MC40528

Have a question for you about the level 3 extended Glacier Trek... how 'good physical' shape are they talking? Are they just warning the people with mobility issues it is more intense or would you need to be someone who works out regularly and hikes mountains?

I just did the Level 2 Trek a few weeks ago - it was spectacular, I still get so excited thinking about what an incredible experience it was. We were on our feet for 2+ hours walking most of the time with small 5min breaks to take photos. You cannot sit down during the tour and should be prepared to be on your feet the entire time. It's difficult to estimate a distance of how far we went, but we were definitely walking up and down some slopes at awkward angles - you kind of zig zag your way up and through the glacier. A few times we had to "giant" step across some streams. I was slightly "winded" a few times during the 2 hour experience. I haven't been working out lately, but am easily capable of walking 1-2 miles at a comfortable pace. I was tired at the end and was sore the next day - kind of like the first time you go skiing each year and use leg/knee muscles you aren't use to. It was very similar to hiking a mountainous type trail with ups and downs on uneven terrain needing to watch your footing. Overall this was my favorite excursion I've ever done on any cruise - DO IT!! If I ever have a next time - I would definitely consider doing the Level 3. I think the main difference between level 2 and 3 from what I observed was that the level 3 goes on to do the climbing - which looked amazing. I do think the guide will assess the mobility of the group and then decides where to take the group. I saw some groups that were likely on the level 1 tour that were staying in the flatter areas moving at a slower pace.

I'll let you know about the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari after we go. It's out of Skagway and you take a boat followed by a bus to get way out in the country where you put on rubber boots, etc. and then kayak and hike to the Davidson Glacier. I don't think it's that strenuous, but does require hiking around a mile on rocky terrain. The pictures and reviews are fabulous! It's a highly rated tour but also one that seems to be more off the beaten path. I think the maximum number of people total might be around 40 or so? Most of the pictures I've seen seem to be less than that. It appears you can usually walk near the glacier. If you book this one, it's through Alaska Excursions. There is only one company that does it. My Princess cruise offered the exactly tour (I'd be with the same company, etc.) but it was $20 more. I booked direct.

Just did this excursion the first week of June. I'll fill in a few details: 2 boats of 24 passengers each for about 1 hr 15 mins each way. Upon arrival at Glacier Point, they fed us a basic sack lunch - turkey sandwich, applesauce cup, and trail mix. Then we loaded on 2 school buses for a 10-15min ride through some fairly steep dirt roads in the forest. We got our gear and started on a 5-10 minute walk. Then we boarded the canoes - 5 canoes with 8 people each. I'm estimating the canoe portion to be 15-20 mins. It's a moderate paddle, with one difficult portion through a swift current area. Once you get past this transition area from river to lake they use motors to get you across the lake. Then you walk quite a distance to reach the glacier - I'm thinking it was about 1/2 mile each way as it took 10-15mins. You can't walk that fast due to the rubber boats you are wearing. We spent probably 15 mins at the glacier. Then you reverse the process to get back. I loved this tour because of the variety of experiences(boat, hike, canoe, vistas) and the feeling of the vastness of nature due to the remote location of this excursion.

Physical Ability - The average person didn't have any difficulty as long as they are use to basic physical activity in their daily routine like walking. You definitely need to be able to walk a mile at a comfortable pace. The few people that were struggling to keep up with the group were clearly overweight and had to stop and take some breathers....but they made it, they just had less time at the glacier. Be willing to paddle the canoe - don't expect the rest of us to do all the work for you.

Restroom - I hate to mention this aspect but feel it will be useful to others. There are NO restrooms on the boat ride, so go before you board the boats - there are nice restrooms at the dock. Once you get to Glacier Point - there is no running water, which means no nice restrooms. There are outhouses - in the truest sense of outhouse, at the gear pavilion. The outhouse was not exactly pleasant but better than nothing but was worse than I expected (odor/flies/bugs/a bit muddy). Just make it quick visit and remind yourself you are in a complete wilderness area so you shouldn't expect anything more;).

Also, if your cruise stops in Skagway (probably a 99% chance it will) a great guy to do business with is Dyea Dave Tours. If you're nervous about putting up a deposit or having to prepay and then cancelling, don't with Dyea Dave. His policy is that you don't have to put a deposit or prepay. You only pay AFTER the tour and IF you're satisfied. He does not take credit cards!!! You pay either with cash or a personal check. We had a great time with him last year - he picked us up at the ship around 7:45 AM then we did a ride all the way to Emerald Lake in the Yukon Territory. Dave would stop here and there, for pictures - he'll even ask if anyone wants to stop for something in particular. There was only FOUR on our tour that day and I was really the only one taking pictures - quite a few times he'd kind of pull over on the side of the road, I'd jump off and take a picture or two and get back on. The big bus loads can't do that! We rode the train back from Fraser and he picked us up when the train stopped in Skagway. I tried to pay him when he left us at the train in Fraser but he said I could pay him later. Cool! We ate lunch at a small bakery/deli place in Carcross. Oh, on the way out of town after Dave picked us up we stopped at the White Pass ticket office to get our tickets for the train. Dave never rushed us. I'll be back there again next year and we'll do a Dave tour again! You can search for his web page - it should come up easily.

I'm another past cruiser that had an amazing time with Dyea Dave on the exact tour described above. We had the 3 in our party plus one other couple = 5 total people on a Minibus. Everyone had their own window seat on the minibus with more scenic stops than I can count. It was very satisfying to watch the large tour buses keep on going, when we were stopped at the scenic pullouts getting picture perfect photos. Book with Dyea Dave and you'll have a great day. He likely can accommodate your family group on your own private minibus.

You would have to cancel by calling the Excursion line anyway..... you should ask them and maybe they just code it differently without issuing a cancellation .... T&Cs are typically not open for interpretation to protect both the customer and the company.

 

It's either 24 or 48 hours before an excursion that you can cancel with full refund (by phone or on board)

I cruise in 10 days and was just noticing(fully comprehending) the "fine print". Has anyone had experience with canceling an excursion by calling them? Do they refund with a credit to your credit card that you paid with? OR is it in the form of on board credit??

It's a bit frustrating when you call to make a reservation like the promotion states to do and the recorded message says to go on line and make your reservation and before you know what you've done, you've booked an excursion, paid for it, and not received the $50 credit. Just trying to get my $50 back--by way of cash rather than OBC.

Followup to report on parking experience in Maui as of April 2017.

We drove through all the adjacent businesses and stores looking for someplace to park.....we found some places, but they were far away and a bit sketchy. All information including the rental company pointed to the only choice was to park overnight at the airport($15), so that's what we did - Better safe than sorry. We parked around 5PM and the shuttle to the cruise ship was still running, although we had to wait 15+ minutes. The car rental lots are located in the back of the airport parking lot, so you can easily walk directly there or walk to the airport car rental pickup area and take the shuttle. The next day we left the ship at 5:45am - there were several taxi's waiting. So we took taxi to airport for $12. The car rental shuttle doesn't start until after 8AM based on what the rental company said. My backup plan if there were no taxis was to take Uber. Uber had a few cars running but had a 10+min wait, so we just did the taxi.

Just did this last week. We arrived around 6PM and pulled into the Anchor Cove Shopping. There was a sign at the entrance closest to the ship, indicating rental car parking. There was a lady with a "security" t shirt on that we paid our $20 to. She provided a dated parking pass that was placed on the car dash. It was very easy and convenient, compared to the Maui parking situation. Took shuttle back to the ship. The next morning (around 8AM), we walked 5-7 mins to retrieve our car.

Just stayed at the Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach - it was excellent. Clean, newly renovated room with breakfast provided. The next day we were next door at the cruise line provided hotel - Aston Waikiki Beach and it was horrible - tiny, dirty, outdated room. Granted we didn't get to pick the room type since it was provided - but I will not stay here again. There may be better rooms than what we got, but the room we were in was bad.

I just got off POA and specifically took photos of cabin 7092 to share, as I was very curious in what this cabin looked like and was unable to locate any photos prior to my cruise. It is cabin category SJ - 2 Bedroom Obstructed View Family Suite. It was a great cabin.

I'll do my best to describe the cabin:

Here is the Entry from off the hallway. As you can see, directly ahead is the "Master Bedroom" and to the side is the "2nd room". The entry has the key card and each of the two rooms has a lock on the door, allowing for privacy.

Here are views of the Master Bedroom:

First we have the "fold out" couch. We didn't use, so I have no commentary on what it may be like to sleep on. It was nice to have the extra space over a normal cabin due to the arrangement of the bed opposite the "living room" area. Next is the view of the Master Bed. Last is the bathroom and "walk in closet" area. To the far left is the bathroom. The bathroom is the standard issue bathroom - nothing special or bigger than normal. Directly behind desk with coffee maker/fridge is a partition that is the closet with shelves, drawers, closet area. Plenty of room for all of our stuff. There is a safe.

Here are views of the 2nd room:

First is the sleeping area. There are 4 individual beds - 2 uppers and 2 lowers. I assume the lowers could be combined to a single bed, but am not certain. Last is the closet and bathroom area. The closet is in the far back(where the door would be on a normal cabin) and wraps around to be across from the bathroom. Having the closet in the back, made the room feel bigger, as there wasn't the long corridor feel of a normal cabin. The bathroom in the 2nd room is also the standard issue small size. This room also has a safe and refrigerator.

The room comes with the suite perks - Breakfast/Lunch in Cagneys, Concierge, Butler, Room Service, Priority Tender, Upgraded bathroom amenities. Unfortunately, we didn't utilize the suite perks very much as we were frequently away from the ship, due to port intensive itinerary in Hawaii. Loved the central location, no noise issues, although there was frequent work on the lifeboats just outside our windows, so we had to be mindful of keeping the curtains closed when changing.

Can anyone provide info as to the availability of a taxi or Uber around 5AM in the morning, to go get rental car parked overnight at the airport?? Have a tour at 7AM in Lanai I need to get to.

Can any recent travelers confirm if there is still parking available for free at the port? If so, an approximately time you need to get your rental car parked to get a spot (5pm??) to enable an easier morning to get up and make your way to the crater for the sunrise?

Do I have to wait until I'm on board to buy 3 meal SDP, using non-refundable OBC, for the "3rd" passenger in our cabin? Our booking only including dining for the first 2 people and some OBC for each of the first 2 people.

I assume if I "prepurchase" SDP for 3rd person, it will just be charged to my credit card and I won't be able to use my OBC to pay for it. So I assume I have to wait until on board to use my OBC to buy the SDP for the 3 person in our cabin.

There are 3 of us booked on Pride of America in a Suite. The perks only apply to guest 1 and 2, but is there a way to share the dining with guest 3?

Our booking included 3 nights of free dining, for guest 1 & 2. Leaving guest 3 without that perk.

Do you get a total of 6 free meals? and can they be used by anyone or only guest 1 and 2? For example: Is it possible to only go to 2 nights free dining and allowing 1 meal from each of guest 1 and 2 be given to guest 3?

Ketichikan - Do the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman Tour. Book independently to save money. Minimal walking, lots of photo opportunities, you'll see lots of eagles and touch crabs and sea creatures. Our favorite excursion of our cruise.

Skagway - Dyea Dave Tours to Emerald Lake with the Train from Fraser back to Skagway. Enjoyed the personal touch of it being a small tour group. Many photo opportunities stopping at all the overlooks and Welcome to Signs.

We just returned from a great tour last week with Dyea Dave. We easily met the guide at the exact time stated, waiting at the bottom of gangway. No issues at all. There was a couple from another cruise ship that forgot their passports. We waited for them to go get them. They drove us to the train station to get our pre-purchased tickets and drove us to Emerald Lake stopping numerous times(10-15 times) for all the beautiful sights and landmarks. Stopped in Carcross for an hour for lunch on our own. Then they personally took us to the exact car we would ride on, for the return trip on the train from Fraser. Then they picked us up, once the train made it to Skagway and took us back to our ship. Nothing but a positive experience.

Just did this tour last week. We booked the Emerald Lake tour with the return on the train from Fraser. Kathy met us right as we got off Crown Princess at 7:45am, just as stated in the email. She had a sign, so easy to find. She then took us directly to the train station to pick up the tickets, I had previously purchased for the return trip from Fraser. We then met up with our driver/guide Renae. She was fantastic. We lucked out in that there were 3 in our party plus one other couple = 5 total with an entire minibus. We all had window seats and could spread out. The other Dyea Dave tour was a large group of Asians that filled their minibus.

Renae asked if we were up for a easy hike to a waterfall (I think she sized up the group to see if we were physically able, before asking.). We were first to the cemetery and took the 5 minute hike to the waterfall. We were "ahead" of the large groups and had the place to ourselves.

She took us to an overlook, where we got photos of the cruise ships docked. We then started on our way to Carcross, stopping numerous times (10-15 times). She was willing to stop wherever you wanted. We stopped at: numerous scenic pullouts, all the "Welcome to ___" signs, waterfalls, bears sightings, etc. She happily took group photos for us. She clearly loves nature.

Once we arrived in Carcross she drove us around for a quick tour and took us to the bakery for lunch. Lunch was about $15 for soup and sandwich. We had an hour to explore on our own.

After lunch we drove to Emerald Lake for photos and started the return trip.

Upon arriving at Fraser she walked us to the train. The car we were assigned was near the back and only had half the people than the other cars had. The workers were in our car giving the "commentary" heard in all the other cars, so we could ask additional questions in between the commentary.

Once we were back in town, we were met by Kathy and provided a ride back to the cruise ship.

This was a fantastic tour. The views are different from the road and train, so I would recommend the train for the return trip.

Just off the Crown on Saturday. Overall we had a great cruise and enjoyed many special experiences with the things we did and saw on our excursions. This was our first trip to Alaska. Was mostly pleased to sail with Princess, since it has been 5+ years....a few things you just learned to accept after the first few days. Like every cruise there are things you like better and worse on each cruise line, ship, and itinerary. I would not hesitate to book with Princess again and am already considering it for next year. No noro concerns.

Likes: Ship transfer from airport; Embarkation was fast; Entertainment (Enjoyed every show and talk held in the theater); Dining Room; Pizza; Getting chocolates on my pillow every night; Free bag; Desserts; International Cafe; No constantly annoying announcements about BINGO, Art auctions, etc; Ship allows you to walk all the way around for numerous viewing areas; Disembarkation Easy Walkoff with own luggage and customs in Seattle (fast)

Dislikes: Buffet(efficiency of getting people food, lack of places to sit because people are camped out, need more seating for parties of 2 so they don't occupy all the tables for 4-6 people, and slow service to get a basic glass of water); Lack of ice cream(soft serve has limited hours, almost a "runny" consistency and small 2 bite serving size- luckily the other desserts made up for the ice cream situation); Beds (old and need to be replaced - in both cabins they both resembled "tacos" with huge visible troughs down the middle); Disembarking/Embarking at the ports of call (Lines were longer than I've experience on other cruise lines- they need more than 1 metal detector); MUTS (I understand this was Alaska and it is cold and rainy most of the time so one shouldn't expect to watch an outdoor movie some of the time, but for our cruise it was the entire time- so why don't they show some of the new release movies either on one of channels in the cabins or in the theater?? I had to settle for watching older movies like Inside out, Bridge of Spies, Good Dinosaur, Minions in my cabin because it was impossible to watch outside in the wind, rain, and cold).

We are Ice Cream Lovers as well.

Just off the Getaway. Ice cream available during lunch and dinner. Closed down around 9:30-10:00pm.

The Getaway had 4 soft serve machines located on the corners of the buffet. Flavor choices were vanilla, chocolate, and twist.

Additionally, they have the hard hand scoped ice cream, which we preferred over the soft serve. Generally 8 flavors that rotated somewhat. Always had vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream and yogurt option, sugarfree option, and sherbet. Flavors that rotated: strawberry ice cream, butter pecan ice cream, vanilla yogurt, chocolate yogurt, sugar free vanilla, orange sherbet, lime sherbet, pineapple sherbet, lemon sherbet, kiwi sherbet. We were hoping for but never saw mint chocolate chip or cookies and cream. There were usually toppings available like sprinkles, sugar cone sprinkles(our favorite), and chocolate syrup.

We alternated between Taste and Savor just to mix things up. That being said, the layout is essentially the same. The menus are the same each night. Slight differences in color schemes. We never went to Tropicana, as we didn't want to get dressed up, we were happy with our jeans and capris.

I can't comment on the coffee, as we don't drink coffee. Sorry.

Just off Getaway 3/14-3/21. We didn't have UDP, so we "enjoyed" eating in either Taste or Savor, 5 of 7 Nights. We headed to dinner between 5:30 - 6:15ish depending on what our evening entertainment was, usually closer to 5:45-6:00. We waited at most 2 mins to be seated, and most times was immediately seated. The food and service was just fine, no need to worry. I just think some people have extremely high expectations that are completely unrealistic. The reality is they are serving thousands of people. Sure there are hits and misses with what you order, but it's not like you are going to starve to death. People are just plain silly if they are going to let a meal ruin their vacation. I'm just grateful to have someone else fix and cleanup a meal so I can take a break from my everyday life. Dining usually took 1hr to 1hr15 min. I was amazed watching how hard the staff works to keep the food coming, it's not like they are standing around doing nothing. They were always coming and going, serving food, clearing dishes, and refilling our water glass. My observation was that they try to "group" a few table's orders together, to reduce the number of "food runs" they have to go on, this may cause some delay if the adjoining table eats slower than you do.

Didn't notice the noise being a problem. Most land chain restaurants are much noisier from my perspective. There were many empty tables if you dine during 5:30 - 6:30.

We were a party of 3 and we were always seated at a table for 4, with one place cleared off. It'll just be your group(no strangers), likely seated at a table for 6.

We had the same head waiter 2 of 5 nights. She even remembered us. There was only 1 waiter than was not "overly friendly and outgoing", but that doesn't mean the service was any worse that evening.

Just have a reasonable expectation, go the first hour they are open and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Just returned from the Getaway and I think there were 5 ships in port that day. I would strongly suggest a tour with Soualiga Destinations. This was an all day trip on a high speed boat that involved multiple snorkel stops, beach breaks, lunch, drinks, and watching planes.

Depends on the tour. We did ship sponsored snorkel tour in St. Thomas that had a max of 25 people per high speed power raft/boat. We only had 21 people on our boat. We saw other ship sponsored tours that had 100+ people on their sailing ships/catamarans. So I think it depends on the type/size of boat being used. I would suggest the smaller/faster boats for more snorkel time at multiple spots with fewer people.

Just returned from Getaway. Our flight arrived at MIA at 10:40am. By the time we collected our luggage and made our way to the ship it was around 11:30am. We went to the Latitudes check in line(which was much shorter) than the regular line. We waited maybe 5-10 mins and were up eating lunch at the buffet by Noon. This was the fastest/shortest check in we have experienced.

I just got off the Getaway and stayed in a Studio Cabin on Deck 11. I found the Studio Lounge and cabin areas always very quiet. There were a few people in the Lounge at times socializing, but it was definitely not a wild and crazy party. The most noise came from kids running up and down the halls from the floor above.

Following, cruise on Getaway in March

Do you know if there is still a 20% discount if you prebook Illusionarium for the first day? Is this offered every cruise? Will it be a credit to your on board account??