Cowbell Kingdom

Having cruised to Alaska multiple times.... You are inside MOST of the evening so dress for inside. It will be snappy outside, but you can bring a wrap. Below is a one of the gowns I wore last summer. I was absolutely fine temperature wise. My other gown was even less sleeve. Also fine.

Well.......   We always always get more for our money with our TA.

She worked her magic and got us upgraded to Premium Plus without more money FROM us. And the bus to the terminal is always a good time.

We've never paid more to go with her than the "rack rate". Less? Yes. More?  Never.

On 4/17/2022 at 5:28 PM, mtnesterz said:

If you are from Wales, then a cruise out of Florida, USA, will be more casual than you might be accustomed. More casual on a Caribbean or Mexican cruise than other Princess itineraries. For example a round trip out of Southampton.

While I pack a tux, they do ask for Black Tie, dinner jacket or dark suit, you see fewer and fewer dressed as recommended. I wish more people understood the value of dressing for dinner, but that is the state of things presently, if that is what you are asking. Wear what you are willing to pack and would feel good about wearing to a really nice restaurant near you.

My husband has his white dinner jacket along with his regular black tux. We go all out!

On 4/20/2022 at 8:20 AM, lbfluffy said:

Already have for upcoming cruises. I now have a Princess rep. She’s the best. I’m stuck with this one since I’m in penalty phase. 

Excellent. We love ours. She KNOWS.

On 4/20/2022 at 4:26 PM, rbtan said:

We don't decorate our door. Just looks too corny to us.

Meh. To each their own.

We wear very formal wear on cruises. Other people think it's dumb/not a thing for a vacation. 

I may do something for all our doors for The Big Family Cruise next year.

Or not. You know.... getting my act together to do it and all.

Our first not takeout restaurant experience was in the parking lot of a Denney's in Bakersfield in the summer. (long story, but damn....breakfast for dinner was MOST EXCELLENT that night)  We worked our way to on the porch outside,  to on the porch in a more or less enclosed tent, to quick meals inside, to longer meals inside. It IS a process.

Know that being vaxxed is going to be HUGE in not getting it and if you do, not being very sick. And I think the quarantine time is five days now. Or until you test negative? I can't remember. Both my husband and my daughter got Covid after being vaxxed. Their biggest symptom was being BORED. So you might want to pack an emergency book or something. 😉

But do start venturing out. I understand the fear. If I didn't need to care for my parents (and thus have to go out and about), I would have been inside, happily at that, for a solid year.

Good luck!

We keep eyeing long cruises.  Our primary motivation is the amortized cost. We were looking at one that was $65,000 per person. Yea...that's a lot of coin, but when it was broken down per nights aboard, it was really quite reasonable when you figured it was your hotel, travel, and food. It was less than a night at a Hyatt in most cities! So we figured it would be a great way to see a large chunk of the world. At least the edges....LOL! You don't get very far inland on a cruise..... 

Maybe someday we will have the money and 6 months to spend aboard a cruise ship.

.....now where DID I put that PowerBall ticket.....??????

I’d have a friend on deck to fill in for him! [emoji6]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did this when my MIL took her sons and their wives on a cruise out of SF. Our daughters drove us and so they got to come aboard and hang out with the fam before we all left.

It was TOTALLY worth the cost. No can do this time. We have a sadz..... LOL!

Thank you for the explanation! I think I used the terms interchangeably!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We are sailing on the CB August 25th. My TA called me a week ago and said we had two up sell offers. We were booked in E731, our favorite mini. First offer was to upgrade to Club Class mini for $149 per person. Said no to that one. Second offer was to upgrade to a Suite for $449 per person. I asked my TA what suites were available. He called back in 25 minutes with a Princess rep on the line and offered A753, the owners suite. Done deal! All our OBC and Sip n Sail were honored with the move. Our TA has us marked "No Upgrade" for all our bookings. This is the 4th up sell offer we have received in the last 3 cruises. 1 month, 2 days and 21 hours until we drive down August 24th. No, we are not excited.

Would you be so kind as to explain to me why you would have "no upgrade" on your booking? I may not be understanding what an upgrade ACTUALLY is.... I just want to make sure I'm not missing something that I should be doing and why I should be doing it! Thanks so much!

It will just be the two of us and we'll be in the same cabin so all our photos will be included! ;)

BUT....my question is slightly different.

Last Princess cruise we were with my in-laws. So WE got the flash drive and then sent the digital files to the other people. At the time, IIRC, we were told that if we bring the flash drive back, we would get some sort of discount/deal in the future. They probably count of people losing it or forgetting it. HA! I know exactly where it is..... next to my passport so I don't forget either!

Does anyone know if you already have the flash drive, what the dealio is with the $199 package? We always spend WAY too much money on photos, so I've been planning on getting the package....

Or should I just call Princess and ask?

Do we need to think about costumes?

I'm totally ok with it just being another day.... but we also don't want to miss out on the fun! ;p

I think timing can help with the out of control minors. MIL and I took a cruise over New Years. MOST kids have to be back in school. And I realize as a teacher you do too. I think your observation that after retirement, you'll have the flexibility to cruise when the younger ones are in school. Or more of them are. You'll always have people who homeschool, have year round school schedules, or live in non-USA countries and are on different schedules all together! It's dialed down, not OFF. Unless you're on an Adults Only Cruise....but those have DIFFERENT issues. :cool:

I think having to pay to be in the Sanctuary helps keep the riffraff out. ;) But it would very much be nice to have a "quiet car" for those who want to just chill out. I mean, if the train can do it..... Heck.... even our jury waiting room is split into "quiet room" and "not so much" spaces. It does require staff to enforce it though.

Thanks for the review/thoughts!

Old people have better stories! (I'm 52. DH is 60.) I went on a cruise with my Mother In Law, just the two of us, a couple years ago. (she's DEFINITELY over 55) We ate with different people every night. We went as a family about four years ago and we ate together.... But seriously.... I work with retirees. They have GREAT stories! So go! Eat with other people! Tell your stories! Ask them for theirs!

CCI provided a "Puppy In Training" vest for my oh so not qualified puppy. She flunked out. Very much not the right temperament....

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

There is legislation in the works to combat Service Dog Fraud. I'll let you Google for yourselves if you are interested.

Service dogs relieve themselves on command and this in a spot of the handler's choosing. Which is immediately dealt with. A sick dog may have issues, but that is rare and the handler would be taking corrective steps.

This was clearly not a service dog. But people who have learned the code words to take their PET wherever they please.

Vests, badges and other ephemera can be purchased by anyone so that is not an indicator.

If it bothers you, join the fight against fraud.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We paid about $300ish for photos on our last cruise.

Still cheaper than what they wanted to sell us when we had directory photos done at church.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hey! You can see our stateroom! Not really.... cause it was obstructed....

But lordy lordy was it a gorgeous day in Skagway. Short sleeves and shorts.... had I brought shorts. ABSOLUTELY picture perfect.

We did the glassblowing excursion. Spendy, but it was GREAT! We had fun blowing glass, lunch was delightful and the Jewell Gardens were spectacular.

Love the photos! Do you mind me saving a couple off for our scrapbook?

But that's not FORMAL. For all the other regular dining nights? It is plenty fine. But on FORMAL nights.... it's formal dress.

Formal nights are amazing. It harkens back to a day when getting dressed up for dinner was A Thing. And you get why it was.

We will be dressing for dinner every night. Tux for him on formal nights. Suits otherwise. Gowns and LBD's for me.

We don't go out to Big Time Grown Up dinner very often and usually, when we do, we're still in casual wear. The last time we got out the Big Kids Clothes was for a wedding.

If you don't want to... that's cool. Loads of options other than the MDR.

I can't imagine a scrapbooking class onboard worth your time UNLESS they are giving out some freebie memorabilia. Then just show up and get that.

When we went to Alaska (7 nights) several years ago, I brought some large manila envelopes to hold any miscellaneous memorabilia. It worked great. Back then FILM was the thing and I shot a TON of photos. Probably averaged 2-3 rolls of film per day.

When I got home, I did 2 full Creative Memories 12x12 albums. (btw....if you are a scrapbooker, glacier photos on black paper/pages is AWESOME) The daily newsletter thing denotes each day and I have that day's activities/photos following. We also had four days in Victoria after our cruise.

Serious scrapbookers can simply shoot and plan what you want to do and collect memorabilia if you do traditional scrapbooking. (I was able to find some scrapbook shops in Alaska...check out your ports for port specific memorabilia)

But really.... just enjoy your trip, take your photos and your scrapbooks will be great.