milo696

I second, third, and fourth...take the train. I'll also say book the 26 glacier cruise through phillips and you won't be sorry and makes for a fantastic day.

Just walk across the parking lot when the glacier cruise ends, no lines to get on the ship, get on board and your luggage is there waiting..it was great

sorry, but can someone explain "dh", "ds", and "dd" please

On 7/16/2019 at 11:14 PM, Northern Aurora said:

 

Anita:  They may be aware that there is a significant issue in downtown Anchorage with a surprisingly large homeless population.  As a resident of Alaska I, for years, went to Anchorage for business on a regular basis.  The amount of aggressive pan-handling now in downtown Anchorage is amazing.

I was amazed at the number of "homeless" and "panhandlers". Never expected to see that.

Not this most experienced at this, but we just disembarked on the 13th in vancouver and no way would I book anything before noon.

If your dates fall on a saturday, the vancouver airport is frankly a complete mess, at least what we witnessed. It was not uncommon for people to have been in the lines 3 hours before getting to their respective gates. 

Granted, we were not the 1st  people off the ship, but the 1st ones off were between 8 and 8:30. 

I will say, the princess transfers worked seamlessly, and our luggage was at the airport as advertised and didn't have to worry about it after friday night. 

Incidentally,  our flights had a 50 minute layover in MSP and that wasn't a issue, I don't think a hour would be a problem..jmo

Again, just my opinion, and I'll let more experienced people guide you, but personally no way would I do anything before noon

Can you order more than 1 entree while eating there?  The portions looked rather small. I know I'm not going to 

starve, but was just curious from a first time cruiser point of view

what is the cover charge for this, and is it available on the golden?  It does not specify a price, and I assume this is

in the same area as the buffet?  

Thanks for the insight. As we already booked this as part of our package and paid for, I'm just going to go ahead and keep it as is.

Thanks all..you've been great!!

Thanks everyone for the responses. I doubt I'll change anything, just wanted a feel for how things work. While I don't enjoy sitting in airports, we usually err on the side of caution and are usually pretty early. As princess has done this millions of times before, we'll go with what they assign us more than likely.

A follow up question, since you set your luggage out the night before, can you keep a carry on or backpack or something in the room to carry out in the morning, or does "everything" have to be set out??

What do you do with toiletries and such that you need in the morning?

First time cruisers on the golden southbound arriving in vancouver on July 13. Hoping someone can give a overview of how the disembarkation process works. Our TA said 

we'd receive a packet the night before with instructions on how and when to leave the ship. I'm a little bit more of a planner than that, so curious to the process. I thought

I read sometimes passengers are put in order of flight arrangements? The ship docks at 7:30AM and we have a flight at 2PM. I personally would rather be one of the first off the ship and wait around at the airport versus the other way around and cutting it close. Do we have to put our luggage outside the night before, or can we keep it with us and carry it off the morning of??

We do have a transfer booked via princess for the trip to the airport. Have no idea where to meet them, at what time..etc

Sorry for the rambling, just like to be prepared. Thanks for any help

Good to know dh, and thanks for sharing.  Can't wait

Just to note...I to contacted the ARR by phone months ago and inquired about getting luggage checked in anchorage and delivered to our ship in whittier. There response was no, they don't do that.

I also sent a email, and the email reply was yes, they can do that. 

I believe there are several threads on this as I tried to follow and was hoping to get some good feedback once the season kicked in this year, as there were many comments that the luggage indeed can be checked in anchorage and taken to the ship...princess in whittier anyway.

I'm depending on this when we cruise on July 6th, as we're taking the train in the morning, and then embarking on the 26 glacier cruise as soon as we depart the train. 

I was told to look for the white tent outside the station and check your bags there with your cruise luggage tags attached.

Interested in other replies

Thank you both for that information. I had looked at the decks of the ship via the website, but was hart to discern exactly where the open areas were.

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks again!!

Hi, first time cruisers on the southbound whittier to vancouver cruise in July. Can some of you people enlighten me on where some of the better viewing areas are

on the golden when we cruise glacier bay, and hubbard glacier. We have a balcony, but would probably rather be somewhere with open viewing for some of those

times that we sail in those areas. 

Thanks so much for any help

Thank you for the replies. We were looking at the crown grill. We'll just have to see whats available after boarding.

1st cruise, slightly overwhelming..lol

First time cruisers taking the southbound glacier cruise in July from whittier. We have some onboard credits to use and wanted to reserve some specialty dining. 

Unfortunately, we found out that you cannot use onboard credits for advance reservations, only after you have boarded the ship. In checking for times available, many

nights showed unavailable already. 

My question to those who are more knowledgeable, are there more times that open up once the cruise gets under way? I really hate to prepay for a specialty restaurant

when I have money to use once on the ship.

Thanks

sfpd3000...thank you for that info!!

How do you know if your ship is tendering? Sorry, 1st time cruiser and will be on golden princess in ketchikan July 11

Thank you everyone for your responses.  Much appreciated

So you can do the MDR on formal nights...without being formal?

Sorry for what might seem like ignorant questions, but again, 1st cruise and I figured formal meant formal.

Thanks

Alaska southbound July 6-13.

Ship does not leave port on 1st day until 8:30pm. 

Last night is just a sea day, Just guessing that will be one. 

thanks

Is there anyway of knowing before your cruise what nights will be formal nights? Our 1st cruise, for7 nights, appears there will be 2 formal nights, but don't know when. 

Not particularly interested in the formal nights, would like perhaps to submit some reservations but don't want to do it on formal nights.

golden princess in July if that helps any

thanks for any info

Thanks everyone, I'll be going for it this summer!!

Are these planes "pressurized" or do you have oxygen masks?

Thanks Colorado Mom. Interestingly enough, I called the railroad and they had no knowledge of baggage being able

to be checked in anchorage and delivered to the princess ship. 

Reckon I'm gonna wing it and see what happens in July. Worst case I guess is I'll have to drag it to the dock with the glacier cruise and have them hold it until we get back, as their isn't enough time between the train arrival and the glacier cruise departure to get the luggage checked into princess. 

Any others have tips, thanks for sharing