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Japanese have small cars. Taxis are not much bigger. There are no passenger cars in the US that can fit 5 and the driver. Same for Japan. Unless you Uber a van or large 3 row SUV, I think you will be out of luck.

Day 3: Norfolk, Virginia Very interesting transit up the Elizabeth River. 3 hours with a tug(s) and police escorts. Finally docked at 9. My excursion to Williamsburg meeting time was at 8:45. Sat in the theater until almost 9:30. This was my main reason for taking this cruise, Do not understand why they did not plan this for the fall repositioning. Hot and Humid in the summer. Very good bus guide. We traversed 2 bridge tunnels (Virginia has 3 out to the 7 in the US). I only wish I was younger to enjoy Willamsburg. CB parked right next to the Nautica Museum and USS Wisconsin. I understand they have a senior rate and even less for cruise passengers. I did not do this activity. Guide: something happened to the USS Wisconsin’s bow. It was replaced with the USS Kansas and now can claim to be the largest battleship class ship because she is 12 inches longer than the Iowa and Missouri. The body paid dearly for this very long and exhausting excursion. Entertainment catch up. Day 1 - Tony Daro, comedian. No one has had positive reviews. Day 2 - Bravo. Excellent Day 3 - Rhythms in Harmony. Only one show since they were brought on the ship for one performance and left. Very disappointing since the show was overflowing. Day 4 - Broadway Ballroom, Production Show Various shows in Club Fusion. Jody is a wonderful CD. I sent a crew chat asking about Rhythms in Harmony. She called me back and left a message explaining that they were brought on just for that one show. That’s service.

This is so hard to do on my iPad….ugh. @beg3yrs I did not mean to suggest it was EZ Air’s fault. More meant to say that I was glad the passengers were able to have EZ Air as a support. CB left Amber Cove 3 hours late. They stayed in port due to dangerous high winds as reported by a passenger doing a b2b on this cruise. Confirming one long line to get inside the terminal. No elite line for this voyage. First queue to security took about 20-30 minutes. I kept asking every agent if there was an elite line.

Attended Meet and Greet in Skywalkers. Well organized by Christina @TravelTrotter and Barb. Jody has been doing double duty for 3 months as cruise director and entertainment director. 47 attended. First time ever, for me. Silviya arranged an intimate cocktail hour for suite guests to mingle with the officers in the Wheelhouse. Great food. Normal bread canapés with spring rolls, wings and crunchy deep friend huge shrimp. Drinks off the tray or by order. I was able to speak to 3 officers. One was the Customer Service Officer. Poor thing was losing her voice but still tried to have a conversation. I asked why suites didn’t have flowers. Another coast cutting plus supply issue, and healthy safety. When she told me that they were moving to artificial flowers, I recommended that none is better than the dust collectors. She also told me that there were a lot of new crew, both new-new to Princess and new to the ship. I liked this new suite perk since I no longer attend the Captain Circle parties. So confused when a nice bouquet appeared the next day. No note. Today, my room steward said that he is placing them in cabins as they are given to him. Huh? No more Canapés paper hangers. Call room service directly. Oh, yes….never had so many issues with trying to change out my undelivered Elite minibar. Took 3 calls to room service. With some long hold times. No problems with the suite bar. (2 separate calls) yet to come…Norfolk.

Day 2: Sea Day Still trying to get into the cruise mind. Taking a lot longer for this to happen. Good thing this is a 13 day cruise. Ship is very full. 3280 passengers Blue 1020 Gold 677 Ruby 338 Platinum 775 Elite 398

My first issues: Balls of lint and garbage on carpet, finally vacuumed up during turn down service. Table tops were dusty (aka germy?). I always wipe down my cabin. Refrigerator was not working. Doors seem unusually heavy and hard to open. Am I getting weaker? Housekeeping supervisor was in the hall. Pull him in to have him check our refrigerator. Took a day to cool down. Worked for a day. Not working again. No problems: Air conditioner working. Toilets working. But down the hall a few cabins the ac was stuck at 68 degrees. They were working on it. Meeting lots of passengers “in the private hallway” On the Grand/Gem class ships, there is a person who will be your concierge. No lounge. Call Customer Service and ask for Events Officer (formerly Loyalty and Events Officer). Silviya has been most responsive and will follow up or take care of my concerns. No suite reserved seating for Production Shows. Haven’t had a need for her to make me any special arrangements.

Coming soon. Stay tuned

CB arrived around 8:30. We left about 5:30 ish? (Normal? Arrive at 7 leave at 4). My number crunching might not be accurate. Hey, I’m on vacation.

Left the hotel at 10:30. Three ships in port…yay. Still had a traffic jam. They need to find a better way to embark passengers. It seemed so disorderly. Waited in lounge. Boarded by 11:30. Cabins were not ready, as expected. Dropped off hand carries, found a comfy quiet place. Did safety stuff. Had lunch.

Disclaimer: Elite in a Window Suite. Don’t know if this makes any differences, reports will be from my perceptions. I’m on a cruise with my iPad….limited comments (haha…maybe). Those that know me know that I don’t do brief. Day 1 The ship arrived late into Port Everglades dues to winds in Amber Cove; its previous port. Turned her around in 14 hours instead of 16. Left about 60 minutes late. Even then, several passengers made the ship; others missed the ship and boarded in Virginia. Hall mates are still waiting for their luggage that never left SEA, maybe they will see them in New York 4 days later. Thanks? EZ Air. Embarkation at Port Everglades is a disaster. One long line feeding into another long line. Security then Medallion/no Medallion before branching off into Elite/suite, Platinum, other. Mix that with those coming off the ship and queuing up for taxis, etc. Absolutely beautiful fireworks display upon send off. Torrential rain, thunder and lightning display.

Cans of soda on the Caribbean Princess.

My best guess. You are paying EZ Air. They pay Southwest. You probably won’t get your money/travel credit returned being that it is a restricted price and monies are due upon booking.

My sister did it on Holland America….to Seattle. She loved it. She picked up the ship in Yokohama with maybe one or two more ports in Japan. You got to love sea days.

That was my first thought. Much cheaper to do a sleep study with insurance than get two cabins.

I agree with everyone. You paid to upgrade from Plus to Premier last November under the old package (no classes, sundaes, etc). I locked in the old price for Plus before February because I didn’t care for all the extras. The price of both packages (now considered NEW) increased in February. If you paid a second additional increase to go from the old to the new, then you should have an invoice for $new price x number of days. At the bottom of your booking invoice you will see how much you paid. Technically, if you thought you purchased the NEW Premier, then you would have paid for …the increase from old plus to old premier …then paid again from old premier to new premier. You could plead your case with the Food and Beverage Officer on board. Explain that you were mistaken about all the increases and if he/she would allow you to pay the current difference between old and new x number of days left. it may not be worth all of this if you are on a short cruise. Just purchase it for your next cruise.

I’ve had several Amex Cards for over 25 years and have never received a promotion remotely connected to Princess and/or cruising. You are most fortunate. Every little bit helps. I have seen others post about the offers and I quickly manually check…I’m excluded.

Me too. I believe the high end AmEx accounts have gotten them in the past. I've never been offered a promotion.

One of the hop on/hop off bus companies said that the "ship shuttle" drops you right off by their kiosk. He never mentioned that there was a cost. Silly me.

This must be the teacher in you. Always a children advocate. It never goes away, even when you are retired. Good for you!

How do you book one ways with EZ Air? I thought once you book a flight, they don't give you an option to book another flight. I do this all the time when flying to Honolulu. So much easier to handle cancellations and changes with one way fares. Gone are the days when they give you a break for a round trip. In my college days (yes, way back when...), I would book round trips: leave in September, return at Christmas. But back then, I had a schedule/set dates.

I wanted to see Silk also. The first production show had technical difficulties. No one bothered to inform passengers that the second show had been cancelled. (Lame "announcement" was made, but no one heard it). No cancelled sign on marquis. No signage near/by/in the theater. Just a movie that had replace the show. I stopped an officer who told me it was cancelled without knowing if it would be showed later (never). I stopped and told many passengers who were also on their way to the theater. I've seem most of the oldER shows and was really looking forward to finally seeing a new production without having to be on a Royal Class ship.

I love the Grand Princess. Since you are doing Alaska, I would opt for a balcony. I do not remember which balconies are fully covered, but you should take that into consideration. Here are some other considerations: Aloha Deck 742 is steps away from the aft outside staircase. A few steps up and you are outside. A few more steps and you are at the Lido Deck (buffet). I prefer lower decks since I am not a buffet person. There is no center staircase, only a bank of 6 elevators. I believe Caribe Deck has 9x9 balconies.

Oops, did not read the "fine" print. Good luck getting the reserve mini's.

I used the Apple app called Translate. It worked very well without internet service. I understand that Google Translate works well too. Don’t leave home without such an app. Better yet is take a photo screen shot of the ship AND where you want to go, with an address. Not experienced with UBER. Don’t you need cell service so that the car driver can find you? Have not used it internationally.

Line dancing class (one) on a 7 day Emerald voyage was at 12:30. Right in the middle of lunch. Dance classes are usually only offered on sea days. Pre Pandemic, some ships/voyages announced that there would be time to “practice” in the Explore’s Lounge that night. “Gone with the Wind”. Just like dance hosts. Very basic waltz, fox trot, East Coast swing, rhumba, salsa, merengue, cha cha are taught.