Jetty John

Thank you all for the replies.  The ship actually takes a route through much of the Alaskan waters that is not the same up and back.  Nevertheless, it sounds like both sides are good.  This is our first cruise to Alaska.

We want to take the Star Princess out of San Francisco May 3rd for the 10 day Alaska cruise.  This is the cruise that goes to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, then back to San Fran.  Does anyone have a recommendation for which side of ship is best for viewing from the cabin?  We plan on a balcony cabin.   

8 hours ago, Almighty188 said:

It's not a 500 minute limit, it's a 500MB data daily limit

 

 

Oh jeez, I misread that.  I doubt if we'd hit that threshold, but nice to know.  You are correct about the bandwith of the security cameras.  We will see.  Thanks for the clarification CC.  I'll let you know how it works out.

8 hours ago, caribill said:

Are those the prices you see after going into your booking on princess.com?  I had the unlimited Premium Package on the Grand and it basically was a joke in terms of speed since it was like dialup and it has a 500MB per day limit at fast speeds which is like a dialup but still blocks certain sites.

Yes, those are the prices we see on Princess after we go into our booking.  They are discounted prices as the originals are slashed through.  There is no mention of a 500 minute limit anywhere.  In fact, the premium and social package specifically state unlimited, and the surf package doesn't indicate any time limitations.  We won't be spending a lot of time on the net anyway, just want to stay in touch with our son who is watching our house and be able to check our security cameras.  

We don't care about netflix and hulu.  We're leaving our Roku sticks home, we aren't going on the cruise to watch television.  

We will probably just get the social package, and upgrade if necessary.  Thanks for all the input everyone.  

My wife and I are sailing on the April 21st cruise to Hawaii.  We are trying to decide on the $99 Social package or the $139 Surf package.  We just want to be able to keep in touch with kids by email.  But may want to hook up to a web site here and there.  Does anyone know if there is a big difference between the two?

Thanks!

17 hours ago, ProfCruise said:

I wrote a detailed review of our day in Hilo here:

https://profcruise.com/ports-of-call-lecture-series-what-to-do-in-hilo-hawaii/

 

For Maui we did the snorkeling excursion through the ship.  It was phenomenal!  We saw whales, bottle necked dolphins, in addition to reefs and fish.  Can't recommend strongly enough. 

 

In Honolulu we rented a car and drove to the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve along with a few shorter scenic stops close by.  Then we did some shopping and dining.

 

In Kauai we hopped on the free trolly shuttle which takes you to a small shopping center.  From there we boarded a tour they advertised on the ride over on the trolly.  It was $50 per person and was excellent.  We covered a lot of spots!  Well worth the money.

 

Enjoy!

Thank you ProfCruise.  We are doing the ship snorkeling excursion in Maui as well.  Sharing a private tour Hilo, and renting a car in Kauai.  Honolulu is the only port where we are undecided.  Love your web site!  

Thank you all for the suggestions!  Keep them coming.  Very helpful!

My wife and I are taking the Grand Princess to Hawaii on April 21st.  Believe it or not I'm 62 years old and have never been to Hawaii.  Our ports are Maui, Hilo, Honolulu and Kauai.  I definitely want to do some good snorkeling, and our port time in Honolulu goes into the evening and we'd like to do a Luau if possible.  Does anyone have any good recommendations for excursions?

2 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Just to clarify, on the Princess website when you are at the booking point of selecting your cabin you usually see two options in the "Statement Location" window:

 

"I'll choose room location" or "Choose room location for me"

 

the former is just the cruise line offering you the available cabin closest to mid-ship while the former is giving you the choice of all available cabins.

 

So I am curious regarding the latter part of your question, whether you are simply seeing the single "Choose room location for me" option and no "I'll choose room location" option because there is only a single specific cabin left or if you are instead seeing a Guaranteed Cabin option with no specific cabin number specified at the time of booking.

For instance I watch a deck level, certain section, say midship, of cabins slowly fill up over a week of watching.  All this time having the option of picking my room.  Pretty soon only one cabin left.  Then the next day, the pick your own room option disappears, as does the deck layout diagram, and only have the "...your stateroom will be assigned.." as the only option.  I am assuming there a no cabins left to pick, but the line is still offering a room in that deck/section. 

I know confusing...  Thanks for the input.

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

By taking this option, in exchange for saving some money, you risk being assigned staterooms that no experienced cruisers would book including next to the steward's closets, under the kitchen, etc.

Except you don't save any money.  Stateroom price is the same whether you pick or they do. Thanks for the replies.  It all helps educate me.

I have been watching some cruises for potential bookings.  Initially you are offered to pick you own room, or let the cruise assign your room.  It seem when the decks fill up, the only option is to let the cruise pick for you.  Do they over book?  How does that work?  This is on Princess by the way. We have only gone on one cruise, so still a rookie cruiser.

We played bingo on one day of our Mexican Riviera cruise in December.  The more money you spend on bingo cards/electronic pads the better your odds.  We didn't win anything, but had fun.  Decided we wouldn't go back.  Too overpriced for us.  

1 hour ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

Each of their promos lasts 4-5 days then they extend it. They've been doing this for quite some time. The current promo has been extended 4-5 times and the only time you'll see something different is probably if they have a Christmas or New Years sale but based on NCLs history don't expect much. They'll throw in $1 deposits and call it a sale.

 

Also, to add on to what everyone else is saying...they cost of the beverage package isn't just the $20 per person per day. In order to qualify for the beverage package you have to book a category that is eligible which is usually $300-500 per person more then a sailaway rate. So the cost of the perks is the difference in pricing plus all the service charges. You can usually get 4-5 drinks per day AND buy a dining package and still come out ahead with a sailaway rate.

 

Lastly, tickets between Sacramento and Seattle are generally under $200 per person and a quick search found tickets as low as $140 on Alaska and Delta. I'd rather do that and know the exact times and itinerary rather then risk getting some flight that makes several stops and gets you in at 2am.

All good points.  Thanks, I'm learning a lot!

Thank you all for your replies.  We decided to wait as we don't like to rush into any deals, and the promo ended yesterday.  I'm sure some more good deals will come up.  Regarding the airfare, they offered up a $99 round trip fare from Sacramento to Seattle which is pretty good, but like you said, on probably on their itinerary. 

Been looking at an Alaskan cruise next year and Norwegian is running a "Free at Sea" promotion.  We would be looking at free "unlimited open bar", Wifi plan, and specialty dining (limit 5), excursion credits and reduced air fare to Seattle.   We are rookie cruisers and seems like a good deal but wondering if there is a catch?