westcoaster

I'm not sure why, but we saw a lot more icebergs, and they were closer in to town than we did during our 2013 stop at Nanortalik (which was at the same time of year). They're beautiful!

I swam in the outdoor pool every day on this cruise. It was cool at times, but quite swimmable. There were really on 2 days (just after our Greenland stops) when the water temp was really cold.

I was also on this cruise. We loved the two ports in Greenland. We had stopped in Nanortalik as part of an Iceland/Trans-Atlantic cruise back in 2013, and it was our favorite stop on that cruise. That was one of the reasons we booked this cruise. Both Nanortalik and Qaqortoq have beautiful settings, and it was cool to see the ice bergs so close to town. I loved the colorful wooden houses everywhere, and the local people were very friendly and informative. We spent full days in both spots just wandering all over town, up the hills, around lake, etc. I heard a few people grumble about being disappointed with the Greenland stops. I'm not sure what they were expecting - shopping malls and Diamonds International?

I've used ArriveCAN at least a dozen times in the past year, and border agents have never asked to see the QR code or any other paperwork. However, Princess has asked for proof of completing ArriveCAN when boarding the ship at the beginning of the cruise.

You do not need to upload Covid test results into ArriveCAN since that is not required for entry into Canada. They are only interested in vaccination status.

I was on the Sapphire for a 29-day cruise in 2019. It is my favorite ship.

There are a couple of main differences between the Sapphire/Diamond and the other Grand class ships. The 2 mid-ship dining rooms are split into 4 dining rooms, each with a differently themed decor: Pacific Moon (Asian), Santa Fe (Southwest), Savoy (Dark panelling), Vivaldi (more like a typical Princess dining room). The menu is the same for all dining rooms. The promenade deck is extra wide, allowing for full length deck loungers. Like the Grand Princess, but unlike the other Grand class ships, Sapphire/Diamond have a covered pool.

I've noticed Princess using a lot of targeted promotions, linked to your CC number, over the years. I'm Elite and have 3 future cruises booked right now. My parents have done 4 cruises with Princess, and none in the past several years. They often get promotional offers with prices that I can't access (I've tried calling in). We live in the same city, so it's not a regional promotion. Perhaps Princess is trying to lure back less frequent cruisers with these types of promotions. I've also had this work in the opposite way, where I've been able to get a great price but friends, who are also Elite, have not. It's really hard to figure out sometimes - I think only the Princess marketing and revenue management departments really understand the reasons behind these pricing differences.

The Grand and the Sapphire are very similar. I was on the Grand in late May and the ship seemed to be in very good shape (though I tend not to be very picky about things like that). I had no complaints. I was on the Sapphire in 2019. One of the differences is that the Sapphire (and the Diamond) has wider promenade decks than the other Grand class ships, with full loungers on the promenade deck. Also, the two mid-ship dining rooms are split into 4 themed dining rooms on the Sapphire and the Diamond.

Pros: less ice so you can get close to the glaciers good for bear viewing since the salmon are running Cons: shorter days than earlier in the summer on average, the weather is rainier in September than in the early summer

Thanks for the clarification. All the Royal's other Victoria calls this year, on the southbound Whittier to Vancouver cruises, were scheduled for a noon arrival. When I saw that the Sept 23rd call at Victoria had a 7 pm arrival, I assumed it was a repositioning cruise. I see now that it's a 7-day round-trip from Vancouver, hence the different arrival time compared with the southbound cruises.

For some reason, Royal Princess has been stopping in Victoria for most of her southbound trips this season. She was here on May 27, June 10, and June 24. However, based on the port schedule for Victoria, it looks like tomorrow (July 22) is the Royal's last call in Victoria until the repositioning cruise later in September.

What I was trying to explain is that the requirements Canada has for passengers to get a Covid test prior to boarding a cruise ship have nothing to do with crossing the border. Even if a cruise is staying completely in Canada and no borders are crossed, passengers would still be required to get a pre-cruise test.

That's not correct. Covid entry tests were lifted on April 1st for entry by air, land or sea. For example, you don't need a Covid test to enter Canada by ferry. Covid testing for cruising is a separate issue. Canada is simply regulating cruise ships operating at its ports and saying passengers need to have taken a pre-cruise Covid test. That is different from requiring a test to enter Canada.

The random testing is only for those entering Canada by air. It does not apply to those arriving by land or by cruise ship. The random testing is not the same as requiring a negative covid test to enter (which was discontinued in the spring). Random testing is essentially just for surveillance, to detect and track any new variants entering the country.

There is no covid test required to enter Canada, but Canada still requires passengers boarding cruise ships to be tested prior to boarding. As of now, that still hasn't changed with the CDC announcement.

Thanks. I was wondering about this as well. It sounds like this will be a "live from" thread. I've just never heard it referred to as a "TR" before.

On Diamond and Sapphire, the dining rooms do have more unique decor compared with other Princess ships I've been on. Vivaldi (along with the International Dining room) look more like the standard Princess dining rooms. Savoy is darker with wood panelling (my personal favorite). Pacific Moon is lighter, with some Asian inspired art (I also remember round white globes throughout the dining room - perhaps in reference to the moon in the name). Santa Fe has Mission style or Santa Fe design, with Adobe looking walls and southwestern inspired art.

When I was on the Grand Princess last month, Princess provided a sheet with instructions for filling out ArriveCan. For those without a hotel or home address in Canada, they said to use Ship's name and cabin number, followed by Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1.

One other difference between the two ships is that Majestic has a covered pool, while the Royal does not.

Princess will still have 3 ships (Grand, Sapphire, and Majestic) doing the Voyage of the Glaciers route between Vancouver and Whittier in 2023. With a fourth ship, the Crown, now doing a series of round trips from Vancouver, that represents a significant increase in capacity out of Vancouver - a bigger capacity increase than what Seattle would get from swapping the Crown for the Royal. Princess makes a lot of money from the one-way cruises between Vancouver and Whittier since they can sell the pre- and post-cruise land tours. Nice to see more round trip options out of Vancouver, though. Especially with ports other than just Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway.

I can confirm - I was on a B2B on the Grand Princess May 11-25 and no Covid test required in Whittier.

That's not the case in Alaska (Whittier), since the ship pre-clears US customs & immigration prior to leaving Vancouver. We were on a back to back Alaska cruise last month (Vancouver-Whittier-Vancouver) and there was no need to clear immigration at our turnaround point in Whittier. I believe this applies to any cruise leaving from Vancouver. For example, a few years ago we did back to back cruises Vancouver-LA/LA-Ft. Lauderdale and again, there was no requirement to go through US immigration and customs in LA since we had already pre-cleared in Vancouver. We were allowed to just get off the ship if and when we wanted, like it was a regular port of call.

We were on the May 11-25 sailing. The production shows were "British Invasion" , "Stardust", and "Sweet Soul Music". It was nice being able to go to the theater 5 minutes before showtime and still get a good seat!

We were on the Grand Princess May 11-25, and we noticed the same thing. They kept a lot of the doors open in the buffet area and in the covered pool area. I assume this is to improve the air circulation as a Covid prevention measure, which makes sense.