RoperDK

Thanks everyone! Keeping my fingers crossed to see at least a bit of snow. I might have to take another trip to Alaska and go in May.

Dawn

How can you see how many minutes of your package that you have used? I want to ration them out.

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

Cruising southbound in mid-August. I am a southern gal and hoping to see at least a few snow capped mountains and some ice in the water. I know there will be ice around the glaciers, but how about other ports on the cruise? Will there be any snow left at all?

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

Can't wait to read your review. We are on the Coral next month.

Dawn

Such fast replies! Thanks everyone. I really enjoyed the additional offerings at Alfredos on the Regal. It was our favorite lunch venue. I guess pizza will have to do on the Coral.

Dawn

Is it the same menu as on the Regal where there were salad and pasta selections along with the pizza? Is it only open on sea days?

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

A follow-up, since I have a similar question. Our Princess cruise leaves Whittier on a Saturday at 8:30 pm. This is our very first cruise.

From what we understand, Princess will provide shuttles from Anchorage to Whittier on that Saturday, and then everyone departs the shuttles and checks in. Other forums noted how hectic and crowded this can be.

So we wanted to plan our own transports on the night before, Friday. We'd spend the night relaxing in Whittier, and then check in for embarkment as soon as it's open Saturday, well ahead of the Princess shuttle crowds.

Does this sound reasonable? And also, I see that many of the transport companies offer their services the day of the cruises only, so will we have difficulty getting a bus/shuttle the day before?

Thank you!.

We are leaving out of Whittier the same day and time as you are. We went through the same process of trying to find a way to do all of the sightseeing along with boarding the ship fairly early. That would give us a chance to settle in, do some laundry and get our bearings before sailing. I absolutely despise unpacking as the ship is leaving port. We looked into a one way car rental from Anchorage to Whittier. It would have made planning soooo much easier. We just couldn't justify the over $350 fee for one day! So we decided to take the train from Anchorage to Whittier the day before the cruise and then take the 26 Glacier Cruise. We are spending the night at The Inn at Whittier and will walk over and drop off our luggage the next morning. We can walk around the docks awhile if we want or just board and enjoy the ship. To me there is nothing worse than starting a cruise exhausted from trying to do too much. That is just my humble opinion. It you decide to stay at The Inn you will need to reserve early as it is small and fills up quickly.

Dawn

Thanks everyone! That is exactly the info I was looking for.

Dawn

We are not in a suite and I have seen the breakfast hangar, so what is on the regular room service menu? Looking for info on ordering mixers for delivered liquor, also. I see where you can pre order liquor and water, but no mixers.

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

Where do you drop off luggage in Whittier? It looks like there are covered walkways all the way to the train. Are the porters there or are they at the building where you check in?

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

I hadn't realized Princess has a transfer from Vancouver to Seattle airport. What is the earliest time they recommend for a departing flight if you take this option?

I didn't know this either, and it opens up possibilities. I'd also like to know about the flight times.

 

And what is the current cost of the transfer?

I just double checked my transfer documents. They say the earliest time for departing flights should be 4 PM, but I could have sworn that it said 2 PM when I booked it. We are spending a couple of days in Seattle so flight times weren't important to me.

The cost was $69 per person.

Dawn

Luggage handling...how does it work? Hoping to not have to load and unload our luggage too many times. Will we collect our bags at the port and take them to the bus or will they already be loaded for us? Will we have to unload the bags at the border? I had heard that they were pre-screened and the border stop should be quick and painless.

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

What is the current process for applying pre-purchased casino credit? I did searches and think I have a good idea of how things work, but would like to verify that there haven't been any changes to the system. We are headed to Alaska soon and I don't want to carry a lot of extra cash as we are doing land tours prior to the cruise. I also don't want to put the whole casino bill on the ship board account. I would like to spread the casino funding between a couple of credit card cycles.

If I buy $1000 in pre-purchased casino credit.......

Will I get paper vouchers in my cabin? Then would I cash them out at the casino cage and use the cash to gamble? This seems like the easiest way.

What happens if the casino credit is applied to my on board account? Does it show as a casino credit and when I use my card to transfer money to a slot machine it shows the credit reduced? How does it show up differently on the account than OBC? It seems a bit confusing to me. What is the benefit of buying casino credit over buying OBC? If I am lucky enough to have left over casino credit at the end of the cruise, how do I cash it out?

Also, I understand that getting gambling cash advances don't have a fee whether using a slot machine transfer or getting chips at the table or for buying in at the electronic poker table? I get my cruise lines mixed up sometimes!

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

Thank you olesiabr! That's exactly the information that I was looking for! We are looking forward to our stay in Whittier. It sounds both beautiful and quirky. We can handle the walk to the ship as long as our luggage is transported for us. Seems odd that they can't take passengers. We will try Swiftwater Seafood. We are taking the 26 Glacier Cruise during the day.

Thanks again!

Dawn

Thank you for the great review! We are headed southbound on the Coral in August. Can you tell me about The Inn at Whittier? We are staying there before our cruise. There is so little information about The Inn out there! Did you eat at the restaurant or have drinks at the lounge? Was there some kind of transportation option from The Inn to the port? I know it is within walking distance of the port, but getting our luggage there may be an issue. Can you check luggage at the port before 12:30 even though you can't actually check in? I hate to admit it, but we might need to make a couple of trips to roll it over there if they don't have any transportation! :o

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

Thanks everyone. I am the OP. I am hoping to get a definitive answer before we head out on our cruise in August. If we don't use our coupon for the Crab Shack, we were considering using it to eat at Sabatini's on the first night. If someone reads this and is cruising SB on the Coral, would you please note the nights of the Crab Shack and what the "Alaskan menu" actually contains. It would be much appreciated.

Dawn

That is what we are doing! For better or worse we decided to go that route instead of the trek to Denali. This is our first and probably only trip to Alaska so I am sure others would think we are making a mistake. We don't have enough time pre or post cruise to do a land tour that lasts more than a couple of days and I didn't want to spend that time on a bus and shuffling in and out of hotels for a single night. Here is the itinerary we decided on. Keep in mind that we are seniors with a few health issues so things like hiking on glaciers and kayaking are not options for us.

Two nights in downtown Anchorage. - We arrive from the east coast early evening so check in to the hotel and try to adjust on the first night. The next day we want to do some exploring in Anchorage, do the trolley, and enjoy a nice meal. We are taking the train to Whittier the following morning.

Two nights in Whittier. - Arrive on the train mid-day. Check in to the hotel and take in the sights at the docks and the small town. Next day we are doing the 26 Glacier boat tour. Drinks and dinner at the hotel and up the next morning to arrive at the ship just before the train is scheduled to arrive. I would like to settle in and explore the ship before the bulk of the passengers arrive.

It is a pretty sedate itinerary, but that is what we need to do. There seems to be plenty of day trips from Anchorage that would suit all types. We thought of trying a flight to see Denali, but there were no guarantees of either getting off the ground or actually seeing the mountain, so we scratched that.

Hopefully others will chime in with what they have decided to do. At any rate, you are not alone!

Have a great trip,

Dawn

Thank you Stumptowngal. That is exactly what I was wishing for.....an empty laundry room all to myself!

Dawn

Does anyone know if the self-serve laundry is open on embarkation day? We will be boarding early and thought it would be a great time to do a load before the masses arrive.

Dawn

Thank you for the wonderful review! We are on the Coral SB in August. Do you remember if they were offering the Crab Shack and on what nights? Also did they have an Alaskan theme buffet on one of the days? Did they serve crab legs in the dining room?

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

We always head straight to lido for a Funship!

Applicable state and local taxes will be charged to the guest folio when this program is used within US waters. The tax is based on the state's tax structure and the cost of the individual drink purchased (not the daily program rate). For example: if the drink price is $5 and the tax is 10%, the guest's Sail & Sign card will be charged $0.50 for tax. This applies to all US ports (embarkation home ports and ports-of-call).

 

I copied and pasted this off of Carnival. I am sorry that RoperDK didn't have a good experience. BUT, we do not want to most bad information and scare fellow cruisers. I will try my best to find the facts.

 

Thank you, Bobbi

I don't want to put out false info either. I wish I had paid more attention at the time. Of course I just threw away my itemized charge list for the cruise. The drink I had was a Grey Goose and tonic. That was just under $10 for the drink. I remember seeing a $2 additional charge as I glanced at the slip. The only other thing that could have happened would be that there were 2 drinks bought at the time. That would mean $1 per drink or 10% which is pretty standard sales tax for Alabama (I live there). I don't want to mislead anyone, so hopefully someone can come back with a firm answer. I just figure that additional sales tax in port is part of the way it goes. I do want to stress though that it does take a good while to get to international waters, so the tax is added for several hours after leaving port.

Dawn

Just off the Fantasy last week. We didn't have Cheers, but I remember the Mobile tax for a mixed drink was around $2 each. The "Alabama bar menu" was in effect until reaching international waters. For us that was around 8PM. We had Funships when we boarded so I didn't realize there was still a reduced liquor menu until later. I couldn't get a Cosmopolitan, but did get a vodka tonic. I looked at the reduced menu quickly and only remember that each type of liquor (vodka, whiskey, etc.) had about 3 brands to choose from. There were maybe 10 fruity drinks like margaritas available. Can't help too much with beer and wine, but don't think there was a very large selection. Hope this helps!

Dawn

Sailing Alaska SB this August. We have a complimentary specialty restaurant coupon. Is the crab shack considered a specialty restaurant or an event? Will we be able to use the coupon? Does anyone know how many nights they have the crab shack? I've heard it is popular and sells out. We will reserve as soon as we can once onboard, but where do we go? They had it in the buffet area on the Regal, there wasn't a separate restaurant.

Thanks in advance,

Dawn

We just returned from the Fantasy on Mar.16.

They do have the dreaded "Alabama Menu" in the bars like they did years ago along with a pretty hefty additional tax added per drink. I don't know that many people would find the reduced types of liquor a problem, but I could not get a Cosmopolitan. I could get a vodka and tonic. The thing that bothered me the most was that it was at least 4 hours after sail away until we reached international waters....a long time in my book.

We did not purchase cheers, but did buy a couple of bottles of liquor and water from bon voyage to be delivered to the cabin at embarkation. When we got to our cabin the water was there, but no liquor. After a while we called about it and they said that they couldn't deliver until after we got into international waters. I think that should have been annotated on the bon voyage website.

The casino isn't open until international waters, also. That is new to me and just added to the things that bothered me about cruising out of Mobile. I know that at most ports international waters are fairly close, but not in New Orleans. It's about 7 hours to get out of the river and the casino is open minutes after sail away. Still not enough to keep me from cruising on the Fantasy, but wait there's more.....

This was our 21st Carnival cruise and the food on this ship is definitely not up to par. I know that Carnival's food has slipped a bit in the last few years, but this was our worst for food by far. We ate at all the venues. Guys Burgers was the best. The dining room wasn't terrible, but many things came out just plain cold. The pizza and deli were okay. The buffet was okay at breakfast, but finding something edible at other times wasn't easy. Also, some of the produce on the salad bar was rotting. Trays on the buffet weren't refilled. We ordered a pot of coffee from room service each morning and none of the carafes had lids. You had to pour it over the bathroom sink because it just spilled down the sides. We asked about it and they said there were no lids available! To me it just shows that food services weren't managed correctly.

The cabin steward, bar service and guest services were excellent. Most of the crew around the ship were friendly and helpful. Service and table cleaning at the buffet was adequate. The only service negative that we found.

We've sailed on the Fantasy before, but it has been several years. The ship is showing it's age, but is clean and well kept. We had cruised several times before out of Mobile on the Holiday as we only live a few hours away. We won't cruise out of Mobile again. It just wasn't enjoyable. Maybe a newer ship with balconies would change our mind.

Just my opinion.

Dawn