flamomo

Very sorry to see that my favorite, but relatively inexpensive, Chardonnay, Clos Du Bois,  does not appear to be on that list. It's always been what I ordered when using my wine packages. Maybe it's too inexpensive, as compared to what I see on this new list, to qualify anymore!! Not that the Princess markup made it seem inexpensive! When I purchase it locally, it's $9-10/bottle, Princess has been charging $32!!

Some of the recent domestic EZAir fares are beyond amazing. I booked a one way direct flight from Tampa to LAX for a cruise next Spring on Delta for $60!! The person I am traveling with had originally planned to go out separately by herself to visit with friends, so I only booked mine. Subsequently, she changed her plans and decided to go when I do. I checked EZAir and was able to get her on the same flight for $125.  Still a very decent fare, but not quite the deal that I got!

We stayed at the La Quinta near the airport ….. it's a clean , pleasant hotel in a quiet area, with comfortable beds, a nice free breakfast, a free shuttle from the airport, and helpful staff, restaurants nearby, and at a reasonable price. There's even a liquor store very close to the hotel in case you want to pick up some wine to take onboard.

We used the Seattle Shuttle to get to the pier (we were at pier 91) for a reasonable cost. It can be pre-booked online, you get to specify what time you want to be picked up, and our driver gave us a narrated mini-tour enroute to the pier. The shuttles were clean and comfortable. We also used that shuttle service to get to the airport at the end of the cruise.

If I were to cruise out of Seattle again, I would chose the same options.

We stayed at the La Quinta near the airport and were very comfortable with our choice. We used the free hotel shuttle service to get from SEATAC to the hotel, and used the Seattle Express shuttle (much more reasonable fare as compared to a taxi) from hotel to pier 91, which was about 40 minutes away. The driver gave us a sort of narrated "mini tour of Seattle on the way to the pier which we appreciated as we didn't fly in until the day before the cruise and arrived in early evening.. We pre-paid the Seattle Shuttle fares online for both ways which worked out very well. At both ends, our names were on the list for the waiting shuttles.

There are several restaurants in the area of the hotel, when we were out walking to/from a restaurant in the dark, the neighborhood seemed safe the beds were comfortable, the rooms clean, and the staff helpful.

Oh … and here's a helpful hint! There's liquor store very close to the hotel if you want to pick up some wine to take onboard!!

My adult daughter and I are booked for an AK cruise, r/t SFO in the Fall.

It's been several years since I've been to SFO, and my daughter has never been.

We're flying into SFO one day before embarkation, and I'm thinking we might want to stay in the Fisherman's Wharf area, since our flight is scheduled to arrive around noon, and that's be a place where we could wander around a bit on our own, and find a nice seafood restaurant for dinner.

I'd appreciate recommendations for a decent. but not overpriced, hotel … maybe rates 3-4 stars, as we really don't need something luxurious.

Princess guidelines for the dining rooms say attire should be what one would wear to a "nice" restaurant, and that's how most .passengers dress on every Princess ship that I have been on, no matter where the itinerary is. Nice slacks or skirt, nicer than average tops, perhaps a dress for the ladies.

In most instances, similar attire is also worn to the specialty restaurants. Now and then one sees someone in a specialty restaurant wearing something more appropriate to the buffet (which is casual (i.e. McDonalds or Burger King).

12 hours ago, BoopTennis said:

 

what are the daytime temps like when sailing transatlantic, say from US to Europe in summer? once you are way out in the ocean is it chilly?  same question for cruising to Hawaii from US west coast. thank you

The Spring crossings tend to be cool and rain's a good possibility, especially as you near the European coast.

Remember, the water is the Atlantic Ocean is still very cold at that time of year, so the air temps will probably be pretty cool at sea.

We've just got home 3 weeks ago from  a 25 day transatlantic on the Crown ……  first leg, Barcelona to Rome, and then Rome to FLL as the 2nd leg. The weather was amazingly good most of the trip …. daytime temps in the 60 - low 70s, warmer on the sunny days, overnight temps usually 58-60ish, very little rain. Calm seas most of the time …. just a couple of bumpy days when we sailed past Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic. And the Crown was a great ship with an excellent crew.

That was my 5th T/A, all of them but one were westbound. I much prefer the westbound because of all the time changes. By the end of the cruise, we are back on US time. Kinda eases the time adjustment period, and I'm less apt to be coming home short on sleep and tired out.

JMO, of course. but I am a very big fan of the Pacific Princess, having sailed on her and her used-to-be sisters several times in the past. MY enjoyment of her is so much that I have 2 cruises booked on her for 2019 … a 15 day Panama Canal in the Spring, and  29 day Transatlantic from Venice to Ft Lauderdale in the late Fall.

She is a beautiful "little lady", and quite different from the rest of the fleet. The ambiance onboard is low key and intimate. Due to her small size, one can get from one end of her to the other in just a few minutes. The elevators are almost never busy. Because passengers see their same fellow passengers and crew day after day, making new cruise friends happens easily. The ship's officers are often out and about around the ship, and seem to be more approachable than on bigger ships.

The shows take place in a large lounge, rather than a theater, and if you're sitting in the front few rows, the performers are right there in front of you because they are performing on what is also the dance floor. Those performers don't just perform …. they have other duties during the day, and  you see them out and about doing whatever they are assigned to.. I've gotten to know several of them because they worked in public areas like assisting passengers in the internet café or the gift shop  or maybe working as part of the activity staff for the cruise director.

On sea days, there are numerous activities available, just as they are on the bigger ships. The amenities are the same as on the rest of the fleet …… just on a smaller scale.

I have cruised many times on most of the ships in the Princess fleet, but the Pacific is my absolute all-time favorite.

No they don't, and shouldn't, IMO. That isn't even offered to those of us who have spent at least a small fortune to cruise with Princess enough times to earn Elite status with the line. 

A few years ago a friend and I did a 16 day itinerary from Santiago to LA with Princess with the intention of trying to get an idea if we'd like to do a longer South America cruise, and enjoyed it so much that while still on board, we booked a 32 day itinerary from FLL about 6 months later. We went all the way south, the Horn, up the other side of SA and disembarked in Santiago to fly home.  Both of those cruises were among the best itineraries I've done with my many Princess cruises.

I have cruised several times on the lovely PP, my all time favorite ship in the entire Princess fleet, and cannot wait to be aboard again for the two cruises I have booked on her in 2019.  A friend and I spent 23 days on her in the past year, and she is as wonderful as ever. The refurb did perk things up significantly, despite the lack of at least new upholstery for the furniture in the Pacific Lounge. The furniture there is looking rather worn, but it was still reasonably comfortable while seated. However it can be a bit of a struggle to arise after sitting due to the sagging upholstery. 

One last comment ….. the two cruises booked for 2019 were booked largely because of them being offered on the PP. The itineraries were both great, but that played a lesser part in our choice to book them.

I spent 25 days on the Crown Princess very recently.  IMO, she's a lovely ship with a great crew, and I never had a problem finding something on the dinner menus that I could enjoy.

I have done the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast several times over the 14 years I have been cruising with Princess, and felt it was worth the price. Plenty of food, in fact too much to eat  all of what was served. We've tended to eat the fresh fruit and the hot foods, and save most of the breakfast breads for the following day, which we would supplement with items from the room service menu.

I have also done the UBDinner once, and loved it. The service was excellent, with dedicated wait staff, lovely table set-up with fresh flowers, pre-dinner beverage (we chose margaritas),  and we chose to substitute a bottle of wine for the champagne, and we were able to choose our entrees …. I opted for just the lobster instead of surf & turf. As an occasional treat, I felt it was definitely worth the cost.

We were also on the TA on the Crown in November, and because of that flyer advertising incentives for booking some TAs while onboard, did so for a 29 day one, and got and extra $300 apiece in OBC, as well as prepaid gratuities.

It was the first time I had ever seen one of these sort of offers.

An ambulance and a firetruck and police cars were alongside the Royal early on Saturday morning, presumably to deal with the suspicious death that was reported tp have occurred.

We were on the Crown Princess, coming into FLL after a transatlantic, that morning and witnessed the vehicles parked on the dock next to the Royal.

5 hours ago, NurseJEB said:

I was wondering "why cant" people use the topic field correctly! 🙂

I don't get what you are trying to say here. There's nothing wrong with how I labeled it, IMO.

My choice of what used as the topic was intended to get the attention of the mods and, hopefully the techies who created this updated version of the boards.

6 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Um... on my home page the Ask a Cruise Question forum is second from the top (in the New Cruisers forum):

Umm ... Sorry if I didn't state my wish clearly. I do know exactly where that board is located. What I was trying to say was that not just that particular board needed to be moved up within the section,  but the entire menu under the New Cruisers forum. It's a very busy section which is why it should be higher on the page.

1) … the "Ask A Cruise Question" section be moved farther up on the home page? Just from the number of views for the section thst it is in is obviously much larger than the sections above it should indicate to you that it needs to be in a more convenient location for frequent users. It's ridiculous to have to scroll way down the page.

2) … the highlighting of threads that users are actively participation in,  or following, be in a different color from blue to make them more readily visible? Just using a more faded blue does not make them really stand out. Again, user convenience.

3) … the background color be something less harsh than a stark, glaringly white one? I find myself having to squint constantly to try to make being on here a bit more comfortable for my eyes, and I doubt that I am the only one with that issue.

Is it something to do with CC, or is it some sort of sneaky ad for something unrelated to CC that could potentially cause some sort of problems?

If it's part of CC, I think a tutorial is needed to explain that and a lot of other things about how things are supposed to work on the "new" CC.

Please tell me where to go to find this function, and how to use it,  because I sure cannot find it.

I need to add a newly booked cruise to it.

I booked another cruise and want to add it to my signature, but don't find a way to access it.

This  "update" is so totally different from what was left behind that it's VERY frustrating trying to figure things out. I think it's WAY MORE than an update. I think the term "complete overhaul" is more fitting and a lot of us are NOT enjoying it!!

I'd suggest you create a tutorial to help users figure out how to use this mess, because this is ridiculous.

1) The threads one was posting on , or just following, USED to be highlighted, which made the much easier to find them on subsequent visits. Could that PLEASE be added to this new version? It's a PITA to have to scan thru every title looking for threads one is already interested in.

2) The way the cruiselines are listed, in alphabetical order horizontally, in the section on the home page for roll calls is difficult to use. They need to be in alphabetical order in columns, the way they were listed in the previous version, which made it easier to find the one you are looking for. PLEASE change this.!

I know it's a problem for me because I have cataracts, but I'm finding it difficult to read for more than a few minutes on the boards because the background is stark white and very uncomfortable. My eyes feel strained after just a few minutes on the site.

If I recall correctly, we had the same problem when the previous update was done, and the techies finally adjusted the background color to make it less glaring. It'd be very nice if that could be done for this update too.

 Yep, this does need fixed!! People with a lot of past cruises listed in their signature are taking up a LOT of space on the roll calls with their posts. Me included, and it's not intentional. I didn't find anyplace to click on  to not have it show up with every post.

Since I prefer my cabins to be within certain areas of a cruise ship and I prefer to choose my specific cabin rather then letting the cruiseline assign it, I book as soon as I find a price I am willing to live with, in case the fares don't get reduced between then and the final payment date. Then I monitor the pricing several times a week, watching for promos and/or reductions. I do my own bookings directly with Princess, and if there are better fares found, all I have to do is pick up the phone and call them and request to be re-fared at the better pricing. As long as it is prior to final payment, Princess has never declined to do that for me.