Baxter68

We had the week long spa pass on the encore for an alaska cruise and absolutely loved it. Perfect aft view, extremely comfortable loungers, a great quiet indoor place to escape to, salt room, so many more amenities!  I think it made our trip that much more enjoyable. Plus, it was great to use the spa area as an extra shower/“getting ready for dinner” area.

On 9/17/2022 at 8:11 AM, oneteeny said:

 

Brilliant, thank you!  We board on 10/2, so hopefully it all works out.  We plan on taking the train to Pisa and then on to Lucca.  

If you don’t mind, can you please post once you’re back home and settled in how this worked out for you. I’m thinking of doing something similar in April and would greatly appreciate hearing your experience!

thanks in advance 

On 5/8/2022 at 12:51 AM, -Lew- said:

Eating Europe offers food tours in various European cities.  We've toured with them in Rome, Prague, and Lisbon.  They offer two in Rome: Twilight Trastevere Rome Food Tour and Taste of Testaccio in Rome Italy.  We've done both and would say we enjoyed the Twilight Trastevere tour more.

Just last month did their Twilight Trastevere tour and thoroughly enjoyed it!

No experience yet, but in a few weeks we are doing one with Eating Europe (eating Italy) in Rome and a couple others with tours by locals called “10 tastings of Florence, naples, etc”

can report back after we do them!

Have done food tours in Denver, CO, Puerto Vallarta, etc and have a newfound love for them!

4 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

Curious what tomorrow will bring... 15 hours???😁

Oh my word! I agree!!

Vatican museum tickets go on sale exactly 60 days before your desired date. For my desired day in June, the time slots were selling out immediately on opening up sell of tickets.  Don’t know that will be the case in October for you, just an fyi. 

7 hours ago, Denny01 said:

No hoping, here is what Celebrity says:

Being the overly cautious cynical person I am, I actually took a screenshot of that on celebrity’s website in case I (we) had any issues at the cruise port!

-Amanda

59 minutes ago, dhanakorn said:

If Princess wants to attract guests into paying for specialty restaurants, they need to lower their quality in the MDR so dining in specialty restaurants can give the guests exceptional experience, relatively.

Don’t lower quality in MDR, UP IT in the specialty restaurants!!

Maybe I’m not looking at the right thing, but I think I’m seeing the fountain show on recent patters.

We board my first princess cruise next Saturday and I have thoroughly enjoyed following along and seeing all your pics and info! Thank you so much for all that you put into this!!

I am about to go on my first princess cruise next Saturday. I just did my very first cruise in October to Alaska on ncl encore (my husband has done multiple cruises pre-me). You have to do what you’re comfortable with but I think it’s a great time to cruise if you feel safe and know what you’re getting into but maybe not a vision of “typical” cruising. For example, everyone in Alaska told me how spoiled I was with absolutely no kids on the ship (at that point they couldn’t be vaccinated), and the really low passenger rates right now.

I suggest reading a recent thread that was a “live from” on the majestic. That might not be your ship but you’ll see the princess patters (daily events) and some menus for dinner.

I also suggest another thread entitled something along the lines of “why now is a great time to cruise”.

I absolutely loved Alaska (helicopter in Juneau worth the extra money), we thought we knew mountains being from colorado and this was completely different and so beautiful seeing evergreen covered mountains right from sea level;  and we had some crazy rough seas being October, but it is beyond beautiful and amazing and I think maybe more spectacular than the typical Caribbean cruise, although nothing wrong with that!

look for threads or YouTube videos that specifically address Alaska cruising, itineraries and what to pack.

have fun whatever you decide to do!

Same problem. Thought I could book our special dining for restaurant and time and use the credit. It charged to my card. So I just canceled the res, card was refunded quickly and I’ll book once onboard. The DMW on the app has worked flawlessly for me ahead of cruise, picking dining rooms, table size, and times. This was the only hiccup I’ve had.

https://bigislandnow.com/2022/01/26/ige-keeps-current-covid-rules-in-place/
 

This is the latest news article from today on Safe Travels and adding cruise ship

passengers to the list.

Here is the news on the ground as regards travel here by air (by cruise ship may have different requirements, I’m not sure).

“The requirement would mean travelers would need to have their Covid booster shot in order to by-pass quarantine. The other option for folks not vaccinated or who haven’t gotten their booster would be to get a negative Covid test taken 72 hours before departure.

Receiving a negative COVID test is still another option to by-pass quarantine for unvaccinated folks and those who do not get a booster shot.”

The rumor is that this will start February 18th, but that the Safe Travels website wasn’t built to know how to add booster status. So there are two options for travel to Hawaii:

1. Test within 72 hours

2. to be considered fully vaccinated and not have to test, must be boosted (supposedly starting February 18).

We manage vacation rentals and no legal vacation rental can allow quarantine.

I hope that helps even tho it doesn’t directly apply to cruise rules. We live this every day, so we have to know all the rules!

Hooray! I’m so happy to see a live from! Those of us on upcoming sailings are truly grateful!!

17 minutes ago, voljeep said:

1) settings

2) airplane mode on

3) cellular - enable wifi calling ?

 

yes, Princess Plus

Yes enable wifi  calling.

Appreciate all the helpful info here and everyone’s experiences. Our cruise isn’t until Feb 26, but we leave Feb 12 for a wedding in Colorado. Here in Hawaii we notoriously have slow shipping and it’s hit/miss so I ordered ours yesterday! (I’m a nervous planner type) -Amanda

So I have a stupid random question: I just today bought a two pack of tests from Optum. It had me enter my name, birthdate, etc. 

Question is, can I use one and my husband use the other or are they both “assigned” to me? 
When we cruised NCL in October, they provided the testing complimentary, so this is new to me.

thanks for any input! 
Amanda 

Thank you for the info! We are booked in February and hopefully this is a perk that is still happening. Appreciate everyone who shares little helpful info that makes a trip more enjoyable!

You kept my excitement going for us getting on today! Thank you for all your posts.

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Thanks for following along.  Hope you got some useful info, and if not that, maybe a little entertainment out of the posts.  

Thoroughly enjoyed following along with you from your first posting on this cruise. We are on the last Alaska Encore sailing of the season, so all the updates and  reviews have answered so many questions and kept us very excited! 
Appreciate all your time and  your diplomatic/candid approach.
This is  my first cruise ever and it’s been awhile for the hubby. Sailing celebrity in May (hopefully) in the Mediterranean so interested in doing a very general comparison.

Thank you again!

I would do it if I had the circumstances! I’m just hoping we get similar great weather in two weeks.

We are so sorry that your family has gone thru all of this. You seem to have such a positive attitude and we hope you are both all better soon.

4 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Talked to a couple of crew…..2 more Alaska sailings after this one.  Then, off to the Caribbean!

That’s the news we wanted to hear!! And really appreciating your pics

Really enjoyed reading your review, thank you for taking the time!