kamelia

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

7 minutes ago, memoak said:

Yep

😢

1 hour ago, memoak said:

ONE is not Princess they are third party vendors who Princess hired to run Future Cruise Departments and promotions. Or should I say so called promotions. They have no idea what they are doing and the one time I used them they screwed it all up and it took hours to correct.  CVP’s are Princess employees and mine is based on the West Coast and has always been available and eager to take care of issues. Even though they put the head of Future Cruise Sales on the board of officers they are not Princess employees. I will no longer even talk to them except to find out if I will be on the Most Traveled lunch

 

 

 

 

 

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

9 hours ago, redflag216 said:

First, I’ve never heard of this, so is it legit? And second, if legitimate, has anyone ever taken advantage of this offer?

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.

1 hour ago, nordicacres said:

Is there a way to tell the hours your ship will be there ahead of time? My itinerary does not provide any hours. It just states “Cruising Glacier Bay”. NCL Jewel 6/29/24

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.  

10 hours ago, sharon_pei said:

Beginning my day at 6 a.m. is incredibly challenging -- it tends to leave me feeling disabled for the remainder of the day. I'm curious to know how much is sacrificed for night owls like myself who struggle to function before 7:30 at the earliest.

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!

15 minutes ago, Auntiejo said:

Ruh Roh 5 AM wakeup call it is! LOL

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!

6 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

I would call cruise transportation from the San Francisco East Bay a real game changer.  If only!  

Isn't that called a Panama Canal transit?  🤭

4 minutes ago, Burncox said:

As for the phone showing us where we are, as was suggested, the phone sometimes can't do that out in the middle of the ocean.

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.

11 minutes ago, memoak said:

We did not start it. Somebody posted pictures suggesting it and I for one want to warn people because for us if was very traumatic 

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.

On 3/25/2024 at 1:00 PM, memoak said:

If we see this in the patter we avoid the area. One time listening to puppies crying and whimpering was enough. They often bring on board very young puppies who are not accustomed to the screaming kids etc. I believe this is close to animal abuse

7 hours ago, Kabuki12 said:

It is animal abuse.  What is the difference between this and bringing tiger cubs to malls?   A news magazine should investigate this practice.    I'm very skeptical as to what these puppies were bred for and what will happen to them when they outgrow their puppy cuteness.  

 

Here is an eye opening article:

 

Iditarod Scandal: Mushers Abuse And Kill Sled Dogs, Insiders Say - The Dodo

 

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

12 minutes ago, memoak said:

The fare would be the same but not the package price. If people don’t have the package they would both have to pay for WiFi 

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.

10 hours ago, IUSteve said:

I mean, if I had a second passenger in the room, the fare would be the same, but two people would be using Wi-Fi. Any chance the princess people will agree with this logic?

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?"

There is usually quite a variety of Alaskan-themed enrichment onboard, so check the Patter daily.  Along with what's already been mentioned (Glacier Bay U.S. Park Rangers and first woman to win the Iditarod, Libby Riddles), you may also see:

- lumberjack demonstration by the crew of the Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan

- presentation from David Lethin, captain of one of the Deadliest Catch boats

- presentation and photo display by Nick Jans, author of A Wolf Called Romeo

- introduction to sled dog puppies by an Iditarod musher, often Ryan Redington, grandson of Joe Redington who's credited with starting the Iditarod, and he's also the 2023 Iditarod champion

- a brief history of Alaska in story and music by Steve Hites

- language lessons and cultural history from a local Tlingit 

- naturalist Mark Harris, naturalist Sandy Schemp

Watch for special dining options, too.  We've been on ships that have served Alaskan seafood chowder on the outer decks as well as bringing on crab cakes from Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau.  And, much to DH's delight, Princess even offer several brews from the Alaskan Brewing Company.  

I second the suggestion of buying a copy of The Alaska Cruise Companion once you're onboard and would highly recommend bringing a good pair of binoculars!  HTH!

2 hours ago, Gaynors said:

Will Princess let us know when we can look for the eclipse, like posting it in the patter or on the announcements?  Will there maybe be an eclipse watching party?

I would definitely ask at Guest Services once you're onboard.  I don't know who will be at the helm by then, but I have cruised with both Captain McBain and Captain Ravera in Antarctica and was impressed by how passionate each of them was about sharing the experience of where we were with both passengers and crew, so it would not surprise me to find them equally as engaged regarding the eclipse, especially if they know there are interested passengers.

Here's another source of information for eclipse viewing:

https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/

If you look at the chart using a zip code for LA, 90001, and then again using a zip code for Hilo, 96720, that might give you a better idea of what to expect being halfway between the two, more or less.  

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Anyone else having issues with the app. All of a sudden mine won’t open 

I can get in but only after an interminable wait watching wheel of will-it-or-won't-it.  Have had only enough patience with it to check a couple of my known bugs and yes, I am still New to Princess, and yes, I can still log in with misspelled names.  🤔  Not worth my time to see what else on my bug list has or has not been resolved.

12 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

Princess undoubtedly doesn’t consider us profitable cruisers, as we don’t spend much money on board. With all the OBC, most of our final folios look like this. I don’t expect them to send me the 14 cents…

Anything under $25.00 you can get refunded at Guest Services... if it's worth your time standing in the queue for 14 cents 😁

1 hour ago, CanadianBurger said:

I confirmed with the International Cafe this morning that they have complimentary regular coffee from midnight to 6am. 

You're amazing!  Thank you very much!!!

On 3/11/2024 at 7:53 AM, CanadianBurger said:

Contrary to other reports, there IS self-serve coffee and tea in The Eatery. 

Do you know if that self-serve coffee is available 24/7?  DH is a "minus-0-dawn-thirty" riser so it would help if I had some idea of where to suggest he look for early coffee, please and thanks.

7 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

I was still full from O’Malley’s, and just had the spaghetti. It was excellent.

Just spaghetti... and, based on the photos, dessert, too?  I like the way you think!  🤭  (Thank you from another future Sun passenger who's thoroughly enjoying your review!)

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

can 2 people share the $14.99 casual meal, then add another starter?

4 hours ago, phabric said:

On the Sky in Feb, I asked if we could use 1 casual credit at Alfredo’s for 2 people.  It seemed he was used to being asked. Each ship might be different, so ask when you check in to be seated.

2 hours ago, phabric said:

We did not have to swipe our Medallion.  He wrote down our cabin number and charged 1 credit to one of us.

 

We used 1 casual credit for 2 - we shared the salad, pizza and ordered 1 dessert but he gave us 2 desserts.

 

Another lunch, we again used 1 casual credit for 2.

 

It does seem to vary by ship.  On Sapphire in January we were told that two people dining in Alfredo's would equal two casual credits, whether we ordered one to pizza to share or one pizza for each. 🤷‍♂️

6 minutes ago, DonEllen said:

Yes. That is what our Itinerary indicates. In addition, some of the excursions include lunch.

Enjoy!  Princess does Southeast Alaska best!  😊