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Hi RoobyDoo, in Vancouver we did our own tour not thru Princess. Travel Maven, the ship isn't in bad shape.. There are a lot of places in great shape but some of the carpeting is worn and our cabin had some wear to the balcony area.. The atrium was in great shape as were a lot of the ship, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the library and we liked the wheelhouse bar too. Very old fashioned and beautiful wood and furnishings. Mariakitty, we had escargot, scallops, fish tacos, calamari, king crab, haddock, prawns, lobster, pasta with clams etc it was a seafood lovers dream! Sorry Big Wally I tossed them on board but if you had some specific questions I might remember[emoji4]

We went directly to the MDR, it was the one that had the traditional dining and is only open till 1:30 p.m., it was wonderful being waited on:)

Thanks folks! We've got a whale watching trip booked in Juneau (Harv and Marv were full, but they recommended someone else), and now working on a floatplane trip in Ketchikan.

We used Juneau Whale Watch, they were fantastic. We saw pods of Orca's which apparently is very rare, along with humpback whales! Have fun :)

We bought T-shirts in all 3 ports for around $6.99-$9.99 each. The prices seemed better in Skagway than the other 2 ports IMO. I got socks for my daughters for $3.99 each with moose on them...and a coffee mug for me for $8.99 that i had seen in the other ports for $12.99. That was pretty much all we bought...there is a coupon book available that had coupons for each of the ports, we used a couple of those too.

Hi there fellow cruise critics! We just got back from a wonderful 7 day Alaska cruise on the Coral Princess. I really wanted to do a review, but am completely swamped at work...so does anyone have any questions I can answer and I'll try to elaborate around my answers...we did go to Vancouver, BC for 3 days prior to the cruise and had a great time. We used the HOHO trolley and got to see a lot of the places that I wanted to see. Stanley park is beautiful! Our weather was great, Vancouver is very temperate and and the weather was super in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. It was sunny and in the mid-60's. Didn't get cold until Glacier Bay and College Fjord. So how can i help anyone?:)

DH tried it last week on the Coral Princess he said it was too bitter and nothing special.

We are a couple in our 60s about to embark on our 1st ever cruise.

We are cruising on the Coral Princess departing Vancouver on 19/8/15 to Anchorage for 7 nights.

At present we are booked on the 5.45pm option, which seems a little early!!

Our other option is 8pm or anytime dining?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Our main aim on this cruise is to savour the Alaskan scenery.

I have also posted this on 1st time cruise forum, sorry if that has caused some confusion.

Many thanks

Linda

How exciting for you! Our first cruise was in our early 50's and we love cruising now! We have always chosen anytime dining, which may be a result of our not cruising with parents or earlier in our lives when there was no such thing. I like the flexibility of eating dinner when I'm hungry :) I only wish we had started cruising sooner!

Can anyone answer if they had varying speeds and temps, low and high is all i'm interested in...

Thanks!

We too like beer, not quite beer snobs, but really looking forward to our days in Vancouver, BC sampling local beer before our Alaska cruise. I saw that there are some special beers onboard the Alaska itinerary? Can anyone expand on that? Also, one of my DH's go to beers is Fosters..do they serve those onboard? Thanks everyone!

ME!!!!! or US!!!!! i guess would be the correct response...myself and the DH leaving on the Coral Princess on May 27th. Northbound cruise and our first to Alaska..so excited:)

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing:

http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/078670621X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429751204&sr=8-1&keywords=Endurance+Alfred

That one looks good, i love books about the Artic..try In the Kingdom of Ice by Sides, I just finished that one recently.

Also, another good book about ships is In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick.

Happy Reading!

Thanks for all the suggestions! I am putting a lot of them in an Amazon wish list...

and since we are sailing the inside passage next month I just received my copy of Journeys Through the Inside Passage by Joe Upton, it was recommended on the Alaska site.

I like to try to find something related to the area we're cruising in. Any suggestions for Norway?

I think that Rick Steves' usually has a good commentary about an area...especially cruises. Haven't been to Norway yet, but it's on the bucket list, if you find one that you like let me know!

^^^ OFF topic^^^ I saw the above censoring of the word so had to look the book up. Strange that the word that refers to Hitler's political party is edited.

^^^ back to your regular topic ^^^

I know! I thought that was strange too...why would they censor that word?

Plague Ship by Clive Cussler. Hungry as the Sea by Wilbur Smith.

I like Cussler a lot, read Plague Ship as well as most of his other books. Thanks for the title Hungry as the Sea, looks good!

Loved the Epic, i agree with the other poster, now i am addicted to cruising and have to go as often as possible. Was it a large ship? yes...Was there a lot of walking? yes, but with all the good food and gelato in every port we were consuming walking was good! We had a blast and I hope you will too:)

Next cruise is August and I'm planning on GOT book 3 and Wheel of Time book 3 (Robert Jordan). Also try to remember to check the monthly book club suggestion. I also bring along 3 or 4 books (non-kindle) that I have already read for trading in the library :)

 

have you read any other Erik Larsen books? Devil in the White city is fascinating

Yes I read that one and also in the garden of beasts about **** Germany.. I really like his writing

Hi,

If you are an avid reader like myself, I'm sure you have thought about what book(s) to take on your cruise! I usually load a few on my kindle or ipad, but also like to take at least one "real book". So this time i preordered and am taking Dead Wake, by Erik Larson. It's about the sinking of the Lusitania...yes, I am taking a book about sinking on my cruise!

What books have you been saving up to read on your next cruise? If everyone chips in, we should have a great booklist to choose from:)

It's 11:30 a.m. here soooo, if i were onboard right now, I'd be sitting by the pool with a frozen drink in my hand if it was nice outside. If it wasn't nice, probably playing trivia or reading in the library or maybe on an excursion to someplace I've never been before! That is why i love cruising...so much to do:)

Yeah, I saw something about a 7.95 convenience fee for every order placed through room service.

Well, if that's true, no more room service for this girl!

Not sure if anyone posting on this can help, but I did think of a MUTS question...if you are on an Alaska cruise does the added daylight interfere with the movie?

Loved Barcelona we were there for a few days prior to our med cruise... So much to see cant wait to go back some day!

Hi There!

This may be somewhere in a thread but I was wondering about the Princess Beverage package...my DH will be purchasing the package on our next cruise in May, but I do not drink enough to bother with it, so will not be getting one. My question is, if he purchases a bottle of wine in the restaurant at a 40% discount can I also share that bottle? I know that he can't buy drinks for me:rolleyes: but it seems that if you buy the bottle even at a discount that may be different?

Thank you

Is there a limit to how many times you can order during the happy hour? For instance if we wanted to both order drinks, but I also wanted to order cans of soda..

In L.A. Times today, there was an article in the Travel section "Hauling local catch aboard". Below is an excerpt from the article...

"Dishes from the popular Alaska Fish House in Ketchikan, Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau (crab cakes) and Skagway Fish Company (mermaid burgers), will now be served aboard Princess ships visiting Alaska. Besides offering local restaurant fare, Princess is partnering with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to feature a variety of Alaskan foods, including crab, salmon and halibut in the dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Princess chefs have been trained by Alaska seafood chefs to capture the flavors of the state".

Can't wait, sailing North May 27th!!