derdejoh

I can't answer specifically about the Star, but you can use the internet in the Internet Cafe or on your own personal device (cell phone, iPad, etc.).  The only place where the ship provides computers, however, is in the Internet Cafe.

But unless internet speeds have been vastly upgraded on the Star (like the ships with the new MedallionNet like Caribbean Princess and Regal), the internet is pretty slow.  That said, if you *have* to check email for work, then 240 minutes is probably about right (depending, of course, on how much email you get).  If you don't have to be in constant contact, you may be better off checking your ports ahead of time for Wi-Fi hotspots.  And if you've done some searching on these boards, you've probably also seen tips like draft an e-mail in another program while offline (if you're using your own device), then log in to cut and paste and send the email, the quickly log off again once sent to save your minutes.

13 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

... and while I guess it's nice that it would open the door to my room as I approach, will my door unlock everytime I go to the bathroom and let unwanted guests access to my cabin (I'm sort of joking, but also sort of not). 

Actually, that was our experience on the CB earlier this month.  We would just be sitting in our room and hear our door unlock and then lock again; it wasn't constant, but it happened a number of times.  Our cabin was close to a public area, so we wondered if our medallion "location" was alternating between the public space and our cabin door so it would read it as though we were approaching the door.

As for the rollout, I think Princess is the guinea pig for a much larger Carnival Corp. program.  We watched a couple of the "OceanView" TV shows while on board and several times we noticed the hosts wearing generic (i.e. no sea witch logo), but clearly Medallions -- I assume that was intentional as the Medallion program will eventually get rolled out across other brands.

I don't know specifically about the jacket, but the last time we bought something from the shops pre-cruise to be delivered to the room, we received a card on the day in question saying "Happy Birthday" (or whatever the occasion was) and then you took that card to the shop to exchange for the item. I assume the jacket would be the same and you just pick out your size in the shops.

9 hours ago, trbarton said:

 

I just did a search on Apple for the app “Social Ocean app“ & nothing comes up.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Tom🤔

I think that's the problem with hooking on to an old thread. I believe the Social Ocean app has been discontinued. You can use the Princess@Sea website for intra-ship messaging and information while onboard and the PlayOcean app for the gimmicky "tagalong" and free onboard games. (There's also the OceanCasino app for playing casino games while onboard.)

If you're at all interested in history, Belize and Cozumel also give you a great chance to tour Mayan ruins (although many are full day trips with a lot of travel time).

One caveat if you're a regular blood donor -- Roatan and occasionally Belize in the past have been on lists that result in a 12-month ban from donating blood. I think the Red Cross (at least my local chapter) will still let you donate if you were in port for less than 24 hours, but YMMV and it is something you might check into if you are a donor.

Following up on BigGuy, I'd also add the caveat that depending upon the ship you are on the internet can be pretty slow, so take that into account when you decide which package you purchase. By searching on here you'll also find various suggestions for the best way to efficiently check e-mails and conserve the minutes you purchase (for example, download all of the e-mails then log off the internet, prepare all of your responses, then log back in to send the responses).

I just put mine in baggies and have been fine. I also figure if there is ever an issue I'll just gladly surrender them and move on (assuming, of course, you're not talking about super expensive vitamins -- if so, I'd take the bottles). Also, with the caveat that the federal government (i.e. Customs & Border Protection) still considers marijuana and related products to be controlled substances.

You're probably better posting your question in the West Coast Departures Homeports thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

Uber and Lyft will work. You can also find many shuttle services that service both the airport and the hotels around the airport and will get you to the port.

The computershare.com link above is the official servicer for CCL stock so you should be able to buy directly through them (but they may have a higher fee). Assuming you don't already have an investment account, you can also just open up an account with any online brokerage firm, transfer some money into that account, then purchase the stock. For your purposes, you'd want to do some comparison shopping and look for one with a small transaction fee (think $7-10) since that is really all you're looking for and you don't need to worry about paying for more advanced services. CCL pays dividends, so unless you want the cash each quarter, you may want to confirm that whatever brokerage service you use has a free dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP -- where they just take you quarterly dividend and use it to buy more shares or partial shares of CCL).

When you say pick up your photos each day, it sounds like they are printed out. I assumed the pre-purchase package for all photos for $199 was for digital copies only. That they came on a memory stick. How do you get your pictures: printed on paper or digital on a stick? I am thinking of getting this package. It would be more attractive if they were printed out (and digital).

You get both -- the prints and the digital copies. Like usual, they print all of the pictures and put them out in the photo gallery. You go and select yours and hand them to the staff, who will scan the barcode on the picture to get them added to your USB drive. (Sometimes if they are not busy they will do the scanning right there, other times they kept them overnight and you picked up your USB drive and prints the next day.)

We (well, my DW, if we're being honest) likes the live music and dancing opportunities around Princess ships. We sailed RCCL one time and ran into another couple sitting outside a bar with no music -- they commented that they normally sail Princess too and were disappointed by the lack of live music on RCCL.

If you're willing to wait until you are on board, the restaurants will be able to tell you which nights are formal. But I would guess first sea day and then probably Grand Cayman (I don't think they usually do a formal night on the night before disembarkation and you're in port in Cozumel until 10 pm, so likely not that night either).

Never had an issue with USD in any Caribbean port, although occasionally you will get change back in the local currency.

My playlist is often more water/ocean themed songs than a particular Caribbean style of music. Just a few options:

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay (Redding)

How Deep is the Ocean (Sinatra)

Islands in the Stream (Rogers & Parton)

Proud Mary (Credence)

Captain Jack and The Downeaster Alexa (Joel)

Blue Bayou (Rondstadt)

Cruisin' (Paltrow & Lewis)

La Isla Bonita (Madonna)

You can make them online before you sail when you Manage Your Booking on the Princess website (once inside your booking, you can select Specialty Dining Reservations) or you can make them once you are on board at the restaurant (or an alternate location noted in the Patter newsletter). Of course, the sooner you make your reservation the more options you will have as to time and date.

I could be wrong, but I think the only caveat would be how you booked the cruise (e.g. whether you booked 2 7-day cruises or 1 14-day cruise). In the first scenario you would move up to Platinum for the second leg, but in the second scenario I think you would have to wait until your next cruise.

As for a specific Alaska cruise, I would pick one going to Glacier Bay over the ones that include Tracy Arm Fjord. Tracy Arm is nice, but the ability to see multiple glaciers during your day cruising in Glacier Bay is just spectacular.

I'm assuming you're remembering the reverse trips as well (i.e. porter from baggage claim to transportation (if you use one) and transportation from port to airport).

As others have said, Princess@Sea using your smartphones or tablets may be your best option...with the caveat that it depends upon exactly how in touch you need to be. The app will not notify you of an incoming message -- you have to actively login to see if there are any new messages -- so keep that in mind if you are looking for something with instant notification for a medical issue. But you could, for example, agree that you will login every 30 minutes or so to minimize any wait, if that will suit your purposes.

At least on the Regal recently, it automatically added people in the same cabin into your contacts once everybody created a Princess@Sea account (e.g. once my wife created an account she automatically showed up as a contact for me). You then simply clicked to send a new message and picked the person from your contacts. Otherwise, I believe you need their username (which the person will create when they establish their Princess@Sea account) and then you can add them as a contact -- but I didn't message anybody else on the ship so can't say for sure exactly how that works.

I agree--way too early. With a schedule like that it's impossible to fit in 3 meals a day, something we try to do on vacation. Don't want to skip anything!

Hence the reason the pizza and burger joints are open until 11pm or so -- plenty of time to sneak that 3rd (or 4th or 5th) meal in! :)

Our first Alaska cruise stopped at Tracy Arm. Are next two were to Glacier Bay. IMHO, both were beautiful and we loved Tracy Arm -- until we decided to go back and saw Glacier Bay. As Coral mentioned, the number of ships in Glacier Bay is limited plus the on-board Park Rangers = the extra cost. As others have said, Tracy Arm can be hit or miss, particularly later in the season (we were there in early June and just barely made it up the channel -- later cruises could not get as close because of all of the broken-off ice in the water).

I would say you can't go wrong with either, but all other things being equal, Glacier Bay is definitely worth the extra cost.

Today the Houston Airports are reporting that all of the roads approaching IAH and HOU are "passable," but HOU has several delayed or cancelled flights due to ongoing weather conditions. Their website, by the way, with an "Important Notice" on the front page is http://www.fly2houston.com/.

We fly in on Saturday and am also interested in updated information about getting to the port (although I think it is supposed to rain some every day between now and then!).

We always carry our passports with us ashore (although we recently got new ones with the card, so we might just take the card ashore next time).

We normally cruise Princess, and I understand that if you don't make it back to the ship they will look in your room (presumably the safe) for your passport and leave it ashore with their local agent so you could collect it from them in the event of an emergency -- I would guess that Royal Caribbean does something similar.

...But since you want to get off early you can ask for self disembark and be the first off, but you'll need to carry off your own luggage...

Actually, I suppose the drivers could select "self disembark" but tag their luggage like the riders and not carry any luggage off at all, leaving it for the riders to collect in the terminal like normal. For example, a wife who is a driver could self disembark but use the same luggage tags as her rider husband -- she can then be one of the first off the ship without carrying any luggage at all and the husband can collect his and her luggage later in the morning and meet up with her when she returns with the car. (And if there is too much luggage, the riders could always just get a porter.)

I suppose there might be theoretical issues if one of the riders were trying to bring the driver's luggage through customs, but I don't see why that would be a problem for spouses/family members.