**Golden Princess May 14, 2011 - Vancouver To Seattle**

[deej696]

Well...we were supposed to sail in December for our anniversary, but changed our plans a few weeks back. It was just a 4 nighter on the Radiance out of Tampa, but after stopping to think about it, this four day weekend was going to set us back about $2k. Probably not a great idea with the "Big one" in May. So we canceled, and are instead doing a weekend at Disney with dinner at Victoria and Albert's.

 

Who knows, maybe something will pop up between now and then. Lately our getaways have been planned fairly short notice...

[LEtue]

No plans to sail before May for me....but this is a busy time of year.

 

Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival in October, Thanksgiving in TX with my son and his family, then Christmas in Atlanta with my daughter and her family. Have go squeeze all the grandkids :D

 

It will be January before I know it :eek:

[kath00]

We have quite a few cruises coming up! I dunno how we ended up with them all. LOL. The Thanksgiving cruise on the Mariner is next and is accidental since it was scheduled for 2011 (Spring Break '11) but when she got repo'd suddently to Europe, we had the option to book in 2010 for a great price and big OBC so we couldn't resist. Then we have short cruises till the big B2B....

 

So our schedule is:

 

Thanksgiving 2010 week on Mariner (with kids)

Dec 18th: Sapphire Princess LA Mexico sampler 4 nights only (me and DD and her BFF and mom)

Jan 21st: 2 night sampler on Disney Wonder out of LA (couldn't resist a weekend cruise)

May 7: Sapphire 7n Coastal LA to Vancouver (just DH and I)

May 14: B2B with Golden Princess to Alaska with kids and my sister's family.

 

Other cruises coming up:

 

Probably Sapphire CA Coastal (1st ever) Sept 2011

Dec 18-26th Disney Wonder 8 night HOliday cruise! This should be great!

 

That's it for now!

 

Katherine

[bellebaby]

We have quite a few cruises coming up! I dunno how we ended up with them all. LOL. The Thanksgiving cruise on the Mariner is next and is accidental since it was scheduled for 2011 (Spring Break '11) but when she got repo'd suddently to Europe, we had the option to book in 2010 for a great price and big OBC so we couldn't resist. Then we have short cruises till the big B2B....

 

So our schedule is:

 

Thanksgiving 2010 week on Mariner (with kids)

Dec 18th: Sapphire Princess LA Mexico sampler 4 nights only (me and DD and her BFF and mom)

Jan 21st: 2 night sampler on Disney Wonder out of LA (couldn't resist a weekend cruise)

May 7: Sapphire 7n Coastal LA to Vancouver (just DH and I)

May 14: B2B with Golden Princess to Alaska with kids and my sister's family.

 

Other cruises coming up:

 

Probably Sapphire CA Coastal (1st ever) Sept 2011

Dec 18-26th Disney Wonder 8 night HOliday cruise! This should be great!

 

That's it for now!

 

Katherine

 

Boy, did I hit the jackpot with my question! I want to hear all about them as you go.

 

Is the Disney Wonder Holiday Cruise in 2011?

 

Have you sailed on Royal Caribbean or Disney before?

 

Mary

 

No cruises for us, but I did book a hotel (Westin) for our Thanksgiving trip to Dallas.... Jerry's World to see the Cowboys/Saints game.

[bellebaby]

No plans to sail before May for me....but this is a busy time of year.

 

Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival in October, Thanksgiving in TX with my son and his family, then Christmas in Atlanta with my daughter and her family. Have go squeeze all the grandkids :D

 

It will be January before I know it :eek:

 

Where in Texas does your son live?

[LEtue]

Where in Texas does your son live?

 

They are located in a little town called Friona - SE of Amarillo and NW of Lubbuck. Hereford is the closest town and just north of them.

 

My DIL is from Lubbuck and a BIG Texas Tech Fan :D Big game day for them!!!!

 

My 3 year old grand daughter dresses up for all the games. So she is in her Michigan jersey now and will change later into her Tech one :)

[bellebaby]

They are located in a little town called Friona - SE of Amarillo and NW of Lubbuck. Hereford is the closest town and just north of them.

 

My DIL is from Lubbuck and a BIG Texas Tech Fan :D Big game day for them!!!!

 

My 3 year old grand daughter dresses up for all the games. So she is in her Michigan jersey now and will change later into her Tech one :)

 

Very familiar with the area... I was born out in West Texas.. Sweetwater. Not a Tech fan, though. They should give UT a run today.

 

Do you fly to Dallas and on to Lubbock?

[hmstins]

Yes, it should be a good game today. Hopefully the burnt orange will prevail!

[LEtue]

Yes, it should be a good game today. Hopefully the burnt orange will prevail!

 

Hey Margie!

 

I'll be thinking about you during that game :) It should be a good one!!!

[LEtue]

Very familiar with the area... I was born out in West Texas.. Sweetwater. Not a Tech fan, though. They should give UT a run today.

 

Do you fly to Dallas and on to Lubbock?

 

I fly to Amarillo since it is a shorter drive to their house (about 45 minutes and easy). Still gives me 2 options - American through Dallas or Continental through Houston.....

[hmstins]

Thanks, Linda. We might need all the good thoughts we can get.

 

Good luck in the future with that Continental flight. Thoughts in Houston are that Continental employees will get the shaft, that the United culture will prevail (ugh), and that the formerly reasonably priced Continental tickets will skyrocket. Hope this is not the case, but.....

 

In the meantime, I'm oh-so-glad I purchased my Continental Houston-Seattle RT tickets months ago. It might turn out to be a VERY smart thing!

[kath00]

Boy, did I hit the jackpot with my question! I want to hear all about them as you go.

 

Is the Disney Wonder Holiday Cruise in 2011?

 

Have you sailed on Royal Caribbean or Disney before?

 

Mary

 

No cruises for us, but I did book a hotel (Westin) for our Thanksgiving trip to Dallas.... Jerry's World to see the Cowboys/Saints game.

 

I would LOVE to see a pro football game. We had Chargers tickets in the past but recently it's been so pricy that we've given up our subscription.

 

Yes, we've sailed both RCCL (Mariner of the Seas only out of LA -- boy is she a spectacular ship!) and Disney (twice out of FL and so happy that the Wonder is going to be based on the West Coast finally!). The Disney cruise is Holiday 2011 so it's still quite a ways away, but it's almost sold out. Our 2 night weekend cruise on Disney sold out within 2 weeks of being announced! So I am taking no chances. It's amazing how much demand Disney can muster.

 

I do like the Disney ships and they do the entertainment for kids really well, but when it's just DH and I, we prefer the more "adult" ships like Princess and RCCL. I figure the kids will only enjoy Disney for another couple of years before it becomes too "uncool" for them. :rolleyes: We'll see how they like it this coming year since my older one will be almost 12 by the time we sail the Holiday '11 cruise. Surprisingly, my younger one (now 5) is not really into the Disney characters like the Princesses at all so I am not sure how it will go for them. But they are happy, easygoing kids so I think any sort of entertainment will be fun -- at least till they become moody teens.

 

Of course the cruise I am most looking forward to is the Golden to Alaska! I just LOVED our 2002 cruise and I can't wait to share the sights and wildlife with my kids too! It'll be so much fun for them. I hope we see lots of whales and I would love to see orcas in the wild. We didn't see any on our last cruise (I think it was Star Princess in '02 when she was still brand new).

 

Katherine

[bellebaby]

Hey, everyone

 

I have been flipping to different college games. While I was on the Nebraska/Washington game, they showed a preview of Seattle for us. Pike's Market... huge crabs and salmon....:D

 

Mary

[LEtue]

Good luck in the future with that Continental flight. Thoughts in Houston are that Continental employees will get the shaft, that the United culture will prevail (ugh), and that the formerly reasonably priced Continental tickets will skyrocket. Hope this is not the case, but.....

 

In the meantime, I'm oh-so-glad I purchased my Continental Houston-Seattle RT tickets months ago. It might turn out to be a VERY smart thing!

 

Really? thanks for the heads up. When are things expected to change? Better tell my son since they are coming to Disney World in early June and just starting shopping for tickets.....

[bellebaby]

Thanks, Linda. We might need all the good thoughts we can get.

 

Good luck in the future with that Continental flight. Thoughts in Houston are that Continental employees will get the shaft, that the United culture will prevail (ugh), and that the formerly reasonably priced Continental tickets will skyrocket. Hope this is not the case, but.....

 

In the meantime, I'm oh-so-glad I purchased my Continental Houston-Seattle RT tickets months ago. It might turn out to be a VERY smart thing!

 

Hi, Margie

 

I'm glad our flights from Houston with Continental miles are booked too. Who knows what the combined program will morph into....

 

Mary

[LEtue]

Hey, everyone

 

I have been flipping to different college games. While I was on the Nebraska/Washington game, they showed a preview of Seattle for us. Pike's Market... huge crabs and salmon....:D

 

Mary

 

I just fell in love with Pikes's Market when I was there and I can't wait to get back :D

[LEtue]

Nice of them to reposition the bridge cam so we can see downtown Seattle. Much better than looking at the pier!

 

[bellebaby]

I think we're in for a spanking.... TCU 14 Baylor 0 1st quarter

 

:(:(

[bellebaby]

Nice of them to reposition the bridge cam so we can see downtown Seattle. Much better than looking at the pier!

 

 

Nice... Thanks, Linda

[bellebaby]

I would LOVE to see a pro football game. We had Chargers tickets in the past but recently it's been so pricy that we've given up our subscription.

 

Katherine

 

I agree.. Tickets are outrageous. Ours are gifts. If they weren't, I'd enjoy it just fine in front of the TV with a post-Thanksgiving Dinner piece of pie. :D

 

Mary

[kath00]

Nice of them to reposition the bridge cam so we can see downtown Seattle. Much better than looking at the pier!

 

 

Wow, I can't wait to be there in May!

[deej696]

Hello everyone....sitting here at work watching the Gator game on the 4 inch online feed via CBS. They are making me quite nervous. Can't really say they are playing bad, but it certainly isn't good. Man I hate Tennessee....:mad:

[bellebaby]

I would LOVE to see a pro football game. We had Chargers tickets in the past but recently it's been so pricy that we've given up our subscription.

 

Yes, we've sailed both RCCL (Mariner of the Seas only out of LA -- boy is she a spectacular ship!) and Disney (twice out of FL and so happy that the Wonder is going to be based on the West Coast finally!). The Disney cruise is Holiday 2011 so it's still quite a ways away, but it's almost sold out. Our 2 night weekend cruise on Disney sold out within 2 weeks of being announced! So I am taking no chances. It's amazing how much demand Disney can muster.

 

I do like the Disney ships and they do the entertainment for kids really well, but when it's just DH and I, we prefer the more "adult" ships like Princess and RCCL. I figure the kids will only enjoy Disney for another couple of years before it becomes too "uncool" for them. :rolleyes: We'll see how they like it this coming year since my older one will be almost 12 by the time we sail the Holiday '11 cruise. Surprisingly, my younger one (now 5) is not really into the Disney characters like the Princesses at all so I am not sure how it will go for them. But they are happy, easygoing kids so I think any sort of entertainment will be fun -- at least till they become moody teens.

 

Of course the cruise I am most looking forward to is the Golden to Alaska! I just LOVED our 2002 cruise and I can't wait to share the sights and wildlife with my kids too! It'll be so much fun for them. I hope we see lots of whales and I would love to see orcas in the wild. We didn't see any on our last cruise (I think it was Star Princess in '02 when she was still brand new).

 

Katherine

 

Did you even consider Disney to Alaska?

 

Mary

[kath00]

Did you even consider Disney to Alaska?

 

Mary

 

We did very briefly but Disney doesn't have Glacier Bay permits, which is a huge minus for us, having been at GB and Tracy Arm. There really is no comparison and for my family, we really wanted the kids to experience GB. Also, they are RT Vancouver so flights are more pricy. And in general when we priced Disney versus Princess, we came up with a 25% upcharge on Disney! That's a bit much for us. So we splurged on the Grand Suite on Golden instead to see Alaska and got our Glacier Bay viewing in, plus tickets RT from Seattle with one transfer from Princess to Vancouver (instead of flying into YVR).

 

But we do love Disney. Just not that itiniary (and not the price).

 

Kath

[LEtue]

Glacier Bay really is the highlight of any Alaska cruise. I haven't sailed in Tracy Arm though. Some think Hubbard Glacier is more dramatic but the entire area surrounding Glacier Bay is teeming with marine life :D

 

We had a mother humpback whale and calf swimming right next to the ship in Stephens Pass that morning!