OfficerKrupke

Having just gotten back from our Alaska cruise, I wouldn't dream of *not* having a balcony. Dealing with the mobs up top wouldn't be worth the savings. I had to deal with a bunch of people when we first got to Marjerie Glacier, but once we were in front of the glacier I just went to my cabin, turned the television up on the position channel (46? 47?) so I could hear the naturalist and took pictures to my heart's content.

Light rail won't get you to the terminal where Princess ships are found.

It *will* perhaps get you close to your hotel, though, which is what the OP was asking about.

That said, I loathe taking light rail from the airport to downtown. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half, the station is located on the far side of the parking garage, and you still have to usually catch a cab of some sort to get to your hotel once you come out of the bowels of the train station to the surface streets of Seattle. In contrast, Uber Black picked us up in the front loading zone in 6 minutes and had us at our hotel (Marriott Waterfront) in 25 minutes. the price was $55 each way plus the cash tip I gave for such quick and friendly service.

We boarded so fast on 6/4 that a lounge would have been unnecessary. We literally walked in, dropped our bags off, stood in line for 5 minutes for security, 2-3 minutes for priority check in and within 20 minutes of arriving at the port we were headed to our stateroom. It's the fastest I've ever embarked (and disembarked, for that matter) in my life.

Seattle TSA was horrible both times, though, so slow and they were very rude compared to every other airport we've been to.

We were just at the Seattle airport on Monday. The TSA line was terrible. I don't know why they aren't opening the other entry points to more traffic. The TSA area at terminal S was completely empty, though there were TSA agents on duty. The "cruise ship" TSA area didn't appear to be open, since they weren't redirecting anybody. We were lucky enough to be flying Premium, so we were able to walk past the approximately 1,000 people waiting in line and go straight to the Premium entry, which had 5 people ahead of us. It was worth the extra frequent flyer points we spent to fly Premium (in this case, Business Class) just to avoid that mess.

We just got back and used Uber Black both directions. It was fantastic.

So, I guess the app that I downloaded at the end of April/beginning of May after we booked our cruise is no longer relevant or supported? I can't find the app anywhere online to add it to my wife's phone for our trip next week. Heck, it doesn't even show up in my backed-up apps on my computer, even though I can see it in its folder on the phone (and can even launch it to the opening screen) and on iTunes.

The whole concept of having to log onto a website to check messages that you don't even get notifications for is ridiculous. An app allows you to keep it running in the background so you can get real-time messages. It works great for DCL (after they finally worked the connection bugs out a year and a half ago) so I know it's possible to do.

I've driven across enough of the States to know that I don't care much for the countryside from Memphis to Denver, though a wandering path can pretty much pick up hills most of the way until you hit the central states like Kansas. Colorado east of the Rockies is mostly boring. Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska? Boring as a general rule unless you head way south into the hill country of Texas. Colorado is high desert until you get to the Rockies, though the drive from Denver to Fort Collins has its pretty places.

It's funny, but I love the New Mexico desert and hate the Nevada desert. It's just different in an intangible way to me.

If I had my druthers and was flying from elsewhere to the States to spend a couple of weeks riding and then cruising, I'd be all about California, Oregon, the Rockies of Colorado and Wyoming, the hills of New Mexico like Taos, Raton and Santa Fe, Washington west of the mountains and that's about it. The East Coast has too many people and, though places like the Smoky Mountains (I live ~30 minutes from the entrance to the National Park and own a place in Gatlinburg. The main motorcycle thing we have going for us in this area is the legendary Deal's Gap/The Tail of the Dragon.) are pretty, they don't hold a candle to the majesty of the Rockies, Sierras and Pacific Northwest for me, especially with the relatively low congestion out that way. It truly is a whole 'nuther world over there. It's just no contest.

That said, riding across the US is something that would be intriguing just to say you've done it, and I can definitely see the attraction.

I'm unsure if Seattle has it, but we've also used UberTaxi in SFO. It's a real taxicab that you choose when you launch the Uber app. You still see your driver and what kind of car they will be driving. I even had one call me and tell me that he had gotten caught in bad traffic and was taking a different route but would be there soon.

My family refuses to use taxis when they're downtown. They swear by Uber. They tell it's more reliable, cheaper and the cars are nicer. You'll see your driver's face and what type of car before you ever get in the car. You an also track where they are in relation to where you are at any time. Plus the ride is paid for automatically because your payment information is stored by Uber. Tipping is up to you if you want to.

We used it in SFO and it was awesome.

As a side note, I've walked through the 3rd and Pine area numerous times at night, but I'm not local so I didn't know to be worried.

Most of the roll call activities have moved to social media.

This. Social media roll call groups for DCL tend to be *very* active.

Our bar bill on a 7-day cruise tends to be in the 4-digit range, so the drink package was a no brainer for me.

It released this weekend overseas and was a big hit. I'm surprised it's not on the boat already, given that schedule. It's not like Disney ships are US flagged.

That said, you should hear something about it in the next day or so if they are going to PremEar it.

The hosts are really special folks, handpicked from among all the Guest Services crew.

 

Which ship will you be on in November?

Fantasy, as we have several times before. Our first time on Fantasy was Concierge and we fell in love with PJ and Tracey. We've since managed to see PJ every time we've been on the Fantasy, even if we're not in Concierge that time. Tracey has switched to the Dream, and after one four-day cruise we'll most likely never do it again. It felt like it was too rushed.

She kept saying "But you're going to miss out on the magic!!!"

At that point, being the intolerant oaf that I am when it comes to boorish behavior, I would have said, "Well, if the magic is anything like your behavior, then we've definitely seen enough for today."

We are hardcore Disney fans, but we're also hardcore "spending our money semi-wisely so we can two-week cruises instead of one-week cruises" fans too. We will continue to cruise Disney most likely, but if we like this Princess cruise we won't be as quick to say, "If it ain't Disney we ain't cruisin'."

Sometimes it does feel like being grilled when sharing a table.

That was a pretty rare comment. Well done!

They probably will, when it comes time for her dry dock.

I'm sure they will. It's just a matter of when she actually goes in for dry dock. So far, it only appears the Wonder is going in for a big dry dock this year, so we'll be sitting in the sun boiling in Mexico if we decide to use the sweat box that is the Concierge sun deck.

 

Source: Asked friend of mine, who is a DCL Concierge Host.

Awesome. Hopefully your friend is one of our hosts in November. We've loved all of our hosts over the years.

I just wish they would add the sun shades on the Concierge sun deck of the Fantasy that they did on the Dream during dry dock. That place feels like the surface of the sun when in the Caribbean. I rarely see people in there because it's so darned hot.

This review indicates the "Concierge service" is much like the service provided by the Concierge team on the first day, but provided by the Coordinator instead. Booking of tastings, dinner, spa, salon, etc. This is different from Concierge benefits such as Concierge Lounge and Sun Deck, etc. The Coordinator is the one who provides the daily treats in the stateroom, not Concierge.

https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/disney-cruise-wedding-castaway-cay/

Again, I'm really interested to see if a full Concierge experience is provided. Can't wait for your information!

Nice try but penny pinchers don't do Alaska cruises on DCL. [emoji4]

 

 

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Those words? You took 'em right outta my mouth.

still waiting to talk to wedding planner but reviews that I have read indicates that the bride and groom will get concierge service but will just to have to wait and ask Faith .

I would imagine there's a difference between "Concierge service" and "Concierge benefits." People pay a *lot* of money to be in Concierge, and the space is not that big. There are many who would be quite upset if somebody from "steerage" is allowed to sully their ivory tower. I've seen plenty of hyperbole to this effect on other forums. I'm intrigued to find out the answers and if it turns out that you don't have to be Concierge to get the full Concierge treatment then some peoples' oxen are going to be gored beyond hope. :D

I get what you're saying, but in order to assess the pricing rationally, you can't do "DCL vs WDW", since WDW is an insanely expensive vacation in 2016. You have to do "DCL vs (other mass-market cruise line)".

Agreed. We've done the Land/Sea thing with WDW and DCL. The WDW portion was *significantly* more expensive than DCL. WDW is an outrageously expensive thing to do unless you really work hard to save on hotel, food, tickets, etc.

What I'm finding at a more Disney-specific forum is that it allows you to book things with Shoreside Concierge and board with Concierge, but I'm not finding any reference to access to any of the Concierge-only areas. I doubt you'd even receive the gold key card unless you're in a Concierge room either.

getting married in july on Disney dream , one of the perks for the bride and groom listed is concierge service , does that mean we would have access to concierge lounge and sundeck and all the other concierge perks ?

Not that I'm aware of. As far as I know, you have to be staying in Concierge to get the Concierge benefits. I see nothing in their list that says anything about Concierge services for weddings. I do see coordinator service.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/featured/packages/

https://www.disneyweddings.com/cruise/pricing/

Would you pay Disney prices if you were not a Disney fan?

 

No.

 

 

This. Absolutely this. We're booked for Princess in a month to get our feet wet outside Disney because Disney's Alaska cruises were ludicrously priced. We're booked for Disney in November and June of next year, but that June one may get changed depending on where we stand after our Princess cruise. Disney's prices are so far out of line with the real world that we don't see the value anymore. We'll see once we're off the Crown Princess.