LeeW

Hope it is the polymer version and not paper. Paper expired last September. You can still exchange old bills for new at the Bank of England.

Ship must be docking in Breivika, which is 4 miles north of downtown. City bus 42 runs around $5 for the trip or $11 for day pass.

Weird issue on port transfer in Tromso. Map shows cruise terminal is basically in downtown area and maybe 1/2 mile from the Raddison Blu Hotel. Yet the $20 transfer says it is 4 miles and 20 minute drive. Think you could walk it faster than waiting for the transfer.

If the bottle sells for less than $100 onboard, yes. And I believe this only works in a specialty restaurant, not at a bar.

Strange problem. The photo id is just for a picture to go along with the birth certificate. No reason for them to even look at the date. Even an expired passport works as the photo id.

The downside of these cruises if you are NOT booked with the group is that the casino is so packed you can't get a machine.

Solarium is usually great. Seldom anyone in there. Some nights they may be cleaning and will kick you out of one side. You need to pick a lounger or round chair under a light to read since it can be dark. Or bring a reading light.

My favorite tour on Aruba is 2 person UTV through DePalm Tours, DW not so much. Might be available through ship (although we did it when we stayed on the island). Rock crawling, high speed and lots of sights on the east side of the island. You do need either goggles or good glasses and they will give you a bandana. Downside is Aruba has lots of red soil. Two weeks to get red color out of my hair....

Even if you are sailing to Alaska from Vancouver you go through US immigration in Canada Place before boarding the ship. That is the slowest part of boarding there. Expect a lot of escalators as you process onto the ship.

For partial transits a lot of tours leave from Gatun Lake after the ship locks up and anchors. Then you return to the ship after it locks back down to the Caribbean. Not as many tours are offered for full transit cruises in the Canal since the ship doesn't anchor. Some cruises have an overnight in Panama City before/after the transit and can offer more tours. Have done a few full transits before and like most Princess cruises the excursions were available as much as a year before sailing.

Not that we care about which side of the ship we are on, but large ships like Allure don't fit at the normal pier in Aruba so they back in to the old industrial pier (starboard to shore). Normal city pier is always port to shore. Gate is between the two. We've also noticed that Celebrity spends more time in port than Royal.

And you can use your vouchers for a non-D person. Not restricted.

Rare situation. Sailed on Allure a few years back and Fort Lauderdale port and airport were closed due to hurricane when we were due back. Stayed out 3 days extra with two stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya. Many folks flew home because of work. People without passports were forced to stay onboard. Really rough time. All drink and internet extended free. Around 1000 passengers by the time we got back. More waiters in Mytime dining room than guests so they started to get every other night off. Staff allowed to attend shows with guests.

During the fall it is fairly easy to book a cruise from LA or SF to Vancouver, stay a day or two, and then a different ship south. Not only do you get a lot of cruise credits but suites can be cheap. We did this when we were getting close to Elite. Vancouver is a great place to spend a few days.

Since we don't like the Blu menu and wouldn't use the Persian Garden our answer is zero. And we wouldn't bid up to Concierge either.

DW normally orders steak in main dining room. In Luminae she got filet almost every night. Waiter got these for her instead of the always available steak in main dining. We were on Equinox and the whole dining staff were incredible.

And you have to pick up the luggage as it is unloaded from the bus and take it yourself into the airport and check it in with the airline. Princess does have a program in Port Everglades and Miami that includes getting your boarding passes and sending your luggage directly onto the airplane. Seattle runs a similar program for cruise lines that sail out of there. Never heard of this in San Francisco.

Looking at similar activities for October. Arizona tickets open at 7am Hawaii time 8 weeks before day of visit. You can also visit other facilities with the Pearl Harbor Passport (includes bus to Ford Island) for $68pp available farther in advance. There is also a local bus from Waikiki that goes to the airport and to the Arizona museum complex (can't remember the number) for much less than Uber.

Varies all over the place. Have had excursions for April 2024 available for 3-4 months. Short cruises seem to be released later. Keep looking.

First, the critters are always on the other side of the ship. Second, most sailing is done at night and you can't see much. In places like Hubbard Glacier you want to be moving around the ship (same with Panama Canal). Including moving far forward even when raining. Yes, it can be very cold. We have done a B2B Vancouver to Vancouver in an ocean view cabin. Since we were seldom in the room this was a ton cheaper than booking a balcony.

OP has knee issues that may require cab. Paddington and Earl's Court are closest stations with elevator but both would require longish walk to her hotel.

Downside of booking whale watching through cruise is massive number of people on the boat. Looks kind of like a refugee boat when you see it from outside. Try alaskashoretours.com - around 20 people on a large enclosed jet boat. Can be booked either with or without trip to Mendenhall Glacier. Don't remember a salmon bake option so you would need to consider which is more important, space on boat or food. Never been to lumberjack show but is often available as walkup. Check online prices versus prices through ship. We usually just walk around town, Creek Street and up to the totem museum. Best shopping port on cruise. Have already done Neets Bay floatplane there (around $400pp). Train is good, taken twice in seven trips. But seats are not very comfortable. We do Eagle Preserve rafting trip if the cruise stop is long enough. Usually book through ship but expensive.

Just buy the Copenhagen card. Includes buses, trains and tour boat as well as entry into a bunch of museums. And Tivoli. We stayed at the Blu on the north side of Tivoli and took the train to the pier. Note that the Blu is kind of like staying in an Ikea and bedrooms hold a bed with less than a foot to spare. Bought our Copenhagen card at the tourist office across from both the hotel and Tivoli. Can also be purchased online. You do have to validate it on train platform before using the train.

They load these as groups of ships for a certain time period and you really don't know when it will happen. For example, Liberty for February and Oddyssey for April have been open for a month or so but Liberty for just after Christmas isn't loaded yet. Keep looking. Also, usually when the specialty reservations open Mytime does as well. But I have had one cruise where Mytime opened a week after specialty. Note that if you are booked with fixed seating you won't even see Mytime.

Equinox had them most days a few weeks ago. The specialty bread table in the buffet also had them a few times for breakfast, rotating with apple bread, cinnamon buns and a couple of other types.