larrybritt

We are debating between to trips to Alaska next year. May 3rd for 11days on Coral Princess or Sept 13th for 10day on the Caribbean Princess. Both have similar itineraries. So the question really is about the time of year people like best as well as the Ship. Our initial thoughts are the May trip to see more snow, but concern about things not being open yet and maybe weather might be better in Sept, but we know weather is always hit or miss in Alaska. Any and all thoughts are appreciated. 

How is the viewing from the upper decks? Looks like you have to look through glass in most places and of course especially in glacier bay I hope to be able to get best view we can. I know you can also stay on balcony as the ship turns. Just trying to get idea if the glass obscures the view much?

I see this ship will be in Alaska for a sailing May 3rd for 11 days in 2025. We have never been on Coral, I know its a older ship but doesn't bother us at all. I would like to know if anyone has been to Alaska this early in the season as we have been once and it was in July and ended up being shorts weather most of the time. We would like to go to try to see more snow cover. I have also heard that early in the season some places have yet to open in some towns. Just trying to get thoughts on the ship and the season.  Thanks for any insight

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@larrybritt Thanks to Goggle...I see that your flight left MYR and arrived at EWR.  Then left Newark for YVR, arriving at 6:27 PM.

 

I sure hope you were on these planes.  Tonight, enjoy a good dinner and then call it an early night.  (Hopefully) You are in Vancouver and breathe a sigh of relief.  

 

Use Google to search Free Walking Tours of Vancouver.  I have done several and they are wonderful.

 

Bon Voyage.  Let us know how EZ Air worked for you.  

Thanks, what a day. You nailed it. We were so thankful and happy Flights were on time. Long day of travel. But made it safe and at pan Pacific. Had a late dinner and headed to sleep. And EZ air worked out fine as we had no issues, I called them before in case anything happened but luckily we were good coming here.

No hopefully the Longshoreman strike is not an issue

Yep, we have not heard a thing and are headed out to Vancouver tomorrow for out 7/4 trip. Hope it still happens. Nervous times for sure.

LOL, yes we are supposed to be on the Crown July 4th and I thought flying from Myrtle Beach to Newark then to Vancouver was going to be the hard part. I sure would like to hear something by July 1st. But as I said I'm not feeling too good about our flight from Newark as they seem to be cancelling them, even today.

And of Course we are flying out July 1st to Vancouver for a Princess cruise on July 4th. This news sucks. I would hate to get all the way there from the East coast only to have it cancelled. Doesn’t seem promising.

We are scheduled to leave July 4th from Vancouver. Anyone else have an idea what is going on? Suppose to be flying in 7/1 to enjoy some Vancouver for first time. Hope this gets worked out. I thought flying was the worry.

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Need more information before anyone can assist you.  I hope you have given yourself some buffer time.  Are you flying in a day or two before your cruise?  What is your weather forecast?  The gloom and doom news is reporting many delays.  

 

Stay calm (I know that is asking a lot).

 

Download the airline app and continue to check to make sure your flight is still scheduled.

 

EZ Air's phone number:  800-545-0008.  Put this in your contacts.  They are "supposed to be" open 24/7 but I have only tried to reach them during working hours.  

 

Use https://flightaware.com to monitor your flight number starting with today.  This will give you an idea of how likely your flight will leave on time.  

 

Get to the airport early, just in case they can put you on the next available flight to EWR.

 

Be sure to pack enough in. your carry on to cover a couple of days of misdirected luggage.  Medicine in the carry on.

 

EZ Air will find you a different flight if yours is cancelled, but it may not be the best alternative.  They WILL get you to the next port.  Do your research to see what will/will not be acceptable travel for you.  EZ Air says same airline/same class, but I have heard others say they have changed airlines for you.  

 

You have to be the one being pro-active.  Know your alternatives.  I hope you bought Princess Vacation Protection.  If you did, you are covered for any changes or deviations.

We did leave 2 days before the cruise to spend time in Vancouver, so hopefully worst case that is just cut short. The weather still looks a little rough with afternoon storms on Saturday in Newark. We did at least yes get insurance. 

I was thinking of trying to call EZ Air and see if we can change flights so that we don't have to go to Newark as that seems to be a huge log jam. I see flights on different sights that go to other places first like Atlanta for a layover where the weather looks a little better. Might give that a try. We are trying to stay calm, but just want to get any info that could help in case of worst case.

We will make sure to have meds and snacks. Hope don't have to camp out.

We are getting nervous. We are scheduled to fly from Myrtle Beach to Newark NJ on this Saturday 11:32 to 1:30 and then Leave 3:22pm to Vancouver. With all the horror stories going on up there now, I just can’t see it fixed by then. I know we can’t control the weather. But what do we do since we booked with EZ Air? Beat ideas or options? We can hope it gets better but sure has us worried as of now.

We are doing a sea plane tour excursion in Juneau. Taku Lodge Feast & Glacier trip on Princess on July 6th. My question is wondering what type of weather do the usually end up cancelling the trip? If it is raining? as I know it rains a lot there. Too windy? LOL, can you tell I'm a little nervous and wouldn't mind it being cancelled. This is my wife's dream trip she loves to fly and I'm not a fan but will do it for her. And has anyone taken this trip?

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Knowing where you are flying to would be required to give you a solid answer. If you are flying to the US, you need to clear US Immigration and Customs, which can take extra time. I would want to be in the airport well before 8am if flying to the US. 

We are flying back to Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Just not being frequent travelers and no Problem getting up early we just want to get an idea of traffic. I figure Saturday morning won’t be too busy heading to airport. If we have to leave at 5am no problem. Just getting ideas from people that know. Thank you

Our cruise in July will return to Vancouver on Friday July 14th and we are going to stay the night at the Pan Pacific. Our flight is on Saturday at 10am. What time should we plan on leaving to head over? We are thinking of doing the Skytrain and i Imagine might not be to busy on Saturday morning but still want to have plenty of leeway as we are not but travelers. We also plan to take the Skytrain when we arrive on July 1st and are Staying at Pan Pacific, so hopefully we will be a little comfortable with the process.

16 hours ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

I have a sound machine that is amazing and takes the place of a fan, but not anywhere as big. Our cruise two weeks ago, we were over Club Fusion and never even heard drum beats. I also travel with my own latex pillow, but it is highly compressible and our Away luggage has a compression side to it, so pretty much no matter what is in that side, I can compress it to take my pillow.

We are now researching to try to find a decent noise ma home that makes a fan noise as well. Never tried one but think for an Alaska trip from east coast tough to bring our own fan.

Following along too, as we will be on the Crown 7/4. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the ship and ports. Thanks for all pics.

Has anybody been to the restaurants, Nightingales for dinner or Happy Hour? And Arc for Sunday Brunch? We have a couple reservations for them and wanting To make sure worth it.

I always like to bring my own bar of soap too. There is just something about getting more later from a bar soap even though princess provided plenty of shampoo and soap.

My wife would love to bring Alexa with her. She must ask her 10 times a day what time it is and what temperature it is. I imagine sometime in the future as internet and AI progresses that will be the future. 

14 hours ago, BabySarge said:

We use these instead - find them on Amazon of course. -

We just got these to use for the first time as well.

We are going on our first Alaska cruise in July. We have done several from Florida and we live on east coast and drive to the port. So in the past we could bring a few extra things. We have always travelled with a fan as the noise is something we have gotten used to and we bring a travel fan, not too big but not tiny either. One time we did see someone bring on a full box fan. We have also typically all brought our own pillows and sometimes even a light blanket.

I know none of these are needed, but obviously we are flying to Alaska and are going to still try to at least bring the fan. Pillows and blanket may not make it. Does anyone else travel with a fan? The noise really does help us sleep. 

Any other oddities that people have brought with them? Just curious as I'm sure we are not the only ones that like their fan and pillows, LOL

And I do know that Princess has for the most part comfortable beds and pillows, just creatures of habit I guess.

We are arriving on July 1st in Vancouver at 6:30pm and from what I hear about celebrations we are pretty concerned about getting to hotel. We will have a long day of travel from Myrtle Beach South Carolina.. I come to find out it’s Canada day and we are staying at Pan Pacific at Canada Place. So what I hear is there will be a lot going on, we are thinking of taking the Sky Train from airport and hoping That will get us to the hotel best way possible. Any suggestions? Are we doing the right thing? We will be there until the 4th and i Hear we better make dinner reservations early as that is a busy weekend. 
 

Any good suggestions for dinner or even brunch on Sunday. We are Steak, Italian and seafood People. A little mobility concerns so closer to hotel the better. 

This July we will be on Crown going to Alaska. This will be our first time and I want to be prepared for the outlet situation. Last ship was the Sky and we Had plenty of plugs. What should we bring on the Crown? Also this will be our first time with the motion lights in the cabin. How does everyone handle them. I feel like they will be annoying when someone gets up at night. How bad is it and what are some ideas around them?0

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip and hope for the best. We are going on Crown July 4th and have never been to Alaska so can't wait to hear all about it. 

2 hours ago, tawlaw1526 said:

I am sorry, I don’t.    I never thought to take one.   Look on Amazon or go to your local Walmart, Home Depot, etc and just buy a reasonably priced shower wand.   We are now dedicating ours to cruising on older ships.   

We know it’s an old ship too and concerned A little about the conditions. But our first time to Alaska and hope that just overrides the ship. As long as the cabin is ok enough to relax and get good rest I think all will be ok. Food as we all know is hit or miss depending on everyone’s opinions. Hope you guys have a great trip and look Forward to hearing about it as we go July4th

56 minutes ago, marden1970 said:

We just did the 28 day South Pacific on the Crown, getting back on April 14th.  We thought the ship was fine,  The Caribe Cafe area was always open for seating and certainly not flooded.  We had a great time and the crew is absolutely the best.  

Very glad to hear. I know everyone can and will Have different experiences. We are pretty easy going. Mainly hope for a decent cabin to go back to recharge and rest. No to picky about food as we know what to expect with Princess. Again everyone will have different tastes. It’s just been a very long time being on a older ship, but I’m sure we will make the best of it.

5 hours ago, tawlaw1526 said:

I just got off of the 28 day cruise on Crown and it was wonderful.   I would agree with everyone else that commented before me, ship is older and showing some wear along with parts of the ship being outdated.   None of that are reasons to have a bad cruise.   My bed was the worst ever out of any vacation I have ever been on.   I mentioned it on every survey they sent to my room and my poor cabin steward tried hard to convince me the bed was in good working order. 😵‍💫   That would be my only complaint but I never let it slow me down.     The most important thing of all was the crew.   THE CREW WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!     I have been on over 30 Princess cruises and this crew on board were by far the best crew ever.    If you are booked on Crown, don’t regret it, go knowing you are on an older ship and embrace all the cruise has to offer.   You’ll have a fantastic time.    

Is the Promenade deck open where you can walk around the whole ship outside? Just thinking of best places for Boeing outside when scenic cruising like in Glacier Bay. It looks like even up to decks may be good viewing without having even some glass in front of you. The Sky Princess was awesome but I don’t think would be the best for Alaska for that reason.