indygirl99

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

My wife has a theory about doorways. You know how you walk through one and suddenly don't remember why you went into a room? It's the freaking doorway! Once in a while it works the other way and, when you go back through the same doorway, you suddenly remember what you were doing in the first place. Doorways. Definitely dangerous...

There is actually science behind this.

My sister participated in a multi center research study on this topic for her masters degree.

Just look at how much money your wife saved you by knowing this without having to get a masters to prove the theory.

 Now you can go book more cruises because your wife is so smart.

10 minutes ago, martincath said:

Sorry for delay - was cruising until today. There's actually a whole bunch of new food concessions for the Vancouver park system, including a few of the folks who also run food trucks. Complete list here.

 

Actual food trucks are rarely seen in the park or GI (GI is already a nightmare for traffic, and when the Public Market is right there competing with dozens and dozens of food options all under one roof it would be a dang hard area for any cart to make a profit!) If you can't find something decent to eat in the Public Market, you either have the worst food allergy combo ever... or you're so picky you don't deserve to eat!!! 😉

 

Food trucks are more spread out than in PDX - we don't have any official 'pods' but there are some locations, like around the Art Gallery, which usually have 3+ carts on the block. Best suggestion is to point you to the Streetfood App which will tell you exactly which carts are where, and to hit up Yelp reviews as well as the reviews on the app itself (these days there are so many carts I can't possibly guess which you might enjoy the most!) My personal faves include some of the oldest: Japadog, which has sitdown resto, trucks, and actual carts (Kurobota pork terimayo is probably the definitive 'dog to try first); Roaming Dragon (pan-Asian fusion); Tacofino (not even remotely authentic, but they do have a Michelin-starred chef in charge of the recipes so they're dang tasty!) If Mr Bannock is out and about (not very often - tends to be at outdoor events rather than a regular presence) they're worth trying as one of the very, very few indigenous food operations.

As always very helpful. Thank you so much.

9 hours ago, disneyochem said:

We took the 6:30 train from Vancouver last year.  Stayed at the Sylvia Hotel.  We got off our ship, took a taxi to the hotel (15 mins), checked in and then rode the Hop On/Hop Off bus.  Was a great way to spend the afternoon.  Got off and spent some time on Granville Island as well as Stanley Park.  Ended our evening at the bay across the street from the hotel (good food and drinks).  Sunset was lovely.  And it was nice to be away from the downtown area.

 

The Sylvia was a little bit quirky but we loved it as well as its location.  We're booked to stay again in May 2020.  We'll rent bikes--lots of bike trails!

 

The Sylvia called us a taxi in the morning (waited five minutes); we were at the station in about 15 minutes.  Are you booked in Business Class?  We paid a bit more and was glad we did.  The checkin line at the station was crazy long!  Was very nice to be loaded on the train first and bypass that line!

Yes definitely booked business class on Amtrak. I like to "rough it" as hubby says (not).  We like the extra room and first boarding and first off is a definite plus. Especially as we are going from Vancouver to California. I debated a sleeper but hubby does like some interaction with other humans.

Martincath  Are there food carts at Stanley Park or Granville Island? If so which ones should we look for. After all the fancy food on the ship we will be looking for some Portland style food cart food.

geoherb

I am enjoying your trip report. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

If your DH doesn't want to or can't get away to go to Alaska in August you can join me as I will be doing the solo trek on the Golden Southbound.

I could use a good trivia partner.

PASSPORT REQUIREMENT WHEN MINORS TRAVEL WITH ONE ADULT ON VOYAGES GOVERNED BY THE U.S. WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE (includes travel within BERMUDA, CANADA, CARIBBEAN, HAWAII, MEXICO, UNITED STATES) When minors are traveling with only one adult 21 years of age or older, Princess requires that all guests must be in possession of a valid passport. We have implemented this requirement because we want to ensure that your party remains together should an emergency arise that requires one or more in your party to be disembarked in a non-U.S. port. We cannot guarantee that all members of your party will be allowed to disembark with just a WHTI-compliant document or birth certificate. Failure to present a valid passport for all guests traveling together will result in denial of boarding without refund of the cruise or cruisetour fare.

US citizens traveling on U.S. roundtrip or “closed-loop” voyages may also travel with an original certified birth certificate presented together with a valid government-issued photo identification. These voyages include:
 

• Alaska roundtrip from San Francisco or Seattle (roundtrip Seattle cruisetours excluded)
• Canada/New England roundtrip from New York
• Caribbean roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale^, New York or Houston
• Hawaii roundtrip from Los Angeles and San Francisco
• Mexico roundtrip from Los Angeles or San Francisco

This is from the FAQ section of the Princess website.

If the 3 small children have a birth certificate AND a valid government issued photo id then you are okay. If they do not have a valid government issued id then the do indeed need a passport.

We had passports for our 3 and 6 year old granddaughters and still was asked for a notarized letter from the non present parent that it was okay for the kids to travel/cruise. This was roundtrip Seattle. We were made aware of this by the kids dad when he gave us the letter or we would not have been able to take them on the cruise with us. This was last August.

We had a cruise booked that I had to cancel (work issues) but have recently been able to finagle my schedule and with a great drop and go rate we are doing a southbound Alaska cruise on Princess.

My plan is to fly into Anchorage the morning before the cruise leaves to have a day to play and then take the train the next morning to Whittier.

Is the Princess transfer a bus or the train. If not the train we want to be able to book the train while spots are still available.

We are also hoping to do the 26 glaciers tour.  Can we check into the ship before the tour? If not what do we do with our bags?

When we get off in Vancouver we want to spend one night there to play and then take Amtrak home.

Amtrak leaves at 6:30 am so we need to be there by 5:30. 

Any suggestions on a hotel that is central to be able to walk/bus to see some of Vancouver?

Also to get to the Amtrak station in the dead of night is our best bet a taxi?

I know flying home is much quicker and easier but hubby really likes trains and this is a train trip he has been wanting to do for awhile.

Thanks for any suggestions. This group was a big help last time I took a cruise.

I was able to book a suite (at 2am PST) for the Panama Canal portion only. I am a little iffy on it though.

Flying from Seattle to FL on Jan 2nd may be a bit dicey. We can only fly in one day early and weather can be unkind.

This is a retirement trip for the hubby and we want to do the full transit in the old locks so we need the smaller ship.

When the other sailings for 2021 come out if the Coral or the Pacific end up making a full transit we can always cancel and book with them.

The Island, Coral and Pacific are the only ones that can transit the old locks right?

4 hours ago, cabin4three said:

In the UK vaccination programme for babies starts at 8 weeks old, so obviously very different to USA.

 Just FYI in UK there are vaccinations at 8, 12, 16 weeks and then further ones at 1 year and more for pre-schol (so about 3-4 years old).  Always interesting how different countries do things :-)

 

We have the same vaccine schedule here in the States.

2 hours ago, 63 Super Sport said:

We enjoy cruising on Princess. The company seems to be trying to focus on younger folks but they may be turning off their "core" customer. Younger folks are going to lines with techie stuff, zip lines, race tracks and water slides. Sometime we ask ourselves - "Why not focus on your customer base?"  We have been cruising Princess since 1985 when we were in our 30's and have been hooked on cruising since then. We go on cruises for the R&R and to get away from all the "techie" stuff. We are going on our "Ocean Medallion" cruise next week. We are prepared and know the "techie stuff" but hope that it does not take away the reason we cruise.

"Life is short, Break the Rules. Forgive quickly, Kiss SLOWLY. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably And never regret ANYTHING That makes you smile."     

I find it interesting that you state you have been with Princess since 1985 when you were in your 30's but you are upset that Princess is trying to focus on the younger crowd.

Sounds to me like Princess is focusing on their customer base. They got you when you were in your 30;s and you are still with them. I would say you are the perfect marketing customer for Princess. 

1 minute ago, jlp20 said:

As far as I know, there is no online booking with Princess. Booking is done through TA or Princess rep. They go through checklist of questions after cabin selection, one being willing to accept upgrade. AFTER the booking is complete, the pax can then complete the multi page personalizer online. Somewhere in that document is a statement about your choice of upgrade acceptence.

I have booked several cruises online through the Princess website. NO TA or Princess rep involved.

Is this the same dock where the Navy ship was in for upgrades?

We were there this last week. NOT on any of the cruise ships and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that it was not that crazy downtown or at Fisherman's Warf.

I kept saying to MrIndy "there can't be 5 ships in port, there are not enough people in town"

It was nice to see the 3 of them there together.

Sailed during my birthday week last year on the Emerald.

Got a $50 spa credit. Used it for a manicure.

Got a $100 credit for Effey. Exchanged it for a nice necklace no extra charge.

Got a card for a free pair of sapphire earrings. I don't have pierced ears so they offed me a very nice sapphire necklace.

Got a $25 credit in one of the gift shops, exchanged it for the Stanley Bear.

I am allergic to Latex and this was noted on my personalizer so was presented with a Mylar balloon by our steward. No balloons on our door.

Was recognized on all 3 ship sponsored tours as the "birthday girl" and received a small "gift" (magnet on 2, baseball cap on one).

Got the birthday cake in the specialty restaurant and the MDR.

Received chocolate covered strawberries and 2 bottles of the Korbel champagne on my actual birthday.

Now before anyone says that this was all from my TA I booked directly with Princess so nope.

Also as my husband is great in the gift giving department he had already given me my gift before we left, these were not from him.

Bwahahahahahaaaa.... I like it! I have to wonder how many people will be scratching their heads over that answer. :cool:

Okay do I have to admit that I get it.

I am spending WAYYYY to much time on this board.

You can always bring your own bottle and fill it as needed, (using a glass at the water station, please!) Better for the environment than all those plastic bottles!

 

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This exactly.

The water on board is actually better than what you get in those bottles.

Princess has to pay to have all those plastic bottles disposed of and since people insist on bottled water they are passing the cost onto those who consume the bottled water. They could just raise the cost of cruising and make everyone pay.

So yes I emailed Princess and expressed my appreciation that they are actually passing the cost off onto those who use it and not all the passengers.

What is the "Minimum compliance" standard he was enforcing? Have never seen any type of minimum dress standard. Just goes to show that Princess does not require any standard across their fleet.

Not sure what "minimum compliance" is either.

We were on Emerald to Alaska in August 2017 and I wore jeans both formal nights and ate in the MDR.

We even had a nice conversation with the head Maître D Rui about the difference in attire and attitude from my last cruise ( 2002) where I had to wear jeans because Princess lost my luggage and everyone was so uptight to the current laid back attitude.

Yes, they removed the stops and they are enjoying the balcony.

 

Debr

Yeah.

Glad they are able to enjoy the balcony.

I actually only had their booking number to help them out from here. I will email them and ask the cabin number. I am a great fan of cc and sharing info!! I do know when they booked this particular cabin it did have the statement about the balcony NOT being accessible. She she called and was told it was just not accessible on the day of the canal (you get a place in the sanctuary for free that day!)

 

I will report back tomorrow with the cabin number.

 

Debr

Please let us know if they were actually able to remove the "stops" as this cabin is clearly marked as balcony not accessible.

Special Notes:

WHEELCHR ACCESSIBLE SHOWER ONLY NO WHLCHR ACCESS TO BALCONY

I had a friend who was "upgraded" to this cabin and when she called to make sure it truly was wheelchair accessible and that she could get out on the balcony they moved her back to her original cabin. They thought she just needed a "handicap" room and when they realized she was in a wheelchair she was told there was "no way" for a wheelchair to get out onto the balcony.

I am interested to see if your brother was able to get out there.

We subscribe and it seems that anyone can write almost anything to the editor and they seem to publish it whether it is factual or not. I have read quite a few rant letters which did not relate to our experiences on the same ships....:halo:

Kind of like CC.

Elites still board first, followed by BVE, Suites, Club Class , Platinum then general.

 

 

 

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When we sailed the Emerald in August we were in a suite.

The lady came up to us and asked if we were her BVE. I said no we are in a suite.

She told us to follow her she was getting her BVE and then would board us so she could then get the Elites rolling.

So on that sailing it was BVE, Suites then Elites.

Yes it has been happening all week. And the worse part is when the page reloads it logs me off.

And for a fun memory of your cruise when you are in port ask for "local" sea salt.

You may not get salt from that exact area but a more regional area.

It will still put a smile on your face when you are home and use it.

It could also have something to do with the limits of any rescue equipment.

Just asked the over 60 year old man (AKA Mr Indy) with the ink about this and this is what he said.

"I learned a long time ago you attract the attitude you expect. If you expect that people will look at you weird or say rude things then that is what you get.

If you expect people to ask you about your tats then you will get people asking about them.

If you expect people to not even noticre then no one will notice."

He said go and have fun and expect a great time.

I think unless you are five years old, 5:30 is a bit early for anyone to have dinner. I wonder more dont complain about that.

I am not 5 years old and 5:30 is actually late eating for us.

The world does not revolve around the 9 to 5 person as much as they like to think it does.