rwmiller

My wife and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary on Diamond Princess this August (8/15-9/4) so are eager to hear how things are onboard the ship. Glad things are going well for you - we are really looking forward to our cruise.

One question - have you been to Churrascaria Grill? We haven't booked it as the location doesn't seem as nice as Crown Grill on other ships and the Brazilian style of dining is not a favorite of ours. 

Thanks and keep up the reporting!

Bob

Bob and Sally will be on Nieuw Statendam 5/18/24 for the 14 day North Cape and Midnight Sun cruise out of Copenhagen. Celebrating Sally’s birthday. 

We have finished the cruise and it was fantastic. As the responses here stated, our uncle was able to board with just his drivers license and check in was very easy. They loved the cruise and we had a great time hosting them. I greatly appreciate your insight as I was able to not worry. 
 

Bob

We just booked our return flight from Copenhagen in SAS Plus (premium economy) for less than half the price of economy on the SAS website so a great deal. I could not select seats until I paid and requested early ticketing. I had to go to the SAS website and pay for seat selection €45 each. A little hassle but better than waiting until checkin which is the SAS standard. 
 

Bob

On the Coral Princess now (Feb 6) and several of the senior officers have changed. See posting below. Can’t update the table since using my phone. Thanks. 
 

Bob

Our cousin was able to book our Australian relatives onto the cruise using their IDs. I think we are all set and we appreciate all your help. 

Bob

28 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

questions

I hope you are right.  We are now having our cousin work the booking from Australia hoping there are no issues. Appreciate all the help. Everyone’s answers are giving us confidence that the US Princess reps are wrong. 
 

Bob

Thanks for your help. I have sent an email off to the Princess Australia info address @ceeceeDee provided. I will let you know what happens.

Bob

2 minutes ago, possum52 said:

As you appear to be in the US, the Princess website will automatically go to the US Princess website just like here in Australia it will automatically go to the Australian version of the site. Try adding /en-au to https://www.princess.com and see if that takes you to the Australian website.

Thanks but the website address automatically shifted back to /en-us. Our fallback is to have our cousin fill out the booking in Australia - we may need to try that if we don't want to wait until we arrive on Friday (for a Monday departure). 

Bob

@ceeceeDee Were you on Princess or another line? I want to be able to argue with them with facts as they are just going back to the book. 

I am also trying to figure out how to book online. I started a trial booking and the first page (name / address) only gave me the option of United States for country. 

Bob

We are back on the phone again and another representative is telling us a passport is required. They keep telling this requirement is tied to the voyage number. Is there a separate Princess phone number / website that we can try to get directly to a Princess Australia representative? 

Thanks again everyone,

Bob

Hi Australian cruisers,

My wife and I are heading to Brisbane this week to visit her aunt and take a Princess cruise up the Queensland coast and back to Brisbane. We would like to be able to have them join us on the cruise and are trying to find out how we can do this. We called Princess (from the US and got the Philippines call center) and the rep stated it was a Princess Cruise Line requirement for Australian citizens to have a passport to cruise. Well, one of them has a valid passport and the other one has an expired passport. Is the representative correct? I see other cruise lines (old posts) let Australians cruise with just a photo ID.

Secondly, can we book the cruise using the US version of the princess website as I can't seem to find the Australian version? Thanks in advance for your help.

Bob

We were on the Discovery Princess over NYE and participated in the 360 Experience (paid). Speaking to another guest in a suite, they stated that they also had to pay and that suite access to the 360 Experience is no longer included. 

On a related note, I pulled up the suite benefits page from the  Discovery Princess - Cruise Ship Information - Princess Cruises and the >6 day cruise limitation on first night Specialty Dining is listed. I think the other page is in error.

However, the other suite benefits are very nice and we have enjoyed our cruises in a suite. 

Bob

Just had the prime rib on Discovery Princess tonigh5. We got a surprisingly thick piece ( about 1/2 inch) and medium rare was exactly as I like it. It was served on the last night of the cruise. 
 

Bob

We also used EZ Air to book United Premium Plus seats for our trip to Australia in January. Price was just a bit lower than using United directly. We then submitted our requests to upgrade to Polaris on both ends. We have already been upgraded for the return trip and are on the waitlist for the outgoing trip. Knowing that the Polaris cabin is not selling out on other flights, I feel we have a very good chance of getting the upgrade. Nice to have on a 14 hour flight. 

Bob

We are also onboard this week so I will chime in to fill in some blanks.  
 

I had the Korean Fried Chicken crew meal and it was exactly as described and delicious. Just a hint of heat and delicious stir fried vegetables. I also had the Tandoori Chicken Tikki Masala crew meal and it was also fantastic. Nice and spicy. I enjoy this option as it adds good variety to 6pm menu. 
 

While in Valdez, we took the Columbia Glacier cruise. It was on a very comfortable boat holding 150 people and took about 6.5 hours. On the way to the glacier we searched for wildlife and viewed the fantastic mountain scenery.  We saw a pod of orcas (first time for us) which was very nice. The glacier (actually 3 arms) was spectacular and worthy of the trip (photos below). We picked this trip as our voyages to Alaska are all about scenery and wildlife. 
 

We are very glad we took this cruise seeing different ports than the usual. On to Glacier Bay. 
 

Bob

We are on the same cruise. Made it through all the lines in 45 minutes and are now (10:40) waiting for the ship to open for boarding. Lines were reasonable when we started at 9:40. Looking forward to a relaxing cruise. 
 

Bob

On 8/7/2023 at 8:15 PM, KXZ1498 said:

Got it. Have you used freeplay at the tables? I'm just wondering if they acted like Celebrity on the tables (freeplay chips are action until it loses).

The free play chips are like any other chips. You are paid in standard chips and can remove the free play chips before the next deal. You don5 have to keep them on the table. 
 

Bob

6 hours ago, GatorMomInNC said:

Thanks.  I saw that and saw it positively reviewed on some other sites.  It departs 30 minutes after we dock, however, so I am hesitant to book it and risk missing it....

 

You might try contacting the company about options. When we did it they met us at the ship. They need a minimum of 4 people to run the tour and may be looking for more customers. 

We did a tour called Expedition Black Bear offered by Alaska Hummer Adventures. You take a boat to Traitor’s Cove and then a van to the viewing platform. There you see bears fishing for salmon. It is our favorite Alaska memory. If your schedule allows take a look at it. 
 

Bob

@CruiserBruce Thanks for the info. Interesting the newer ships are less maneuverable. 
 

Bob

Koningsdam is a wonderful ship and HAL is an expert with Alaska as they were the first to go there. Less people mean shorter lines. In addition, HAL is more adult focused so they will take care of you and your parents. 
 

Bob

I looked at the itineraries for ships leaving Vancouver in 2024. The Princess map states that Royal class ships go around Vancouver island instead of through the inside passage. The limitation is due to ship size. 
 

I am taking a HAL cruise in September leaving Vancouver at 4pm. Our itinerary lists cruising the inside passage all day on the 2nd day so it takes some time to make the transit. However, we obviously will be sleeping for the beginning of the passage. But, for southbound, you probably finish the passage on the last night. I personally would not base my selection based on the timing of the inside passage. The days are long as you noted so, if you can live with 4 hours of sleep you can see it all. 😉

Good luck,

Bob

Our favorite tour in Ketchikan was a non-ship tour called Expedition Black Bear. You take a boat ride to a low cation where you walk to get to an overlook over a creek where  the salmon run and the bears fish. Great viewing from not far away. 
 

Bob

Adding my 2 cents. If you go in July or early August the salmon are running which opens up excursions to view bears fishing. We did one in Ketchikan that was amazing. 
 

We have only done round trips so can’t comment on that. Our cruise have been on Princess and HAL. Both have a long history cruising Alaska and have infrastructure there that the other lines do not. We have had great lectures on board to build your knowledge of what you will seeing. 
 

Bob