MileHighAko

Looks great, still Princess classy and modern. Love the inclusion of families with new and fun activities that attract the next generation of princess loyal.

You'll group up just off the piazza on level 5 in a special roped off area where you'll get your photo taken and be given a special welcome drink. From there they'll lead you to the secret dining 360 room. Enjoy!

I thought the same thing. I like the name, but it's kinda tarnished. Like a bad omen waiting to be fulfilled.

For some reason I thought that The Catch was taking over Bisto Sur La Mar on Discovery. I didn't realize Sabatinis would be moving on that ship. I wonder if they'll change the entrance protocol to 360, where they currently parade you through Sabatini's when you begin the experience.

If I were you, I'd arrive at 10:30 AM and go get in line. When we departed out of there a few weeks ago, the line grew long quickly, and one of our group spent almost 90 minutes in line when he arrived at 1:45 PM. He was one of the last to board the ship. Those of us that stayed at the Pan Pacific the night before had it easy as we sent our luggage down with the bellman directly from our room (totally worth the extra expense of that hotel). We were able to line up at 10:30, and despite some chaos at the US customs check point, we sailed through relatively easily.

This ☝️. Riviera deck all the way. Easy access to lido 2 floors up, and just down the hall from concierge lounge.

Was on Discovery last week. Was also on Discovery last September. The internet in Alaska was completely unusable last September. Last week I was consistently getting up to 2.5 Mbps in speed tests, never more, but never less than approx. 1.5 or 1.8 (I failed to take any screen shots, sorry). I think they're traffic shaping to make sure that there is minimum bandwidth for all, which is just fine because at 2.5 we were able to use websites just fine (sometimes a little slow), streamed a movie once or twice for the toddler, and even use FaceTime (video calls usually worked okay, but audio calls worked great). Was very pleased compared to the terrible experience last year.

I asked the future cruise planner folks this question last week while onboard Discovery and they said they're actually expecting them as early as June/July this year. I was surprised because last year it was in December, and historically it feels like it's been November, but they told me they have reason to believe it will be earlier... but didn't give the reason!

Sure! Just have them join you. Don't ask, just assume. In the small case someone does question it, just smile and politely tell them that they're with you and continue on. It's not some secret club or super exclusive entitlement. We're always taking our family or guests in whatever priority status line we have. At the hotel, at the airport, at the cruise port. It's no big deal.

Has your flight been ticketed? In my experience once the flight is ticketed you're safe to make changes like seat assignments directly with the airline, but if you do so before it's ticketed you risk EZ Air reissuing the flight and overriding the changes/upgrades you made. Might not be the case for everyone, but that's been my experience.

This is just rumor, but I recently talked to someone who works in the IT industry for a company that is supposedly contracted by Princess to build a software system for a new loyalty program. It was mentioned that the program could highly favor onboard spending, with the key perks being experiences and not items that customers would normally pay for (things like 360 dining type experiences, special lounge access, pre-cruise concierge, etc.). The thing that intrigued me was the measurement of onboard spend and other activity during a set past period of time (e.g. last 3 years) vs. the lifetime achievement that exists today.

Trying to plan some sail away activities, and looking for a more accurate estimate for how long it takes to go from leaving Canada Place until we go underneath the Lions Gate Bridge. I asked ChatGPT and discovered that it's about 4 miles by water, ships are limited to 10 knots or below going under the bridge, and it takes a cruise ship between 5-10 minutes to accelerate to 10 knots. All things considered, the AI guesses it's 26 minutes until the ship reaches the bridge. It's been a long time since I've sailed away from Vancouver and it seemed longer than that in my memory.

I've gone multiple times in September. Weather has been pretty good for us, it's just starting to cool down from the summer, but you still want layers because it rains and around the glaciers it's simply cold. I love September when the summer rush is over and it's not as crowded and things are beginning to slow down. You'll have a great time.

We sailed out of Seattle last fall departing September 18 on Discovery Princess, had some beautiful weather here and there, some rain in Juneau, sun in Ketchikan, and partly cloudy in Sitka. Day at Dawes glacier was wonderful and we were able to get up close to the glacier for good photos. That was our third time going in September and I loved it. Sadly the we didn't see the northern lights that trip due to cloud cover, but previously we have. I wouldn't hesitate to go in September. It wasn't very cold ever. Ports were all open and excursions plentiful. We're going again here in a few weeks first week of May - should be much colder. :)

We love Alaska in September, been multiple times. I love the beginning of the fall weather, and we've been successful witnessing the northern lights in September. Here are a few pics from my cell phone from our trip last September 18th cruise:

For what it's worth, when Discovery was still being built, there were similar errors in the medallion app up to a certain point when that property was loaded into the app. The app was a lot newer then and has come a long way, but I'm guessing it's a similar problem where they haven't fully loaded the details and made the property available in the app yet.

On Discovery, the "owners suite" being category S2 with the rest of the aft corner penthouse suites being S3 has puzzled me from the get-go. They sell the S2 for a bit more $ but personally I don't find them to be more valuable. The bathroom and bedroom are the same size as the penthouse. The sitting area and the hallway to the bedroom are a little more spacious (22 square feet larger). The balcony is smaller/more narrow than the penthouse suites. It's right above the Vista lounge which can be a source of noise, and personally I don't love being on deck 8 and prefer to be higher above the water for a better view. As far as the balcony on aft corner suites go, they are all desirable, but come in three different sizes: More narrow, where the lounge chairs on the curve have to be placed at an angle to walk around them (decks 8, 10, 12, and 15). Wide, where the lounge chairs on the curve can be straight out and you can still walk around them (decks 11 and 14). Extreme, where the balcony is simply huge (largest) (deck 9). All of the aft suite balconies come with two lounge chairs, side chairs, plant, and a table with four chairs. If you plan to have deck parties or entertain, deck 9 is where it's at, followed by decks 11 & 14. If you want to sleep 3 or more in your suite, deck 8 is a good choice with its roomier inside. My personal favorite is deck 14 because it's close to the concierge lounge (a huge benefit IMO) and just two floors down from Lido. :) Finally, about the S1 Sky Suite, I haven't sailed in it on Discovery, but have sailed in similar suites on other ships that are in the same location (e.g. Garden Villa on NCL), and from my experience I prefer the aft! Although there are some cool perks in S1, you can't beat the aft view.

Awesome! That's good to know! :)

I seem to remember when DMW was first launched there was a lot of complaining that only private tables were available. Of course, covid was still a thing... But I read countless threads about how everyone wanted a shared table experience, to go back to the "old" way do doing things, and why can't we have any-time-dining again. I wonder if their recent updates were motivated by that feedback, now that you can have a shared table in the app and one of the MDRs is dedicated to walk-ins.

1. Do you have to make advance reservations for the specialty dining on the 1st night? (medallion app not letting me make any reservations right now.) - YES. If you're not able to make reservations ahead of time, just pop in at the concierge after you board and ask them to do it. 2. Do you tip the concierge? How much? That's totally up to you. If you find them helpful, feel free to pass them some cash, but don't feel obligated to. 3. How long to get your laundry back? We usually put our laundry out before the evening turn-down, and it's back the next day at the evening turn-down. If I need an item sooner, I ask for it and they've accomodated. 4. Do you get free access to the lotus spa thermal hydrotherapy pool? No 5. How, when, where do you get the "welcome glass of champagne"? Usually they have glasses of champagne waiting for you when you first enter your room. 6. Are the "chef's 'welcome goodies' on embarkation evening" the same as the canapes you can request on subsequent evenings? Sometimes, but usually we find something a little extra, like desert bites or chocolate strawberries, etc. Are these in your cabin or in the concierge lounge? In your cabin. And there are always snacks and small bites in the lounge in the AM and evening. Have fun!

The question about order MDR to your suite got me thinking in new ways about suite perks. I'm curious how others would rank the suite perks in order of most valuable and most used. For me, I'd rank them this way: 1. Large room & large balcony (we typically book aft corner and like having a table & chairs to use) 2. Concierge Lounge and helpful Concierge 3. Breakfast at Sabatini's 4. Club/reserve class dining 5. Fruit bowl that has fresh fruit each day 6. Laundry service 7. MDR food as room service (breakfast, lunch, & dinner) 8. Bottled waters refreshed each day 9. Specialty dining first night I imagine 360 dining will join the list after our cruise on Discovery next month. What about you? How would you rank things?

Main dining room room service to the stateroom is probably the only suite perk that you can effectively "share" with non-suite passengers. But in the end, it's really just room service with a little better food since everything is delivered at once. You get a pile of food and you need to serve yourself.

They're splitting hairs. All the cruise lines are doing it with their larger ships. They consider the "upper" inside passage = "inside passage". Don't get me wrong, it's still a great experience, but the "lower" inside package, through the Seymour Narrows, is absolutely incredible. It's tricky to find an itinerary on any of the major lines that sails this part during daylight anymore. For that matter, all the big lines are trying to maximize time in ports and end up sailing most of the voyage in darkness, which is a shame for Alaska. You'll still have a fantastic time, but yes a disappointing start because the shops and casino will also remain closed untill the next morning. I've actually been watching for that email as we're departing Vancouver on April 30th at 4:30 PM (so far) and that's the risk of departing Vancouver in a big ship these days.

For #1, personal preference for me is deck 14. Some like to be close to the water, others like to be high for the view. For me, I like 14 because there isn't a public deck immediately above or below, and it's just two floors down from Lido so it's a quick to jump up for a bite to eat or to grab something at the wakeview bar. I also like being close to the concierge lounge (we usually try and sail in the aft corner suite).

Someone posted elsewhere earlier today that on Discovery leaving Los Angeles today they announced that due to operational challenges they will not have the “new” items onboard this cruise and are refunding $10 per day for purchased packages.