osofish2

One of my favorites is their yogurt and granola parfait.  It tastes like dessert for breakfast!

8 hours ago, Brooklyn Bridget said:

Chomping at the bit, waiting for booking to open! 

Prices are online now!!  We just booked a window suite.  Now the wait begins.  We have been on the Golden several times before also.

Thanks for the response. We live in Phoenix, and have been having record rainfall for the past week. Looks like Sergio may give us a little more!

Does anyone know if Sergio will affect cruises to Mexico? We are booked on the Star, Mexican Riveria, leaving the 13th from San Pedro.

I was formerly in C701 which appears to be pretty close to the aft elevator lobby entrance. I saw that C618, which is a bit farther forward, opened up so I had my travel agent grab it for me.

 

Is there anything bad about C618, or did I do a good thing?

We always get C618 when we get a balcony. You get the deluxe balcony size without the extra price. You are about midway between the middle and aft elevators, so can choose depending on where you are going. We were in this cabin for our 12 day Alaska in April, and everything was great.!!

We did the 15 day connoisseur tour in 2014. When our group met initially in Fairbanks there were about 50 people. After the initial introduction dinner we were divided into two groups. Each group had a tour director escort and traveled in separate motor coaches and rail cars. That worked great as the motor coaches were not crowded and had plenty of room for both people and their carry-on bags.

 

We have 25 people that our travel agent has booked on this tour again for 2019.

My question for anyone who has taken this type of tour this year or last year;

does Princess still limit the size of the groups to about 24-26 people like they did in 2014?

 

I also posted this question on the Alaska board.

We had 35 in or group with no problem at all-we even had our own car on the train. We loved the whole experience.

Can you tell me the times for early and late dining?

 

What times are the shows? Thank you very much for any information.

 

:)

On our late April cruise on the Emerald to Alaska, the times were 5:30 and 7:45, even though our time had said said 6:00.

We were able to go to the 8:00 shows, with someone going around 7:30 to get us seats. Magic to Do was outstanding-sit close!!!!

We'll be bringing our own (as long as we can), and not ordering anything from Princess.

If you had to pick the best place for King Crab and Dungeness Crab where would you go. I don't expect the answer to be in the same place, lol. Two separate answers are fine and almost expected :)

 

These are my stops. Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria BC.

 

Thank you!

Juneau-Tracy's for King, all you can eat Dungeness at the top of the Mt. Roberts tram.

Skagway-no question-George Inlet, and you can just get the meal, plus transportation in the price.

someone posted that they were in cabin across from this one and there was noise from above.

I have tried to search cabin reviews and when I put in the cabin in the search nothing comes up.

Usually I don't have any problems researching cabins, ugh

Thanks

We stay in cabin C618 on many ships, and it has always been fine. Large balcony half covered, and rear stairs not far away. This is the first aft cabin in the aft, if you move next door, you become "deluxe" and pay more. We are in this cabin in 11 days on the Emerald to Alaska.

.

These aft cabins are known as not so well kept secret choices

I am sailing in late August, the cruise does not stop in Ketchikan where I have heard there is great seafood. Juneau, Skagway and Victoria, any suggestions for a seafood lunch?

Juneau-Tracy's crab for King crab, at the base of the tram. All you can eat Dungeness crab in the restaurant at the top of Mt. Roberts Tram

Ahh. Thank you.

We are going for the third time in early May-can hardly wait. This time we just booked with the Lodge for just the crab. We did the exploration boat, and the lumberjack show before, which are fun, but wouldn't go a second time.

Totally agree about just eating the crab. We thought we were experts and ate about 5 crabs each, but some of our group just kept on picking!

Its a beautiful drive and area, definitely a 5 star experience.

When we did our tour, there were 36 of us with our host, and we could sit wherever we liked. We had the whole car to ourselves.

We did the 14 day Alaska round trip out of Seattle last August on the Amsterdam, and have also been on the Emerald. The Amsterdam is much smaller, so lines were nonexistent. We loved both ships.

However, the Amsterdam does not have a craps table, my husbands favorite shipboard activity, so he was not happy .Also, no International Café or Piazza. We got a killer deal on a Neptune Suite, and got to see 3 ports we had not been to, so I definitely would go on Holland again.

We are on the Emerald, 12 day round trip to Alaska out of LA in late April.

I sailed the Island Princess to Alaska quite a few years ago - pre refurb and in summer 2019 my extended family wants to go -- I prefer the smallest ships we can afford for this region which brings me back to these ships ... Can anyone explain the differences between these two now? Our party will range in age possibly from 11-65 years of age. The exact itinerary is not yet decided.

 

I know a number of other Princess ships are also doing 7 day cruises to Alaska ... let me know if I'm missing something wonderful despite their larger sizes.

 

Thanks!

No International café either! Many say they love the Coral, but will not sail the Island again. We experienced very bad vibration in the aft of the Island also.

We haven't seen them on our last two cruises which were in suites (May - Star and October - Emerald). Prior to those cruises we did get them when staying in suites. Either that perk has been discontinued or it varies by ship or perhaps these ships happened to be out of them??

Hi Julie and Henry.. I have lots of slippers, because Ron has "shoebox" feet! We just booked Laughlin for New Years at Harrahs Laughlin for 3 days. Are you"all interested?

Happy Halloween all.

The Kenai lodge was one of the four Princess lodges we visited (and by far our favorite) on our cruisetour this last May and June. It is very remote and we had trouble finding a fishing excursion, mostly due to time of year. The vendors I contacted all stated they did not pick up at lodge. We ended up doing a Princess rafting trip, about 5 hrs and enjoyed it. The guys would have preferred fishing but it all worked out. It is a gorgeous spot and the Cabins are perfect . During our two night stay, we did see several bears from a distance. There are just two places to eat: dining room (make reservations) and bar area for more casual spot, both with a great view of the river.[/quote

 

]We had booked our cruise early, but had to change it when we found out the Kenai did not open until June. We got to celebrate

Christmas in August" at the lodges, with Christmas decorations, music, and employees dressed in hats and sweaters

 

We had our meals included with our tour, so for the most part, we ate king crab in the lodge restaurants every night, without a look at the prices.

Thanks Ron and Linda!

My husband is an avid fisherman. Can you give me a few more specifics?

Were you picked up from the Princess Kenai Lodge?

I see that there are several places listed in Cooper Landing....which outfit did you go with?

Thanks!

Kathy

We fished with JJ, Kenai River Trout Anglers, 1-907-599-0085. Yes, he picked us up at the lodge. I took my own waders, but he found me some wading boots that fit, which I appreciated. We left a review on Trip Advisor. We both love to flyfish, but my husband got the cough crud at our first lodge (be careful) , so his first day was not great. We caught many many dolly varden, and some really ugly salmon with humps and big jaws. I quit counting after a dozen each day. JJ also took us to find some cough syrup for my husband before delivering us back to the lodge. This was our favorite room, with a fireplace, which unfortunately Ron slept through most!

We chose to rent the boat alone, but if booked with others, it would be less, but we were very happy.. We would do this again without a thought. We had a get together with our group for our first evening, and there was an eagle sitting right across from the patio.

So jealous, but we are taking the first 12 day from LA in April, but not the same as seeing the interior.

I was thrilled to see that excursions for our Alaska land/sea cruise for next June had opened up, but was very disappointed that the ONLY ONE I wanted to book is not being offered: Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise. I called and was told to keep checking the list of excursions--it's unlikely, but other excursions may be added later.

I know these Alaska lodges can be quite remote.

Does anyone know if there are any excursions available from the Princess Kenai Lodge? From the Princess Denali Lodge?

I will also post this on the Alaska site--hoping in one place or another to find some alternatives.

Kind of specialized, but we spent two days flyfishing the Kenai with a private guide. Best fishing ever, and he picked us up right there!

Check out excursions in Cooper Landing, where the Kenai lodge is.

There are also do it yourself tours in Denali.

The Alaska boards should be very helpful for you, and also Trip Advisor, Good luck, and have a great trip.

I am beginning to think we are on the print version of What Would You Do?!!!!!!

We also just received this survey, with the $25 prices. If they are going to this medallion, then a holder should be provided. I was so angry ,and glad a thread was started.

Maybe they can just microchip us, so we can wave our hands!!!!!

I do think I read earlier that you can get a card. I was wondering what one would use in the casino.

Also wondered what color it was; is it color coordinated with your cruise history status. Lots of cruisers worked a long time to hang that black card around their neck (us also)

I thought that with the new Princess card features it included double points for charges to any CCL Corp owned cruise line. Can anyone verify this?

We thought that also, but no. We only got one point for our HAL cruise. We did file an inquiry, but they said Princess only, not CCL.

Just happened to see these posts. So glad I did because I wondered why my double points didn't show on my Princess Card! Thank you for the helpful posts! [emoji568][emoji41]

 

 

 

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Yes us also. Thought this problem was fixed. We paid for a cruise on the 13th of July, and sure enough, we only got one point. Called the "secret number" and they fixed it immediately and with some bonus points added.

From now on, we are checking all cruise payments. Thanks for the heads up.

osofish2, we were also on this sailing, and we did stay in a Neptune Suite. The NL was a delight. Our two rotating attendants were absolutely amazing. There is nothing they would not do for you. One thing that was odd. During our stop in Juneau, inspectors were aboard and had the staff remove the self-serve ice bucket in the NL. It never returned for the rest of the cruise. I am curious if the removal was permanent, and god forbid, fleet wide?

 

Cruiz'nBaers, great review of our cruise. We also thought the Amsterdam was in great condition. Spotlessly clean everywhere, except for the dirty soot that the stacks deposited around the Sea View pool area, and on the MDR windows. We jumped at a late sale on Neptune Suites to sail on the Amsterdam, one of HAL's co-flagships. Grand and World Cruise passengers would indeed be comfortable and well looked after on this fine ship.

 

Throughout the ship (MDR, Lido, Pinnacle Grill), overall we thought the food was good. We agree that at times the Lido food was uninspired. We also had Dive-In one day, and we had the rotating Asian selection a couple of days. We ate off the ship for lunch several times, and also had our final dinner onshore in Victoria due to the odd time in port (arrival 6pm, departure midnight).

 

We had open seating, and had a standing reservation at 7:45pm. Aside from the second Gala night, the MDR was usually only about 1/2 full (or less) around that time. The second Gala night was packed. Unfortunately, that was the evening our food was delivered lukewarm, which was a disappointment. Otherwise we thought the MDR food was tasty and appetizing. They seem to be spicing up their dishes... not necessarily with heat, but more flavor. Service in the MDR was good, as was the wine service. Most of the staff had transitioned to the new uniforms, which were very sharp looking IMO.

 

We skipped all entertainment in the main theater, but did take in the Ocean Bar band several times while enjoying a pre-dinner drink. They were just "OK". The piano bar entertainer seemed popular. He was doing lots of "sing-a-longs".

 

Unfortunately due to ice conditions, we were not able to get as close to Hubbard Glacier as I would have hoped. Did not witness any calving. Also would have appreciated more time in Victoria, but we made the most of what was a truly spectacular early evening. Had a leisurely walk around the harbor, cocktail at the Fairmont - overlooking the harbor - then, a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant on the harbor. A nice end to a week-long Alaska journey.

 

Embarkation and disembarkation were as smooth as we've ever experienced, although we did handle our own luggage in both instances.

 

Would definitely sail on the Amsterdam again for the right itinerary.

Thanks for your information. It sounds like you'all are liking the Amsterdam! We are really looking forward to our Neptune Suite, and the lounge. Thank you casino!

Thank you for your review. We are booked for July 31 in a Neptune Suite, thanks to a great Casino offer. Did you use the Neptune lounge? Also, when were the 3 formal nights? Thx.