chickadee1

I don't know - this is our first Princess Cruise!!

I like that idea of sending a suitcase on ahead but we are going Northbound. Is it possible to send one suitcase on ahead to Fairbanks and not have to deal with it?

Got an email from Captain Tuvo - we are sailing Star Princess 5/26/18 - Alaska NB. Don't know what the email signifies! Talking about filling out travel documents!

Yes-will definitely bring Tide Pods as I don't use those other brands!! And a few dryer sheets, as well! What are hours of operation of laundry rooms?

On Princess it is $3 to wash' date=' $3 to dry, $1 for products (or bring your own). You purchase laundry tokens by swiping your room card in the machine in the laundry room. There are good instructions posted on the token machine.[/quote']

 

Thank you - that is great info!!

Thanks for the video! We are moving "Up" to a mini suite from a balcony for our upcoming Alaska cruise so was delighted to see that extra curtain between the sleeping and living areas - will really need that to help sleep during the endless day we will have at the end of May/beginning of June! Great video!

Always cruised Royal Carib prior to my Alaska Star sailing so I wonder if anyone can tell me how much the laundry costs, do you use dollars, are soap and dryer sheets available to purchase, and hours of use! I get it that I need to stay close by if I don't want anyone touching my undies!!

Just remember that if you are leaving the ship in Alaska and going into Canada(British Columbia, Yukon, etc), you will need a passport to get into Canada!

Now it is December 2017. Does anyone know what is going on with dry dock with Star Princess? Thanks!

A couple questions about pool!!

1. Is the water heated? Going to be in Alaska end of May/beginning of June.

2. Is there anyway into the water by steps with railing and not just ladders??

Thank you!!

Thank you for all of that info! Had to laugh about renting a tandem bike as my balance is practically nonexistent and I wouldn't be able to get off and on easily - but thanks for the suggestion. You really know Vancouver! Since we are not tied into a hotel, I will give serious thought to what you said!

DH and I will be arriving in Vancouver on 5/24/18 to begin our cruise 5/26. The flight arrives at 1 in the morning so we won't get an early start on the day. Walking for one of us is with a Rollater walker. Will we be able to do much for that one shortened day? Think our hotel is near airport, about 1/2 mile from Skyrail so would need to find transportation there but then could get into city. We are in mid-60's and lots of walking will not work out!

Which Royal ship?

 

This was a typical dinner buffet on the Adventure of the Seas. This sailing was out of Southampton, UK, June 2014.

[YOUTUBE]n32QJIrVd08[/YOUTUBE]

Great video! Really captured WJ in evening with all its varieties! A little noisy (typical cafeteria noises) but not really any more noisy than MDR!

Although the people we ate dinner with at a 6PM seating were very pleasant, they did not show up most nights until 6:30 or 6:45, often joining us when we were finishing our dinner. They had no problems arriving at that time and were seated but it did make our dinner a little odd as we had a table for 6 and there were just the two of us much of the time. I felt that they should have done MTD and we could have sat with people for the entire dinner and had a regular conversation! Since we were going to be late one night we did go to WJ and had a pleasant dinner! We had told our waiter we weren't going to be there. Of course, I don't know what happened with the other people! I think when we cruise next time we will just select MTD.

Just as an aside, when we toured with Cosol he mentioned that there is no compulsory education on St. Lucia and percentage of kids who do attend school and eventually graduate equivalence of high school is 50%. My figures may not be completely accurate but you definitely get the idea that education is not foremost on St. Lucia. Grenada was another story with education being required.

I also would not recommend self-tour. As our driver mentioned all the time, the bottom of the canyons is where they find all the tourists! Long way down!

FYI - we did book a 4 hour Cosol tour in advance but it was more like 6 hours and he wanted to charge accordingly - we paid the price but I know there was one woman who didn't. The problem on St. Lucia is the distance between all the attractions! Roads are windy and hilly and that takes time!

We did pay at the end of the tour. Did not feel unsafe at any time and didn't worry about our cash. Unlike the RCI cruisers, we were a small group (8) and were with a local driver. My advice is to not wear valuable jewelry or bring anything that you are sentimentally attached to(wear an $8. Kohl's ring instead of wedding ring and cheap earrings!). Don't bring wads of cash as there is no place to spend it. Never felt threatened!

Took Cosol tour (driven by Cosol himself) and enjoyed it. Don't remember the cost but it might have been about $65 pp. Was land tour only. Learned a lot about St. Lucia.

Neda - I have sure enjoyed reading all about your cruise! Although we were on the same cruise, you wouldn't know it!! Very different! We had a great time and it sure looks and sounds like you did, too! Many of my opinions of the ship are the same even though we spent no time in casino and did walk around and see all of the ship, which we felt was beautiful!! Agree with you about the food - have had better! But, I didn't have to cook it or clean it up so it was a good respite from home!

Remember we are going to have lunch? Did you find out about the restaurant on Mill Plain? I know I mentioned Molly Darcy's but I really was thinking about Rosy Tomorrows! Let me know!!

Happy Thanksgiving - Be thankful for the times you did share with your family!

Barbara

All I know is that our Meet and Mingle was scheduled for 10:45 am on a port day. I sent an email to ship (I had been the first to sign up for M & M so correspondence had been directed to me) explaining that no one would be there and the time was changed to later in day. I don't know why, I don't know if they responded to my email query, I don't know if they just didn't have a set time in mind! I do know that the M & M was held at a much more convenient time. So, I would suggest either writing to them or just hoping that midnight is just a glitch in the time and assume it will be some other time! Good Luck!

1. We always take over the door organizer - yes, there is lots of room in the cabin but we won't put things away or be able to find themt - clear organizer works wonderfully!! Just roll it up to take home - holds sunscreen, sunglasses, bandaids, clothes pins - every little thing!!

2. Took two strong magnets last time and they worked great! Got them at Staples and they looked like a binder clip ! Worked great for compass, invites, etc. No more clutter!!

3. Also took a strong rubber band to put on hair dryer to keep it turned on while drying hair - pretty handy!!

Yes, that is true, Pitons were on Starboard side.

Sometimes we backed into port, sometimes straight on. What we couldn't see, we saw something else!! It was all good!

Anyone know how Jewel of the Seas is? I see it hasn't been dry docked yet and for a while so kind of wondering.

 

Is the egg crate a request we should send to special requests email? My wife is just fine, but due to my full time job I have HORRIBLE back issues. I usually end up sleeping on a heating pad at night, and I know I can't bring that, so anything helps.

I asked for an egg crate on our 11/1 sailing, the room steward put something on the bed (it was not an egg crate!), but it did not really make much of a difference. The mattress is not very comfortable - that just made it easier to get out of bed in the morning!!

We were on starboard side. The ship was docked both ways and I can't say that it really mattered which side we were facing. Cruise is so port intensive that we didn't spend time during day sitting on balcony - sat out in the evening enjoying a glass of wine! It was also very warm when we were in the Caribbean and we probably would have been too hot!!