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The agency you speak of (don't want to mention name because it's technically not allowed) isn't a bank and outsources this to a 3rd party vendor. They and the 3rd party vendor have to make money on the transaction, which is why the fee is so high. Better to start with your bank. Certain banking packages waive the transaction fee altogether or will have a flat transaction fee instead of a percentage. Depending on how strict the fraud credentials on your ATM usage, you should also be able to withdraw from European ATMs no problem. Again, depending on your banking package, there may or may not be a fee and if you do have fees, you will be levied this fee every time you withdraw. The nice thing about getting local currency on demand is that you will be able to better judge how much you need and not have so much overage, which you can save for the next trip or unwillingly spend to get rid of it.

From what I gather on this thread, this occurred on the Sky Princess. Was this at the 20:00 production show? I've sailed twice on the Sky out of Southampton, the entertainment director/cruise director, whoever is in charge of this, should put the shows back to 19:30 and 21:00/21:15/21:30. Everyone wants to attend the 20:00 show because the next performance time at 22:00 is too late; you won't be able to get out of there until at least 22:45, which is way too late for American tastes, or even if you have an early shore excursion the next morning. The 20:00 showing is sometimes completely full 30 to 45 minutes ahead of time. I agree, though that 150 seats is excessive.

Future Cruise won't have any sales any better than what is available directly through Princess or your TA for cruises that far in advance. Best to buy FCD with OBC bounceback, and book when you get home. If you can leave in the near future, they will offer 50% the current price listed on princess.com for Standard, Plus, or Premium. For the sailing below, Category BW base fare Standard is currently $3179. On board, Future Cruise was able to knock down the base fare to $1749 (not Casino rate, it's the on board rate). Worth it if you you have the time and money.

You are correct. The cruise I posted about went to Quebec from Greenland with no intermediate stops in Canada.

I took a Viking Ocean cruise in my late 20s when my relative with deep pockets decided that my cousin, a little younger than I am, needed a roommate. Even though my cousin and I were "adults," man did we feel like kids on the Viking Orion. Now in my mid-30s, it'll be a while before I consider taking any Viking cruise. Totally understand the draw for some, but I would characterize the atmosphere and "overall 'liveliness'" as sedate.

Great points! I think you missed one other thing regarding Viking that Princess cruisers on this forum relish in. There's almost a 100% guarantee that there will be no kids.

How long ago was this? In January of this year on the Royal Princess, our first call in Hawaii was Kona, a tender port. Guest Services sent out a note the night before reminding passengers that food items were not to be brought off the ship because of local agricultural laws. We tendered as usual with no CBP officers to greet us once shoreside. Then again, there's not a cruise terminal building there. What you outlined above is a good reason to pick a Hawaii cruise that doesn't have Honolulu as it's first call in Hawaii.

There was a couple in our party that terminated their cruise in Quebec the first day with no problems. Since, there will be passengers getting off to explore Quebec that day, Canadian Border Patrol will be at the pier. For entry into Canada by cruise ship, all passengers fill out the Canadian customs declaration form. You will present your passport and that form to the Canadian Border Patrol agent and they will either clear you or take you aside for further questioning based on your answers on the form. The ship has to get a zero count before they will let passengers back on board much like for those on a back to back cruise starting and ending in the U.S. Since the cruise ends in Quebec and the ship is just acting like a floating hotel for the evening, the ship's security doesn't care about about whether or not you will be reboarding for the night. It's less work for the security staff in the morning because it's less people they have to worry about to get to the zero count, allowing for earlier embarkation of the next group of passengers. Probably the least of your worries, but just be aware, there's no refunds for the unused portion.

The "poles" you speak of are part of an awning used for al fresco dining in the outdoor promenade area for Gigi's. This was installed on Sky and later versions of Royal Class ships. I've never seen anyone dine here presumably because it's always windy at sea. I'm guessing the awning was installed so that people dining outside couldn't see directly into the BW/DW cabins above and vice versa.

It's quiet at night but within walking distance to the downtown shopping areas. It's also near Gastown. The sketchy part of town is a few blocks away, so I don't really recommend going past Seymour St when you are there, except if going to Gastown. You're not in the heart of the action, but the trade off is that you will be able to walk from the hotel to the Canada Place the morning of your cruise. It makes a difference when you have to schlep luggage. Another hotel to look into, aside from the 2 Fairmonts (Waterfront is closer and cheaper than the Pacific Rim) and Pan Pacific, is The EXchange Hotel. I still think the convenience of being to close to the Canada Place the morning of the cruise trumps being close to downtown shopping area because you will be dealing with luggage. The Pan Pacific has a free service (hope it will continue next year) where the bellmen will take your checked luggage and drop it off at the pier for you; you just have to tip. Easier to walk to the shopping area with nothing in tow rather than schlepping luggage to the Canada Place. Hyatt Regency is a fine property, but further away from the Canada Place, and not accessible by the Canada Line. It is serviced by the Expo Line, which does not have a direct train to YVR. The walk the morning of your cruise will be further or it might be better to take a taxi or a ride share to the port with. Not impossible to walk though. It is closer to the downtown shopping area.

The Fairmont YVR is a great hotel that lives up to it's star rating. However, I don't recommend staying there unless you will be arriving into YVR very late at night. Downtown Vancouver has a lot to see even for only an evening. Your dining choices will also be vastly improved from what YVR or the room service menu has to offer. The Pan Pacific (at the Canada Place) and the Fairmont Waterfront (across the street from the Canada Place) are great hotels in Vancouver proper that will allow you to see the city for a few hours. The morning of your cruise all you'd have to do is walk to the Canada Place. Book the Fairmont Waterfront early, if it suits you, because Princess partners with this hotel for pre-cruise stays and has a tendency to sell out when a Princess ship is in town. Both are accessible by the Canada Line via the Waterfront Station.

Just use a passport next time so you blend in.

Recommend staying near the Westlake Center. It's a short walk to Pike Place, and from the Westlake Center, you can take the Monorail to the Seattle Center complex where the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden & Glass, and Museum of Pop Art are.

Read about Port Valet here: https://www.portseattle.org/page/port-valet-enjoy-seattle-luggage-free The company collects your bag for you and checks them in with your airline. It's a free service--you just pay the checked bag price the airline charges. If all goes well, which it almost always does, you'll see your bags at your destination airport. Caveat is that it won't really work if you have a ton of carry on bags. You still have to schlep those around yourself.

Bids don't change unless you move up in category... I always book guarantee rooms. I had originally booked an IE guarantee on the Sky Princess in April. I was sent the Bid to Upgrade e-mail 85 days prior to sailing, but was not assigned a cabin yet. At this point, the highest category I could bid on was a Deluxe Balcony for $275pp, lowest bid. Didn't take the bait because I was waiting to see if a comped upgrade would go through with my guarantee status. At 37 days prior to embarkation Princess finally assigned a cabin, a BB Balcony. A day later, I was sent a new Bid to Upgrade, now allowing me to bid all the way up to a Suite, and pricing for the Deluxe Balcony dropped to $75pp, lowest bid.

Below a trip report from this year. It's a northbound cruise with post cruise tour. It's comprehensive about the experience and worth a browse.

On the Sky in April, there were no up charges for extra servings. On the Majestic in June, our server was aware that our shipmate was a pescatarian, so the server automatically brought out 2 lobster tails, instead of the beef with no mention of an upcharge nor was she ever charged. Little details like this that give me hope in Princess, but can't really answer the question definitively.

Probably because of the price. They're maximizing their cruise fare. Wouldn't completely knock lobster until you've tried cold water lobsters from New England. They are meaty and the flesh tastes amazing, especially the ones caught in the summer.

Not sure what range of the size spectrum this lobster tail was, but it was more than satisfactory when paired with the beef and other courses. This was on the Sky this April.

It's usually the last formal night that the lobster makes it to the MDR dinner menu. On Royal class ships, the MDR Dinner Menu is usually posted in the morning outside the starboard aft entrance of the World Fresh Marketplace/Horizon Court.

I still think that cruise line food is convention/hotel banquet food because of the preparation method. It's cooked in large batches to feed hundreds/thousands of people. It's nourishment, but you can't expect top quality nor can there be much attention paid to to detail. As far as West Coast cruises go, the Executive Chef told me on the Royal Princess in January that food on the West Coast of the the U.S. costs more than than in other parts of the world, which is why there is less variety and/or the cooks have to take shortcuts. The food budget doesn't go far. Not sure if this is accurate or if he was just making excuses.

That is correct. You will be given colored luggage tags that correspond with everyone else that is on your debark tour and will be given a notice prior to disembarkation telling you the designated disembarkation lounge on the ship and the time to meet there. You will be met there by someone from Shore Excursions and everyone on the tour will disembark together once they get notice that your bus has arrived. Pick up your bags in the terminal and someone from Shore Excursions will be outside to guide you to your bus.

Even with Lavazza, I doubt the brewed coffee in the buffet will improve on Royal Class ships. The problem is the WMF coffee machine that is used. It makes brewed coffee, but there is no paper filter, the coffee is more like an Americano or French Press. It makes is easier because the buffet servers don't have to worry about replacing the paper filter and dumping the spent grounds every time coffee needs to be brewed. Pretty harmless, one would think, but the coffee is usually pretty bad. I'm guessing the filter is metal mesh and it's constantly clogging and causing machine malfunctions. Sometimes not all the grounds are caught and you will see them at the bottom of your cup. The coffee produced is sometimes so weak that it looks like tea when dispensed into a white mug. They are also constantly broken. I was on and off the Royal several times late last year and early this year, and one of the port side coffee machines was out of service the entire time, never fixed in the months that I saw it.

Princess recently published the 2024 Alaska brochure which can be found below: https://www.princess.com/html/global/brochures/pc/2024-alaska.pdf It's worth a browse.

The Smize ice cream was available on the Majestic this past June. It was only available for order though the room service menu. It was $6 for a personal size, single serving cup that was prepackaged. The size was similar to a mini Haagen Daaz cup or the size of ice cream cup that is served in economy by some airlines on international flights. Definitely way less than quart in size and not scooped. I noticed the Smize ice cream container as trash left outside in the hall on someone's room service dirty dishes.