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I paid for Premier plan months ago with my booking. I just noticed that a few things were added to that plan since. Will those extra perks then be included with my cruise booking? Just trying to understand how this will work. Thanks, Anita

This is in response to Nola regarding "stop doing your own laundry on vacation." This has nothing to do with money--- I have very sensitive skin and only use hyper allergenic detergent. My clothes are cotton, and just put in dryer for a short time, so as not to shrink. So no, I don't care whether or not NCL would wash my clothes for free. If the cruise I am taking is no more than maybe 8 nights, I just wash my clothes when I am home. But for longer cruises, I just use Princess so I don't pack that much and just do a laundry maybe 2 times per 10 days or so. Not a big deal for me, as I just plan which days to take care of it so as not to interfere with excursions.

I like NCL best for food choices and entertainment. I like Princess best for having self service laundry on board--I used to really like Celebrity for their food choices, but they closed my favorite venues and I don't like their entertainment of late----I like RC for their soda machines convenience----- I don't like NCL if you really are booking for specific ports and itinerary- Princess has been the most reliable with overall enough time at each port. But their food is inconsistent from ship to ship and sailing to sailing. I will be on a really bad itinerary for a future Alaska cruise, because for that cruise I just wanted to try out NCL Bliss. It is only a week, so I can manage without self service laundry, I just want great food, great shows, and the Haven experience (although we booked the cheapest Haven cabin we could find. It was only a short flight for us, so NCL was the way to go for that. We found the best itinerary for a New England/Canada cruise for us on a Princess ship-- where the food is not going to be very good, according to reviews. But the itinerary is most important for us for that cruise and no way was I going to leave it in the hands of NCL. The itinerary will be pretty secure, I can pack reasonably light since every few days I can run a quick wash and dry on board. Don't care about entertainment on that ship. Will eat off the ship as much as possible to make it work.

I couldn't stop giggling from reading your post. Hysterical. The only thing I need to say in defense of the woman who was "starving" and ate breadcrumbs : Many years ago, my husband and myself were on the Island Princess on a great 7 day Alaska itinerary. We have sailed on many cruises across all the cruise lines----Found the food ranged from, very average to great (NCL the best overall for food)- jmho--- The food was truly not edible on my sailing. I survived on stale bread, protein bars that I brought with me, and ate huge lunches at whatever restaurants that were available at the ports when we had enough time. I actually managed to lose 5 pounds on that cruise, (not complaining here)-- had I not experienced that, I too would have considered that lady's comment about eating bread crumbs, ridiculous. My husband who never agrees with me on anything, just admitted, well, the food really wasn't very good. This was the one and only time that this happened to us on a cruise line. But I thought all the other comments were really so funny and over the top!

I'll post again after I speak with the tour operator.

Princess is so much easier with booking excursions- no mumbo jumbo. The site won't allow any overlapping bookings. I was just wondering how NCL handles that. On ports that have plenty of time available, often I don't book through the cruise line. But for tender ports which I hate, and for limited time to do what I want, it is just easier to book through the cruise line. So this cruise has short hours at the ports making it difficult to book anything outside of NCL directly.

This sailing really is the worst itinerary for people really wanting to do Alaska- Just to have something to do for the few hours in Juneau, I booked the Mendenhall with hatchery and gardens. The only thing with that is we have done Mendenhall twice, both doing the canoe thing and just walking around the trails. Have done Harv and Marv, etc. So I just looked for the shortest simplest, cheapest thing to do. So when I saw the Allen Marine excursion, got all excited. I will call after the holidays, in a couple of weeks, Allen Marine directly-- Again, why NCL would print the advertisement which states that it is not available, but that is in small print, and I just knew to look for that--most unsuspecting people wouldn't see it. So I won't change anything for now.

Can I actually book two excursions that overlap time wise? If that is the case, I guess I can do that.as long as I get a prompt refund for the excursion being cancelled. Do you remember how soon before your sailing date did NCL notify you that it was being cancelled?

I am sailing at end of August on an Alaska cruise on the Bliss. We booked this cruise, not for itinerary ( have been to Alaska 2 times already), but to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I have always wanted to do the Allen Marine excursion out of Juneau. the one that a small boat lines up to the ship and then goes through glacier area up close, and was surprised to see it listed as an available excursion on my cruise date, Aug 24. I was surprised to see it listed because from what I understood, this excursion is only available from end of June until mid August. So I was about to book it when I saw in the small print, that the operator does not do this excursion after mid August, just as I had heard. So why would NCL list this as being available. I'm afraid to book it because if I then get notified that this excursion is cancelled, then the only other one that I was thinking of doing will probably have no booking available. I will call up Allen Marine tours to double check from their end, as well as NCL. any advise welcomed! Thanks, Anita

I have mostly cruised on Celebrity and Princess- a couple of times on NCL and Royal Caribbean-- One thing that NCL has over Celebrity is the excellent choices of restaurants --. I did notice that Celebrity has gotten "cheaper" with food choices-- they ruined one of my favorite restaurants -Qzine- catering it to kids- The Lawn Club Grill was fabulous on the Reflection- not on other ships but one other- They used to have in all their ships a casual French restaurants with excellent crepes- Bistro on Five- that was turned into Sushi on Five. We always booked Aqua class-- But on our recent sailing, Haven dining wasn't great- the included Persian Gardens Spa wasn't great either. For best dining, in my opinion, NCL beats Celebrity. And yes, the coffee place on Celebrity was still really nice. NCL doesn't have that.

Happy Holidays.. If you are renting a car, which I strongly suggest, the San Pedro Crown Plaza is a 10-14 minute walk from, the pier, and offers a shuttle to the pier and back--- convenient. I just stayed there a month ago for a cruise and it worked out very well. The Doubletree is in a prettier location, but not as convenient. But it really depends on your plans for the 1 or 2 days you plan to go to the sites. I suggest first deciding what exactly you plan on doing in LA before you cruise and then take if from there. If you just want to go to Long Beach area for aquarium and Queen Mary then I would definately stay in San Pedro (if renting a car) If you plan on going to Anaheim for Disneyland, that is a different story.

I think for people who didn't book their "cruise rate'-- which included breakfast, parking and the shuttle to and from pier- it was $5.00.--- not to sure so you should check. Hope you have a nice cruise.

OK, I too was deciding between these two properties for a cruise last month. I decided on the Crown Plaza for these reasons: We liked keeping our car in the hotel garage. (We live about an hour 15 minutes from San Pedro.) We liked the idea of having a 10 to 15 minute walk from terminal, if somehow the shuttle wouldn't work out. (It did) The hotel was just very convenient, if you are just staying 1 night- 2 at the most. Breakfast was just fine. While we didn't eat dinner at the hotel restaurant, which had good reviews, plenty of people ate there. We went to a movie around half an hour from hotel- grabbed dinner items from Whole Foods which was maybe 15 minutes from hotel- and just had dinner in our hotel room, which was really nice. I would have stayed at Doubletree as it is in a prettier location, but for the reasons I stated above, the Crown Plaza worked out really well for us.

Hmmm, I never really thought about it-- but a couple of times on an Alaska sailing, on either Princess r Celebrity, forgot which one at the time: We booked a morning activity that was a simple short bus ride tin Juneau to the ride up the mountain for views and back. Had a 3 hour buffer afterwards for another short bus ride to Mendenhall Glacier area and back. I think if you really allow plenty of time between the activities (I wouldn't do water based ones for scheduling two activites unless a 3 hour buffer.) there shouldn'et be any problems.

According to the patters, it stated that the casual dining places needed to have a reservation. I just want to know now if this is done for same day, or needs to be done in advance. So I assume, unless something changes, this is not done before cruise.

I just put this info in my notes. Thanks, Anita

Thanks for the info. Very handy to know. Do you remember how long for amount of time in washer and drier? Also what are the hours for laundry room, if you remember. Really appreciate it. Anita

How much are the tokens? How many for washers and how many for dryers? Are they available in laundry rooms? Or do you have to purchase by purser office? My status for next trip is Platinum- I think Elite gets for free-- I read that certain ships there is no cost at all. I like to have the right amount of tokens on hand at beginning of voyage, so I would be set for trip, without having to waste time going back and forth to purser office ( I remember doing that years ago) My upcoming trip is the first Princess one since before Covid.

I wish Alfredo's would be on Emerald- I loved eating there on embarkation day on the Regal and Royal- But alas, not on the Emerald- But am I to understand that Planks, Steamers (not appealing to me- I only like lobster, fish and chips, and large crab legs) and Salty Dog in Wheelhouse, are not available to reserve on web site? But they are necessary to reserve on ship, using reservation ext. 6219, same day or otherwise? Again, just trying to understand the system for this.

I am interested in dining a couple of times in Salty Dog as well as when offered, Planks---- I have already booked on web version of App. Dine my Way, for Crown Grille. Looking over a few of the Patters that someone was kind enough to post. I was surprised that it said "reservations" for those casual dining options. I am aware that Planks is offered every other night or so on sailings. What I am trying to say, is for these two casual restaurants, do you have to make reservations when you board the ship, in my case, The Emerald? Or is this a same day kind of thing? Just trying to understand the system! Thanks, Anita

It is the Premium---I just spoke with Princess- hard to follow as person I spoke with had a thick accent and a lot of background noise---- So definitely two specialty restaurants-- the best I could understand is that I can just book the Crown Grille two times--- and the casual is unlimited as you stated above. Thanks. Anita

OK just checked, specialty dining $84 for myself and $84 for my husband on invoice. So is this then strictly for Crown Grille and Sabatinni's? If so, can I book just Crown Grille two times?

Maybe the plan is the Premium, sorry--- I definitely have two meals included for both my husband and myself.

Hi all. I just booked a future cruise on the Emerald for next fall. The way I understand it, the two main specialty restaurants are Crown Grille and Sabatinnis. I know the casual ones are the Gastro Pub inside Wheelhouse, and Planks and Steamers which alternate at back of the buffet, I think. I should add that we just want to eat at Crown Grille may be once or twice on the cruise (10 night cruise) I'd rather not eat at Sabatini's as the food is just too much for us. (We have eaten these several times in the past.) My question is do I just book on the web app (it is easier for me to do that) as if I don't have the free meals? I assume that Princess will deduct the cheaper restaurants. Or does Princess pick the restaurants for us? Just wondering how this works. Thanks in advance. Anita

I didn't notice anything, but most of the deserts are on the apt.