bofh

On 8/7/2022 at 12:15 PM, scott4020 said:

Ship isn't crowded,  they haven't said how many passengers yet that I know of. 

Foggy this morning. It's neat to hear the fog horn. 

 

Dinner last night was good, nothing special. They have ruined the Love Boat Dream. Why change a beloved desert that I have been enjoying for 25 years? Not real happy about that. 

 

Booked the Sanctuary for today. Went there and it was closed this morning. The whole spa pool area is closed. Not happy about that either. 

I was told by the Maitre D' that they were sailing with 62-65% guest capacity, but they expected that to increase to 85% after dry dock in October (and they were excited by that).

This was my first cruise, and I was sampling all of the special/nightly deserts but saved the Love Boat Dream for the last night.  I'm a sucker for chocolate + raspberries -- but it was absolutely terrible.

We had an aft-facing cabin on deck 11 and there was definitely more shimmy and vibration than at midship.  As it was our first ever time, it was hard to say how much was more than usual back there (excluding the thruster activity in port, which was expected).  I had to remove extra hangers and put them on the floor to stop them from bouncing off the wall as the ship swayed.  There were other areas that needed a few "adjustments" (i.e. the safe) to reduce rattles.  Once the major noise sources were eliminated, we slept pretty well in the cabin (we aren't light sleepers).

We took most of our meals at midship.  I heard others complaining about the rear MDR.  We had one meal at Sabatini's as we left Seattle and there was noticeable vibration in the water glasses, etc.

On 8/11/2022 at 11:29 AM, latebloomer56 said:

Have they added the galley tour back into this? We haven't been in years but really liked the galley tour with treats :).

Just returned from the 06 Aug sailing on the Crown.  We were lucky to get two seats at the Chef's Table.  We called the dining line immediately after boarding and expressed interest; at the time they said it "might happen" based on "interest". On the day of the event, there were only 8 of us.

It turns out ours was only the 3rd Chef's Table on the Crown since return to operations.  There WAS a brief galley tour with hors d'oeuvres, but NOT of the lower galley because it was not operating (due to reduced staffing). They said they had been sailing 62-65% guest occupancy, with a corresponding staff reduction, and expected to increase to 85% after the Crown's dry dock in October.

2 hours ago, suekel said:

Proof of vaccination

Passport

Negative Covid test which can also be on your phone

If your itinerary includes a port in Canada, add the ArriveCAN QR code (can be printed or displayed in an app).

2 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

One final note - Princess is in southern CA so you might need to factor in an extra day for the snail mail to get to Illinois as they ship via USPS (we are in northern CA).

FWIW, ours shipped FedEx Express directly from Singapore on July 19 and were delivered in Texas on July 25 in advance of an August 6 sailing.  It seemed to clear customs quickly, but others said theirs waited for days, so I'd interpret this as one of the speedier deliveries (and no, I absolutely did not pay extra if that was even an option).

Mine was imported through customs in Alaska, so with all things logistics these days "it depends" on where it comes in and where you are.  If they imported in CA and you live in CA I could absolutely understand USPS.  I was actually surprised to see FedEx Express service for mine.

You can order well in advance, but they will not ship until 2-3 weeks out and I don't recall if there's any control over shipping speed.  Since you don't have much control, I would second picking up medallions on embarkation day (or having them remade while you wait); but that also means you should avoid ordering any accessories (wrist bands, etc.) in advance because it all ships together.

1 hour ago, metrodiva2 said:

What does Within mean here?  Fill it out by 72 hours before?  Or, once you've reached 72 hours before  fill it out then?

...

So I leave Aug 15 - can I fill this form out now?

You can create your account and provide traveler information (passports, vaccination status, etc.) now. Starting sometime on August 12 and prior to boarding on the 15th you can fill out the travel/arrival information and get a QR code. This assumes the cruise is taking you into Canada (e.g. from the USA) and you're not first flying or driving into the country to embark from a Canadian port.

2 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Sep 22 shows available.

 

I think that one was 2023.

1 hour ago, scott4020 said:

They have completely stopped selling the rest of the Crown Alaska cruises. 

As of this moment, Princess.com is showing for sale two upcoming Crown itineraries on September 10 & 17, 2022. That said, all its remaining Glacier Bay itineraries in August through 03 September this year show as "not available".

13 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Is anyone on this thread ever cruise on Princess anywhere ever again?  If so why.

This is our first cruise, ever.  I'm not saying "never" to Princess -- certainly not before the trip -- but the lack of transparency certainly isn't building any loyalty.  We don't know if cruising is something that we'll like or want to do again, but I'll have no reason NOT to try out a different line if we ever take a second cruise.

Yet if Skagway was the cause I would have perhaps expected a change to those times. This smells of the continued propulsion problems on Crown as reported since ,what, May?

06 Aug itinerary now shows ISP on Wednesday. Thursday, what was Ketchikan, is now a full sea day.