gcvt

[quote name='sassyredhat']How exciting for you guys....

We have taken 3 Hawaii, and 2 Alaska cruises, and both of us are wanting to go back. Life has been getting in our way too, to where we can only take the shorter itins..

Have a great time.

Pat
[/quote]

Thanks - I'm sure we'll have the time of our lives. Life always gets in the way... it's just so unfair. Can't wait to actually sail to Hawaii instead of flying there to get on a ship! BTW, Alaska is still my favorite cruise ever. So amazing.

[quote name='bdjam']Your disembarkation day is my embarkation day...keep good care of her.[/quote]

We'll do our best, but we can't make any promises :p

[quote name='akeasley']Congrats! Very jealous as I've been wanting to do this cruise for awhile but don't think I could be away from work for that many days...it'll have to be one of my retirement cruises![/quote]

Thank you - we are very excited. Feels so good just to have it booked. We both work full time and will have to use all our vacation time and a couple extra days...but we'll deal with that later. After all, it's not like we can come home any quicker than the ship.

Now the research begins on excursions, etc. We're looking forward to visiting with our friends who moved to Honolulu a couple of years ago.

We were originally scheduled to do it this month but it just didn't work out...life-draining jobs, upcoming dry dock, family visiting, etc. We cruised twice last year and have been aching to get back to the sea. Francesca has never been to Alaska or Hawaii - we've got time in April so Hawaii it is! It will be my sixth and her third. She is so excited that she cannot be contained :)

Her Birthday is April 19 so we'll be in Hawaii for that. This will be fun for her....since it's my treat :p She says she'll take me on a B-Day cruise to Alaska next year even though she fancies herself as a warm weather cruiser. I keep telling her Alaska will give her a new perspective on life just as it did for me.

Our last cruise was on Star in C723 to Mex, which was great except for the fire system pipe that ran down the pillar of our balcony. This time we have C743.

Okay, off to the Roll Call thread! :D:D:D

I am puzzled. There was a general announcement not to interfere with training, not to approach the dogs or touch the dogs, but you felt it was okay to pet the dog? The training is lengthy, up to 36 months of intense daily training and it needs to be consistent and is very repetitive. Even distracting the dog by saying the name out of context sends the wrong message. Later in the training they actually do distraction training.

 

I understand the lure of dogs, as I was a breeder of labs for many years and absolutely adore labs. We had some of our dogs go to NEADS, which actually starts their dogs in prisons to do the initial obedience training before the specialty training for the specific disability.

 

I did. I'm a horrible person :p

 

Our Gladys is an assistance dog too.

I know all about not distracting working dogs, but not to tell you the dog's name? Can you say "control freak"?

 

They were just beginning to train the dogs and didn't want them distracted by passengers calling them by name. I can understand that. I did scratch his head when the trainer was distracted by another passenger. Being away from our black lab is the worst part of cruising - I needed a quick fix :D

When we sailed on RCCL last year, they had 8 or 10 dogs on board just to train them how to work on cruise ships. They made a pre-sailing announcement about the dogs and training staff over the PA system. We were asked not to pet the dogs, etc. We ran into one of the trainers and her dog in an elevator and the GF asked what the dogs name was. The trainer politely declined to tell so as not to provide a distraction for the dog. We saw them quite often - one dog/trainer couple was on the aft balcony below us - and thought it was very interesting.

 

There's also this...from http://www.cunard.com/frequent-questions/

 

Are dogs welcome?

Queen Mary 2’s kennel programme is available on all Transatlantic Crossings between New York and Southampton in either direction, and is managed by a full-time Kennel Master who takes care of responsibilities such as feeding, walking and cleaning the ship’s 12 spacious kennels. Travelling dogs and cats also receive a complimentary gift pack. The kennels and adjacent indoor and outdoor walking areas are open throughout the day, enabling guests to spend significant time with their pets. Reservations for the kennels may be made at time of booking, and are based on availability. Contact Cunard for fees, details and additional requirements. All animals must be in compliance with the Pets Travel Scheme and in possession of a pet passport.

Lovin' it :) We LOVE that ship.

Wrote that like I had already had a couple of buckets!

 

LOL! If we ever meet on a cruise, the first bucket is on me :)

Although we have cruised on 5 different lines Princess has become our line of choice. In answer to our questions:

 

Do all princess ships have specialty restaurants? What is the extra fee for the this? Yes. Cost is 20-25 dollars per person depending on the venue. They also offer the Ultimate Balcony Dinner for 50 a head. It is well explained on the Princess site

 

Can you buy beverage packages? Yes and no. They offer buckets of beer where you get 5 for the price of 6. They also offer wine in the bottle packages where you buy 6 or 12 bottles for a fixed price and get to chose any bottle on the menu up to a certain value. Again explained on their page. They do not however offer a fixed bar package where you get unlimited drinks for a set daily fee like Celebrity and other lines

 

What cabins if any can add on Concierge service? Is there any other service like spa... Only full suites get any significant ammenities. They have a dedicated line at customer service but no Concierge or butlers. With a mini suite you get a glass of sparkling wine when you board and a little more space but thats it. Again see the web page for suite ammenities

 

For a balcony room to Alaska what deck(s) are best? For a balcony room Carib deck gets you the largest balcony on the ship other than aft facing cabins. Almost twice the size of a standard one and it is half open half covered which is nice if the weather is ugly

 

Do princess guests do meet and greets and/or gift exchanges between cabins like other cruise lines? Yes. There might be a roll call going for your desired cruise now. Our roll call for our next trip started 18 months out. See the Princess roll call section.

 

I think that's the other way around :p

We always book balconies on whichever side gets the most sun during the first half of the voyage...unless we can get an aft cabin.

Cruisecal.com is showing Grand arriving in SF 12/10/2013 and nothing again until it departs on 12/20/2013 also from SF, likewise the SF port schedule. But maybe they only show passenger related arrivals and departures.

 

And the Victoria calendar doesn't show any ship in port.

 

And the Victoria port website also doesn't show anything arriving after September 29 until 2014.

 

BUT... Princess does use the Esquimalt Graving Dock which is a ship yard in Victoria near the cruise port. If the Grand Princess has to go from SF - up to Victoria get her work done and then get back down to SF in 10 days that's a very short time in dry dock. Maybe I should send them a note to make sure to check the A/C in D212 if they don't have time to do all the cabins. :p

 

LOL @ D212 AC :D

 

The info posted above also shows her arriving and departing on the same day. Something is not right here.

I was on the Grand in August for a BVE and we were told by the Future Cruise Consultant that the Grand is going to Canada for the dry dock on December 10th.

 

Here's the port schedule. Note Victoria for the dry dock.

 

Tom:)

 

VesselETA DayDateTimeLast PortETD DayDateTimeBerth

Grand PrincessFri20-Dec-137:00 AMVictoriaFri20-Dec-13

 

What site is that from? Princess.com and all the 'traveldotcom' sites still show her doing SF-HI round trip on Nov 25 and SF-HI round trip on Dec 20 :confused:

Grand is scheduled to go in to dry dock here in San Francisco on December 10 following the Nov 24th Hawaii sailing.

 

We were originally booked on that November sailing but postponed until 4/14.

Thanks for the pics! I love seeing stuff like this.

Here's what we use: http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-3-Outlet-Travel-Charger-Protector/dp/B0015DYMVO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380404750&sr=8-1&keywords=belkin+travel+surge+protector

 

Same here - love that little thing!

They searched through your luggage without you present?

It's not, and it was never a big deal until recently.

 

The noise from the churn is extremely loud, and sometimes there is soot floating around.

 

And when the ship was really cruising the noise is really bad to the point where you cannot talk to each other.

 

It is also a long walk from the nearest elevator.

 

All you see is where you have been.

 

 

Exactly which ship were you on, in an aft cabin, where you found the noise so loud that you could not hold a conversation?

I agree with the above. Quiet location, less ship movement, great views, and if you're in an area with a lot of suites you will likely get a more experienced stateroom attendant.

 

EDIT: ...I'll go ahead and post the pic yet again :) If you can snag 1400 or 1700 on a Freedom Class Ship, this is your morning coffee view...

 

Is FOS still in good shape? Are her shows as good as Oasis and LOS? Dose anyone have any info they can share on handicap cabins on FOS?

 

When we were on her last year, we were horrified! There were at least two small spots on our balcony railing that should have been refinished :p

 

She's in incredible shape. We, and by 'we' I mean Francesca, loved the shows. I'm not a show person myself. No info on handicap cabins, sorry.

The fettuccine in the Parmesan bowl! :eek:

 

...and the escargots.

I worked extremely hard running my own multimedia company for 15 years and tried to retire when I was 40. I got so bored that I went back to work for someone else within a year, just to have something to get me out of bed every day. We used that extra income to travel as often as possible. But it wasn't always cruising - we do a lot of camping/hiking/outdoor type stuff. Then the market crashed. Looks like I'll be working for quite a while longer than I had planned and our vacations will apparently be less frequent :(

That fettuccine is darn tasty! Same goes for the escargot, medallions of beef (named differently on different nights?), and many of the soups. I'm not a desert guy but the GF enjoyed every one she tried.

Lush products (www dot lushusa dot com) makes wonderful solid shampoos that come in a tin container and are great for travel. Many of their other products help avoid the "liquid" issue in carryon luggage.

 

Also, we too take our old underwear and throw them away each day during our vacations. Gives more room in the luggage, then get to buy nice new undies after returning home. :p

 

Oh geez. My GF is COMPLETELY addicted to Lush products!!! She's seriously upset that we've never booked a suite with a bathtub :( She loves her 'bath bombs' in our home jacuzzi tub.

 

When I show her the suite prices, she threatens to toss a bath bomb in the public hot tub late in the evening :)

If it were free for everyone to use, I'm guessing it would be amazingly slow.

I always take a flashlight, mini surge protector, post-it notes, alarm clock...and my girlfriend...can't cruise without her :)

I forgot to pack underwear on our Alaskan cruise. A little last minute shopping was in order :rolleyes: