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

[bellebaby]

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

 

Sounds like your choices make sense. The girls will love the space of the Grand Suite as well as the view from the balcony. Great place to look for whales.

 

I agree with you about Glacier Bay. The experience is very special. While Hubbard Glacier is more majestic and Tracy Arm is gorgeous, Glacier Bay is the total package. We love the entire day there.

 

HAL has an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm R/T from Vanouver that is wonderful. We just wanted to try Princess this time.

 

Our last cruise to Alaska was on Celebrity. Don't think we'll sail them to Alaska or one of their older ships again.

 

Mary

[travelcoupletoo]

Hi all, my DH and I will joining you on this cruise on the Golden to Alaska. We are on the Sapphire Princess doing the pacific coastal to Vancouver right before this cruise leaves, soooooo we decided to hop ships and continue on to Alaska. We were going to drive back home to San Diego, but another cruise sounded like a lot more fun. Lisa

[hmstins]

According to today's article, the Continental/United merger should close by Oct 1, but they expect it might take as long as two years to complete. I believe that is code for "it might take two years to get rid of most of the Continental employees."

[deej696]

Hi all, my DH and I will joining you on this cruise on the Golden to Alaska. We are on the Sapphire Princess doing the pacific coastal to Vancouver right before this cruise leaves, soooooo we decided to hop ships and continue on to Alaska. We were going to drive back home to San Diego, but another cruise sounded like a lot more fun. Lisa

 

Welcome to our humble abode:D That now makes two on here doing the Coastal before, and I'm supremely jealous of you both! But yes, cruising as opposed to driving home right away is definitely a better option...

[LEtue]

Hi all, my DH and I will joining you on this cruise on the Golden to Alaska. We are on the Sapphire Princess doing the pacific coastal to Vancouver right before this cruise leaves, soooooo we decided to hop ships and continue on to Alaska. We were going to drive back home to San Diego, but another cruise sounded like a lot more fun. Lisa

 

Welcome Lisa and DH! We have a great little group here :D

[kath00]

Hi all, my DH and I will joining you on this cruise on the Golden to Alaska. We are on the Sapphire Princess doing the pacific coastal to Vancouver right before this cruise leaves, soooooo we decided to hop ships and continue on to Alaska. We were going to drive back home to San Diego, but another cruise sounded like a lot more fun. Lisa

 

Hi Lisa!

 

We too are doing the B2B with you so we'll probably meet you on Sapphire first. I cannot wait to do these cruises!! We live in San Diego also and will be driving home from Seattle with a few stops along the way to satisfy my photography obsession. :) Where in San Diego do you live? Will you still drive home or are you going to fly back?

 

Katherine

[LEtue]

Hi all, my DH and I will joining you on this cruise on the Golden to Alaska. We are on the Sapphire Princess doing the pacific coastal to Vancouver right before this cruise leaves, soooooo we decided to hop ships and continue on to Alaska. We were going to drive back home to San Diego, but another cruise sounded like a lot more fun. Lisa

 

Time for an update :D

 

Linda (LEtue) and Margie (hmstins) - FL & TX

Mary (bellebaby) and DH - TX

Katherine (kath00) and DH - CA

DJ (deej696) and Meg - FL

(gatorpwr) and DW - FL

Ginger (ggprincess2004) and DH + 4 friends

Karen (karenannie) and DH - Utah

Jan (jbeb) and Ed - Nevada

(willysgrandma) - NY + 20 friends

Pat (Kyana) and Karen - Victoria, BC

Lisa (travelcoupletoo) and DH - CA

[travelcoupletoo]

Hi Lisa!

 

We too are doing the B2B with you so we'll probably meet you on Sapphire first. I cannot wait to do these cruises!! We live in San Diego also and will be driving home from Seattle with a few stops along the way to satisfy my photography obsession. :) Where in San Diego do you live? Will you still drive home or are you going to fly back?

 

Katherine

 

Katherine - I'm ready to leave now on these cruises! We've never done the pacific coastal cruise and DH (David) has been wanting to sail under the Golden Gate bridge for ever. So he will be able to check that off his bucket list. We both love Alaska and have done several cruises, though he has never been on a cruise that included Glacier Bay, so I'm excited that he will get to see it too.

 

We both love photography too, good thing we don't have camera's with film in them any more, there is so much to see and capture on digital. You will have a great trip I bet driving back to SD. We didn't think we could do the driving trip justice with the amount of time he has available to take off, so we will be flying home on the same day with dock in Seattle.

 

We live in the Carmel Mountain area.

 

How are you planning on getting to LA? We are doing a one-way rental, which we have done before and it has worked out very well.

 

We just got back from a month long trip (with lots of driving) in Colorado and it reminded us how much we like to cruise (no living out of a suitcase and food available 24 hours). So we are really looking forwarded to both cruises. Go chargers..... Lisa

[travelcoupletoo]

Welcome Lisa and DH! We have a great little group here :D

 

thanks everyone for the welcomes and yes this sounds like a great group and a chatty one too. I've been on some roll calls, where there is no action at all, so it's nice this one is going strong. L

[travelcoupletoo]

Welcome to our humble abode:D That now makes two on here doing the Coastal before, and I'm supremely jealous of you both! But yes, cruising as opposed to driving home right away is definitely a better option...

 

You can join us :D, more the merrier.... L

[kath00]

You can join us :D, more the merrier.... L

 

That's right! You can all join us and then we can walk over "en masse" from the Sapphire to the Golden on the 14th! :)

 

We live in Del Mar so close to you. We will drive up to LA and probably leave our car with some friends. Then we will (probably) drive home using a one way rental. I really, really want to see parts of Oregon so I am begging DH to let us do a 3-4 day drive home. Not as much time as I would like but after 14 days of cruising, we have no choice. We too are both still working so time off is hard, but this is my 40th bday party so I get what I want. ;)

 

Katherine

[LEtue]

Another update....to add David :D

 

Linda (LEtue) and Margie (hmstins) - FL & TX

Mary (bellebaby) and DH - TX

Katherine (kath00) and DH - CA

DJ (deej696) and Meg - FL

(gatorpwr) and DW - FL

Ginger (ggprincess2004) and DH + 4 friends

Karen (karenannie) and DH - Utah

Jan (jbeb) and Ed - Nevada

(willysgrandma) - NY + 20 friends

Pat (Kyana) and Karen - Victoria, BC

Lisa (travelcoupletoo) and David - CA

[jbeb]

Hi all, my DH and I will joining you on this cruise on the Golden to Alaska. We are on the Sapphire Princess doing the pacific coastal to Vancouver right before this cruise leaves, soooooo we decided to hop ships and continue on to Alaska. We were going to drive back home to San Diego, but another cruise sounded like a lot more fun. Lisa

Welcome!

Ed and I are also doing this combo Sapphire/Golden BTB. Should be interesting to transfer bags and figure out how to maximize our time in Vancouver...

Jan & Ed

[bellebaby]

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

 

 

Looks line rain for those Juneau bound on the Golden today!!!

 

Mary

[bellebaby]

Hi all, my DH and I will joining you on this cruise on the Golden to Alaska. We are on the Sapphire Princess doing the pacific coastal to Vancouver right before this cruise leaves, soooooo we decided to hop ships and continue on to Alaska. We were going to drive back home to San Diego, but another cruise sounded like a lot more fun. Lisa

 

Welcome, Lisa and David

 

Glad you are joining us and yes, we are chatty! We tend to get off topic, but it helps pass the time between cruises.

 

I am jealous of your coastal "pre-Alaska" sailing. You, Katherine, Jan and companions should have great fun.

 

Have a great Sunday....

 

Mary

[hmstins]

Welcome to the newcomers! Yes, we are a good group. Chatty sometimes on other topics like football, but not rabid on anything.

 

Mary, I feel your pain on yesterday's game. The Longhorns did well to escape the way they did. I think TCU might be even better than last year, and if so, good for them. I love it when a Texas team takes it all. How did the rest of us fare??? Can't wait to see the Texans game today and see if we can win two in a row!!

[LEtue]

Michigan eeked out an ugly win over what was supposed to be a easy opponent :rolleyes: If anyone wants to know how you almost blow a 35 -17 lead just ask :o

 

But, a win is a win - for now!

[bellebaby]

Welcome to the newcomers! Yes, we are a good group. Chatty sometimes on other topics like football, but not rabid on anything.

 

Mary, I feel your pain on yesterday's game. The Longhorns did well to escape the way they did. I think TCU might be even better than last year, and if so, good for them. I love it when a Texas team takes it all. How did the rest of us fare??? Can't wait to see the Texans game today and see if we can win two in a row!!

 

Actually... the pain could have been much worse. At least is wasn't in the 60's or 70's. TCU was capable of scoring MANY more points. They are a great team... I'd love to see them go all the way. Don't like their uniforms, though.

 

Texas, Florida and Michagan were lucky to escape... Notre Dame not so lucky!

 

Mary

[bellebaby]

Michigan eeked out an ugly win over what was supposed to be a easy opponent :rolleyes: If anyone wants to know how you almost blow a 35 -17 lead just ask :o

 

But, a win is a win - for now!

 

Texas A&M had to score 21 in the 4th quarter to beat.... Florida International?

 

And they wanted to move to the SEC?

 

Mary

 

Heavy rains here today. Can only imagine what it's like in Bermuda....

[hmstins]

Yes -- A&M in the SEC is just as logical as Univ of Houston thinking they should be in the Big 12! The Longhorns are starting so many freshmen now that it won't be a stellar year, but that's OK.

 

You're right, the TCU uniforms are not the best, but they must be really good this year. They might be the ones to watch!

[LEtue]

The Longhorns are starting so many freshmen now that it won't be a stellar year, but that's OK.

 

 

Just think what they will be like as Sophomores and Juniors :D

[travelcoupletoo]

Welcome!

Ed and I are also doing this combo Sapphire/Golden BTB. Should be interesting to transfer bags and figure out how to maximize our time in Vancouver...

Jan & Ed

 

Do you think Princess will transfer our bags for us? One could dream..... Love Vancouver, so I'm hoping we get to spend a good portion of the day wandering, rather than moving... L

[travelcoupletoo]

Welcome, Lisa and David

 

Glad you are joining us and yes, we are chatty! We tend to get off topic, but it helps pass the time between cruises.

 

I am jealous of your coastal "pre-Alaska" sailing. You, Katherine, Jan and companions should have great fun.

 

Have a great Sunday....

 

 

Mary

 

Nice way to pass the time with folks that are just as anxious to go on the cruise as yourself... It seems a long way off, but it will be hear before we know it. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. L

[travelcoupletoo]

Welcome to the newcomers! Yes, we are a good group. Chatty sometimes on other topics like football, but not rabid on anything.

 

Mary, I feel your pain on yesterday's game. The Longhorns did well to escape the way they did. I think TCU might be even better than last year, and if so, good for them. I love it when a Texas team takes it all. How did the rest of us fare??? Can't wait to see the Texans game today and see if we can win two in a row!!

 

Thanks for the welcome. I see you were on the Jubilee....that ship has a special place in our hearts, as we were married on her. How ships have changed since then. L

[Kyana]

Please Add son Sean single age 29 who will share our Window Suite and probably empty our bar for us. Not a problem lots of room and we always enjoy our son travelling with us.:):):)