cruzinbabes

Off topic response here- How do you feel about crab? Just to the left of the port in Junea is an unassuming little place that sells huge, fresh crab. It's called Tracy's King Crab Shack, and is just slightly larger than a food truck (you eat outside at tables under a tent or awning). I prefer crab over lobster every time, and would love to go back for those legs dipped in butter. You can find them online. kingcrabshack.com

 

Back to the original topic: the worst meal I ever had on Celebrity was the lobster in Blu. My husband's was fine, but mine could not be cut with a knife and fork, and it was swimming in pink peppercorns, which is all you could taste. I have avoided it since. Trust your waiter's recommendations.

We love crab, and look forward to going to Tracy's Crab Shack again! I agree that crab is as good as lobster, but living on the west coast, it's much easier for us to get good crab than lobster.

Not exactly the responses I was hoping for, but I'm sure we won't starve!:D We're on an Alaskan cruise that starts in Seattle and ends in Vancouver. From Vancouver, we take a short cruise on the Island Princess back home to SF. Any good lobster on the Island Princess?

We're not in AQ, so I think that leaves us out for Blue. Do any of the restaurants serve a really good grilled or broiled lobster with just a little drawn butter on the side? We're not really into lobster with fancy sauces and especially not a cheese-type sauce.

We're sailing on the Celebrity Solstice this Friday, and looking forward to having a fabulous lobster meal. We prefer a simple preparation vs heavy sauces. What restaurant do you recommend?:)

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Would we be able to cash out "nonrefundable" credit in the casino, even if the travel agent says it can't be used in the casino? If we have to have it refunded to our credit card instead of converting it to cash, does it have to go back to the card we used to pay for the cruise, or can we change it to a card that we use more often?

Thank you so much for all of your help!:)

I called STILA this morning, and their rate from SeaTac to Pier 91 is $60 plus tip. I think Pier 91 is about 3 or 4 miles further from the airport than Pier 66, so I don't know how much difference that will make in the rate. If you need to make a quick stop (ie grocery store or drug store) they charge an additional $10. They recommend a 15% gratuity to the driver.

Hi,

We have more onboard credit (from our travel agent) than we expect to use, and are wondering if there is a way to convert that credit into cash. The travel agent states that the credit can't be used for gratuities or in the casino. We do not want any unused credit to go back to the credit card used to pay for the cruise, as we rarely use that particular card. Any advise from the more experienced cruisers?

Thanks!:)

Hello,

We will be on the 3 night sailing of the Island Princess from Vancouver to SF next month. We are longing to have a fantastic lobster meal, and I'm not sure that the MDR will serve lobster on such as short sailing. Where do you think we stand the best chance of having a great lobster meal? We prefer a simple preparation for our lobster. Thanks!:)

Thanks for posting back with the Port's response. Have a great trip!

Thanks! We can hardly wait!

Sounds like we will have to try the filet in the Bayou Café! Which restaurant has better lobster, or is it better in the MDR? Not sure the MDR will even have lobster on a 3 nighter, as there is no formal night listed.

Thank you for the responses! Seems most people who responded prefer the Bayou Café? Is it similar to the Crown Grill on other Princess ships? This will be our first trip on the Island, although we have done several cruises on other Princess ships. What are your favorite dishes?

We are riding the Island Princess home to SF next month, following an Alaska sailing on the Celebrity Solstice. Since the cruise is only 3 nights, we will probably only do one specialty restaurant.

Would you recommend Sabatini's, the Bayou Café, or just sticking with the main dining room? What appetizers, entrees and desserts do you recommend?

Looking forward to hearing everyone's recommendations! Thanks!

Thank you so much to everyone who responded.

I received a call back from a representative of the cruise ship terminal (91)today. She assured me that there are always porters available to help with luggage in the taxi drop-off area, starting at around 10-10:30 am.

Hi, everyone, thank you for the responses!

I tried calling the port at 206-737-3911, but they are closed. I will let you know if they respond to my email.

We don't need a porter for our luggage, as that has wheels We had planned to have the car service stop at a store so we could buy a case or two of bottled water, and I'm not sure we could manage those along with our luggage without help.:eek:

Hi, I've seen conflicting information regarding the availability of porters at Pier 91 to transport bags from the taxi to the cruise ship terminal where the ship's employees would take custody of the luggage. Does anyone know if porters are consistently available at that pier, and if so, during what times of the day? Or will we need to get the luggage from the taxi drop-off into the terminal on our own? We will be sailing on the Solstice in mid-September.

Thanks!

We were planning to bring a case on bottled water on board, in addition to our luggage. Is there a way to find out in advance if there will be porters to assist us at the taxi/town car stand where we are dropped off? Not sure we can manage both luggage and a heavy case of water.

Thanks, Mapleleaves....I'm still trying to figure out how to find things on these boards!:)

Does anyone have recent experience with Century Car Service in Seattle? If so, what was your experience with them? Their recent YELP reviews seem almost too good to be true

Thanks.

We sailed on a 14 day ultimate Alaska cruise a few years ago the last week of June and first week of July. We had torrential rains and high winds alternating with dense fog for 12-1/2 of those days. We had been to Alaska several times before that, so we knew the beauty hidden behind the dreary weather. We really felt sorry for those who were doing a "once in a lifetime" trip to Alaska, and had to rely on postcards and pictures to see the beauty.

The bus windows in port were fogged up on the inside, so we really couldn't see much even on the excursions.

The cruise was still fun, but I doubt we would spend the kind of $$$ HAL charged for that balcony cabin again...we could only see past our balcony rail for 1 -1/2 days out of the whole trip!

On the other hand, we've been on several Alaskan cruises where the weather was perfect...you just never know.

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Sounds like we will be better off staying away from them!

We received an email from Costco today, advertising their shore excursion branch called Shore Excursions Group LLC. (We purchased our upcoming cruise through Costco's Travel. agency.) Some of their prices look pretty good, and I've been trying to find out if anyone has heard of them or used them. Their email contained a discount code (COSTSHRX ) which appears to take off an average of 15-20% or so. There are some flightseeing options, and also options for multi-port excursions.

Hi everyone,

We are sailing on the Solstice to Alaska next month. Today, we received an email from a membership store that we belong to (not sure if it's ok to name them here), offering us discounted shore excursions through Shore Excursions Group LLC. We bought our cruise through the travel agency of that store. I looked at some of the shore excursions offered, and they do seem to offer a decent discount, especially using the discount code (COSTSHRX) mentioned in the email.

Has anyone used Shore Excursions Group LLC to purchase shore excursions? What did you think of them?

Thank you in advance for any input you can provide. We usually rent a car and create our own excursions in Alaska, but some of the adventures offered are tempting.

Hi everyone,

We are sailing on the Solstice to Alaska next month. Today, we received an email from a membership store that we belong to (not sure if it's ok to name them here), offering us discounted shore excursions through Shore Excursions Group LLC. We bought our cruise through the travel agency of that store. I looked at some of the shore excursions offered, and they do seem to offer a decent discount, especially using the discount code (COSTSHRX) mentioned in the email.

Has anyone used Shore Excursions Group LLC to purchase shore excursions? What did you think of them?

Thank you in advance for any input you can provide. We usually rent a car and create our own excursions in Alaska, but some of the adventures offered are tempting.

TCOhio, thanks for the great pics! I was having difficulty picturing a lawn on a ship Those chairs next to the lawn look like they could be a favorite place for watching the scenery go by!:)