Coral

Thanks for the info. Interesting info - had never heard of King Tide. Glad you made it to GB!

That is a great idea because everything else I do hasn't been great. Thanks.

I should clarify that I am Elite so I was one of the first onboard but there were individuals I knew who were not Elite and they did get on shortly after me. They did check people in quickly and then we sat for awhile. Then we moved to another area to sit until we were ready to board.

It was probably my 10th time also. I have to say I have done a lot of excursions in Ketchikan and honestly can not recommend any of them. There are some I prefer over others (such as Totem Bight to Saxman Village) but this is my least favorite port for excursions. It is a cute town to walk around. At least the first few times. I still walk around here but I don't do any excursions.

I think I got there at 9:30 and was onboard by 11:30 or so. We had a bunch of us on CC who were together waiting to board and we enjoyed chatting with each other. We had met the night before. This was last May.

It is just easy to throw them in a suitcase when traveling so you don't have a vacation ruined.

Yeah!!! Congrats!

I have one pair. I will wear them multiple times if it rains more than once. Not a big deal.

Congrats! I hope you can go! Make sure you have your justification all worked out when you speak with the wife. 🙂

I just have water proof clothing. I have a rain jacket and Gore-tex athletic shoes (Brooks Ghost). Water proof rain pants are not expensive.

Glad to see your reviews again! I need to go to your signature as the last review I read of yours was a Princess one.

Good point! 🙂

I found it very hokey. Toddlers (and oddly seniors) seemed to enjoy it. I would encourage those interested to watch some YouTube videos to see if you would like it.

They were able to book last year and then they couldn't honor all of their bookings after a certain month and cancelled existing bookings. Hopefully they have enough permits for their bookings this year.

It is allowed.

They may have implemented ship by ship at different times. We were doing a a LA to Vancouver coastal and then Vancouver to Whittier and back. I am pretty sure for the Sapphire it was May. Other ships may have done it earlier or later than Sapphire.

I actually remember the history. I believe it was May 2012 because when it changed (if memory serves me correct - I remember I was doing a B2B2B with my Mom). The shows used to be longer. There had been a lot of complaints on the larger ships (Crown, Ruby, Emerald) because people couldn't get into see the shows as they didn't increase the size of the Theatre when they built these ships. The Royal Princess was going to debut in the next year and they were concerned about the size of the theater on that ship as well. So they came out with the brilliant idea of doing 3 shows per night at 45 minutes. So on one sailing we had longer shows and the next sailing, it was shorter (and seemed confusing after seeing the longer shows and then seeing the shorter shows). Then, they dropped the 3rd SHOWING of the production shows. So they are back to 2 shows. I remember sitting next to the CD at the most traveled lunch and he said "It would be best if they just built larger theaters".

My TA had someone who wanted to do LA to Vancouver and then Honolulu on the same ship (2 voyages). She really thought it was wrong but called Princess. The Princess reps kept telling her it was ok but she kept escalating it. She ended up being right but it took her a long time for Princess to recognize that it was wrong. They then noted on their booking engine that the 2 voyages can not be booked together. I am not surprised someone wrongly informed @CruiseRaider. This is one of those things that many on CC understand this better than cruise line employees.

I welcome the Brazilian cheese bread! Yum!

Your information is not accurate.

I don't think any cruise lines have anything really unique. I like steakhouses (I come from a beef steak so have had it all my life) and really have had zero luck lately at Crown Grill or Sterling Steakhouse. We have a Brazilian steakhouse in my town (and it is not Vegas, Times Square or anywhere touristy) and I enjoy it. I would try it on a cruise ship. I am glad they are mixing things up. Let's hope they use higher quality ingredients at this restaurant.

I believe you but this is wrong. They screwed up.

Same ship, nope. Different ships, yes. If same ship - think of it this way, on the West coast you can't start in one US city and end in another (with out a distant foreign port which you won't get on a coastal).

Holiday Inn Express.

Harbor 360 is most convenient. I have also stayed at Windsong Lodge. Remote, they have a shuttle - sort of a cool place.