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We do the Pillsbury version - my one job is to pop the can open and cut each roll into 4 pieces and shake them in a bag with sugar/cinn - not dipping in butter. It's been a family tradition for years at Christmas. As a military family we did without a lot several times during Christmas - but not the Monkey Bread!!! Kids are grown and gone - but now they make their own. I can't believe the IC had it!!!!

We have a "Alaska Inside Passage Travel Guide" booklet we bought in 2004 on our first Alaska cruise. It has fold out maps and one page maps although the booklet is only 5x8.5". It's sitting in the bottom of a bag full of cruise "stuff" - so if you'd like it I'd be happy to pass it on!

I have always ordered roses from Princess, and noticed on our last 2 cruises (after a 3 year pause) they were no longer offered on the website. On our cruise in Oct I didn't get any flowers but when our Christmas cruise was coming up someone told me my TA could order them. She did, they were in the cabin when we arrived and the price was reasonable. I did screw up however. With the new larger TVs on the wall, that leaves the top of the wall unit the TV used to stand on empty - the perfect place for the flowers. Not. The temp that close to the ceiling got to the flowers and they were wilted in 2 days. Lesson learned.

A lot depends on when the ship docks! They normally try to start getting folks off ASAP - and the earliest way is to do a self help disembarkation where you carry your own bags off instead of having them piicked up the night before. Those folks are the first off as soon as the ship is cleared.

I have been using the holders with the plastic loop for years without any issues. But a recent cruise spelled the end for one of them and I could tell the others weren't far behind (the loops) - so I bought some like the ones shown here and used them the last 2 cruises and love them. Much easier to deal with connecting the metal rings than the plastic loops.

So we get the advanced notice on the 2024 Canada/New England cruises today - with no prices....

Just for grins, since we have done this same 14 day cruise twice before I pulled out our folders and looked at pricing. We had/have the same aft facing corner premium balcony on all three. Based on the price we paid at booking the cruise in 2024 is $1,200 more than when we took it in 2018 (both with the Plus Package) and $2,500 more than the 2011 cruise (without the Plus package). And as I indicated in the original post the price has gone up over $2,000 since we booked - so it is $3,200 and $4,500 more than the previous cruises as of today. Not insignificant...but we're still booked 🙂

Their ads all say for "suite passengers"...but like most things on Princess YMMV.

I was hoping they'd sell like hot cakes - I already gathered all my Princess Luggage Tags to list....

Hard as it is for me to believe - but they are for sale on ebay 🙂 You can buy an "Elite" medallion for only $69!!! I would hope other levels are cheaper 🙂

just looked and for a premium aft facing balcony it is $1290 or about $800 less than with the Plus package. But as I keep clicking through to confirmation there is NO mention of the package at all...

Keep in mind the buffet and dining room will be jammed - people go there and just sit until their time comes to disembark so getting a table gets a bit tricky. Be prepared to grab your plate and find a place to sit somewhere else 🙂

Like most have said, I couldn't conceive of the idea of not having a balcony on an Alaska cruise. There is so much to see, and while you can go on some decks and look out, sitting on your balcony with a beverage of your choice watching another whale swim by, or another eagle fly by, or more waterfalls, or more seals floating by on hunks of ice. I also second the aft facing premium balcony cabins although it seems Princess is trying to price them out of our range any more - because you can be out there pretty much 24/7 regardless of the weather. Breakfast first thing in the morning, a glass of wine after your tour, then a Baileys when the sun sets. We all like different things - you'll enjoy Alaska whatever you choose!!!

My favorite was a full transit Panama Canal cruise on Princess in 2008. You never forget your first (Golden Princess to Canada/Alaska) a few years earlier, and a few other in between, but for many reasons that PC cruise was the most memorable. We joined the Roll Call more than a year out and it was one of the best ever - lots of participation, lots of advice and help. We made so many friends from that Roll Call and even met with some pre-cruise and we still communicate with many of the RC members today - and have cruised with several again over the years. The folks on the Roll Call were mostly experienced cruisers and many had done the PC and the ports before. I'm pretty sure that every excursion we took was put together by someone from the Roll Call, even the hotels and restaurants pre and post cruise were set up by Roll Call friends. So a cruise, that for us, would have presented quite a few obstacles turned out to be nothing but fun. I was in the military 30 years and we moved a LOT - and when we think back on it there was one neighborhood and group of friends that was just perfect. That PC cruise was like that neighborhood 🙂

Should be noted that they give you the credit - but they charge you for the drinks you have until you get out to international waters. We saw our statement on the second day and had two charges from a bar for $17+ and the $25 credit - I had no idea at the time what it was since we had the Plus package. I would say we made out on the deal $17 vs $25 - but the booze they served was horrendous 🙂

I am wondering - if this is the best sale ever - what will the next one be ??? Since the best sale ever and the one before it raised the price of our Feb 2024 cruise by $2,000 I'm anxious to see what's next....

LOL - I hadn't noticed the typo until you posted this 🙂 I wonder how much the tips will be in 20924!! 🙂

I sent mine in for a Feb 20924 cruise early this past week and forgot about it until today - I looked and it was posted already!

Congrats!!! We have been upgraded to a suite once - it makes it hard to go back to a normal cabin 🙂 But enjoy your cabin and your cruise!!!

None on the Emerald in Oct or the Ruby in Dec. Ruined both cruises! :-)

We have cruised with friends multiple times who did not have any status with Princess and we were Platinum or Elite. We would split up at the entrance and we would go to the "platinum/elite" line and they went to the regular line. Every EVERY time - they got processed ahead of us. It became a standing joke that they would wait for us in their cabin 🙂 The next cruise we just checked in with them 🙂

We took a British Isles cruise a couple of months ago and I spent quite some time reading different opinions and facts about tipping. The majority of advice I was given was tipping isn't necessary or expected. Fortunately I brought tipping money because on the 11 day cruise pretty much everyone had a hand out or was obviously expecting a tip. Didn't bother me - I just wanted to do what was expected.

I paid for the cruise we took in Oct and Dec with the AARP cards - and I have purchased enough to pay for our Feb 2024 cruise. 10% is 10% and the last time I used a new credit card and bought the gift cards to meet the minimum spend requirement to get 70,000 airline miles I wanted. Win win 🙂

In October we had the 12:30 boarding time with the Green Lane and Elite medallions. We spent the night in a hotel in Southampton and headed to the ship at about 11. We got there and they waived us right through everything and onto the ship - we were in our cabin by 11:30. No one ever asked or checked what our boarding time was. I should add that when we were waived through the last place before walking onto the ship there were a lot of people sitting in a waiting area - where I thought we would be headed to. But they told us to keep going and get on the ship. I have no idea why they were all there - maybe being Elite allowed us on early, or maybe they were all waiting for friends... All I know is that is was quick and efficient - and the exact same thing happened in Galveston when we took a Christmas cruise.

We took 11 day cruises in Oct and Dec and never once saw the alcohol being measured - they were straight pours out of the bottle and the few times they used a jigger they almost always poured extra. So our experience has been different. We aren't big drinkers (any more) but if anything we thought the drinks were stronger than normal - not watered down.