Magellan321

12 hours ago, satxdiver said:

Reserving ATD tables is up to the maitre'd and varies by ship.   

Exactly! Some Maitre d's  only take reservations one day at a time calling in each morning, some only for dining times before and after certain hours, sometimes only certain size tables, and once not at all.

09-25-2018 – Glacier Bay

 

ROLL CALL ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

I heard that the CC luncheon organized by Jane was a great success. Rave reviews on how the crew, and Jean-Paul (a really great matre de), even had a special dish prepared for the group. A lobster risotto. Jane’s coordination with corporate prior to sailing and giving Jean-Paul plenty of warning made even a 90+ group feel special. Thanks Jane!

 

Icy Strait Point – Meet in Patisserie at 0630 to decide what to do. Which highly depends on the weather.

 

Vickie’s tour in Taipei is now full.

 

END OF ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Juneau was both familiar, fun and disappointing yesterday. It was a great day ashore with lots of stuff to see and do, good food, great shopping bargains, but the price inflation over the years is getting ridiculous!

 

The weather was good. No rain. Clouds were high so the tram vistas should have been pretty good, but fog shrouded the mountain tops so Glacier viewing on fixed and rotary aircraft was most likely suboptimal. One of the many risks of Alaska weather.

 

The sales in town were phenomenal. A $4k piece of jewelry for $1k. Probably could have gotten him lower if I really wanted it, but it had “chocolate” diamonds in it. Not interested. But I did find Judy a Whale’s Tail with a “Dancing Diamond”. How about a $1k skinning knife with a mammoth bone handle for $500. Very tempting. Had it been forged Damascus I would have grabbed it in a second. (Shipping to the states would have been $15.) Fleece at 50% off. Desperate vendors closing their doors for good trying to get rid of inventory. Some vendors were packing stuff to ship to the Caribbean and Mexico. Of course Alaska labeled stuff was the cheapest. It just wouldn’t sell well on St. Thomas.

 

First of all the Coral docks in the AJ dock. That’s the one the furthest away and about 1.5 miles from the tram. The shuttle was $5 for all day – BUT it was FREE after the first couple of hours. So we had a nice walk into town and free rides from then on.

 

Bought fudge at the Alaskan Fudge Company. 15# of fudge in 30 boxes. Already gave away 3 boxes. One to the front deck, one to the room steward and one to our morning barista. More to follow. It’s really, really good! Then we came back for dessert. Their ice cream was 50% off, so we sat in front of the store eating ice cream and attracting a crowd. Probably should have charged them for advertising!

 

Price inflation. OMG! I did not realize how much prices have gone up since we were here in 2015. $45 EACH roundtrip to Mendenhall on the Glacier Express. The public bus is like $2. No wonder the line was so long to catch the public bus. The tram is now $38 each for the daily pass. That’s $83 each for two of the more DIY choices in this port. Good grief!

 

So instead of spending that kind of money on busses or trams, we went to lunch at Twisted Fish. The blackened halibut was fantastic. The halibut fish and chips, nearly perfect. Add to that a white Alaskan Ale and an Amber, perfect lunch. Now we have had our halibut and clam chowder fixes in Alaska and are ready for Japanese food.

 

When we first started cruising we always wondered why people ate off the ship. Afterall, food cost money on-shore. Well, we have since changed our tune as we have cruised more and more and the food on the ships has become standard and safe – read pretty much the same ole same ole. Ketchikan and Juneau are good examples. Smoked salmon chowder. That was a very interesting and tasty treat. So is perfectly cooked halibut fish and chips – with fresh, never frozen halibut. And hot and cold smoked salmon. Taste treats you just can’t get on the ship. Asia will present even better opportunities for WOW food. Dim Sum in Hong Kong, Pho in Vietnam, Sushi and Sashimi in Japan, those stuffed steamed buns in China. Can’t wait to try real Philippino food.

 

That’s it for the morning.

 

Later!

Totally agree....the price increases in Juneau are insane!!! Our first trip in 2010 we went to Medenhall with the Blue Bus for 12 each....5 trips later in 2016 it was up to 32 each...no thanks! So, we grabbed lunch at the Hanger and enjoyed a float plane watching day followed by coffee and scones at an awesome little bakery.

Our last day. Sad in some ways that it’s over so soon, but I’m ready to go home as well. I’m planning on going to the early trivia, the culinary demo (but not the gallery tour that follows), and the last cruise-long trivia before lunch. Other activities going on this morning include La La Land on MUTS, creative towel folding demo, speed painting, putt putt challenge, Zumba, line dance class, and bingo.

 

There’s a jeopardized trivia for after lunch and our final afternoon trivia. I may take a nap in between. We can go to a show in the theater before dinner. It features two of the guest vocalists who performed previously, Jassen Allen and Darren Dowler. And somewhere along the way, we have to pack our checked bags to leave them out for pickup before dinner.

We just saw Darren Dowler in June on the Celebrity Summit...awesome show. Then we discovered we have seen him many times of the years as he grew up in our neck of the woods.

Check out ... https://www.curbfreewithcorylee.com/. I don't remember Martinque or Barbados being exceptional for independent curb free. Princess did offer a really nice tour in Antigua with a liftchair bus.

I haven't had an issue with ours. We've taken our voucher card that was in the cabin on the first day with us and the staff has had us sign the back for proper credit. We had 2 dinners last spring.... one was a gift from Princess for our anniversary and one was a perk from our travel agent.

Just FYI....Park n go has 2 sets of rates. Pre pay and pay at the lot. So, if your friends want the discount they have to advance pay(example adv pay for 1/5 to 1/12 is 68.72+tips pay at the lot 96.46+tips). We choose to park at the port after many many trips using Park n Go.

Great review :) ! Fyi....we have sailed with the future cruise consultant also and you are spot on! It's not like we went when they are closed and asked for service. Went, stood in line, waited our turn to find out about a particular date that wasn't in the brochure rack....and she seemed highly annoyed. I thought going in with a specific date and ship to not waste her time would make there job easier than others that we have seen pull the....I want to go such and such region but have no idea when but give me the best price you can find. I thought maybe it was just me.

I totally second....if you can get a Caribe deck balcony for a long cruise. So much more space to stretch out and enjoy your balcony. FYI.... we favor Princess but cruise Celebrity a lot and Royal Caribbean lately when the itinerary is unique. That being said we love a sea day balcony lunch....and Princess has never failed us on some great soup, sandwich, and awesome warm cookies!

Oh, all these awesome pics has me adding this trip to the bucket list!

Oh my word......love, love, love your pictures!!!! Thank you so much for posting your journey!

I am perfectly fine dropping off bags in a set area and getting a ticket for pick up. I will take that option happily to have a clean room at 1pm. On Celebrity and Royal we have to eat while trying to keep our carry-ons out of the way.

Depending on the day....snorkeling can be really good. We have been when the water has been crystal clear and lots of fish and days that it wasn't worth the effort to us. We have never had an issue finding shade to the left of the pier and like the beach there early in the day before is gets super crowded. Like others have said...the clam shells get wicked hot! Sometimes lately we stay on board.... but we cruise a couple times a year. Since our last two years of fall hurricanes....I now where water shoes at our local FL beach and any stop in the Eastern Caribbean.

This is what I am seeing right now since I had asked the T/A I dealt with last year on this sale, before it started, and as noted in post #4:

 

Book your cruise on select Princess Cruises sailings during our 3 Day Sale from June 21 - 23, and enjoy one or more of the following exclusive T/A extras:

 

• Free Drinks (Balcony and Above)
  
• Free Gratuities
  
• Free Specialty Dining (Mini Suite and Above)
  
• Over $750 Savings in Onboard Coupons
  
• Reduced Deposit
  
• Up to $200 Savings for Princess Captain's Circle members
  

What we were looking at was 10/2019, 15-day Coral full transit PC. When I asked last week, it was full Princess WEB site price, which was a S6, at $10,948 with all taxes, no insurance.

 

I just went to book it at the site, and the exact same thing, comes up at $9213, with no perks.

 

Or, I have the option to add all this free stuff above, for $1560, and if I include the freebies listed in the sale, the total is now $10,773.

 

Just what I am seeing :D

Thanks for the info....think I will get a price on one that I have been watching.

So, am I missing something? Seems to be just one cruise option per destination.

They only show those as examples....you have to request a quote for others.

I know you can’t name the travel agency. But I’ve checked the big box agencies this morning. Cannot find the sale.

Google Princess 3 day sale 2018....read the description and you will see it. It's a specialty subsidiary of one of the big box

So, I checked it this morning. The primary travel site did not have the sale....but the cruise edition did. However, only way to get a price was requesting a quote. If anybody gets a good deal...please let us know. I won't be anywhere I can take a call today so i need to decide how bad I want a price.

There comes a time I guess that well all start to loose faith in humanity. Today just may be that tipping point. This is what I will say having insight as to how cruise ships report to local and federal agencies. The ship....yes the entire ship was an active crime scene no longer under control of Princess. All agencies act on their own time frame and your time frame is not their primary concern! Yes, I totally understand that it is an expensive trip and trip of a lifetime. Princess A) did not commit the murder B) did not have a crystal ball to prevent the murder therefore really didn't have to compensate anything other than port charges. Sadly, while some passengers vacations were ruined....try being the family who's life has been ruined.

I am wondering if this was a screw up of the internet management who I understand is separate from Princess. Also, it seems that now that Princess has confirmed Platinum and Elites will get their minutes that there will be a refund. It would be nice to see if that is happening.

I think it was definitely a screw up in communication somewhere between the home office and the ships internet department. Although, how is started for them was when they attempted to log on the first time to claim their free minutes. When they didn't see the usual page just the option of the 3 plans they went down to the internet cafe. So, I also indeed hope that refunds are going to happen and all the confusion has been straightened out.

At the airport you will see signs for ground transportation on Level 1.

https://www.orlandoairports.net/getting-around-mco/

We have 2 in wide nylon identifier straps that are about 2ft long that fold over with 2 industrial snaps on our luggage.....they work like a charm! They have traveled all over the world and never any issue. We ordered them from a company in RI 7 yrs ago. They embroidered our last name in block print but we could have picked anything we wanted on them.

By no means is it a sky is falling mentality. I also have friends on board this sailing....they were given no option to to use their Elite minutes. They were told their only option was to buy the premium package at the reduced price and their perk was now the discount. Princess failed to properly roll out the test on board if indeed we are to have the option to retain our minutes. I'm totally fine should the minutes remain intact. I do not need unlimited. Both of us need to check our work emails and family emails and an occasional check of FB for messages.

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions! Looks like I have more research to do. Getting excited for our trip. September 30th seems so far away. But I did get my email yesterday saying my documents were ready to print. So now I am hoping for clear skies and smooth seas! Thank you again.

You are welcome! I should mention the stretch of A1A near the Doubletree also has a Hilton, Crown Plaza, and Radisson all direct ocean front. I know Hilton is super high if not sold out that weekend due to multiple weddings.

If you want direct ocean front....have you considered Indiatlantic? The Double Tree is direct ocean front and just 20 minutes south of Cocoa Beach.

Depending on which cabin you have....some have a larger balcony. We had the second balcony in and it was a bigger balcony. If you have one of the 2 cabins in the dead center of the hump....the are regular size balconies.

They are on the Carnival Conquest for 2018. I was also on the 2014 Princess cruise....it was not a good trip. We've been aboard with other large groups without major issues...this was ridiculous.