Sandie5

I like unpacking once and not dealing with figuring out where to stay and how to navigate the transportation. However doing all those thing makes you feel like you're really in the country and not just having a taste of the country from the base of your cruise cabin. 

We're thinking of visiting Japan but I hear it's better to do a land trip. I'm leaning towards a cruise because then you're travelling around the country without dealing with hotels and transportation.

Is Japan better as a land trip? 

I didn't want to bring back souvenirs of my trip to give others as it would be meaningless. So instead I bought some treats from one of the cruise shops. As I'm crossing borders getting home (US to Canada), I'm a bit wary of bringing food though. However snacks should be ok?

What kind of gifts have you brought back from your cruise?

Super helpful comments. Thank you all, It seems like a great cruise for us.

And I hope to learn some Spanish. 😀

We're looking at next winter's cruises out of San Juan which has many ports but reviews are saying that 95% of the activities and shows are in Spanish. Most of the passengers are probably Spanish speaking, I guess. We're Canadian, so our Spanish is limited to Nada and Por FaVor. 

Is this true, though? 

We sure love cruising but getting to the cruise eats up a big chunk of our travel dollars because we need to fly in the day before and book a hotel room. The flight can be cheaper depending on when you fly but then the hotels are expensive. We're only going there to sleep and then dashing off to our cruise. 

Have any of you figured out a cost savings method for this part of the trip? Maybe ports with cheaper hotels or loyalty deals?

These are really expensive options. We'll just do our roaming when we get to ports. That's a shame but what can we do.

I'd rather skip paying for daily wifi since I can make do without it but I'd like to check email etc. for about 10 minutes twice during the week. What is the cost of using the internet cafe for someone who doesn't have the Plus package?

3 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'll throw out ideas randomly in hopes that something will stick:

• I'm surprised any Royal ship would have such a focus on the 50s these days.  The cruise either must have been a while ago or you must have been heading to Alaska.
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That cruise was RCCL out of Tampa in January 2023. There were people who liked that music but there many were only in their 30s and 40s. 

Hoping my next cruises will be better. 

We were on RCCL and the entertainment was definitely 1950s. Frankee Vallie and Sha Na Na etc. My youth is more 70s & 80s and they didn't have that. However, the shows were still fabulous and amazing. Absolutely fantastic and as a first time cruiser I was in awe. 

Are there lines that wouldn't have so much 50s entertainment? Virgin, I think, would cater to people younger than me so that's out. 

If you're at a port from say 8 am to 6 pm, do you head back on board for lunch or try to eat somewhere at the port? If the ports are at areas where the water might upset your stomach, do you try not to eat the food on land?

Sounds like it's not worth losing sleep over those perks. 😄

When you book your cruise, they ask if you've booked with them before. What type of perk might one get?

I'm booked for my first Princess cruise but would like to book another cruise many months after that. I can't say I've sailed with them before but I will have by the time I sail on the second cruise.

So what kind of perks do the different lines offer? 

I'm still on the fence but leaning towards Plus. Right off the bat, DH will pay 16 for crew appreciation and 15 for WIFI. That's 31 right there. So for another 30 he gets all those drinks. I was leaning towards the Zero alcohol package at 30 but he's only breaking even. 

If he gets the Plus pkg, then I'm forced to as well.

I was ok skipping on Wifi and only drinking sodas and coffees (i.e. 16 appreciation & 30 drinks pkg) but it looks like if one person wants alcohol, the other has to pay up as well. 

I'm not a drinker these days. Should I pass on the Plus package even though we'd get crew appreciation and wifi included?

Do you get some type of ID badge when boarding so you can charge some extras to your room?

There are 3 train excursions at Skagway we can pick. One is 3 hours on a train and bus. The other two are over 7 hours, one is Bennet and other goes into Yukon and back at 8 hours. 

Will the 8 hour one be way too long? Is it worthwhile?