Riley_Mon

I have to believe pent up demand is going to allow Carnival to ride out any possible recession. My bigger fear would be inflation and supply chain eating up margin.

the flight situations are frustrating now. You choose your flight months out, the best flight option for you but there is no guarantee that you will actually get that flight when it comes time to travel. Had direct flights coming and going to Seattle on Delta 9 months out from the cruise date. Ended up with connecting flights thru Atlanta (which I try to avoid in the summer on Delta) on the way out and a red eye thru Detroit on the way back. That doesn't even address the cancellations that happened during the actual flights. Did I pay more for direct flights with Delta? does it matter? do I have any recourse? its all part of the "be thankful you got to where you were going" post pandemic era now. If I wanted to cruise, that was my option. glad to read the OP got some satisfaction from the efforts and noted that social media input could create a response. I think generally they try to do the right thing, but doing the right thing today versus 2 years ago is different animal altogether.

I just went on a cruise so I'm not one of those people who live in fear but to act like its all the same in your examples isn't being honest. I can get on a plane and fly for 4 hours, go to a restaurant for 2 and a movie for another 2 and not be with the same people, nor interact with any of them again. In a cruise situation its a degree of separation kind of thing. By the end of the week I'm going to be around everyone who has been around everyone who has been around everyone . Kevin Bacon would love it.

oh man, that's a tough read. I hope it was everything she hoped it would be.

post covid since its initial sailing on May 7 but Princess has dealt with the same issue on the Crown going back to 2019. I'm not sure if anyone has really documented if the Crown was sailing without issue before the Covid shutdown.

I don't know that it is a bad rap, its just reality - even though cruise ships are large, you are in a captive space, interacting with the same people for 6 days using the same common areas. Once covid is on board - and the reality is that covid is there 24/7, you aren't going to escape it, you can only hope to avoid it.

what changed were the arrows of the map showing the route it was going to take. This is what it originally showed with our cruise and what they are showing for next years cruises. Its their definition of what an Inside Passage cruise is.

Princess changed the actual map of the cruise where the arrows point where the ship is going and moved it from the "inside" route to the outside route. The cruise is described as "inside passage with Glacier Bay" which is what has people upset I mean, they even have "inside passage" clearly marked on the map and show you they are avoiding it

I know this board doesn't want to get into covid debates and I don't blame them but after being on the cruise, all I will say is you should expect constant exposure to covid positive people. ..dining, theater, casino, shore excursions . That is not hyperbole or exaggeration Decide for yourself what to do with that information

I want to add an additional comment on my perspective from the last days of the cruise I personally believe the number of people getting covid is vastly under represented. I say this because I started paying attention to people sitting in the buffet and persistent coughing is prevalent. Then on the bus ride back to the airport, there were 6 people on the bus I counted that were coughing persistently as well. And that is just coughing, I don't pay attention to runny nose or sneezing or whatever. I don't think people are reporting it because the symptoms of it are nothing more than a bad head or perhaps flu and they aren't willing to risk quarantine to give up the freedom of the cruise. That also leads me to wonder just how well they are cleaning non quarantine level rooms. Can you imagine going into a stateroom just 4 hours after a couple left and one or both of them having covid? Are they really steralizing these rooms in the turnaround time it takes to setup the room, get the paperwork and all the other requirements I would suggest that future cruises bring along some clorox wipes and wipe down the room from top to bottom the moment they arrive., tv remote, door handles, coat hangers, all of it.

Ate at Sabatinis our last full night on board, 16 deck, aft ship. People were joking the motor was about to throw a bearing the vibration was so noticeable. No way they could put guests in the aft cabins of the ship on any floor.

If you aren’t worried about the ports then based on what I have read on other cruises the Crown will be a great experience. Just got off and the service was great, no long waits and high quality , energetic service everywhere. Lots to complain about to corporate for how they handled it but while on the boat I had zero complaints

I would like to think the passenger bill of rights adds some weight to this in the case of the crown. It’s written in the spirit to say that you are entitled to compensation if mechanical issues force your cruise to be cut short. In the case of the crown it meets the physical number of days but by their own admission mechanical issues have forced the itinerary to be drastically changed which I believe is the same thing and that includes not even meeting the altered schedule.

Closing out day 6 at sea glacier bay weather was about as good as it could get. Very cold in the morning. We got out on deck 16 around 6 am, grabbed 4 blankets and found a spot underneath an exhaust port that was pumping out warm air. It worked great until we were ready to get breakfast around 9. After breakfast we came up on the first major glacier and the weather cleared . dozens of otters swam around the ship and saw a whale on the way in along with what I think was a seal. today the good weather continues, many people on deck watching a movie or in the hot tubs but it is a poor substitute for Ketchikan. saw the husband of a couple we had dinner with 2 nights ago. His wife has Covid and is in isolation. I am on high alert for any symptoms now. I sent an email to the executives a few weeks back. Today customer support reached out to me with a number to call. my wife overheard a man complaining to the front desk about them not being able to do some dog sled activity which s the sole reason they took this cruise. Seems a stretch but who am I to say. Anyways front desk told him to lodge a complaint with customer solutions, the people working the boat are just as frustrated as the customers ( their words) at the end of the day if you are the type of person who just likes being on the boat, getting pizza, ice cream and strawberry dacquiries sp? Then you would probably love this cruise, I don’t have a single complaint about the service, it’s exemplary compared to the other stories I am hearing. but I can be in a boat anywhere, I paid to see and experience Alaska

We are wrapping up Skagway in a couple of hours and the realization that we will be on the boat from Tuesday night to Friday night is about to set in. I hope Glacier Bay makes up for it but I am not sure. No doubt there are a lot of cranky people on board. I have heard stories of people blaming the desk workers, although yesterdays cancellations at Juneau were a fubar. Our planned excursion was scheduled to meet at 5:15. We were on the pier at 5:18. To make up for canceling the excursions they gave us free tram tickets. No wait they gave us 1 free tram ticket so people stood in line only to realize when it was time to go on the tram they needed to buy another. Anyways I don’t think glacier bay is the question that needs to be asked. I would ask myself would I want to go on a cruise ship that appears to be fully staffed and will likely be 75% full during peak season meaning no long waits or crowds but in return I am going to have about 14 hours on land with a good chance that port stops other than Skagway will be limited to short excursions. If the answer is yes then go on the Crown. my answer would be no because I hate the idea of being on this boat from Tuesday night to Friday night. I could do that anywhere but I paid to see Alaska

The best part is when the captain said there is no need to go to the shore excursion desk, a salvo to save those people from irate passengers. Safety is our number one priority. No I don’t think that is the priority for princess on this cruise

My shore excursion was originally canceled, then replaced with a cheaper alternative that was scheduled to leave at 6;30, then moved up to 5:30 unknown to us until we arrived on the boat, now it’s canceled, so no chance for whale watching on this cruise.had they just left it alone we would be going I am beyond frustrated at the moment

I will try to check. I wasn’t planning on eating on the ship the evening but I will look. I was just at the grill. It’s not opened yet but no signs out for anything special. for anyone interested we will not make Juneau on our updated time. Announcement just made that all shore excursions before 6pm are canceled ship has been on a constant roller coaster of going fast then slowing to a crawl. At times I think we are about to coast to a stop, then I will get distracted and notice we are going fast again. This is ongoing.

No mention of anything beyond the $200 as far as I know.

Many may not agree but imo missing ports on an Alaska cruise is much more of a penalty than say a carribean cruise. On an Alaskan ship there isn’t a water slide or active pool , mini golf or go karts. It’s easy to go stir crazy on an Alaskan cruise ship if you aren’t breaking it up with ports. I would think the cardinal sin of Alaskan cruising is to limit the Alaskan experience. I have posted more than once on my tolerance levels on the crown. I am on the crown as I type this and I do believe they have put effort into the on board experience perhaps more so than what I have read for other ships. What isn’t being written is the people on the Discovery are victims in this as well. As hundreds of people leave the crown they go to the Discovery so that just adds to the stresses the staff on that ship have to deal with. so as a by product of a poor decision for short term gain, they may have actually increased those questioning whether Princess or cruising at all is worth it. for now it seems pent up demand will ride this wave out until 2 or 3 years from now. Princess may see people gravitating to Celebrity and Virgin based on their Covid era experiences.

Just left club fusion ( cha cha lessons!) and it hasn’t changed. But I just don’t find it intrusive. So far other than the buffet on arrival I haven’t had to stand in line for anything, especially drinks. Bars are everywhere. International Cafe gets crowded if the weather isn’t very inviting outside. 50 degrees and cloudy doesnt get many people outside. We walked to the sanctuary and it had 4 people.if I was willing to pay we could have had a hot tub to ourselves and 2 waitstaff for 6 people. crown tip - look for seating in cafe caribe behind horizon court. You will probably be able to social distance and get a window table. from my perspective, there isn’t a staffing problem on here. Even in areas not frequented by people there are waitstaff standing idle eager to help. Btw looks like quarantine are on this ship is deck 12. We have been social distancing as much as we can including exclusively using the stairs ( also to get exercise). I also avoid touching handrails if possible. The Purell they have is industrial strength. I would recommend some hand lotion because it just take all the moisture out of your hands. also put me in the camp of tipping your room steward on day 1 even if you have prepaid tips. For the kind of money we are spending, another $20 is cheap insurance to make sure he /she will check on you multiple times a day. I am sure they would do it anyways but I have zero guilt about asking for something should it come up that I need it.

Thanks to those replying. I agree with the sentiment on flying. In todays world you should book 2 days before if you are an east coast guy like me. If you get there on time, take the ferry to Bainbridge and spend the day wine tasting

Ate at Botacelli (sp)? dining room last night. The noise and vibration are definitely noticeable but I don’t consider it distracting. The medallion experience is a huge value add. Very convenient and a time saver. Service has been very good. to start. About 1000 crew and 1900 guests. It appears each sailing is increasing in headcount based on reading here. Had the deep tissue massage last night. First time and was amazing. Still on east coast time so I was walking laps at 4am. I won’t say the food is outstanding but it’s meeting my expectations especially with supply chain issues and inflation. Opting not to do thermal suite or the adults only section as we had planned. Still learning my way around and trying to get into a routine. I have to admit, a lot of the surliness I have built up over the last 2 months is melting away.

We haven’t left the dock yet and I am on drink number 4. I am officially on vacation now

On the bus going to the ship I think it pays to be nice to airline workers. Even in that craziness, I have to say they were all professionals. Luggage was there waiting for us off the plane. Looking forward to changing out of these clothes we have been wearing for 2 days. should have checked the app but it all worked out….sorta