cruisewkid

Not sure about the beer - sorry! There were always bars/lounges available though. I was always able to find Diet Coke! 😉

I am sorry - can't really help you there. No copies of menus or pics of dishes. We really aren't foodies. Hopefully, you like salmon - that was ALWAYS available on every menu we saw, including the Daily Princess Favorites once you are onboard. I do remember, in Anchorage, we really enjoyed Simon & Seafort's. We used a Princess dinner voucher at the Steakhouse at the Denali HAL lodge next door to Princess & we weren't overwhelmed by that, but may have just been our evening there. We were early season, but literally every meal started w servers telling us what they were out of! Those issues may be resolving, as may staff shortages on land. But staff we encountered seemed across-the-board happy to be in Alaska & eager to help.

We had the identical land itinerary as you. You will easily find individual bottles of water everywhere! Cannot remember the price, but in the $2-$3ish range each. There were coolers w a decent selection of beverages in the gift shops at both lodges you will be at.

We did a 12 day Connoisseur land tour 5/19 - 5/24 before joining Sapphire on a Southbound. (Cheryl Papin was our guide & she was great as was the tour!) I believe the tip included in the voucher is now at least 18%. We routinely tip 20% for restaurant bills on land.... I cannot remember for certain, but I THINK we left extra a couple times to acknowledge service. I will say though, that the servers seemed very welcoming of vouchers & were helpful w utilizing them..... it did not feel, AT ALL, like "Oh geez, a voucher, I am not going to make much on this one!" I hope this helps!

Ditto on received paperwork at the Captain Cook. I had had our TA notify Princess that we didn't need the transfer & would join our tour group at the hotel. (I believe we got some refund since we had originally included transfers.) Since we were touring around Anchorage anyway, we had stopped in to the Captain Cook a couple days ahead to check out where the Princess check-in area was, & chatted w the staff at the desk. Depending on when you arrive, there can either be a LONG line or you walk right up! Also, the day we were joining our tour, we were able to drop our bags at the Captain Cook earlier in the day at bell desk w no issues. We then picked them up after returning later when the Princess desk was going to open. The Captain Cook was LOVELY & we much preferred it to our 4 nites at the Anchorage Hilton!

We did this on May 24, heading to Sapphire from the Denali Princess lodge ending a 5 day Cruisetour (which was great BTW!). Scheduled to arrive Whittier at 6:00 pm, but due to a couple delays on tracks, it was later than that. I think 6:50 would really be iffy. We had complimentary specialty dining for embarkation nite. I think we ended up w an 8:00 reservation after calling Sabatini's after boarding.

We leave in a couple days, so it wouldn't get here ontime! I had ordered a book/map set awhile ago - only the book came though. Any chance they sell just the map in the gift shop?? I do have a AAA Alaska map I plan to magnet to the wall, but I'd rather something w more route detail. TIA!

SO excited to be reading Alaska lives! Especially from Sapphire! Thank you & have a wonderful trip! Would love to hear about weather & what folks are wearing..... though scared to even ask about that!

Will be following along!! We are on her in just a couple weeks & are excited to hear about your trip!

Different flight time, but Delta has also already changed our ANC flight time to an earlier one that also has me concerned.............. fingers crossed

The first day is so exciting! We usually like to get there as early as possible & settle in & acclimate though no traditional schedule or order of business. But, for our upcoming Alaska cruise out of Whittier we will be arriving to the ship after our Princess CruiseTour via the train (scheduled to arrive 6 pm) with SailAway at 8:30 pm. We have complimentary Specialty Dining on embarkation day which we would like to utilize. Although it sounds like we should be on the ship quickly after the train arrives, I am feeling like the evening is going to be kind of a scramble............. especially since it sounds like we will definitely be wanting to watch the gorgeous SailAway from Whittier (depending on weather). We prefer a later dinner anyway, but 8:30 is about the latest we'd want to do. I am thinking unpacking isn't going to happen until we are in the room for the nite.... well, I am back in the room for the nite, my husband will probably be checking out the casino! Anyway, if anybody has experience w, or suggestions for, the logistics of best way to do all this - I would love input. Do any of the Sapphire Specialty Dining venues have particularly good viewing that we can be watching SailAway while dining?

Thanks, We do have the detailed invoice w everything from the TA, & I did see the OBC section online, & it lists everything that I thought we got originally, but I also THOUGHT we had already used that $$ toward booking excursions?? Do they do that? I usually keep great paper trails, but I'm embarrassed that I haven't been keeping a super close eye - I have been mostly checking our itinerary to make sure things we signed up for show up after I get them. I will start going through my credit card to figure out what got paid w what & keep a better record. I appreciate the head's up & am feeling sheepish that I wasn't already doing that! 😮 Again - Thank you!

How does one view their account before boarding? I have looked at the "Payment & Credits" tab when logged into the website, but I sure don't see much, & certainly not all of the $$ activity r/t our trip.

So happy to read this thread! We are in a forward suite on Sapphire in May & I have been SO scared after reading some comments re limitations on these (can't open balcony door at certain times, motion, headwinds while underway, etc.). None of us are especially prone to sea sickness, so I think I will quit worrying? In my concern, I have put in a [low] bid for an Aft Grand Suite, but we know that Aft cabins really haven't been our favorite in the past..... This is a reschedule from 2020, & our first cruise since then..... SO hoping it is special!

I will check on that 1 at the beginning when it lets me in again. It has got to be my tech-challenged-ness! Maybe waiting til we get there will work better. Since our land portion is first, maybe checking in for that will take care of everything for the cruise too?? Again - thank you for the responses.