Daisyloo

They did acrylic nails on the Grand when I was on her a couple of years ago. I can't remember the price, but it was more than what I would pay at home. They did a good job.

I cruised on the Zaandam this past summer with my mother and sister in a Neptune suite. We each had a separate account. When we received our final statements mine had a credit of $48.00 as I hadn't used up all of my OBC. My mom and sister owed money. I went and talked to the concierge in the Neptune lounge and she told me that I couldn't receive that $48 back, but if I wanted she could apply it to one of the other statements. So my mom's account was given that credit. FYI, the OBC I had was partially from OBC given for booking, and also for owning Canival stock.

Princess holds their muster drills inside. Maybe you could consider them?

We loved the Regal. We never found her "too loud". There are places where you can go for quiet. We especially liked the retreat pool area - quiet and no kids. Also the promenade deck has several quiet areas to sit and watch the waves. There are times the Piazza is quiet - we sat there often with a pot of teas or a coffee from the IC. and people watched or read.

I am looking at going on an Alaskan Cruise possibly on Princess, the Ruby Princess that leaves from Seattle.

 

I have never done Princess before and was wondering if anyone has done the cruise to Alaska out of Seattle?

 

The other one that I am looking at is one on Royal Caribbean. The reason that I am leaning towards Princess is because it goes to the inside passage and I have read that if able to do that then you should.

 

It does the Tracy Arm place instead of the Glacier Bay. There is one that does Glacier Bay but it doesn't fit with my timetable.

 

Has anyone done the Princess Alaska from Seattle? Was it good.

 

 

 

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Can't help with Princess in Alaska as we cruised on HAL from Vancouver. But as far as Tracy Arm - we loved it. The day we sailed Tracy Arm was the hi-light of our cruise. The scenery was stunning. Also, sailing the inside passage was wonderful - so much to see and we had calm sailing the whole trip.

You are thinking of sailing on the Ruby. She is the sister ship to the Emerald that we have sailed on twice and loved. I think you will be pleased with your choice. Have a great trip.

My wife and I completed our 1st cruise last week, Carnival Sensation, and I must say that thanks to this site it really helped our trip go even smoother! Thanks to you all we are now addicted to the cruise life and can't wait to go on our next one. The threads about getting a balcony really helped in us getting upgraded from an OV room. Here are some pics from last week's trip

https://johnforeiii.exposure.co/the-getaway

Glad you had a nice cruise. We also found that CC was a great help in planning our first cruise.

I like it. It's funny and grabs your attention.

I can't compare the Regal to the other ships for you as I haven't sailed those other lines. But I can say we sailed the Regal in November and loved her. She is a beautiful elegant ship.

We found the food to be very good. The buffet restaurant (Horizon Court) was the best buffet set up of any ship we have sailed on. It's laid out well so we never had lines for anything and there is tons of seating so even at busy times we had no trouble getting a table.

You must eat at Alfredo's, the free pizza place in the Piaza. Their pizza is really good. You must try the International Cafe, also free and in the Piaza. They have all kinds of salads, sandwiches, soup, desserts etc. Open 24 hours.

Movies under the stars, or MUTS is fun. Watch a newer release movie on the top deck of the ship on a giant screen. Have some popcorn, or maybe they'll bring you milk and cookies. We have also had them bring us a piece of pizza.

The Piaza has different entertainers off and on all day long. It's always a good place to sit and people watch.

We found the entertainment in the Princess Theatre to be good, especially the show "Fiera".

Cabins are nice, staff is great.

Loved the Regal.

Have a great cruise.

I've never seen it on any ship I have been on. It's so light, and wouldn't take up much room so you might as well take it with you.

Peter Tredgett has been a CD for 14 years (or more)? Really? On Grand Princess in 2012 he struck me as an amateurish bottom-of-the-barrel fill-in; actually he had just took over that week. The entertainment schedule was a complete mess; only thing the Patter ever listed was "music by our resident musicians" for the Piazza, Wheelhouse, Crooners etc. He was all but invisible: other than introducing the officers in the Piazza on the first formal night the only other times I heard his voice was when making the most shrill and obnoxious bingo and art auction PA announcements you will ever hear outside of Royal Caribbean. And the wake show was done by deputy CD Bernie each morning, which I guess I should have been thankful for (Bernie being a lovely young lady from Chile rather than a retired accountant from Boca).

Funny how different people's opinions can be. We had Peter as CD on our first Princess cruise and we thought he was great.

We cruised on the Regal in November and never noticed any rocking. just normal ship motion.

I travelled with my mom and sister last July to Vancouver to take an Alaskan cruise. I did all the planning, booking arrangements etc. I made copies of everything for all three of us. I emailed them the packing list that my DH and I use so that they wouldn't forget anything. Basically, I did everything. I told them both several times, "what ever you do, don't forget your passport or your credit card". They sort of accused me of being bossy and an over planner, but in a making fun way, not a nasty way.

Well, we get to Vancouver, check in to the hotel and go for dinner.. When it's time to pay, my mom can't find her credit card. She's going through her purse and no, it's not there. So I pay for her and we go back to the room and she goes through all her luggage and no, it's not there. So we don't know if she's lost it or what. So I call home to talk to my DH. Because of the time difference I wake him up. He is staying at my mom's house to babysit her dog so that she can take this cruise. She has him go through her everyday purse that's still at home and sure enough there is the credit card. So at least we know it's safe and we don't have to call and cancel it.

For the rest of the cruise my sister and I paid for things for my mom. (she reimbursed us after). And the nice part was they both thanked me for all my planning and admitted that it made their cruise so enjoyable.

On the Regal we really enjoyed the production show " Fiera". It was in our opinion very well done, very professional.

On the Emerald we really liked a juggling act called Rootberry. They were very talented and very funny.

On the Grand Princess we saw a great production show called "The British Invasion" that was really good.

On the Nieuw Amsterdam we loved the show by "Recycled Percussion" - as we entered the main theatre everyone was given a wooden drumstick and something to bang on. I got a metal catfood bowl, my DH some sort of metal machine piece. We all got to drum along with the performers. Very interactive and lots of fun.

Overall, we have enjoyed most of the entertainment on board.

We have been to Princess Cays several times, both fall and spring and never had a problem with sand fleas. Thank goodness, as I have experienced them at island resorts and know how itchy their bite can be.

I bought a pair of Merrell waterproof hikers before my Alaskan cruise last year. I love them. My feet stayed dry and warm, even on the day we had heavy rain for our whale watching excursion and trip to Mendenhall glacier. I have been wearing them a lot at home too - it's been cold but we haven't had enough snow to bother with boots.

On the ship I wore regular runners, and dressy sandals at night with skirts and dresses.

That's an awesome upgrade! Enjoy. Hope you like the Regal - we were on her in November and loved her. Happy birthday to your wife.

Yup. I would be upset if I didn't have a functioning bathroom for the last night/morning. The lack of interest in getting your info correct and a credit that is due to expire so soon is a fail in my eyes.

You will be fine. The port is used to dealing with huge numbers of people embarking and disembarking within a few hours. Also, 5 ships in port is not a busy day.

We have taken and used a surge protector on several HAL ships -Maasdam, Zaandam and the Nieuw Amsterdam. I use it to plug my cpap into. I also bring an extension cord in case the outlet is far away and the cpap cord doesn't reach. Never been an issue for us.

We always take a surge protector with us to use with my cpap machine. It's never been an issue. We also take an extension cord to use if the wall receptacle is too far away for the cpap cord to reach.

We were in this location on the Emerald and loved it. I think we were about 10 cabins or so foreward of the IC. We loved being close to the IC and the piaza. It was easy for disembarking at each port too.

Yes, in the internet cafe. Log into the internet, check in and print boarding passes. I can't remember for sure, but I think there was a price for each page printed. maybe .25 or .50 We have done this many times and it's never been a problem.

We loved the Regal by the way.

Yes, I would say water shoes would be a good idea. The left side of the tender dock as you face the water is very rocky, the right side less so. But DH and I always take water shoes. (actually he uses his crocs)

We were on the Regal in November and really liked the area around the retreat pool. We didn't find it windy. Not sure it is exactly the same as the Royal, but I think they are pretty much twins.

We did a 7 night on the Regal in November and we loved her.

Is she perfect? Maybe not, but what is. We had an awesome cruise. The ship is beautiful. The food was very good, the crew was amazing, welcoming and friendly. Service was excellent. The entertainment was very good. We loved our balcony cabin even though the balcony was small: it was big enough to sit out there with a drink and watch the waves, or read a book, which is all we ever do out there. Loved the interactive TV.

We loved it so much we are now booked on the Royal for the end of March. Can't wait.