cruisequeen4ever

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.

I’m sorry you learned the hard way. Princess and Holland America provide the best Alaska experiences; they go to Glacier Bay.

I live in Alaska. Royal Caribbean uses Premier Alaska Tours as their vendor for hosting/guiding/transporting in Alaska. Your thought about taking the train is truly the best.the scenery is beautiful, and you get to see a valley inaccessible by cars. It takes longer than the bud, but its more comfy. Book directly through Alaska Railroad to save money, or book through Royal for convenience. I recommend staying downtown at either the Captain Cook, Marriott, Hilton, or Sheraton in that order. They’re all within 5 min of the train depot and 10 min of the airport. We have Uber and Lyft if you choose to go the independent route. If you stay at the Hilton, you can even walk to the train depot down a hill. Once in Seward, there’s a shuttle (school bus) to the cruise terminal, or you can walk about half a mile. Seward is small. Happy planning!

That’s so sad! That footage was so devastating of the house/duplex building collapsing right into the river!

It was nice of you to share your experience; I’m sorry you had to go through it to be able to warn others about it. I always choose the flex fare to be safe. It does seem logical in your circumstances to do what you did. It seems like Princess didn’t used to ever offer saver fares, but that thought is from years ago. Now because most airlines offer them, I guess they have started to include them. They should warn people though.

I was going to buy a portable scooter for ease of travel, but I ended up going with the Pride GoGo Sport, the one most rental companies use because it’s so durable. It doesn’t fold down and isn’t light, but the wheels are much more durable, and it does break down into 4 pieces, with each piece weighing 38 pounds or less. My husband has been able to fit it into minivans, SUVs, sedans, and even a Prius one time. When we have luggage, we have to do a minivan or SUV for sure, though. I felt much better in this rugged scooter on the cobblestones, but it’s good to hear your experience was fine on cobblestones, too.

We did the Baltic before I became disabled, and I’d say it’s easier than the Med, but you will encounter some cobblestones. It’s a tough ride but worth it. That’s great to know Ketchikan is primo for scooters. I did the AK cruise many times prior to becoming disabled and figured it’d be quite accessible and good to know that’s true.

Fabulous! Have a blast!

Great warning! I did actually have some similar experiences but not as bad as yours for sure. They did try to send my scooter on to the next airport, but my husband and I refused because we had a long layover, and I needed my scooter for it.We stood on the tarmac because it was a remote gate where we were. They eventually brought me my scooter And transported me to the airport terminal. The battery issue is an issue. Thankfully the pilot of my plane understood what I was meeting and told the agents to approve the battery to be left in tact as that is considered the safest option for my kind. I think because scooters aren’t as common in Europe, they’re not used to dealing with them. I’m surprised that an American airline like Delta wasn’t familiar with though. We flew Lufthansa, Eurowings, and Condor. It is possible for sure, but it can take some extra legwork.

I just did the Med in a mobility scooter. We chose an itinerary with no tender ports to be safe. They ended up making one port tender, but that cruise line helped me get ashore with my scooter. I don’t know if NCL does this. I recommend sticking with docked ports to be safe. The cobblestones really beat up my scooter, and my husband had to lift my scooter up and down quite a few times on and off curbs due to some sidewalks not having a ramp on one or both ends, but I was able to go almost everywhere he went. There were a few times, I had to sit and wait while he ventured further into ruins or up stairs to see something, but I go to see most things. It does take a lot of pre-planning. We hired private drivers with minivans in most ports because the cruise line couldn’t guarantee their buses could hold my scooter. Many museums and sites give disabled people free entrance along with one caretaker, so I arranged those free tickets and brought my handicap placard. We pre-purchased all tickets as you just have to nowadays. We were able to do one cruise line excursion as handicap accessible. Once onboard the ship, I was able to confirm with Shore Excursions that the shuttles into a few of the ports would be able to hold my scooter. My husband always breaks it down into 4 parts to put into trunks and bus storage. If you do all of that, and go into it with the attitude that she may need to wait in a cafe sometimes for you, you can have a great trip. Will it be a lot of work for the family? Yes!!!!! My husband was terribly worn out by the end of the trip, but he did successfully make my dreams come true. If she travels with a mobility scooter or wheelchair, be sure to pre-arrange with the airlines months in advance because the international airlines require much more documentation than domestic airlines, and they can take longer to approve. Also, you must bring all documentation with you. The airline reps at the Athens airport spent about 20 min reading mine. It is all possible, though, so if you proceed with it, best of luck and have fun!

As an Alaskan who has lived her 15 years and who has done the Alaska cruise many times in various months, I’d never recommend a first timer come in October or even September. If you want to save money, then do May. May usually has pretty good weather, much better than September and October when we start getting severe storms. The fall can mean missed ports and limited scenic cruising.

I’ve been noticing the huge cost of the included packages for years. We always price out the gratuities, what we’d spend on drinks, and then consider whether we’d even want/need internet to determine whether the package is worth it. It’s usually not.

The free slices of pizza at Slice/Prego by the pool are not buffet pizza. They’re baked in a pizza oven, and they’re delicious.

I’d think it would be normal time embarkation. Even if the ship is scheduled to leave late, I have seen the time changed in Vancouver due to the tides.

I’d be nervous as the train leaves punctually. They won’t refund your train excursion if you plan back to back excursions, so you’re risking a lot of money. Excursions can easily return late, so personally, I’d recommend doing the evening train. Shop or go back onboard to eat lunch between excursions.

Ours used to arrive 2 weeks before the cruise, but this last month, they shipped from Singapore 10 days before the cruise and were delivered 5 days before the cruise.

On the Enchanted in July, you had to get to the Wake Pool by 7:30 AM to get a lounger, and they’d be taken all day. The Retreat pool was always full. The main pool area would be full until around 4:00. Lots of chair hogs and not many actual people. There were no time limits expressed in the Patter, where people’s stuff would be removed, only a request to be polite about lounger use. I never saw anything enforced.

Some have balked at my $35 per day for a nonalcoholic package idea; well think back to when the Plus package including alcohol cost $40. $35 for no alcohol is barely less than that, and alcohol costs a lot more than nonalcoholic drinks. I was not factoring in the new additions of dining and desserts though, so let’s say $40 per day for nonalcoholic. Only $20 less per day for no alcohol would be a win for Princess IMO.