sherryf

Exactly! I certainly don't know when I'll be hungry months in advance!

I don't get your logic. 🤔 Maybe it's just the time we choose to go, but there's never been a long line. We aren't causing anyone else to wait, and I've never seen a line that would cause anyone to wait half an hour.

We have never bothered to make reservations in the MDR, and have never waited more than about 5 minutes.

Ginger is a great preventative. I take ginger chews/candy from Trader Joe's, but also just drink ginger ale if I'm feeling a little "off". If you have HIA, it's easy to stop by a bar and ask for a can of ginger ale or two, and keep them in your fridge in case you need them later. I also bring generic meclazine, but only use it if I really need it. Luckily I'm not very prone to seasickness, just feel a little "off" on the first sea day. The rest of the week I'm fine.

Vancouver is a lovely city. If I had a choice of which city to visit, I'd choose Vancouver over Ft. Lauderdale any day!

Thanks, it's good to know in advanced so we know what to expect. We are scheduled to be at RR Foreward.

Does anyone have an update on this? I thought it was supposed to be fixed for this season. We don't go until mid-August, so I'm hoping things are back to normal by then.

I don't imagine that he'd be going in fully clothed. If he strips down to swim trunks, the rest of his clothes will be dry. Depending on the weather that day, his trunks might dry long before he heads back to the bus. There might even be a public restroom where he could change afterwards and put his wet suit into a plastic bag to take back to the ship.

Also, there are probably going to be very few children on board since they'll all be back in school. But personally, I probably wouldn't do it unless it was REALLY cheap. I've been to Alaska many times and wouldn't be devastated if the weather was really bad or if we ended up missing ports because of weather/rough seas. If this is likely to be your only trip to Alaska, you might end up being disappointed.

Maybe they have improved the process since last year. We waited over an HOUR just for US Customs, plus all the time for every other step of boarding. I think it was about 1.5 hours total from when we arrived until we set foot on the ship. This was on HAL, but both ships in port were going through the same customs line, so it didn't really matter what cruise line we were on. People told us that they were working on improvements for the process in Vancouver, so it sounds like it is better this year.

I've seen some posts saying that this "might" happen, but this is the first one I've seen that says that it actually DID happen. Has anyone else experienced this? We have been planning to wait to buy Plus when we board, but we'd hate for it to be "sold out" when we get there.

The water on board is great! I never buy bottled water. We always bring reusable water bottles and just drink ship water.

I will second the recommendation for Chilkoot Charters. We have used them twice - once for the bus/train tour to Caribou Crossing and once for the Lake Bennet train/bus combo. They are excellent and cheaper than booking through the cruise ship. The best part is that they use much smaller buses so more personalized tours without the huge crowd.

I've seen several comments in various threads about the danger of them "selling out" before you board, but has anyone ever actually encountered this problem? Nowhere on the Princess site have I read anything to indicate that they limit the number of Plus packages. Why do people keep mentioning this issue if it doesn't actually exist? We plan to purchase Plus on board for some of the reasons you mention (mainly the cruise fare/insurance reasons) and our TA agreed that it was a good idea.

Princess and Holland America are similar in style and similar in price. They both have been doing Alaska for a long time and do it well... and they both go to Glacier Bay. If this is likely your only trip to Alaska, you don't want to miss Glacier Bay! I have cruised both Princess and HAL to Alaska and enjoyed them both very much, but I would give a slight edge to Princess. They have better naturalists, more enrichment lectures, and extras like husky puppies, Libby Riddles (first woman to win Iditarod), etc.