RoyMartin

Wish you a wonderful cruise. I'll be on Sapphire for an Alaska cruise in June, God willing. Wondering if there's a single day internet option and, if so, what's the price. If you know, please let me know. Thanks.

That's a great idea. Thank you.

Special thanks to you, RJ. That's a great idea. I'm going to do that.

Thanks so much for all the responses. This is so helpful.

I know that Princess offers internet for $15 per day if one buys it for the entire cruise. Is there an option to pay a daily rate just for days when the ship is not at a port? I'll be cruising Alaska this summer and would like to keep the cost down. Thanks.

I'm cruising to Alaska on Princess in June. It will be a 14 day cruise. My first cruise ever. I'd like to be able to at least check e-mail every day. I assume the only way to do that is by paying $15 per day for the internet package (unless bundled in with other services). The bundled packages don't make sense for me because I drink only water. I assume that in Alaska the internet speed will be too slow for reliable Zoom meetings. That means I won't really be able to work on board. If I could work, it would be well worth the $15 per day. Since that's probably not realistic, I need to decide if it's worth $15 per day for the entire cruise to access wifi on days at sea. If I don't sort e-mail and respond to messages on a daily basis, it really builds up. Then I could be stuck wasting time in port digging out of holes, given that there will sometimes be two straight days at sea. Does anyone have thoughts on this? How fast is the internet on Princess in Alaska? Is it worth the cost to check e-mail? Any possibility it will work with Zoom? Please respond if you have cruised Alaska and have direct experience with the Medallion wifi. Thanks.

Thanks for that. Since this is our first cruise, we're just figuring out what we like. So perspectives are helpful. We have a balcony cabin on deck 12 of Ovation of the Seas. Figured would give us a panoramic view, which would seem to make sense since we're going to Alaska. Hopefully we'll have a chance to check out other cabins. One fellow was telling me he prefers inside cabins. The total darkness that can only be found there. To each his/her own.

Thank you for this gift! It's like a trip back in time. I appreciate how you recollect the various aspects. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but it wasn't so much cruising but transportation in those days. How expensive was your ticket? I'd love to know what it cost in every class. And what it was like to travel in each class. To some extent, we see a reemergence of class travel on cruise ships of late. Special parts of the ship reserved for suite passengers, and also entirely separate lines that cater to those who prefer a more refined experience.

Thank you. Out of curiosity, why do you prefer ocean view to balcony cabins?

Just visiting this old topic for the first time. My wife, son and I are set to take our first cruise -- to Alaska -- in late September (last RCL sailing of the season). I'll be 60 by then. My son will be 9. My wife wouldn't want me to share her age. For most of my life, I wanted nothing to do with cruises. When I was in my thirties, I'd throw on a backpack, get a cheap flight to Europe and find the most out of the way places, ideally where almost no one spoke English, and I'd go by the seat of my pants with no idea where my next meal would come from or where I'd sleep for the night. If I traveled for a month, maybe I spent $2,000. Honestly, there were places I couldn't spend a dime because people would invite me in, feed and lodge me, and refuse to take anything in return. Made some amazing friendships. Met my ex-wife that way. At the time, the idea of traveling in luxury without adventure had no appeal. But now I'm older. My wife isn't as adventurous as me. And we have a son with chronic health issues that would make that kind of travel impossible. So I looked into cruising. I've always wanted to see Alaska. Booked a late season cruise to keep costs down, avoid crowds and maybe, maybe (if we're really lucky) see the northern lights. For an unobstructed balcony cabin located on the 12th deck with a panoramic view, the total price for the three of us (on a 7 night cruise on a Quantum class ship), gratuities included, is $3,000. That seems to me a very fair price. Yes, the ship is larger than I'd like. And more like a shopping mall. I promise we'll spend zero time in the casino -- not our thing. I don't think we'll do specialty dining. I'm open to it but my wife feels it's a waste. We don't drink. We don't shop at overpriced stores and we're just not into accumulating "stuff". I'm open to taking some excursions but my wife feels that our son, who has certain challenges, wouldn't be up for it. So I don't think we'll spend a whole lot more than the aforementioned $3k. Maybe some things were once higher quality. Perhaps the food. I'd like it if the ships were smaller and quieter. But my son will love the bumper cars and he'll probably get a real kick out of the glitziness of the ship. So I'm very happy to be cruising for the first time now; not 30 years ago when I was having far more interesting adventures. As far as I'm concerned, back then a backpack was the way to go. If I were young and single now, it still would be (for me). But cruising seems a great value considering all you get for a reasonable price. Maybe we won't like it. But if we do, perhaps we'll seek out bargain cruises going forward. I see some great deals on repositioning cruises with incredible prices. Some as low as $27 per day per person plus taxes and fees. Sometimes one of the passengers is free. How can anyone beat that when a decent hotel room without meals costs around 8 times as much.

Thanks. Yes, we plan to check it out when we get there. It's a late sailing -- last of the year to Alaska. School will be in session so there may not be a lot of kids. Of course there may not be a lot of staff either. We'll see. I found the post helpful because it reminded me to temper any expectations. Since we have no need for time away from our son, it's not a big deal. If there's something that's enriching for him that he wants to partake in, great. If not, more time with him will be great too.

Thanks for your insights and most of all for your quip, "If you've seen one person with autism, you've seen one person with autism". I love that and will steel it freely.

I hope so. I'd like this to be the first of many cruises. Maybe when he's older, I can introduce him to backpacking and hosteling overseas but he's too young for that now. And his health challenges make it too complex for now. As for food, we're pretty easy going. We've found that he'll balance his intake over time. If he starts the day with something sweet, he'll next ask for hamburger or kale. Sometimes we have to limit the amount of sugar or carbs because of the blood sugar challenges, but it's more about time of day or whether his insulin has kicked in yet (which he can accelerate with exercise if he wants to). Type one diabetes presents challenges, sometimes harder or easier to manage based on which way the wind is blowing and zillion other unfathomable factors. But we have a lot of experience and the technology (continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps) make it way easier than it was for earlier generations of children and parents. Health outcomes are also far better now.

He'll be 9 by the date of sailing. Ovation of the Seas.

Could see it going either way with my son. Unless we try to force him to go, in which case he'll hate it. Fortunately, like you, we enjoy our time with him. There are so many things I'll enjoy showing him on the ship. He's kind of a "foodie" so hopefully he'll get interested in exploring new things to eat in a place where he can try various things.