dmwnc1959

38 minutes ago, kaboozle said:

Just boarded the Jewel.  On this ship, you cannot use the Starbucks app or the Starbucks gift cards.  They will only let you charge the coffee to your room card.

 

Meaning as a unique separate charge or unless you've purchased the Unlimited Starbucks Package? 

Just now, karatemom2 said:

 

Yes, it still is definitely worth the visit, not just for the glacier, but the whole area. It is very beautiful and there is other opportunity just to enjoy nature, the falls, and every once in a while a rare bear sighting. We also saw a beaver one year.

I'll be in Juneau twice next year (April 25th and May 1st) and the snow might still be fresh on the ground. 😉 Several shore excursions have already popped up, the one heading out to Mendenhall Glacier is $39 and gives 2hrs for self-exploration. Was thinking about booking that one just for the convenience. 

Not that this will make much difference, but I wonder if the picture was taken from the visitors center or from the pavilion, the latter which would be further over to the right of this and would give a better view of the glacier. I was still thinking of going out there next year to enjoy the area and walk up to Nugget Falls. Something definitely to look forward to. 

12 minutes ago, Cruizer_J said:

This is from a 2003 visit. I wonder when the advert pic was taken.

Looks like some of my pictures. Amazing the difference! I cruised Alaska five times between 1998 and 2003. It'll be interesting to see this change that's happened in just over 20 years when I return in April 2025. 

10 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

I also don’t think that Mendenhall merits much excitement, but it definitely illustrates the amount of retreat so many of our glaciers are experiencing.

Comparisons between a picture on cruise lines advertisement for shore excursions and the new one (cropped to better show the same area). 

50 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

The majority here would never pay extra for added specialty dining.  FAS?  Great, enjoy your one - three "free" dinners.  Platinum or above?  Great, enjoy your two added free dinners.  Beyond that?  No way I'm paying what they're asking for what they are delivering.  The MDR/Local/etc. are just fine.

 

Que the contrarian opinions.

This thread and the point/counter-point comments within have really dampened my enthusiasm for specialty dining, and maybe that's a good thing? 
 

Otherwise I'd gone in with some pretty high expectations and may have been sadly disappointed. I was jumping in with both feet without breaking down the per meal costs. But when I did the math @ $50 a pop 😳 for dinner it sort of killed it. 
 

🥸

Looks like the other half of the day after Juneau was spent in Endicott Arm, a few screenshots and Marine Traffic locaters...

Juneau in the upper left and Norwegian Bliss below and right of center 

N.Bliss near the end of Endicott Arm

17 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Kinda like during the pandemic. NCL was the only ship in port, but still parked way out on the AJ dock versus the town dock. 

It'll be exactly the same for N.Jade on the first SB next year from Whittier, no other ships but us and it's a long walk into the center city area.

42 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

It’s still winter!

I'm hoping for the repositioning next year, and the SB from Whittier that follows, when we get into the Inside Passage cities during the fourth week of April and first week of May that the weather will be slightly better (warmer). 😁

Just now, ChrysFox said:

Like eyeballs - everybody has 2, and they don't always agree on what they're seeing

What's crazy is that a lot of these drastically opposing viewpoints of the exact same venue are making me wonder if it's worth paying $50 for a meal.
 

I've got the two FAS meals, and debating on whether or not I should just wait on booking a specialty dining package for when I get on board. 

😁

Grabbed a couple of screenshots from the Juneau WebCams...
 

26 minutes ago, memoak said:

Believe it or not the vendor for the art gallery pays Princess a lot of money to run it

Money talks. It's just that the art gallery is probably the most mocked space on a cruise ship, and more often than not viewed as wasted space. The art is nice to look at, but in all likelihood that space could be better used to serve passengers. 
 

1 minute ago, SweetSoCalGal said:

I haven't sailed the Coral yet, but I'd hate for them to take out the library or the card room to make room.. that would be sad.

From the video that I watched - which was a really great walk-through tour - the library looks pretty amazing. Not so much for the books, but just the space itself. I agree that it would be a very bad decision on the part of Princess Cruises if they ever considered replacing it. But they've been known to make some really bad decisions (i.e. the Island Princess refit). 
 

I did email Princess Cruises Special Services, and actually got a phone call back. The representative sounded quite knowledgeable and was very professional. But it was a wasted phone call since he really didn't/couldn't offer any information.
 

Since my final payment for the January 2025 Panama Canal cruise would have been due before the ship came out of the shipyard, and there were issues important to me that were unresolved, I decided to cancel and book with a different cruise line. Really sucks, because I was looking forward to cruising back with Princess again. 
 

12 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

ok i am lost why that is gross🤔
with the giant steaks anytime you have more than one muscle you are going to have connective tissue well connecting them😃

I’m about 75% carnicore, but I’m not even a big fan of steaks, never have been. So connective tissue - while doing its job - is just cow floss. 😆

27 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

damn, i have accepted the fact that i am functionally illiterate when typing on forums and messaging groups. cruise critics edit policy does not help 😪  

It’s even worse if you are trying to do speech-to-text on an iPhone! It’s pretty sure I’m not even speaking English sometimes. 😂

18 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

i think moderno is FAR better than any churrascaria i have had on land (all three of them).
Cagney's to me is a waste; hello connective tissue. 

its personal choice though.

OK, that’s just gross. 🤢😂 I’m a big seafood guy and that’s mainly what I would’ve gone to Cagney’s for, those options look fairly safe. 

19 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

im sorry i am not trying to be mean. you do you make it this far along in life and not have had tapioca pudding? 

I know, right! Me, the self-proclaimed ‘world traveler’, and never have had tapioca pudding. 🤣

4 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It looks like you are correct.  Lacking context, they looked like the side window areas to me.

It’s probably the best walkabout video (love the fact that it has no running commentary) that I’ve scene of Norwegian Jade, and I’ve been watching it for a couple of months now. The Grand Pacific is gorgeous, and I’d even be happy with one of the side windows too. 😉 This video and one other (can’t post it here because it’s by a travel agency) is all it took to make me fall in love with this ship. 

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Those aren't the rear windows.

So here’s the video I’m watching. If you look just at the 29 minute mark he enters the Grand Pacific, looks to the side, and then proceeds toward the back along the starboard side. Crosses across the back, and then goes back up to port side. This is why I am thinking those windows that I screenshot are the aft windows. Maybe you can verify that for me based on what I’m seeing in the video. 
 

5 hours ago, Coral said:

It is not a win as NCL has really crappy times in Ketchikan that their cruisers can barely do anything in port. Unfortunately - many don't realize it until after they have booked.

 

If you consider it a win, good for you. 

The NCL half-day port stop at Ward’s Cove on their big ships, long lines for shuttles into town and back, and the earlier ‘last shuttle back’ to make sure everyone is on board in time for departure have definitely spawned some dissatisfied comments in quite a few concerning Cruise Critic posts. 
 

Next year my cruise on the smaller Norwegian Jade is scheduled at Ward’s Cove from 6a-4p on the first leg (sharing the dock with 🙄 Norwegian Bliss), and 10a-6p on the second half (with no other ships). Plenty of time to see things and get’r done. 🤞
 

😁

1 minute ago, zqvol said:

If you are going to put something on the back burner, it needs to be La Cusina 

Noooooooooooo! 😢  

I love Italian food having lived in Naples, Italy for two years. I know it’s probably not even close to being the same, but the La Cucina menu looked amazing! 

Just now, Turtles06 said:

 

You can't tell how food tastes by how it looks.  🙂  And you can't tell whether the service is any good either.  (Which often in Moderno it was not.) 

 

You were having trouble fitting Moderno into your schedule; I was merely suggesting you not bother.  

I’ll put’r on the back burner for a while. I’m very happy with the idea of La Cucina and Jasmines filling up several days with Cagney’s and Le Bistro taking up a couple of slots. I had originally thought of buying the

7-night specialty dining package, plus the two FAS, but that turned out to be too many for my planning right now.

8 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Always make reservations for fixed price places first to avoid any potential charges. You can still decide how to pay for them on the day.
 

If you are booking more meals than you have dining credits for (usually due to latitudes but may be due to buying additional dining packages later) you should make your reservations for fixed price places first. The system only lets you book the number of meals you have dining credits to cover before it starts charging you. The charge for a la carte places is zero, but for fixed price places it is that cover charge.

Another screenshot added to my dining planning page. 👍 👍 👍 

5 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I would not waste time nor a FAS or dining package meal on Moderno.  We've given it a bunch of tries on the Jewel-class ships and NCL just can't pull off a churrascaria.  The meats were invariably cold, tough, poor quality.  I realize that food is subjective, and other folks may feel differently.  But we've decided we are done with Moderno.    

Just watched a video of Moderno on the Norwegian Star. Are the Dawn-class ships that much different? This looks really good. 

4 hours ago, MSUjohn said:

…here is the menu for the mdr NCL Menus 2024 · Prof. Cruise, Ship Tour, Cruise Vacation, Cruise Travel, Cruise Menus (profcruise.com)
 

This is going be some late night reading for a few days! Maybe go to bed with delicious food to dream on. 😁