Whoo

Offered move-over from inside cabin to mini-suite on an Alaska cruise. Same week, just southbound instead of northbound - and Princess took care of flight changes as I had booked air through Princess. Of course, I accepted the offer!

Many thinks for the information. I am a little confused about the smoking section, though. Is it on a different half of the ship (port or starboard) or is there a half-section of the one area dedicated to smoking? (If that makes sense. LOL.) Ordinarily I wouldn't care, but I will have kids with me I might want to take out to the nice couches during the day, and we have some asthma issues.

In 2013 the smoking section was on the port side (outside covered area). Starboard side was non-smoking.

I just read this forum, because I also may have to cancel at the last minute. I purchased the Platinum insurance, and thought I would be issued cruise credits for future use. It sounds like some of you received checks?

By the way, I am REALLY hoping I don't have to cancel - I would much rather go on the cruise! ;) I am very thankful I purchased insurance this time - I don't always do that.

Very true. Our first BVE we booked just so we could be onboard to buy more FCC. We foolishly didn't have any FCC on hand and you can only buy them on the ship so we took a drive to SF, boarded Grand Princess, had a nice lunch, wandered around the ship a while, purchased a couple of FCC each, and then wandered around the wharf area checking things out. It was a very nice afternoon. The only bad part was, of course, having to get off and then watch the ship sail away!

Thanks so much!!! I no longer have FCC's, and want to introduce a friend to Princess - and thought a BVE would be a great way to experience a Princess ship for a newcomer, as well as give me an opportunity to buy FCC's!

Don't like it at all. Hope they are listening.

We have always been told the dining room is closed, also - and to go to the Horizon Court. A few times the dining room doors have been closed - so it appears that it is closed - but when we go in, we are greeted and seated at a table. We do make sure we get there well before 1:30 pm - one reason we get to the port very early!

I originally posted this on the Princess general forum, and it got moved here - which was appropriate. Lots of good ideas from everyone, and now I know where to look. I made a reservation for a cruise in May with Princess, but now I am having second thoughts as far as the itinerary, and also after reading the posts here. I thought all the meals would be included on the land portion, but it doesn't seem like that is the case. I wasn't very impressed with the agent that I spoke to on the phone when I reserved.

Thanks for all the helpful advice, and if anyone has more to add, please do so! :)

Hi all,

Thinking about an Alaska cruisetour with Princess. The cruisetours seem kind of pricey. Is it worthwhile to book a cruisetour, or are there good options for tours if you go a few days early before a cruise? What are the Princess lodges like - and are meals included there?:confused:

We loved the robes in our cabin on our last Princess cruise - but when we went to the gift shop to purchase some, the gift shop had inferior quality robes. The clerk said they had discontinued selling the robes that were similar to the ones in our cabin. We ended up not buying robes.

My husband is 6'8", and manages ok. We usually have inside cabins, with queen size beds. He is used to having his feet hang over the end of the bed!:D

That looks so great! We meant to try it on our last cruise, but never got around to it. Darn! Will definitely sign up when we cruise again!:)

We stopped buying mixed drinks a few years ago. There didn't seem to be any alcohol in the drinks. Didn't feel like paying $7.95 for a watered-down fruit juice.:mad:

Not wanting to hijack post but I note juices are not addressed. Can we bring orange/apple juice on board?

I believe juices are considered the same as soft drinks/water. I have brought small bottles of cranberry juice along without a problem.

Since Future Cruise Credits are now only good for 2 years since purchase (instead of 4 years), is it possible to call Princess and ask for an extension? It seems like I read that here somewhere, but when I just tried to do a "search" the website says "search disabled". I checked on the Princess website and there was no mention of being able to extend the time limit.

Thanks!

This is so sad. The crew on the Princess ships I have been on, have overall, always been so hard-working, and so helpful and friendly. We were so fortunate to have the same cabin steward on our last cruise, as on the previous cruise - and he even looked for us and recognized us right away! (Hi, Ariel, if you or Princess look at these boards!)

I hope the passengers are considerate, and understand any delays or cancellations while this search is underway. I hope they are also considerate of the employees' emotions. I worked at an office where someone committed suicide on the workroom floor (3 months after I had transferred out of there), but it was a very traumatic incidence for me, and even more so for the employees still there.

Please be kind and considerate to the crew. If you have a complaint, be respectful and reasonable. If the person you talk to can't resolve your problem, thank them and take it to the next higher level.

Thanks for a live report. We were on the Nov. 25th cruise, just before the 10 day dry dock. Hope you have a great cruise, and warmer weather than we had! It was warm in the islands, but cold on the sea days!

I got the same thing. My email said to check Carnival's website, or contact my broker for more information. I haven't seen any announcement in the news yet. I'll wait until tomorrow, and if I still don't see anything I will call my broker.

We just did the Volcanoes Natl. Park tour - the half day one. It was great! Good tour guide. Kind of a drizzly day, but the guide managed to take us to some nice overlooks and we got some nice views of the craters in between clouds. Stopped at Mauna Loa Macademia Nut Factory on way back to ship - based on guide's advice, I ordered a vanilla macademia nut ice cream cone - WOW! Best ice cream I ever had!

We also enjoyed the "Movies & Waterfalls" tour on Kauai. Nice, small tour bus with a big-screen TV - we would watch clips of movies/tv shows/music videos, and then see the actual place where it was filmed. Got to go inside the old, abandoned Cocoa Palms resort (where Blue Hawaii with Elvis was filmed) - what a creepy, interesting place!

Neither of these tours were strenuous. I recommend both!

Those of you who purchase the wine card - be sure to check your onboard account before leaving the ship. One couple at our dining table bought the wine card (as did we), and on the last night they noticed 3 bottles of wine which they had not ordered or consumed had been charged to their account (in addition to the charge for the wine card). When they mentioned it at dinner on the final night of the cruise, I printed out our folio. There was a charge for an extra bottle of wine on our account also - and we hadn't even been able to drink all 7 bottles, so had asked for the last 2 to take home.

Out of curiosity, I checked the prices for the bottles of wine we consumed using the wine card, while at the grocery store today. The wine that Princess charged $29/bottle for, is $5.99/bottle!! :eek:

Next time, we are bringing our own wine and paying the corkage - will still come out ahead.:o

Thank you!! :)

If you can get to the main dining rom in time - usually the Da Vinci on deck 6, mid-ship - the salmon is the best that they serve on the whole cruise. And, as I recall, they have a soufflé for dessert.

Hey Nancy, maybe I'll see you there soon! We're hoping to get on the ship in time to eat in the MDR for lunch. Yes, there is a souflle for dessert - a really yummy orange souffle with a warm sauce, gotta save room for dessert that day! :D

Lovely idea. I haven't seen this set up to date but can see benefits:

-no more soap accidents ;)

-easier dispensing of shampoo (little bottles weren't particularly 'squeezable')

-cost saving and less plastic waste

 

I hope to see this on the Emerald next June :)

My thoughts exactly! I have been having problems with the little bottles - squeezing out the shampoo or conditioner. Plus environmental concerns with all the little plastic bottles.

I hope the new formula of shampoo/conditioner combination is a good one. My hair tangles easily, and the conditioner formula on Princess seemed to change a couple of years ago. I now bring my own conditioner along, so I don't break half of my meager supply of hair off trying to get a comb through it! :o

Looking forward to checking it out on the Grand! :)

I bought a small single travel mug brewer for less than $20 at Target (black and decker). It has no hot plate and only brews the one cup and turns off. Just used it on my 10 day CB cruise with no problems. Was so nice to flip the switch in the morning and not have to go search for coffee. I did buy the coffee card but the coffee in the IC tasted the same to me as the buffet and that was never the case on previous cruises. Just my opinion. Get a cheap one and carry it on.

Sounds like the same one we just got from Amazon. $16.20, and free shipping if your order totals more than $35. Husband tested it out - the water actually comes out hotter than our Mr. Coffee coffeemaker. He'll be bringing his Peet's coffee along, and some instant hot chocolate packets!:)

I have always heard that coffee pots were allowed - as long as they have an automatic shut-off. For the first time, we are going to bring one on our upcoming cruise. We just got this from Amazon - it has an automatic shut-off, and no burner under the cup. It works great - we tested it out! :)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005MF9C/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So, if you pay for a cup of regular coffee with that include refills?

 

Thanks

I don't know what the "official" policy is - but I had no problem getting free refills of the brewed coffee. I usually bought a large one in the paper cup - drank it while sitting on the Promenade deck, then came in and asked for a refill. No one ever asked to see a coffee card, or tried to charge me.