RSF Cruiser

Another alternative is to stay near the Oakland Airport and take BART into San Francisco for sight seeing. We generally stay at the Hilton Oakland Airport for less than $200 a night and then we take Uber or Lyft to the pier. We also prefer to fly in and out of Oakland - we get good flight schedules and the airport is a lot less hectic than SFO. If you get the Clipper senior card BART is about 2/3 off!

I also enjoyed Treadwell Mine. It's across the bridge on Douglas Island, and you can download a self guided walking tour at http://www.alaska.org/assets/content/related_items_pdfs/Juneau-Walking-Tour.pdf. It's a pleasant walk with lots of artifacts that are explained in the walking tour booklet.

An alternative to rain pants is quick dry pants - they are easily found online or in any outdoor store like REI. They repel water a bit, but you do get wet. Once you are out of the rain they dry in a few minutes. I always take both with me to Alaska. The rain pants are helpful if you're on a boat ride, it's raining hard, and you want to be on deck. It's really a personal choice

We were on a round trip Alaskan cruise that left from LA the end of April. The photographers were on deck and taking “candid” shots when we left LA, and when approaching or leaving port. They were also out when we were at Glacier Bay. These photos were included in the package, as were the usual ones during dinner, at stations after dinner, and when getting off the ship at port. The package included photos taken in Skagway with the puppies, too.

We had a similar experience with a Panama Canal cruise. There were photographers on deck and at some of the ports in areas where passengers go! For a Mexican Riviera cruise, the photographers weren’t out and about as much, but we still enjoyed having the package.

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We were a family of six with three cabins (the four "kids" were all adults). My husband and I were the only ones to initially get the package. We had a lot of fun taking pictures (a 15 day Panama Canal holiday cruise), and toward the end of the cruise another cabin decided to buy the package. The third cabin purchased the one photo of the two of them that they wanted. Another time we were four people traveling in two cabins, and we were the only ones to purchase the package.

As to a previous poster who said the package wasn't worth it, I think the value of the photo package is an individual decision. I do it for the digital pictures for my photo journal. I like the combination of snapshots and professional photos. I've paid $99 when they first offered it for at least 3 cruises, and $200 on three other cruises. To me the package is worth it. I view getting our pictures taken as entertainment. As the photographers get to know us, they try more creative poses and more candid type photos. It's a lot of fun having the package (I know, we could get our pictures taken and not buy anything), and my photo journals are great because of the package. But then, that's my opinion...

It’s the same menu that had in Sabatini’s. Yes, the lox and bagel were on it.

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We were in a suite on the Emerald to Alaska in May. The suite breakfast was offered in the Crown Grill - same menu as usual.

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We always get an aft suite, especially for Alaska. The views out the window or on the balcony just can't be beat. We even don our jackets and have a few meals on the balcony. Plus, aft balconies are deeper.

Will they be able to tell me how many pictures I Picked up? Or if I get 5 photos on my card and my sister picked up 6 photo on her card. Will it show up that way on our cards or will it just be all lumped together .

They can tell by the photos on the thumb drive. The person picking up the photos will have the digital copies uploaded on the thumb drive. If the person picking up the photos doesn’t have the thumb drive, then someone will have to take the pictures back to the photo desk to be scanned. The bar code on the paper photo needs to be scanned to identify the digital file for uploading. If the photo desk is busy, you sometimes need to leave the paper photos and the thumb drive and then pick them up the next day. Although you have to pick out your photos, I always find that to be rather easy. In fact, the entire process is pretty painless - we’ve had the package quite a few times now.

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To be considered as part of the all inclusive package, at least one person from the cabin that purchased the package needs to be in the picture. There’s no problem with having people who did not purchase the package in the picture.

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Do you have to stand there at the wall and find all your pictures or do they do that for you?

yes

Anyone in the cabin can pick up the pictures. The photo package is by cabin, not person. It doesn’t make any difference who in the cabin purchased the package, everyone in the cabin has the package. So if there is 1, 2, 3, 4, etc of you, a photo with at least one of you is included. When you pick up photos, they ask for your room key to verify if you are in that cabin.

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Like others, I make photo books and always use the embarkation and port photos, plus some of the informal, on-deck shots and formal ones in my book. Since we have the package, we often do some silly pictures, too - they're always fun to have in the book. No, we don't needs hundreds of pictures of ourselves, and rarely use the hard copy pictures, but it's fun having the digital files to upload into the photo books. We've done the package on the last four or five cruises, and have already paid for one on a future cruise. If I ever stop making the books, or if the price goes up, I'll probably stop getting the package. I guess it depends on your circumstances if the package is worth it. I've been totally satisfied with the ones we've gotten.

We LOVE aft balconies, especially the ones with a suite since they are so roomy. We were in Alaska the beginning of May, in an aft suite, and I used the balcony a lot, my husband did not. He said it was too cold, I thought it was fine :-) There isn't as much wind in an aft balcony, so you are a bit protected. I did need to wear a jacket or sweater while on the balcony, but the view can't be beat. I spent many hours out there.

Jeans are not good in the rain. You’ll be warm in dry weather, but do you have anything for rain? Any kind of quick dry pants do well. Quick dry pants aren’t good for warmth, but they are great on the rain if you don’t want to wear rain pants.

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My first question is how comfortable are you in a tux - really. Wear what is comfortable. I’m on my second tux.

Ha! So is my husband!!! He wore out his tux and just got a new one...

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Very few men wear tuxes any more, but my husband always does [emoji4] He always gets compliments on how nice he looks... He takes the tux and a different tie for each formal night. He feels more comfortable doing that than taking two jackets. Some men don’t wear a jacket, but my husband enjoys getting all decked out. It’s really whatever you feel comfortable doing/wearing.

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Like most things, the answer is it depends... What's more important to you: the price or cabin? If you book early, you guarantee you get the cabin you want. If you watch the fares, and there's a special, Princess will let you know if the new pricing is better for you - we generally book early since there are only a few cabins we want to stay in. Then I watch the prices frequently. Once I see a price drop or new promotion, I call my travel agent, and I generally get the newer deal. The risk you take by waiting until the deal you want is offered, the cabin you want may not be.

With the new Landmark sale, the price for the cabin I had previously booked for a cruise in July 2019 stayed the same, but now I have an additional $250 per person onboard credit. Plus, there are no longer any cabins we'd want to cruise in. If you don't care what cabin you are in, then i might be better to wait for a deal.

We were on the Emerald LA round trip sailing to Alaska this past week, and Steve Hites did perform for us. As mentioned already, it's an excellent show.

I've rented from Juneau Cars many times and have always been pleased with their service and price. Yes, they are a locally owned operation - the current owners moved up to Juneau several years ago from the lower 48. It's always been easy to rent from them, the cars are in good working condition, and the people who work there are really nice - they're more than willing to make suggestions on where to go and how to get around, although it's VERY easy driving around Juneau. The problem for some people is the walk to the AJ dock area if you are not docked there, especially if there's rain.

We enjoyed the cemetery - there’s also an interesting memorial for those who perished climbing Denali. The National Park service has some interesting displays at their small office.

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I think the public aft deck is on deck 8 - there are no rooms there. You could also get an aft balcony. I've been through the canal twice - once on the Coral and last year on the Island. Contrary to what most have said about the Island, it is my favorite ship. Part of the reason is we were in an aft vista suite on the deck with the children's center - not sure which deck that is. The cabin was the nicest vista suite we've stayed in with an incredible balcony. We were a little higher up than I prefer, and most of the balcony was exposed, but the size was massive. On both canal passages, we spent most of the canal day on different decks - front, sides, back, and on our balcony. You'll have plenty of time to experience the canal from high and near the water. I'm sure I'll do another canal transit some day, and it will be on the Island.

FYI...You have to be willing to check often to see if it’s being offered. I have had the $99 offer a few times. If you do see it being offered make sure that you let everyone on the thread for your cruise know.

Tom

Yes, I will, although I doubt we'll ever see the $99 offer again. Next month I'll be on my last cruise with the $99 offer. I have another cruise booked for 2018 and one in 2019, and neither of these have the photo package available for paying in advance, and I've been checking every few days or so - just part of my online routine to check cruise prices and and availability of the photo package

How many day out do the packages go on sale? My December cruise does not have a package available. I've never been on a cruise that offered them and as I travel with my children it would be something I would buy for sure!

I've been watching our December cruise, too, and the package is not available for pre-purchase. I've called Princess and can't seem to get an answer other than the package is not available now. I'm hoping at least they will offer the package on the cruise - we are going with some extended family, and I'd love to have all of the photos, even if I have to pay full price. I love the package! The extra photos work great with my photo memory books.

A warm neck scarf for the day we view glaciers - not only is it cold from the ice, but I like to be on the top, open deck as we sail along the glaciers, so it's windy and cold!!! I usually only wear the scarf that one day, but it's so-o-o worth it!