sept10dsm

nothing better than a first hand recommendation !:)

We were so worried driving from so far and leaving the car for 14 days. We were going to stay a night in Vancouver and park at the pier. Well, the cost for parking for that long was over $300 alone never mind the hotel. We were so lucky to find the Accent Inn for about half what the parking cost was that included both the hotel night and transfers! I will sing their praises every chance I get! The hotel staff was wonderful as well and the transfer company.

this question was answered recently , so if you look over the first page or 2, you'll find it. The Accent Inn was a common recommendation.

I posted in reply to the OP without reading your post! Accent Inn was indeed a great place to stay and park for us last summer. Their shuttle service provided wonderful as well. On time to pick us up to take us to the port and helped with luggage and there when we arrived back to Vancouver.

We stayed at the Accent Inn in Burnaby for a stay/transfer/park. They also have an Accent Inn at the airport from reading on these boards. We were very happy with the employees/transfers/car safety staying at Accent Inn. Each time this location was discussed, other posters have mentioned the Accent Inn a the airport as well. Pudderdale was ever so helpful as were others.

We have also driven over from AZ in the winter for cruises and just left our car at the "World Cruise Center" in San Pedro. At $12 per day it is not to dear and you have the advantage of your car being right there at the end of your cruise and not having to wait for a shuttle.

Thank you. That is a great price.

I really preferred the DTI over the CP. Although the DTI is a surface lot it is very secure. Yes, both hotels offer shuttles to and from the cruise terminal.

Thanks. And parking there free? or a fee?

Ketchikan has the South East Alaska Discovery Center that is a few dollars and included with a National Park Pass if you have one. The visitor center at Mendenhall is also free with the National Park pass.

Great news that the walk off with luggage has been available in the past in Vancouver. Thanks!

You're welcome! Vancouver was really a great port. Although we could not use the service of walk off with our luggage, when we did get off all went smoothly and very fast! We found our shuttle and off we went. I think it is one of the best ports we have used.

Does anyone still use fax machines? Do they even make them any more?

 

Does it seem a bit ridiculous that you can book your entire cruise online, but you need to send a FAX (or make a phone call) in order to pre-purchase items, make special requests, etc? :rolleyes:

I know, sometimes as much as some things are up to date others aren't. I know there are faxes that go directly to computers but theirs didn't seem to do that. They were talking about paper at the machine!

And forward ones too! ;)

Yes, I remember reading about them but for us being on deck 8 and closer to the aft, just really convenient for us. We really made use of the game/card room as well as the library.

I would hope that Princess has more then 1 fax machine to replace it with. :eek:

Funny. We mailed ours last summer. They couldn't find the fax!

Also, if in Whittier early in the day, Major Marine did a nice glacier cruise. We did Surprise glacier tour on our turnaround day.

I will be sailing on the Island Princess to Alaska Southbound Sept 3, For those who have sailed on this ship, especially during the Glacier Bay Day, where are your favorite viewing spots, any secret places to camp out at for the day to view the scenery? Or somewhere less crowded. Could you just stay on your balcony and get the best views or is it better to be up on the promenade?

 

Also, since we are in the bay for most of the day, are there better viewing times like first thing in the morning or does it not matter?

 

Also, more generally speaking, what are some of your favorite spots on the ship just...in general for "at sea" days?

 

Thanks!

The Island is a wonderful ship. There are aft open balconies that are avail for anyone to use. We were on a RT 14 days so visited Glacier Bay 2 times-both wonderful. One of the visits were were top deck, the other the main deck. The Captain did turn the ship around 1/2 hr each side, so we crossed over to make sure we didn't miss anything. We had wonderful sunny days both times. The NP Rangers will be on board. If you have a National Park Passport book, bring it. They have the stamp avail plus many other Glacier Bay NP items. The ranger will give talks as well most of the day. We liked the game room as well as library for quiet time which were just outside our cabin (internet cafe there as well). Also, as an aside, if you have a National Parks pass, bring it along for a few of the National Forest areas that you may visit. Mendenhall Visitor Center as well as SE Alaska Discovery Center both are included.

We sail on her in 6 days! Our first Princess cruise ever - seasoned Carnival travelers. We are doing the Vancouver - Anchorage route.

 

Glad to hear food, staff and entertainment were great. Our roll call doesn't have a meet and greet set up at this time.

 

Any other pointers for this ship? There is so little discussed about this ship from what I can find.

There are aft open balconies for public use. They were really neat. We liked the whole layout of the ship. Not too big but never crowded areas. We liked the game room that was closeby to our cabin. Staff was really wonderful.

Which port? Long Beach or San Pedro?

To be honest, I'm not sure since we are just thinking about a RT Hawaii. I have not cruised out of LA as of yet but most likely it would be a Princess cruise. We did a RT out of Vancouver last summer and found a great place to stay locally the night before that offered the one night stay as well as free parking for the 2 weeks for 173-much less than the parking garage at the pier. Sorry to go on and on but we were so happy with that hotel, I wanted to have some ideas before planning a LA cruise! Safety for a vehicle is important as well as us! Thanks again for any help.

PS-anybody know any discount tricks for any excursions? AARP? AAA? Military?thanks

There is an Alaska discount book that has many coupons for excursions. We used Northern Lights last summer. They had a buy one get one free Major Marine cruise in Whittier. It was well worth the cost of the book. The cruise was about 150 pp. The book costs $55.00 so costly if you don't use any. I bought the book last minute (found out about it here) at my local Barnes and Noble that had it shipped to the store from Anchorage store. Couldn't get it online when we were looking for it. Also, if you have a National Parks pass, it can be used at Mendenhall visitor center as well as the Discovery Center in Ketchikan. I also request information from each port and at times there are coupons in the package they send. If sailing Princess, they have a military OBC available as well has a shareholder OBC

Yes, both hotels offer "Stay, Park and Cruise" packages. I have availed myself of the one at the DTI in the past.

Thank you! Which do you prefer? Also, is transportation provided to the port as well. We had such a great place in Vancouver and are hoping for something similar to avoid parking at the port.

FYI - Island Princess had "walk-off with luggage" disembarkation on June 4th in Vancouver.

They had it as well when we were on board last summer. I loved the Island!

I have done the train/bus combination 8 hr as well as the bus only 8 hr. They both basically did the same. The cost for the train was a bit more costly. For me I liked the combination tour better since more ease of seeing the scenery there. Honestly, if it weren't for cost we would have done the train the second time. Since I had done it prior I wasn't that concerned not to be able to again when my husband didn't care to because of the price difference.

Just highlight them and change the color.:):)

OP sorry about your Bella. They are members of the family.

Thanks!

You may want to post this in the family section as well.

One thing we noticed when cruising a few years ago with a child in diapers is that there were no changing tables in public restrooms. You will be going back to the cabin for that each time. We had no problems with traveling with a 16 month old. He also was very good natured.

I judge dinner time by time in port as well. If many later nights, I really wouldn't want an early assigned time. When we were on the Island last year we just did anytime due to being in Alaska and later back to ship times. At home we tend to eat earlier rather that late so that late dinner was just too late. We had no problem being seated when we arrived for dinner and we requested a table for 2 each time. We went around 6 - 6:30 pm on average.

I am not much of a gambler, and do not like the idea of not being able to use cash in the slot machines, but having said that, this is my question:

 

My Travel Agent gave me a book of coupons which includes a match play described as a "$5 match play casino credit for blackjack or roulette table". My idea is to play the following on roulette: Put $5 on say black and $5 and the match play on red. If black comes out I get $10 my bet and the "winnings" (which is what I bet) and if red comes out I get (if I correctly understand how this works, my $5 back and then $10 more or $15, netting $5). Now I know I am out of luck if one of the zeros comes up (and if you were to see me at the roulette table betting zeroes would probably be a good bet), but is there a flaw in my "plan"?

 

Thanks,

Jim

I agree. No gambling for me any more on board. Just don't care for it.

I had no problem with the phone/text while in port with Verizon and a blackberry. The email was not being received though

When we sailed last summer they had a great fish and chips lunch on 2 sea days that was included. VERY GOOD. It was in the specialty restaurant.