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USCcruisecrazy

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Everything posted by USCcruisecrazy

  1. My 4 years living in Alaska, it wasn't uncommon to have rain, sleet, snow, and sunshine in a few hour span. 🙂
  2. This has been an incredible journey. I am very thankful for your attention to detail and all the incredible pictures. I wish I could say this has prepared me well for my world cruise, but am afraid this journey will be my best opportunity. Thank you for allowing me to go along for the ride!!
  3. Yes, the point was that using the chat feature the process was quick and easy. Just felt like too many times Princess employees get chastised and I wanted to give them some props.
  4. Thanks for the kind words...I will pass that along. May the best team win...unless it's FL! 🙂
  5. I read a lot of negative things on this site about Princess and being able to speak with someone. Or complaints about it taking forever to receive refunds. Therefore, I want to make a positive post with kudos for Princess. Unfortunately, due to a family issue with an aging member, we had to cancel a 10 day Southern Caribbean scheduled for 8-18 January. It took me 2 minutes to get someone on the Live Chat. It took 5 minutes maximum to cover all options and confirm what I needed to confirm. Then it took about 5 days to receive a full refund on not just my deposit, but also the monies spent on excursions. Well done Princess!!!
  6. Yeah, I realize nothing in this world is free...nowadays, not even the air you breathe with the advent of Carbon Emission Taxes. LOL! The jest of the question was directed at how does the casino determine who gets the offer for the "Casino Cruise". But I appreciate your very informative post. Truth be told, I usually play a little Craps once or twice...not much else. So not planning on qualifying for a cruise, but just curious to how much others spend to get that "Freebie".
  7. I'm guessing it has to do with the book keeping. By charging the gratuities separately, it's easier to track the numbers. Can you imagine the accountant having to figure out income via gratuities (not taxable for Princess) vs income via sales (taxable)...what a nightmare!! And now with their different packages, with the Princess Plus you get charged a gratuity for only the amount above $12.
  8. Not sure why when they joined or how many posts they've done should make a difference. Everyone did Post #1 at some point. My concern would be, assuming their post is accurate and truthful, why the quality at this particular lodge was so bad and what Princess intends to do about it. Amberwoodsplac...sorry for the poor ending to what sounded like a nice trip. AK is a wonderful spot to vacation in the Summer months.
  9. We did 2 weeks in AK traveling on our own from 28 June through 11 July and the weather was awesome every day. Only saw a light rain 1 morning the entire trip. AK can be very hit and miss. Lived there 4 years and some Summers the average day was 70 degrees and drizzle. 🙂
  10. Is it 18% Grat on just the additional cost or the entire cost? Seems like Grats on the first $12 should be included.
  11. Years ago we drove from Montana to Anchorage, taking the ALCAN Highway from Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction in Alaska. It was an incredible journey. Just need to do some pretty good pre-travel planning because places to stay are very limited in certain areas. This last trip though we flew into Anchorage and took a vehicle to all the locations mentioned. We stayed in a few VRBOs and a few cabins. The ones in Talkeetna were very nice and reasonable costs. The ones in Hatcher's Pass were primitive (no running water) but absolutely incredible location and views. It's worth saving up a few years if necessary and doing the trip. Best of luck!!
  12. Good point. Can't imagine how that effects the cruise experience with so many crew members out.
  13. Sorry to hear about your dream Alaska trip being disrupted. I recommend adding a "do-it-yourself" Alaska trip in the future. We just got back from 2 weeks of traveling around the state and it was awesome. We stayed a few nights in Talkeetna, Hatcher's Pass, Anchorage, Girdwood, and Seward. Good luck!!
  14. Some strange numbers...only 4 passengers but 114 crew. Odd since the crew wears masks. Then 10 passengers (I'm guessing that were asymptomatic) tested positive trying to leave the ship. What are the Aussie Rules for those testing positive? If the ship docks in 8 days, will those folks still have to quarantine? Could the crew being hit hard with positives cause a cancellation of the next sailing? What a mess!!
  15. Chinook's in Seward is a great spot...was just in Seward last week vacationing. Of course, be prepared to spend about $100 a pound.
  16. The cruise lines are certainly packing them in for the land tours. We saw many, many buses around Denali, in Anchorage, and all points on the highways between the two. We did 2 weeks of a land tour on our own and have to say, the weather was some of the best June/July weather I've ever seen, and I lived there for 4 years. But caution if you must...no such thing anywhere we went having mandatory masks. From breweries (lots now in Alaska) to restaurants, from the parks to the tourist shops...we saw very few masks, but also saw or heard no one seemingly sick. If you don't want to risk the land tour and then getting on the ship, I recommend planning a road trip and hitting up the sites, especially some out of the way that the land tour doesn't do. It was awesome!!!
  17. Actually, I wasn't ignoring the point at all. Asked a simple question...only required a simple answer. But, like you assumed they were not smiling, you then assumed I was ignoring whatever point you were trying to make. Personally have never had a Princess crew member treat me that way. Maybe because of the way I smiled and treated them. But that's another story.
  18. Just had to ask...if the crew were non-smiling does that mean they were not wearing masks? I thought all crew kept masks on at all times. Of course, that could also explain some of the perceived attitude. I'd not be happy with a mask on my face for 10-12 hours a day (or more).
  19. Glad to hear she's a beautiful ship. We sail on her for a 10 day Southern Caribbean in January and I'm excited to check her out! Glad you had a great voyage.
  20. Awesome pictures!! Well done. We love Rome. One of our favorite spots. Enjoy your cruise!!! I look forward to following along.
  21. Not sure where you got the data, but doing simple math...SC averaged 5 a week for the last month. That's about 250 a year for 5.5 million population. Times that by 60 (based on population of 330 million) and you get 15,000. But not supposed to talk covid stuff...just trying to show cruising is no more risky now then it was pre-covid for those that have been vaccinated. So, again, unless you test and mask for the other killer viruses, doing so for covid is just not necessary.
  22. Yeah, got that too. I am just trying to show how cruising is being what I think is overly cautious based on the current truths. We have vaccines and treatments for COVID so not keen on treating it any different than other potential killer viruses. I think cruising should return to normal and if some folks want to still mask and social distance, I have no problem with that. Sort of like some people want to wear the Tux and others want a T-shirt. I'm good with that too! 🙂 Had to get a formal nights dig in there. LOL!
  23. Wasn't trying to compare the deaths, but with the current variant, 28,000 deaths in a year in the USA is unlikely. Sure not comparing to the original virus from 2 years ago. So, if the current death rate is even the same as the flu why not test for the flu as well? Or Noro before boarding? If your goal is to have safe, illness free (as much as possible) cruising, then why not test for all viruses?? Or are we just enamored now or scared over the SARS virus? A question that really doesn't have an answer besides cost. Anyway, food for thought.
  24. In 2018-2019 380,000 hospitalizations from the flu in the USA and 28,000 deaths. That was a good year. Wonder when they will start testing for the flu pre-cruise in order to keep people from spreading it on board??
  25. We are in the air for 7 straight hours flying to Anchorage...no tests required and no masks required. I'm guessing that's longer sitting in a crowd than even any potential time while cruising.
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