PEB

You will get a notice in your room a couple days in advance of the change over in cruises. You will get a card that says in Transit so you can leave the ship and go check out Vancouver if you wish and not have to go through the full boarding process. If you do not want to go too the town it will tell you to meet in a specific area and either someone will come check your documents and you can go about your day or they will have you all leave the ship have your documents checked than you will be allowed on the ship. It all depends on customs officers and not the ship. I have done many B2B's on Princess including in Vancouver as well as other ports and other lines.

If you only want a 7 day cruise I would do a one way cruise. Even though the flight might cost you more you will see more of Alaska. If you have enough time I would do either a B2B north then south one way or do one of the longer 10 or 11 day. If you decide to do a land and cruise I would do the land first than the cruise south. I have cruised Alaska 22 times so far and will be doing so again this year. I have done most every route I could find. I really prefer the longer routes. B2B's are nice because you do not have to rush in every port to see things you can relax more knowing you will be back on the return run.

You can get small bills at guest services.

Do you need a balcony when cruising Alaska? No it is not needed because there are plenty of places on the ship to see Alaska, however it is nice to have.

Yes it is new. There was a date announced that you had to order before a certain date to still get it free. I don't remember the date.

That depends on what you are used to. I am from Minnesota so yes shorts cruising Alaska in May. For the people from warmer states no they will not be in shorts. Temps can be anywhere from 50's to 70 anywhere on the cruise and all in the same day. Near glaciers it will be 5 to 10 degrees cooler. Most ports are in rain forest areas so even though May is a dry month count on rain.

Dislike

Perhaps because they are near heavy public traffic areas and may be subject to more noise the price is cheaper.

They consider the higher decks as being a better view from the ship even though those decks will feel the ship movement more than the lower decks. The higher decks are also closer to a lot of the pools and popular public areas.

What a guarantee cabin means is you can get any cabin in the same category or better and it can be anywhere on the ship. The biggest downside to a guarantee cabin is that it can be in a bad location even if it is a higher category cabin. Looking at what is available now does not mean anything because someone may book those cabins or if they upgrade others different rooms could become available. If you want a specific room you are better off booking that room. JMHO. Yes I have booked guaranteed rooms in the past but no longer do so.

I have seen some with a sport jacket and tie on formal nights. I have seen some with just a shirt and tie and no jacket.

If we get a package in a deal when we purchase a cruise fine but we will not be buying any of the packages because we just would not get the use out of them.

My favorite Princess cruise was a repositioning cruise from Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal, up the West Coast and then to Alaska. It was on the Coral Princess. I don't do land based trips through the cruise lines. I have done 17 cruises on Princess I do have a B2B back to Alaska on the Crown Princess for 21 days booked in 2023 I do book a lot of repositioning cruises which I prefer because I get to see more places and seeing I live nowhere near a cruise port I save on transportation to and from a cruise.

Right now we have a B2B on the Crown Princess in May for 21 days.

I did 60 days on the Ruby Princess in 2022. It was a B2B2B2B doing Hawaii, a full transit of Panama Canal, a return full transit of the Panama Canal and then again to Hawaii.