around doing this, that, and the other when I get on board. There is enough to do on embarkation day (specialty reservations, ensuring you get what you want in regards to the main dining room, etc) that I wouldn't want to add excursions onto that.

Look at sales, too. I had to change my booking from June to September, and the September cruise is offering $150 OBC per cruiser. That, combined with our military OBC, has given us a total of $500 OBC. I say select by itinerary as well, however, you can only sail if you can afford to go. My first Alaskan cruise was on NCL because of the price. However, I was underwhelmed by the free food options and spent a lot of money in specialty restaurants. As others have said though, food is subjective.