antmaril

7 hours ago, Coral said:

I am going to encourage you to book independently. Chilkoot Tours has a great reputation. You will not miss the ship.

 

I personally will always try to book independently and have never missed the ship. You will be in a much smaller group (van vs bus).

 

https://chilkootcharters.com 

 

 

We have decided to book with Chilkoot.  Thanks.  

20 minutes ago, matt'smom said:

Our bid was accepted and we got a mini on deck 15 under the pool deck and it’s a connecting room. Is this going to be noisy and is it possible to change cabin?

We were in Mini-Suite M410 on the Sky Princess in January.  We had no problem with noise.  We liked the location as we could just walk up one flight to the Buffet.  It is my understanding that you cannot change the cabin once they accept your bid.  
 

Have fun in your cruise!  

15 hours ago, Senga said:

Prices are up worldwide.  Our private Iceland tours for June are much more expensive than last year BUT.....isn't everyone, in every country, complaining about the cost of groceries?  If you're comfortable with only cruiseline excursions, bite the bullet and stop comparing prices to the good old days.  Those days are GONE.  Better to pay the asking price than come home missing out on experiences you were looking forward to.  

Thanks for your thoughts. Of course, I understand that prices are up everywhere.  In this case, the “good old days” were last week.  😁.   I guess I was just surprised at how much the excursion prices went up in a week, 16 months out from the cruise.   
 

I think we will consider Chilkoot Tours in Skagway.  I have seen them recommended many times here on Cruise Critic.  
 

My friend and I are booked on the Discovery Princess out of Seattle to Alaska in August, 2025.  I was looking at some of the excursions we are interested in and noticed that they have gone up considerably since last week.  Ugh!  We are sixteen months out from this cruise!  Are these costs just going to go up endlessly?  I was hoping we wouldn’t have to pay for them so soon, but I guess we don’t have much choice.  Do they ever go down?  Go on sale?  
 

I have been to Alaska twice (HAL in 2009 and Princess in 2012), but this is my friend’s first time.  I definitely want us to go to the Yukon and take the train back to Skagway.  That excursion alone went from $264.99 pp to $319.99 pp.  Yikes!  
 

Thanks for your thoughts.  Even though I know there are other options, I prefer to book the excursions through the cruise line.

We were on the Sky Princess in January and steak was not offered on the “Favorites” menu.  Filet was offered with an up charge.  

9 hours ago, Pepperoni0120 said:

Was there a free airport and port shuttle at Riverside Hotel or what was cost?

We took a taxi to the Riverside Hotel from FLL for about $25.  They offered a shuttle to the port for $12 pp, which was easy peasy.  

We stayed at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard in January.  We loved it!  

5 minutes ago, George C said:

You just talked about our favorite hotel and a few of my favorite restaurants we normally do Becco’s twice , Gallaghers is also a fantastic bar .have the big 800 sq Ft suite again at michealanglo 😁

Nice!  Enjoy!  

Try Carmel.  

We, too, have stayed at The Michelangelo Hotel in NYC prior to a cruise.  Very nice hotel, in a great location.  We have also stayed at the Marriott Marquis a few times.  
 

We have enjoyed dinner at Gallagher’s Steakhouse, Becco, Joe Allen’s and my favorite, Raoul’s.  I was with my adult son and we took an Uber from Times Square to Raoul’s.  My first Uber!  Ha!  One of the best meals I’ve ever had, with a wonderful ambiance.  Love NYC!

16 hours ago, blue_water said:

Thanks…I was asking about FLL to Riverside, @antmaril had mentioned $20 by taxi, but I see now others were talking about the hotel shuttle vs taxi from the Riverside to the ship…😄
 

We have friends driving in to sail with us, and they will likely use the Park n Go as that looks like a very popular choice for folks with vehicles…

We’re used to staying in the Danai Beach area and that is less expensive. But the Las Olas area and Riverside looks like a nice option!

 

Yes, we took a taxi from FLL to the Riverside Hotel and then we took the shuttle to the port for $12 pp.  Honestly, the shuttle loaded quickly and we were on our way.  I didn’t have to worry about telling a taxi driver which pier.  The shuttle driver was familiar with all of it.  
 

We were in a mini-suite on the Sky Princess in January.  There are no perks associated with a mini.  We did receive a glass of champagne delivered by our room steward when we first went to the cabin.  That’s it, though.  

My friend and I were on the Sky Princess in January.  We played the slots, but we aren’t high rollers that’s for sure.  Always the penny slots, betting around a dollar or a little more.  Never more than a $2.00 bet.  Towards the end of the week, we each had offers from the casino.  She was offered a free interior cabin and I was offered $500 in casino cash.  We would have to sail by August, 2024.   

We stayed at the Riverside Hotel in January.  We loved it.  Location is great - right on Las Olas Boulevard.     It cost about $20 for the taxi from FLL.  We took the shuttle that they offered from the hotel to the port for $12 each.  Easy peasy.  

We had dinner at the Boathouse restaurant, which is adjacent.  It was very good.  
 

My friend and I were on the Sky Princess in January.  We had the Plus package and enjoyed lunch in Alfredo’s twice.  We thought the food was very good, as well as the service.   The last time I was on Sky Princess (2020), we could go to Alfredo’s as many times as we wanted. I think we went twice.  

My friend and I were on the Sky Princess in January.  We had lunch at Alfredo’s twice and enjoyed it very much.  We thought the soup was delish.  She had a veggie pizza (which she loved) and I had a Margherita Pizza that was always delish.  We enjoyed tiramisu for dessert.  We had no complaints.  The first time we went we were seated immediately.  The second time, they gave us a pager and we were seated in about 20 minutes or so.  

We were on the Sky Princess on 1/13.  Green Lane.  We arrived at the port around 11:30 a.m.  Gave our luggage to a porter.  Got in the Green Lane and were on board in a few minutes.  It was easy peasy.  
 

There is nothing to worry about.  

I don’t think so.  Our last night was a sea day, but formal night was the night before.  We were in port until 4:00 p.m.  We had plenty of time to get ready.  

We boarded the Sky Princess on January 13th around 11:30 a.m.  We were in the Green Lane and it was the best.  We were on board in a few minutes.  Blue Lane was long.  We were very happy!  

I got off the Sky Princess two weeks ago today.  I have avoided getting Covid so far, and I was hoping to cruise for a week and not get it.  I got the most recent Covid vaccine in November.  I wore a mask on the plane to Fort Lauderdale.   I ALWAYS wore a mask while on an elevator.  The ship’s elevators were usually very crowded.  We were on Deck 15, so usually one of the last to get off.  We always washed our hands before entering the buffet and tried to use our cabin bathroom, when it made sense.  
 

I am happy to report that my friend and I stayed healthy.  

We were in a connecting Mini-Suite on the Sky Princess last week.  There was absolutely no noise coming from the other room.  Didn’t hear a thing.  

44 minutes ago, CCRUZER said:

What category room were you in. I'm currently booked for two nights in a standard room which I believe is in the old section. Do I need to upgrade to a room in the newer section?

We were in the Tower (new section).  We had a room with two queen sized beds.  It was a nice sized room and the bathroom was big, too.  If the difference isn’t too much, I would go with the newer section.  

We stayed at The Riverside Hotel two weeks ago.  The hotel is lovely.  I would stay there again and can highly recommend.  

I took these pictures on the Regal Princess in 2018. 
 

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Your shuttle was to the Port of Miami? OP asked about POM. 

Oh, sorry,  I misread that part.  We took a shuttle to Port Everglades from the Riverside Hotel.  
 

I can’t edit my previous response.  Sorry.  🙁