Cruise Raider

We were just onboard the Ruby a couple of weeks ago and we got the canapes, they weren't soggy at all, though.

It may be a moot point but we cruised on the Norwegian Wind a couple of times. The first time, down out of Florida and then again out of Hawaii. Well, they took all of the machines out for these itineraries even though they did have a stop over in Fanning Island. The casino had not been converted into another type of public space. It just had power cables coming up out of the carpet. So strange to see that after having sailed on her previously with a very active casino.

You are correct. There is a card in your stateroom (maybe somehow now on the app) and you can pick them up at any bar on the ship once you board.

I think it is just so widespread, around our area anyway, that it doesn't much matter if you are taking every precaution possible. You can still get it and just hope the vaccines do what they are meant to do and keep you from getting hospitalized.

I agree with going to Glacier Bay ... it will be a day you won't soon forget. We have gone in every month of the 'Alaska Season' except for April and October. In April and May, you will run the chance of not being able to get all the way down the Fjord to view the Glacier (not sure if this is true for Glacier Bay). Our friends went in late June and had perfect weather in every port. We had excellent weather at the end of July. We also had a mixture of cool and warm weather but no rain several times in late August and early September but then very cold, rainy and windy weather in late September. I'd shoot for July / August for a better chance of good weather but if you are looking for a bargain, late August and early September if you are looking for bargain rates. And .. there should be no issues with getting up close to the glacier. If at all possible, Alaska is the place you want to get a balcony. Also, you might find a flight to Seattle a lot cheaper than flying into Vancouver. We try to always go out of San Francisco, 3 more days of cruising with that itinerary. They have plenty of events, lectures, activities on the ship related to Alaska while onboard.

I am in complete agreement with you. If we take a 3 night sailing from Vancouver to San Francisco, for example, we opt for the train / sky train because we only have a carry on piece of luggage. For Alaska, we wouldn't dream of dragging all that luggage between the transfers and walking, especially if it's raining. The cabs at Vancouver airport have been very reasonable for us in the past and you will get door to door service and you won't start your cruise off with being drenched or a lot of frustration ... all for saving about $25.

We've joined in on some fantastic in the past .. and even a couple since the restart but I do agree that most fellow passengers are just doing their own thing lately and aren't really interested in a large gathering of strangers. Our largest roll call, which was before the pandemic, was close to 600 fellow passengers. Maybe we will get back to those days?? Who knows?? There sure were some valuable tips and get togethers in the past.

Flat rate taxi is your bets option without using public transportation. It’s really a deal!

So far, here in the SF Bay Area, they are still listed as ‘no cost’. Maybe it’s a San Francisco thing. Everything is free here … 😂! I realize HHS is federal .. so will have to keep my eyes peeled.

Sadly, they do not. We cruise quite a bit on a Princess so have the free laundry benefit and still haven’t used it in years. You can oftentimes find me in their laundromat ironing clothes. I find it very nice to have one on every passenger deck for passengers to use.

I think so, as well. I’m pretty sure if they heard from you daily, either via the phone number your steward gives or crew chat, that would suffice for the proof of life. We’ve oftentimes wanted to just be left alone, just never for an entire cruise. Someone can even go out and meet up with the steward and exchange towels and get extra paper products for the bathroom if just not wanting someone in your room. We’ve even called and mentioned we just wanted to rest and watch movies all day … they had a bag hanging on our door handle with some goodies for the room. We tipped extra, BTW, as our requests were honored. You may have to answer your door for room service but there’s nothing to say you can’t take the tray from room service deliveries in the doorway. You can also call room service back to hand off the dirty dishes on a tray at the door way, as well. I completely understand why someone may not want someone else in their room, even if they go out and about during the day. We have done it at hotels before, especially early on in the pandemic. Again, we still tipped them for honoring our request.

Well said!

Yes, they are supposed to get 5 pours from each bottle of wine. We’re lucky when they make it 4. Seriously though, if the wine is covered under the package, it really doesn’t much matter. Not many people can drink 15 glasses of wine (or 3 bottles of wine) in a day.

Our favorite Chardonnay, Rombauer, which was $15 per glass and $55 per bottle, just went up to $79 per bottle on the new price list and not listed as sold by the glass now. They were completely out of it on my last cruise. I was happy enough with the Mer Soliel Chardonnay but not sure if I saw it listed on the abbreviated menu that was posted. They were really pushing the Decoy Chardonnay. It's just ok but better when served in a decent glass like Vines has. Anyway, wine has gone up around here in the Bay Area, as have all of our groceries. Some areas of store shelves are just bare. I can't be upset with Princess for raising their prices and plating smaller portions in the dining room. They are just keeping up with inflation and supply chain issues that have impacted us all, at least in our area. Our gas is over $7 a gallon here ... everything goes up in price when that happens. Thankfully, they haven't reintroduced that fuel surcharge as of yet ... not even sure if that is legal now. I'm just wondering what wines will be available when we board in a couple of months. If it's only $25 a day pp to upgrade from the Plus to the Premier, it might be worth it if they have some great wines on the menu. But, if they don't, it would be of little value to me to upgrade.

I don't think a lot of people know about it. We were given a disembarkation lounge for those with early walk off and port valet. There were very few taking advantage of it last year. We actually had to go to the desk to inquire about it but that was early on in the restart so they were getting their ducks in a row. But, even in the past, I don't know why people wouldn't use it, especially in Seattle where it is offered complimentary. I've always had a positive experience with this service in 10+ times of using it. The other really nice thing about it is you can ditch the luggage scale. I would not overdo it but if your bag is a pound or two over the weight limit, you don't get charged for that. There is really no downside to it as far as I can tell. I believe Fort Lauderdale and Miami also offer this service, but with a pp charge. In that case, we've always just paid for one since we don't have a lot of checked luggage and the other one of us just checks in for the flight separately.

Thus, the comment pointing out the deluxe balcony or mini suites (categories noted) on the Royal class ships. These room types always have the bed by the bathroom on Princess and do not alternate like most cabins do on Celebrity.

Celebrity had tried that in the past but then went to paying just the upcharge on the classic package. Time will tell but I don’t think it is all that likely that Princess will go down that road.

Something similar happened to me earlier this year. I had found a smoking deal on EZ air for a flight from SFO to LAX. I believe it was like $16 pp each way. Unheard of, right? Anyway, one of the flights was rescheduled for a time that didn’t fit into the EZ Air timeline. They could have placed me onto a different flight that worked for me but, of course, it would have gone up exponentially if I did it. So, they just canceled the flight. I had a great travel agent that had them change it to the schedule that worked and they had to honor the original pricing. A good TA can work wonders.

Unlike Celebrity, the standard balconies do not have a sitting area in the cabins. If you are on a Royal class ship, you can book a deluxe balcony or mini suite and those do have a seating area and the beds are always closer to the bathroom and the small sofa or couch is positioned by the balcony. It’s not at all like celebrity where the bed positioning alternates.

Just sign up onboard and you will have no issues. We take a printed copy of our airline confirmation ...never had any issues.

I never used to get upsell, complimentary upgrade or move over offers until ….. I started using a Princess Cruise Vacation Planner. I used to book through a big box travel agency and guess what? I found out they don’t pass these offers onto their clients. Wait, what? All these years and I never knew that before. I think Princess started offering them both to their TA and to the passenger in the last several years but they didn’t used to do that in the past. Now, I would say I’ve received an offer on about every fourth cruise we take. Lastly, they have been filling their ships so not really sure if I can’t count on that happening as much anymore.

Port Valet - Enjoy Seattle Luggage Free! | Port of Seattle (portseattle.org) Maybe this will help.

We have used it multiple times and always successfully, before CoVid and after the return to service. Seattle picking up the tab for it is just icing on the cake.

We got an upgrade from a caribe deck aft balcony to an aft facing penthouse suite once … that was early in the return to operations, though. I will never expect to see that happen again. We were so happy it happened at least once in our lifetime, though.

Oooops .. you just beat me to it.