kamelia

Also, make sure you are in Airplane Mode before turning WiFi service on.

Balcony cabins do have some advantages for Alaskan itineraries, but you don't risk missing that much if you choose an interior stateroom. The park rangers will be giving presentations in Princess Theatre (which will be scheduled outside of prime glacier-viewing time), so everyone who wants to attend will be inside at that time. As the ship gets closer to the glaciers, you'll want to be outside, and the park ranger commentary will be broadcast on the outside decks. To be honest, it's often easier to hear when you're in the public areas outside rather than being on your own balcony trying to listen to it on your stateroom television. It's also a lot easier to move if you're on the port side of the ship and the ranger announces, "orcas on the starboard side of the ship." 😉 Even when we've booked a balcony, I still prefer viewing from the public decks on Glacier Bay day!

This is from the Tongass National Park "Welcome to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center" website: "Visitors are required to purchase a pass from May 1–Sept. 30 to enter the Visitor Center. Passes can be purchased at the automated machines available in the Mendenhall Glacier parking lots or inside the visitor center at the Discovery Southeast bookstore. Day use passes sell for $5 per person and collectible season passes will be for sale for $15 for the card holder and one guest the entire season. Those age 15 and younger are free. The passes also allow access to the Pavilion, Photo Point and Steep Creek Trails. Fees are not necessary for accessing the parking areas, or hiking Nugget Falls Trail, East Glacier Trail, Powerline Trail, Moraine Ecology Trail, the Trail of Time, and all the Dredge Lakes and West Glacier Trails. Federal lands passes such as the “America the Beautiful” pass, Senior Pass, or Military Pass are also accepted."

There has always been a facility with flush toilets just before you get to the Visitor's Center, and when we were there last summer there the park service had added a trailer with additional stalls on the other side of the Visitor's Center just before you reach the trails.

It may be worth noting that there IS a restroom facility available that does NOT require a pass to access.

It's under Packages: The beverage count only included alcohol drinks redeemed, not specialty coffees. HTH!

Or my corrupt data in the POLAR system rears its ugly head yet again! 🥴

Good thought! I just went back in to check, and yes, DH and I are both shown within the 31 profile pictures that are currently associated with the reservation, although I don't recognize anyone else. But, taking it to that next step did reveal that I "have been added to a Dining reservation by GroupZ_group5!" No clue as to what group that might be, however, a private table for 52 people... maybe we've been comped Spellbound! for the entirety of our cruise? 🙄

"App"-solutely!

Actually, it has led to a fun exercise this afternoon - thinking about who would be those 50 other tablemates I could choose from the folks I’ve observed and interfaced with here on Cruise Critic…. no doubt, it would make for a very interesting dining experience 😊

So, I thought I would try out the new app after the most recent update to make my dining reservations only to find out someone else has already made them for me. ⁉️

Here are two screen shots from NASA's Where & When website that I thought might be of some use to you tomorrow as you're trying to figure out when the partial solar eclipse might be visible from Sapphire Princess. Hopefully you will be able to figure out the timing based on more accurate information as to the ship's actual position. Fingers crossed for good weather conditions for you! Using zip code from San Pedro Pier, Los Angeles Using zip code from Hilo, Hawaii

😢

So, the Future Cruise Department is another victim of decisions to outsource what used to be a well-run operation?

Yes, and yes. We went to book a future cruise onboard a Princess ship last year and the person there outlined this great new program being offered that could save us a significant amount of money on the cruise we were looking at booking. Long story short, $1,000.00 of the promotion price was applied to the future cruise fare, and this new program entitled us to discounts on hotel stays as well as a certificate for a free 5-night stay at a Premium location. Six months later, I can tell you that the discounted rates on hotels are less than the discounted rates we get with either AAA or AARP, and the certificate will entitle us to 50% off a Premium location that we would want to stay at. In hindsight, knowing what we know now, we would not have signed up for the promotion. It IS associated with Princess, it IS O.N.E., and there may be a benefit to someone who does not have access to other discount programs. YMMV.

NCL doesn't seem to publish the schedule for Glacier Bay, but we did a northbound Alaska trip on Jewel in 2022, so I checked that Freestyle Daily to see if arrival and departure times were shown there, but they're not. It did list the Ranger Presentation at 7:00a, so they were already onboard by then, leading me to believe the ship probably picked them up between 6 and 6:30. Hope that gives you some idea of what to expect.

There's no definitive answer as to what you might be sacrificing as there are opportunities to see a variety of things throughout the day in Glacier Bay. I can tell you that the ship traverses the same route going out as going in to Glacier Bay, so you may see some of the same creatures leaving in the afternoon that were visible earlier in the morning, and definitely the landscape viewing will be the same. Regardless of what you do and when, I have every confidence that it will be a special experience!

Will it help to know that at least the sun will be up by then? 😉

If you're up by the 6:00a anticipated arrival, you may also get a chance to see the boat "Serac" bring the Glacier Bay rangers from their home in Bartlett Cove. The boat will do a "controlled bump" alongside of the ship, then the rangers will climb onboard for the day. They also disembark using the reverse procedure at around the 3:00p departure time. Not only do you have the chance to see humpbacks and orcas as @Glaciers mentioned, but also sea otters and a nice variety of sea birds. Have your binoculars handy and scan the shoreline, too, as you may see bears, deer and other terrestrial wildlife as you're entering the bay. Once the rangers are settled in onboard, they will begin commentary over the public address system that will include pointing out wildlife sightings, but there are times when we have spotted things that they don't always see to describe over the P.A., so we are always on the lookout. Enjoy!

Isn't that called a Panama Canal transit? 🤭

If you have Wi-Fi access, cruisemapper.com will give you a pretty accurate read on the ship's location. For example, here are the current details for the Sapphire Princess: Sapphire Princess current location is at North America West Coast (coordinates 10.37940 N / -88.61246 W) cruising at speed of 20.2 kn (37 km/h | 23 mph) en route to PUERTO VALLARTA. The AIS position was reported 18 minutes ago.

Please know that I did not intend to be disrespectful of your feelings, I just did not want to see the thread meander off course. I am truly sorry that it made you uncomfortable. Kind regards.

That's not what this thread is about. Please open a new topic if you wish to discuss it.

Ah, I mis-read it then. I thought he was trying to figure out how to use the Princess Plus one-device Wi-Fi option for himself as well as the one from the "second passenger" he's having to pay for as a solo traveler.

I agree with the logic, but question the logistics. When DH and I each have Wi-Fi for one device, we each have a separate log-in. How would you create a separate log-in for your "roommate?"