happychippy

Tonight’s dinner was great, fast service and everything tasted delicious. After dinner we watched ship staff champagne waterfall in the Piazza.

Enjoyed listening to the Art Auction and tried a couple of mocktail drinks. Afternoon tea was great also. That tea is so delicious.

Still loving The Sanctuary and enjoyed lunch being brought to us, also nice that they bring fleece blankets. So far today we are the only ones here.

We both love The Library room on the ship. There are board games on one side of the room and large selection of books to borrow/return.

Also found a “cruising duck” this morning

We used our binoculars on the balcony and saw Moose and a few whales this morning. We are relaxing in The Sanctuary this morning. It’s perfect, sun is shining, temperatures are perfect, very quiet and worth the extra cost. There is something so beautiful and Serine about the Alaska Cruise views that you cannot capture in photos.

Muster Drill was a very easy process. Had to watch short 5 minute safety video either on phone App or on TV in your room. Then went to assigned Muster Drill station to scan Medallion. Weather so far has been great, a little gray and light rain sometimes but temperatures and light breeze is perfect for both of us. Sister and I both love colder temperatures so coldest room setting on thermostat and leaving balcony open while we are in the room. The balcony room we have on Aloha deck is perfect. Day 1 we both ended up calling it a day at about 9pm ship time since to us from East Coast felt like 12am and our day started at 3am EST. Food wise from day 1 it was good, just one hiccup that on the Lido Deck there is a Coffee and Cones place that has a large menu with coffee choices, that location only serves basic coffees they do not have everything on that menu. Deck 5 Coffee Cafe has everything and that is great. Note, the word “blended Cappuccino” does not mean a Frappe type drink 😉. I made it work by asking for a cup of ice and making my iced coffee so no one waste this morning. Dinner in Botticelli main dining room was nice, staff was friendly and provided great service. I had a Chilled Pina Colada soup and fettuccini Alfredo. We did not stay for dessert but it looked delicious.

So jealous, we had our medallion and it took almost 2 hours. Arriving before 12noon local time

The Princess EZ air with transfers included was great. In Vancouver when you get off flight you’ll go down to baggage claim, and head towards the Exit area. Once you walk out those doors you will see Princess Reps with signs and they will ask if you want to leave your bags with them or carry them on the ship. So thankful that we left our bags with them. It was a larger motor coach bus and it was about an hour ride to the port. Embarkation process sadly was disappointing. Compared to recent cruises on Royal, Norwegian, and Disney I had high expectation with the new Medallions. But, the embarkation process was super cluttered, unorganized and back and forth. Once on board we did get to The Sanctuary and we was able to reserve our loungers for the week so we will focus on that positivity. Photos of The Sanctuary below

Today is the day! We are on our flight to Vancouver, and should arrive around 11:30am Vancouver time. Goal today is see if we can get reservations in The Sanctuary.

Always independent tour guides waiting at the pier, and taxi's readily available. Confirm the rate before accepting the ride. Have US Currency, smaller bills as they do not always have the ability to make change. Resortforaday dot com offers a nice Beach Day Pass to the St. Kitts Marriott for $59.00 which is perfect for escaping the crowds and enjoying nice beautiful clean beach. You could have local tour guide show you around to the sites then end the tour at the Marriott for relaxing afternoon on the beach. Marriott Bellman will assist you in getting taxi back to the ship, it's a quick 10 minute ride back. Whatever you decide to do, hope you have an amazing cruise and great time on the islands!

Taxi's in Nassau are always lined up and waiting at the pier. If it's your first time in Nassau, it may seem a bit overwhelming as there are so many. You would just let them know you do need a taxi, how many of you will be traveling, and where you are going. US Cash, small currency as they do not always have the ability to make change. If you are going to Paradise Island where the Atlantis, Cabbage Beach, etc. it should be about $5 -$6 per person one way. If going in the other direction towards Breezes and Baha Bay Waterpark it will be about $8-$10 per person one way. Last I saw gas on the island was about $7 a gallon. It is not uncommon that the taxi driver may ask you to share the ride with others going same direction. I have used the taxi's many times with no worries and no fear even traveling alone. Hope you have a wonderful time!

Short one way Alaska Sampler on the Crown Princess. Embarking September 26th in Vancouver, stop in Ketchikan, and disembark in Seattle. Last Crown Alaska cruise for the season. Airfare was very reasonable so I checked with sister and she is onboard for a short adventure. Both of us are in our 40’s from Ohio. I have cruised Princess before on the Grand Princess Seattle Roundtrip to Alaska, loved it! This is sister’s first time on Princess as well as first visit to Ketchikan and Seattle. She's hoping to get some insight to book a longer land+cruise package in next couple of years. We booked the cruise in April for the Sept. sailing. Great low rate since it’s a one way. Love Princess option to include the Flights when booking and being able to select the flights I wanted, as well as allowing the flights to be paid as we go up to 30 days before departure. Our plans in Ketchikan is a Photography Tour in the morning, then visit downtown in the afternoon. 60% chance of rain for everyday of this trip 😕 In Seattle we have Red Eye flights so plan on setting base at a hotel in Seattle to leave our personal items and explore Seattle. 90 days before departure I ordered custom Medallion Keycard that I read that it will be about 2 weeks before sailing. You can get a necklace, bracelet, watch etc. all for very low reasonable prices for a nice personalized souvenir. I elected for a watch with an ocean theme design so we will see. Reminds me of the customizable Disney magic bands. I also read that you can search Amazon for Princess Medallion holder and find some other “Air Tag” options. 2 weeks before, I received the email notification that the Medallions are being shipped out. Received about 11 days before sailing. Love the box they came in, wristbands that we ordered, and the lanyards were under the wristbands. Images shared below. Embarkation process appears to be a more tech friendly process without needing to select an arrival time. I did download the APP so I could make dinner reservations and review excursion options. I found the app very easy to navigate and very user friendly. 68 days in advance we was able to make Main Dining room dinner reservation in advance on the app. I was able to complete my online check in profile so I have a “Green Lane” on my profile. I will still print off my cruise documents and luggage tags. Our original booking was for a balcony cabin GTY, about 30 days before we received cabin assignment on the Aloha Deck towards the aft near the elevator. I did not receive any notification, just reviewed cruise documents and saw the cabin number finally assigned. 70 days before departure, I received a “Bid to Upgrade” email. You will be offered different higher category staterooms with a suggested bid. You select the category you want, and then you can adjust the Bid lower or higher. Enter your credit card details and accept the terms that you will be billed per person this price you bid if it is accepted. Approval may not be done until 48 hours before boarding. I selected the Club Mini Suite upgrade at $150 pp more for a total of $300 more. Suggested bid for this Club Mini Suite was $180 pp. This Bid option is nice, but also comes with a risk that you do not know in advance if you are confirmed, and you do not know your room location. Club Mini Suites on the dolphin deck are fully open, no overhead for rain coverage, and balcony above can look directly down into your balcony. It is now a sold out sailing with no cabins, so I'm confident our current Balcony assignment will stay. 7 Days from sailing our Princess App started showing Activities under the JourneyView and you could bookmark activities you wanted to attend. We have the Princess Plus Package, which I originally added to have the Tips, drinks, and Wifi included. Not big drinkers just like the “All Inclusive” worry-free of how much is this, and not having to budget. Just relax and enjoy the short vacation. If you're like me, you enjoy the cruise countdown by living through the Live Reviews. 🙂

That area in the bottom of your image with the smaller docks, that is part of the new Port Area. It is so great to just stroll along those sidewalks and waterfront area. No excursion needed, they sometimes hold concerts in that large white dome shaped tent thing towards the center right. The buildings in the photo are also new local shops. I visited in June 2023 and it was such a great upgrade, no locals haggling, no taxi drivers trying to take me on tours, just a nice relaxed walking area.

Resortforaday dot com website is great for finding the Resort Day Pass options. Nassau has lots of choices for Resorts offering Day Passes.

Love the new port area. Was there on June 14, 2023 and what a transformation! I'm not sure if this was just from recently being opened, but it seemed as if no locals were permitted in this port area. Security checked Cruise ID by the road so only passengers were allowed in that area that day. Taxi's were still waiting outside the port area so never a problem getting a taxi here. Nice area to walk along the waterfront and it will be even better once the small vendor shops open.

I did the Day Pass at Atlantis a few times before the pandemic and just recently this past November spent the day at the Baha Bay Waterpark. Baha Bay was about a 15 minute taxi ride in the opposite direction, check in was easy and I liked their Digital wristbands that you scan to get in the park as well as use as a key if you rent a locker which we did. Another great thing about Baha Bay was no lines, no crowds, and plenty of seating with umbrellas everywhere. Very clean and staff was all very friendly. Plenty of slide or river floats, and going on the slides there was no wait. The waterpark is on the Cable Beach and you can walk out to it, but you have to scan to get in and out of the park. I liked the Wave Pool beach area and that was our go to area. Baha Bay also had the Sugar Factory with lots of fun drinks. Casino inside the waterpark area. I didn't see aquariums like the Atlantis, and Baha Bay tickets did not give access to the inside resort areas. It was a nice option to escape the crowds and I would absolutely do it again. I always book in advance on Resortforaday.com and they've always been great with questions and their cancellation policy is very flexible for cruise passengers.

I visited and spent the day at Serenity Beach in November 2022. Resort itself is closed for renovations, but it's inside work being done so not noisy. You check in next door at Margaritaville Resort waterpark desk, they escort you over to Serenity Beach. Lounge chairs, daybeds, and towels are included. Pool is not opened. Clean maintained restrooms open behind the bar at the beach, bar service was also open and staffed by Margaritaville staff. You can order drinks with a credit card, and if you want food you can order from Margaritaville and they will bring it to the bar for you. Nice way to escape the crowd and for the $25 price tag, it's a good value.

I know of the RIU Properties offering All Inclusive Passes on the Resortforaday dot com website. One is Family friendly, and one is Adults Only. Family friendly is new large luxury style property and Adults Only is more historic to the island culture. Both are side by side and a short 10 minute taxi ride from the pier.

Both are about a 15 minute taxi ride from the pier just in opposite directions; RIU Paradise Island is easily walkable to the Marina Village or Atlantis Shops if you want to pick up a souvenir. If you want more of a Resort experience upscale pampered with great service, RIU Paradise Island is the best choice. If you want a nice beach day with calm waves and soft sandy beach, the Breezes has the best beach in Nassau. Breezes can sometimes have a bit of a Spring Break crowd in March - May.

Accessible taxis with a lift are not easily available in Nassau. Many guest will bring a foldable wheel chair and that can be stored in the taxi vans. If you need a lift accessible taxi I would highly recommend booking that in advance with http://accessiblebahamas.com/

There was a few large palapa umbrellas on the beach that creates shade. you could move the lounge chairs if needed. A couple of the Palapas were damaged from the storm, but when I talked with the bar staff they said the property managers ordered replacements but they hadn't came in yet. I was there just a couple days after the storm passed through in November 2022. The Bar area was covered/shaded.

Our ship didn't dock until 10A.M so we checked in at 11:00A.M. Our printed passes said that the pass was valid from 8A-6P so you could check in as early as 8A.

No, when wading out from the beach into the water the sand was not a wet sinking sand it was a good soft shell/sand mix that I didn't feel like I was sinking or unsteady. The water is not overly deep, it honestly would be a little higher than waist deep.

Hi Carol, I used resort for a day to purchase the Serenity Beach pass. No seaweed on the day I visited, clear water with very calm waves. Junkanoo beach was about 1/2 mile down the beach past the Margaritaville beach so Serenity Beach was very quiet and no crowds.