Wolfhunt

Haven't cruised Princess yet (will be in less than a week) but it sounds like they are the same as other lines we have cruised.

If I order two apps and notice that some others at the table only order one I'll ask the servers if they could bring them both at the same time or at least don't wait in me to bring everyones entrees.

On our last cruise I couldn't decide on which dessert, the waiter said try them all, so I did! I had five desserts that night and they brought them all at the same time. I'm usually not much of a dessert person so the look on my wifes face when she saw what I ordered was priceless. We had a great wait staff and dinner mates on that cruise, I'm not sure who was having more fun at our table, us or the wait staff. :)

Camera now says bound for Glacier Bay instead of heading to Skagway. Now I am really nervous for our cruise.

Going to be on the Crown this Friday, hope they get everything figured out.

Where can you find info when something like this happens?

I am going to let everyone in on a fantastic place to view the scenery. We did this on our recent Crown cruise. I assume most people are not aware of it because we were always out there by ourselves. Here goes. To get there you will need to be on the Lido deck. Walk towards the bow passing both pools. There will be a door that goes to a hallway. Keep walking past all the cabins. At the end of the hallway there will be a door. It is not marked in any way. Open it and go thru the next door. You will be on a huge deck that is right above the bridge. It offers spectacular viewing. It extends all the way on both sides over the bridge, offering a unique view down the side of the ship also. They lock it at night but reopen it early in the morning. It is a little tricky to find, but well worth it.

Thanks for the info, we will be on the Crown to Alaska in one week and that is just down the hall from our stateroom. Going to scope this area out on sail away.

news article

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/holyhead-cruiseliners-no-show-could-11273505

First, I think the tour operator made a huge mistake going public. I will always assume the ships captain and his advisors will make the best decision for the safety of the passengers and crew. Will it always be the right one? Maybe not, but they have the best information to make it. (I'm not saying the decision to port or not was correct as, like the tour operator, I was not on the ship with access to the info the captain had).

There will always be unhappy passengers, tour companies, and even crew when a port has to be cut short or skipped. It is part of the business and the risk these companies take.

Second, scroll down to the comments in the news article. The two comments that were there when I read it were actually glad the ship didn't stop as they didn't want Holyhead to be the first impression that people got when visiting their land. This tour operator going public like this has not only brought negative publicity to himself but indirectly is bringing it to the port also.

In todays world where information and public opinion travels so fast you really have to think twice and have all the facts before attacking a company that brings people to your shores.

We are doing the same B2B. Going by what the Princess rep told me when we booked this was if we are in the same stateroom (which we are) we could leave the luggage. We would disembark with everyone doing the B2B then get back on when the ship was cleared.

He made it sound like we would be put into a lounge at port so not sure if we would have to go through immigration/customs unless we headed into town.

Seeing the ship as you approach port. I still love the look of cruise ships.

I love unpacking the suitcases in the stateroom, once I have done that I know I am officially on board.

I love that embarkation drink and the end of the muster drill.

Exploring new ships, finding that band, piano player, or bar that you just know is going to be your nightly stop.

I also love sea days. We always have a balcony and being able to sit out there reading, enjoying the sound of the sea, perhaps with a drink or snack. Plus, on sea days I know I have no plans except whatever time we have dinner.

Thanks, sounds like the Trolley is the best bet. I saw that they start their summer schedule today but didn't see it posted yet.

We would like to see Grouse and Capilano but only have one day and we might be getting a late start that day since we have a very long travel day the day before (leaving Cincinnati at 6am our time and arriving in Vancouver around 11:30pm Vancouver time. Two flights and a train ride).

I'm hoping we can do a west coast cruise someday (SF or LA to Vancouver) and add on a fee days at both ends.

We will have a day in Vancouver BC before our cruise and while looking at possible transportation around the city I think I have completely confused myself. It doesn't help that we have never visited Vancouver and the bus/rail maps are a bit confusing to me.

Our plan (weather permitting) is to explore Stanley Park, possibly having lunch at the Teahouse. If time permits, perhaps exploring other areas as well. Looking at possible options, I have found the Trolley, bus, and rail options.

We are staying at the Residence Inn (Marriot) on Hornsby. I like the idea of the Trolley but it doesn't seem to run very late according to their website.

Can someone recommend the best way to get around Vancouver? Keep in mind, this is the first time we have been there.

Our experiences can be broken into two parts, the customs and immigration part, and the real Princess part. Since you will be the only ship in port, the customs and immigration part should not be quite the nightmare it can be. Lines are horrid, as passengers for all the ships use the same lines.

 

Once you get through that, it is easy and pretty smooth. That is the part that Princess has control over.

 

I think arriving at 10 or so would be better than waiting for lines to build an hour or so later......we took the transfer up from Seattle last summer and by the time we got to the port, the customs and immigration lines were beyond ridiculous, we spent about 150 minutes to get through those lines. Hoping that with just one ship it will be much easier. You still won't be able to board until 11:30, 11:45 or just before noon, but you can be seated instead of standing on line for an eternity.

 

By the way, our experience at the new pier in SF for embarkation was quite smooth, too.

Thanks. I don't mind the waiting once you get through customs/immigration. I always have my iPad ready with books and movies when I travel. I also have my Surface Pro 3 and can edit whatever pbotos I took on our day in Vancouver.

How do I find out what ships will be in Vancouver on 5/11? Thanks! Diana

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

There is a PDF here that has the port schedule http://www.portvancouver.com/cruise/cruise-schedule/

Princess only allows boarding when all staterooms are ready, so you can drop off your carry-on in your cabin and head off for lunch. Often when you return to your cabin post lunch, your luggage will be waiting for you. Boarding usually begins about 1145.

Thanks, that will be so much easier than getting lunch or a drink with my carry-on bags.

Thanks, I did notice the Crown was the only ship in that day. Hopefully that will cut down on confusion. I can see how that would be easier than dealing with three ships loading/unloading at once.

We have to check out if the hotel by 11am (I think) so we will probably leave a bit early and try to get to port by 10-10:30. Even though I am sure we will have to wait a bit, at least we might beat the main rush. I do enjoy getting aboard and being able to relax a bit, grab a bite to eat and maybe a drink then unpack before muster (assuming the luggage gets there by then). It might sound odd, but I look forward to unpacking and "moving in" to the stateroom. It just makes me feel that the vacation has begun.

With Princess are staterooms usually open when you board or do you need to wait while the staff finishes getting them ready (which is what we are used to) ?

Going to be on our first Princess cruise in a few weeks and also the first time we have sailed out of Vancouver.

Was curious what it is like boarding at the Port of Vancouver. We have sailed with Disney out of Canaveral and Galveston (basically a slightly organized cattle call), out of Ft Lauderdale on RCIs Allure (very organized process), and on Carnival in Miami (somewhere between the other two lines).

How is Princess out if Vancouver? We typically arrive at port around 10am. This is because I am paranoid about something happening on the way to port that might delay us and want lots of a cushion.

Assuming you are traveling on embarkation day, why not just take the Princess xfer from the Seattle airport to the ship?

We are traveling a few days before the cruise so we could have a full day to explore some of Vancouver. We always travel at least one day before the cruise because I am always worried that something will get delayed and we'll miss the boat.

As long as United and Amtrack have their acts together, that travel day we should be fine, just a long day. If something does delay us we will have a full days cushion. My only concern is getting into Seattle on time. If we miss Amtrack we will have to find a place in Seattle and catch the train the next morning. A hassle but not a big deal, that's what travel insurance is for.

First thing is first, make sure your cruise is legal. If the start and endpoints of the cruise are different US cities, then you will not be allowed to do this. This is very common for ships repositioning to/from Alaska.

It is, everytime I have called Princess to make payments the rep checks to make sure what we are doing is ok. The first time I was a little worried as I thought they checked when we booked it, now I just get a chuckle when they check everytime. While it adds time to any call I make, it makes me feel good that every rep so far has noticed it and makes sure we won't have any issues.

This is the first Princess cruise and the first cruise out of a non-USA port so I asked the reps at Princess and Amtrack (we are taking Amtrack from Seattle to Vancouver on the way there) quite a few questions to be sure we had all of our ducks in a row. The trip there will be a bit nerve racking making all the connections (Cincinnati-Houston-Seattle on United then Seattle to Vancouver on Amtrack all in the same day) but ince we get to Vancouver we will be able to relax.

Thanks all,

If the Chefs Table is not offered then we will just do one of the specialty places that night. I will go ahead and ask at the beginning of the first cruise and maybe there will be enough interest from others doing the back-to-back that we can get it set up. The worst that could happen is we are told no.

We have a one-night cruise attached to the end of our 7-day Alaska cruise in May. Do they do the Chef's Table on one-nighters? And if they do, would we be able to book it for the one-nighter while on the 7-nighter since they are back to back?

We are doing our first Alaska cruise on the Crown Princess (got a great deal) out of Vancouver this May. While I can't help with the cruise line choices there was something that came up while researching our trip.

You mentioned Glacier Bay is a must (it was for us too). When looking at itineraries the Seattle trip during our time frame was in Glacier Bay very early in the morning and you were in a port that afternoon. We almost missed this, the idea of getting up early for Glacier Bay then doing a port the same day just sounded exhausting. We choose Vancouver because that trip was in Glacier Bay the whole day.

If you find a Vancouver trip that you like but Seattle flights work better you might look into what we are doing. We are flying into Seattle and taking the Amtrak Cascades to Vancouver. Prices are very reasonable and from what I have heard it is a nice scenic trip.

Enjoy your trip, I know we can't wait for ours to get here.

When we booked ours (we are doing the RT Vancouver) I asked the Princess rep for their opinion and he said the port side because that side will be facing scenery on the sea day on the way back.

I'm betting that there are great views from the cabin no matter which side your on (except maybe interior :) )

Thanks for the review and pics. We will be on the Crown in May for an Alaska cruise and your shots of the upper decks have given me some good ideas for areas to view Glacier Bay from.

The cruise lines can step in and block an agency if they feel they are misrepresenting the product (at least in the US, not sure about the UK). That happened to an agency here that I talked to. They fed me the everything included line and the tricks to not pay more (including the cancelling of tips which I would never do). When I said I would never do that, his response was "everyone does it" and went into hard sell mode (something that will make me leave immediately). Since I had sailed before I knew the agent was giving me info that wasn't truly representing the product and walked out the door. A few weeks later I learned that three different cruise lines had taken him off their approved agent lists and forfieted his commissions to compensate angry passengers that believed him.

I had only talked to the agency because they offered what I call a "too good to be true" rate. Turned out it was too good to be true.

We will be at port in Juneau in mid-May and will be in port until 10pm. Since we are there so late we thought about eating in town if there are some good local choices.

Has anyone had dinner in town and are there places you would recommend?

We used go airport on our last trip (although we flew into FLL and sailed from

Miami). Did a shared shuttle from the airport and a private car from the ship. Both went really well.

Had thought about just renting a car but was glad we didn't. Traffic in Miami turned in a mess both ways and the drivers knew how to get us around the messes without any problems.

We are also on Crown in May, leaving 13th, will be our first cruise. 2 sisters from New Zealand so much looking forward to it, and have learn,t so much from CC.

There is a wealth of good info on these forums. If you can't find an answer to a question, ask. I'm sure someone here has the answer or can point you in the right direction.

You'll be able to recognize us. I'll be the one taking a bajillion photos while my wife will be the one asking if I'll ever put the camera down. :) Of course, I'm guessing there will be a bunch of people with their cameras out on deck.