SiliconCruiser

If you go to the first 7:30 show, it will let out at 8:15. You are not likely to have to wait in any of the dining rooms at that hour, not sure what Club Class may have to do with it.

On the Crown, the self-service washers and dryers are free. You only need tokens if you need soap or dryer sheets.

Forget about what boarding time you requested, just board as early as you can. Drop your carry-ons in your cabin and then go to the 6th floor mid-ship dining room for lunch. I recommend the beef tenderloin, but have whatever suits your fancy. If for some reason you can't drop your carry-ons in your cabin, just take them to the MDR.

Having just gotten off a couple of those, I did not see a single tuxedo, a few suits, some shirts with ties, and some shorts. I used to wear a tuxedo, but now I will sometimes bring a tie (not necessarily wear it, but I bring one along.) I think I need to find a nice pair of black shorts and wear it with my tuxedo vest and an open collar formal shirt with my bow time hung around like you see in the after parties from the Oscars. Maybe I'll bring the jacket just for effects. But yes, I am an old person, but I'm not bound by the fashion police that occupy social media.

On our last 4 cruises in the last month, they did not check anything at the door. We forgot our invitation at one of the parties and thus lost out on the opportunity of winning a bottle of bubbly (fancier than the ones that you win at the other functions, these actually had foil around the neck of the bottle, must cost more than $3 each. 😁) But for the most part, they didn't even check the medallions for color. Should've brought our newbie friends, but it would have been a waste of time since they don't drink.

Free drinks no snacks, and they weren't really checking medallions at the door on the 3 cruises that we took, that had a a Captain Circle party over the past month. On the last one, they didn't even take the invitations for the drawing, names were chosen from this Elite/Platinum list.

I finally went to one when we were on the Crown. Not well attended, and pretty much confirmed that it was just a venue to sell drinks. Overall, I was not impressed by the food offerings.

I want 12 bottle\s of cheap Scotch. Better than no Scotch at all (or having to pay for it.) But realistically, I just bring my own on board (web site quoters have at it.)

Yes, May 5-12 on the Crown. Was not the case on the Royal when we did a b2b2b from 4/16-5/3. The menus on the Alaska leg were marked as "Alaska nnnn" in the lower right hand corner, so they may have a different set of menus for this venue.

Not that one.

Your presumption is correct.

That's probably why the Lobster is no longer offered separately. On a side note, when we were in Vancouver, we ventured into the new Chinatown (Richmond) and witnessed a table of 5 who had ordered a whole King Crab. The waitress told us that it was $88.88 per pound (CAD), but Chinese immigrants will probably recognize the significance of the "8"s.

And your point is ... ? Seems to me that it hasn't changed.

Yes, but your electronic devices will only sync when you're near a port call, unless you pay for wi-fi.

We sailed on the Island a few years back. Worst cruise experience we have ever had. Nothing but lies from 'guess' services, cabin steward that didn't want to be bothered, rude waiters who thought it would be fun to play with my wife's wheelchair, and less than cooperative hotel manager when we complained of the sewage that was leaking into the floors of several decks (they finally figure out how to shut off the flow and left the access door open to show everyone of their ingenuity.) Good part was that we did find a cooperative Guest Services supervisor who 'suggested' some actions including refusing any compensation offer that was made from the ship. The long and short of it is that it is the only time that I was driven to remove the gratuities. Corporate did double the compensation offer from the ship (only applicable to a future cruise) but it was hardly adequate for the level of abuse we had been subjected to.

Maybe they have an excess of blue on white stickers for the medallions and they're trying to get rid of them?

On the second formal night we were greeted in the MDR (immediately after being seated) that there would be a $19 upcharge if you ordered more than one helping of the beef tenderloin and lobster (they didn't even call it "surf & turf". The waitress was very kind and accommodating (20 year veteran of Princess) and thought it best to give us fair warning. We do not fault the wait staff, only new Princess penny pinchers.

"The Alaska Cruise Companion: A Naturalist's Guide to Alaska's Inside Passage" by Rachel Cartwright is owned by Princess. It is being sold on the Princess ships in Alaska for $25 plus change, they often have it posted for $22.99, but they'll still ring it up at the $25 price unless you challenge them on the posted price.

Say away, far far away.

Wow! The last time we saw crab (of any kind) on the menu was on an Alaskan cruise on the Grand in 2016. I think we had about 11 orders for our table of 6 (I had the beef offering and only one order of King crab.)

Just occurred to me that we'll be on that cruise as well.

[What ship are you on? I thought Princess normally docked at Pier 91. Need to confirm as we will also have friends meeting us at the port.] Please disregard. Just found out that Pier 66 is used for port calls (makes sense, they dump the tourist near the downtown area.) They use Pier 91 for ships that are ported in Seattle.

Yup, often there is beef tenderloin on the MDR menu, along with the surcharged 6oz Filet Mignon ... go figure!

That's just one of the beef tenderloin presentations and it's usually on a Formal night (used to be on Lobster night.) It is also usually on the menu for lunch in the MDR on turnaround days

But in the Crown Grill, you can get filet mignon. All you get in the MDR is beef tenderloin ... 🤣