cruisequeen4ever

Celebrity is more expensive for virtually anything onboard.

Yeah, their pricing is out to lunch; it sucks!

Stunning pictures and great depiction of your cruise; thank you for sharing!

That’s so cool your first cruise was on that special sailing! 😀

I always enjoy reading your blogs, and this one was especially fun with your granddaughter along. It’s such a special experience to share with her; you are wonderful grandparents to want to share it with her. I remember getting hooked on cruising at age 8 and on a Holland America ship.

It’s nice you’ve had good experiences on both cruise lines. Oh ok; I thinnnnnk we actually disembarked on 6/25/16 from the Royal. ☺️ We did 17 days on the Regal in June of 2014. I hope you love your AK cruise; that’s where we live, and we’ve done many AK cruises. Princess really does do it best, so good choice. Happy planning! We are blissfully back to our pre-Covid Christmas cruise tradition aboard Princess; I can’t wait to be back at sea!

As a fellow long-time Princess pax, it’s always interesting to read experiences of people trying other cruise lines. Our sailing on Celebrity reconfirmed our appreciation of Princess, but I am going to try it again with a friend next year after receiving a Celebrity offer I couldn’t refuse. On a different note, I realized based on your signature that we must have sailed together twice in the past. ☺️ On one of those sailings, I recall there being many Australians who were on for 21 days and were starting to grow weary after traveling for so long. Some of them were on our excursion to Cinque Terre on the Royal in 2016. Were you guys on that excursion? So sorry you ended up missing your second cruise due to Covid! Happy planning for your next one!

It’s especially sad this is happening with a cruise route that is only offered by NCL. It’s not like you can just hop on another line. Now if you can take 2 weeks off and do the roundtrip LA or San Francisco HI cruise, that is a lot of fun, but it’s not as in depth as the NCL roundtrip Honolulu.

Eastern Mexico’s beaches are much prettier than Western Mexico’s. Eastern Mexico is more like the Caribbean. If saving the extra flight hassle is worth it, you’ll still have fun doing the LA cruise, but if it’s not a huge deal to go on to TX, do it!

Fun thread; I’m glad people have actually won!

Sounds like a fun read; I’ll check it out! Thank you for sharing!

I am astonished that an attorney would even take on this case. Holland America isn’t even remotely responsible for this. Everything we do in life comes with risk; we choose the risks we are willing to take. Now if they find fault with the operator or the pilot, that’s different, but leave Holland America out of it.

Terrific news! Now cruising is being treated nearly the same as the rest of life!

I’d love to know the pros and cons, too.

I’m sure from a business standpoint, their strategy will maximize profits and help operations be more streamlined, BUT it is not cool to do to the cruise pax! Cruising has always been the land of the “you can eat whatever you want, have 2 entrees if you want, and it’s all included”. It’s great if pax want to pay extra for a special dining experience, but doing away with the classic dining room menus is just not cruising, IMO. I just read read the poster’s wondering about whether they may expand the menu, so there’s still variety. That would help, however I doubt they’d do that too much because the cruise model works when the kitchen cooks for the masses. If they have to prepare way more different meals on a nightly basis, it would increase their challenge, and just don’t see the company choosing to do that in this hard time.

You may have found them sold out because some of the cruise line groups go on the regular ferry for their excursions. I’m glad that so many had no problems. For what it’s worth, our most recent experience solidified that we will always book cruise excursion to Capri. We had considered going independently but are so glad we didn’t end up going that route. First, all afternoon ferries showed sold out when we arrived on Capri. Then, our return ferry departed late and hit rough seas, causing it to take about 30 min longer than usual to reach Naples. If we hadn’t been booked on a cruise line excursion, we would have missed the ship. It’s a long trek back onto the ship from the ferry terminal, and we high-tailed it. They held the ship for us, thankfully. Yeah, you save money going independently, but it’s not worth the risk to us. As for Capri vs Pompeii, to us, they’re both must dos. Our first time there, we booked the deluxe Pompeii/Sorrento/Capri excursion; it was magnificent! Now we just choose to either go to Capri or go to the Amalfi Coast. If you’re up for it, go for the gold with the 3 in 1 excursion. Happy planning!

It’s progress!

The cruisetour gives you the most Alaska in one trip; I definitely recommend it. As others have said, Covid aside, doing the hectic land portion first allows you to relax on the ship after. It also gets your longest flight out of the way first. The Connoisseur version includes meals, which truly give you the opportunity to experience any and all Alaskan food offered on the menu without thinking about the cost of each item. A balcony is the best way to see Alaska, especially on glacier days, but it’s not the end of the world to go without because you can spend your time up on deck during the scenic cruising. All Princess ships are now Medallion ships, so you can’t escape that. Weather is all over the place in the summer in AK but generally in the 50s and 60s, with some rainy days and some sunny days. You could experience a really warm day into the 70s. Bring layers. Princess does Alaska best, so you picked a good one! Happy planning!

Yes, thank goodness Princess allows them.

Pre-pandemic, this service was offered inside the cruise terminal in the left corner just before exiting. It was quite expensive if you have a lot of luggage but may be worth it to you if you want to explore. I don’t remember the pricing specifics, but if you Google it, you might be able to find the pricing.

Can you imagine how many people may have caught Covid or whatever the dude may have had from that set of tongs used by “sneezy hands”?? I don’t know how people can do such messed up and inconsiderate stuff like that. I’m glad you had a good cruise overall and wish you a speedy recovery!

United should reimburse you for all reasonable purchases you had to make. Keep on it.

I’m relieved to hear that the docks away from the landslides will still be utilized this season, so the poor town can finish off the season. It’s been so hard on the port towns, and they desperately need the business.

I just read your journey…Oh my; I’m so sorry your trip ended this way; you sure have a fantastic attitude about it, though! I am still recovering from an ankle brake from 2 years ago (Don’t worry; yours will heal beautifully, I’m sure), and it too happened from a split second accident. I can not imagine having had to fly in that pain; you are such a trooper! Did you make it to your convention? (Since it’s now August) Wishing you a speedy and successful recovery!

Oh good because it’s fun to see a movie out of the room sometimes, too. We will both miss Princess’s Movies Under the Stars.