cruisequeen4ever

I can answer that because we did that last month. If you choose to do this, absolutely buy your tickets online before you go! The line to buy tickets to get in was reallllly long, UNLESS you already had tickets. Once inside, try to avoid the tour groups to speed up your visit; they clog the walkways and sites sometimes. There are signs in Greek and English. We read them, but it was soooo hot and crowded that we really just focused on seeing the sites and getting out of there. We actually said on the way out how glad we were that we hadn’t done a tour because we couldn’t take the heat any longer. Skip the bathroom there; it was the longest bathroom line I’ve ever encountered. Allot an hour for the visit; the local driver said that’s the typical amount of time. We finished in 50 min.

It’s great to know you’ve successfully flown with monitors without them breaking.

Yeah, some added costs do make sense. The value is higher when cruising for a longer period of time vs one cruise.

Maybe

That makes sense if it’s a business trip because of “business need”, but choosing to work from a cruise ship doesn’t constitute “business need”. I’d have to pay for all added costs.

I have seen how crew absolutely adore the little kids when they work on cruise ships that don’t normally have as many children because it gives them a chance to connect with kids that remind them of their own kids or grandkids from back home that they don’t get to see much. If the kids club is open, your child will probably be spoiled as he or she will probably be one of the only kids on board. I absolutely loved my Holland America kids club experience when I was eight years old, and that is what got me started on my addiction to cruising. I’m glad that you figured out even if there isn’t a kids club that you will still have a lot of fun.

Wow, it’s impressive you were able to travel with all of that! How do you fly with your monitors? How do you not exceed the weight limit? I worked from my parents’ city and just bought a monitor to store there because I was nervous about flying with my monitors.

This whole closed due to capacity thing was news to me, and I live in Anchorage. Juneau is part of our news, but I haven’t seen anything about this outside of Cruise Critic. I can’t imagine booking an Alaska cruise and not having the opportunity to go there, if one so wishes, as that is one of the most common destinations for cruise passengers in Juneau. I do remember locals in Juneau wanting to restrict the number of tourists, though. Maybe that’s when the whole capacity thing started.

I have successfully traveled via cruise, around the US, and to Europe with pill organizers many times. I have read that Asia is extremely strict with pills, though, so, if you are going to Asia, leave all of your pills in their individual, labeled bottles to be safe.

I always love hearing these stories. I work from home now, but I need high bandwidth and speed to do video calls and run certain programs all day. I lost hope of ever being able to work onboard when a few weeks ago, our speed dropped to around 100, and my calls got twitchy. 🙄 Mayyyyybe it was a fluke, but I can’t count on it and then not be able to once onboard. I guess that would be my question. What do people do the first time they try it? Do they tell their boss that if it doesn’t work out, they’ll just take unpaid days and then never try it again?

I sure wouldn’t! Even though I always feel much safer at sea than I do on land, what people have described being at sea to be like is a great analogy. They say that a cruise ship is a microcosm of society, so think of a city, having X number of criminals, and then use proportion to figure out that there must be at least some onboard a cruise ship, too. Best to keep your pride and joy in the kids club, safe and sound, or with you, safe and sound.

Glad you can now enjoy the best breakfast at sea, IMO.

Excellent decision!

I extra vote for the Royal then! The excursions are priceless memories, so to me, this would be a win win.

That’s the most clear explanation I’ve seen yet! Thank you!

We disembarked this ship 3 weeks ago, and the buffet was open every single day for breakfast. It opened at about 5:30 AM for a continental breakfast with some hot egg sandwiches, and then the full buffet opened at 6:00 AM, since they know most people had to be up early for tours. The person you spoke to must have been brand new and didn’t know. Go there tomorrow morning, and I’m sure you’ll be eating a scrumptious breakfast. As for the dining room, we didn’t even consider going, so I can’t answer about that. I saved the Patters, but I’m not near them right now.

The Connoisseur one includes lovely, full, gourmet meals. It may cost more, but food is expensive here anyway. We’ve stayed at the Copper River Princess Lodge, and it was worth visiting.

I don’t advise getting one like the one you show in the pic. I got one of those small ones for after my injury, and I slipped right off of it onto the bottom of the bathtub and almost hit my head. It was totally unstable and unsafe. Either use the kind Princess will provide, or opt for an accessible stateroom.

You’re going in the right direction by picking Princess for Alaska. Regardless of your usual favorite line, Princess just does Alaska better because it owns its own lodges, has the longest history doing cruises here (tied with Holland America), and it goes to Glacier Bay. Though I believe you and your family will have fun on either, I vote Royal because of your interests and because of your kids. There’s just more to do onboard. The Grand will have most of the same array of daily activities like trivia, game shows, bingo, musical entertainment, comedian, shows, but the Royal has more of and bigger everything. The shows are more modern and technologically advanced. The kids club is bigger and is sponsored by Discovery Channel; frankly, I wish I could go because it looks so fun! Yes, the Grand does Skagway, and I love Skagway, but Icy Strait Point has the awesome zipline. Both ships can get close to the glaciers; I didn’t notice a distance difference between the 2 when I’ve done Alaska cruises on both. The distance really comes down to the weather at the time and the number of icebergs in the area. In terms of food, the ships should have the same quality, but the Royal has much greater variety. The buffet is way bigger, and there are more options around the ship. I really do believe you and your family will have fun on either ship, though. Happy planning!

I enjoyed hearing about your experience and comparing it to ours last month. We too had lunch at Peskesi. It’s always interesting to hear about crew experiences because we don’t know if we had the same crew or not; we didn’t have any rude crew on ours, thankfully. That was cool to learn Ella Ryan is a teacher. Happy cruising to you!

We spent 2 weeks onboard in July, and you can wear whatever and fit right in. People are so busy touring all day, that you see people running the full gamut from shorts and shirt to smart casual to suit to tux and feeling comfortable doing so.

You’re going to get the most out of Alaska by doing the one way cruise combined with the land tour with Princess. 👌 Princess does it best with owning their own lodges, so you feel like you’re in the ship even while on land. I’d say choose one that visits Denali and incorporates the train as it’s much more comfy and relaxing than a bus. A day in Anchorage is nice, too. When you’re studying the itineraries, look carefully at the minute differences between each one to help you make the most informed decision. Happy planning!

So sorry you ended up with Covid, but I’m thrilled you’re back to cruising and enjoying it again. We too love the Sapphire. Hope you are all well soon and can visit your mama and can’t wait to read your next cruise blog adventure!

Have your hotel call you a taxi. That’s the easiest and least expensive option.

I live in Alaska, and it truly would be hit or miss with the weather. You definitely chose the best option doing a full cruise tour and doing the one-way cruise. I have done that cruise in May, June, and July and had everything from cold raining and windy all the way up to sunny and warm and swimming in the pool and everything in between. I would say in either month to plan on most days being in the 50s to low 60 with at least some rainy days. Late May and early June pricing is generally better than July.