karatemom2

We have sailed over Thanksgiving three times and all were 7 day or less cruises - so yes, lots of kids and families. That was ok with us as we were a family with those pesky younger children then. So for us it was great. We did a Mexican Riviera itinerary each time. if you prefer to avoid as many kids, I would suggest a longer cruise, or one that starts prior to Thanksgiving and runs into the following week when the kidlets are back in school. As has been noted, the Thanksgiving meal served is not your mama’s cooking. It’s just ok. It’s probably one of those rare exceptions that is actually better in the buffet where they are carving the turkey fresh, and the sides are warm and you can choose what you want - more like at home. In terms of activities - nothing all that special like Christmas. The atrium is decorated with a horn of plenty display and other Fall snd Thanksgiving related decor, and there is usually.a Thanksgiving trivia. It’s fun for a vacation experience, but in general I prefer Thanksgiving at home these days.

Well they definitely are this summer. We are doing a Land of the Midnight Sun cruise on the Sky in June. It includes three major fjords and cruising into the Arctic Circle to Honningsvag to visit the North Cape. It’s an incredible itinerary - can’t wait!!!

I've never been on a cruise ship with heat lamps - not sure they are allowed on ships due to potential fire danger. Generally we find Princess the best in terms of the overall Alaska cruise experience - the Grand and Sapphire both have indoor pools/conservatory areas. Also, on Princess ships viewing from the buffet tends to be good. NCL has probably the worst itineraries for Alaska, but in terms of indoor viewing, they do have the forward facing observation lounge which is pretty magnificent for viewing in a warm, dry, environment. But I would never choose NCL for Alaska just for this reason. The rest of what they offer is subpar in my opinion. Honestly, being inside is never much of a priority for me in Alaska - you really experience it best outdoors on deck (Sapphire and Grand both have wonderful promenade decks) when you are enjoying scenic viewing from the ship. Watching a whale or glacier through a window just isn't the same. My advice - layer up if it is cold, put on a hat and gloves, and go outside to enjoy the beauty!

Thank you for sharing this. This is an excellent warning in general. The way internet searches work these days, often sponsored sites will come up first at the top of the list. Many of these sites look like and portray that they are the actual site of the vendor for which you are searching. It is a common bait and switch tactic and unfortunately specifically designed to confuse people. We fell for one of these when pre-purchasing our tickets for Sagrada Familia and then had a very difficult time getting them to send the accepted entry ticket - they sent only a pdf file which was not accepted at the entrance. It took me calling from the location and demanding the correct ticket be sent ASAP as we were about to lose our booked entry window. There were three other people there who had purchased through the same "vendor" similarly struggling and I don't know if they ever got in. It was stressful and not at all the way I wanted to go into a much anticipated attraction - plus I realized we had paid much more than we should have. Lesson learned!! Always scroll down and make sure you are going to the actual real vendor or attraction.

What time is your whale watch cruise, or more specifically when does it end? The salmon bake requires 1.5 to 2 hours, plus transit time. Have you checked their website for serving times the day you are there? They tend to vary slightly each day based around the schedules of ships in town. Your question is very hard to answer without additional information.

We don’t totally dislike the bells and whistles of the Royal class ships - my DH is a bigger fan than I am. But when I walk into a Grand class ship I feel like I have come home to a classic and familiar friend. The style, elegance, and traditional cruise vibe just makes me happy!

Perhaps you should just cruise for the overall experience and travel opportunity, not the entertainment. You consider yourself an expert in musicianship and have already determined the shows will not meet your standards - I would suggest you skip them or adjust your expectations. Again, this is not the Met or Broadway, which based on your comments might not even live up to your high standards - just guessing based on your Lin Manuel Miranda reference. Maybe there are other aspects of cruising that will meet with your approval. You can espouse your superior knowledge and taste in music and shows ad nauseam here. But it won’t change anything - the shows are what they are - many enjoy them because they accept them for what they are and appreciate the talent, enthusiasm, and energy of the young performers. Either choose a different cruise line with entertainment you find meets your standards or take a land vacation and go to a professional show or opera every night. If you cruise with Princess this is the entertainment offered and you can complain all you want - but it does you no good. I think you have made your position quite clear at this point.

And if after everything they won’t give you your cabin back, push for any other perks you can get them to give you to compensate - on board credit, free Plus package etc. Or ask for a real upgrade to an unobstructed balcony. A move to the cabin next door is not an upgrade. Good luck!

Thank you both for saying this. Many of these young people performing on cruise ships are professionally trained musical theatre talent fresh out of their college BFA programs looking for a place to launch their careers in a setting that provides a good income and a chance to do what they love and what they TRAINED to do. It is awful for anyone to disparage them. These are talented young people who have worked hard and deserve respect. My daughter and her husband have a number of friends they trained with in college performing on cruise ships right now and they are awesomely talented kids.

The Disney comparison is a bit unfair as they can draw off all of their fully formed Disney movie storylines and aren’t having to pay to license content they already own, or have to create new original content and music which is expensive and difficult. Why do you think even Broadway is defaulting to so many jukebox musicals? We are musical theatre fanatics. My daughter and her husband are both singers and actors and we regularly see professional productions in both LA and New York. I do not expect this level on our cruises and yet still generally enjoy the shows for what they are, with the understanding that they are not theatre productions. Princess does a decent job - not great. NCL has better entertainment in my estimation and uses a professional company (Jean Ann Ryan) for their talent and shows. They do have more theatrical shows with shortened versions of musicals like Jersey Boys and Six. So they have demonstrated it can be done, and done well. I thought Princess might be on that track when they collaborated with Stephen Schwartz on a couple of shows, but unfortunately that didn’t really go very far. I don’t travel on Princess for the production shows - they are just a nice part of the equation. While I would love to see them elevate the theatrical quality and offer more Broadway style shows, I don’t expect it and wouldn’t want it if it raised the price of my cruise. I would rather go to a real Broadway show on land. For onboard entertainment the production shows they offer are fine, some better than others, and all very dependent on the level of talent of the singers and dancers on a particular ship. If you go in with reasonable expectations of what the shows are - elaborate variety shows - and what they aren’t - Broadway musicals, you will likely not be disappointed.

You will be at Berth 93 for your departure so will be going through the nice terminal building which is definitely more pleasant and roomy. Being in the green lane should make your boarding process quicker and easier, so as to arrival time it really depends on how important it is to you to be on the ship early and perhaps have lunch in the MDR. Emerald will be at Berth 92 that day as well, so there will be lots of people getting off the two ships and lots getting on. It will be busy. If you are keen to avoid the cross crush of people leaving and arriving, Noon or later may be less hectic. However, if you want to be on the ship earlier, you can certainly arrive at 9:30 - 10 a.m. with the understanding that it will be a bit more crowded. Just be prepared to be patient.

This is good advice - the rainforest hikes near Ward Cove and Ward Lake are beautiful and free and easy to do on your own. I like Totem Bight better then Saxman - it's a gorgeous area near the beach on the same road you take to get to Ward Lake. You might consider renting a car from Ketchikan Car Rentals - it's so easy to explore on your own that way and very cost effective. We have rented from them a number of times and it is great to have your own vehicle there.

Here is the thing about rain in Alaska - it comes and goes and it is just part of the experience. We have cruised in Alaska in May, June, July and August and while it is true that July and August are wetter, it has never made the experience any less enjoyable - you just work through it. We like to hike, so I do wear waterproof boots because I prefer to have dry feet but I don't bother with anything else waterproof including my backpack. My go to outfit is turtleneck, fleece pullover and jeans - maybe a hat and gloves if it is cold. If it rains, I always carry the disposable hooded plastic rain ponchos in my backpack to help keep me dry until it stops, and then I can take them off and throw them out. I like them because they are lightweight and easy and go over my backpack to keep it dry too. One of the best excursions I ever did was in Ketchikan and it was very rainy. It was a zipline tour in the rainforest - and it operates rain or shine. We got pretty wet, but it was exhilarating! Rain or shine, Alaska is the best!

If you ever happen to find yourself in Cabo San Lucas on one of your cruises, check out the Sand Bar on Medano Beach. Some of the best massages I have ever had and it is $36 for a 60 minute massage! I always tip $20 and they are so thankful. It's well earned - such an incredible deal for a wonderful massage with the sound of the waves in the background and the nicest ladies providing the service!

It is almost a certainty that Princess has some guidelines related to crew, staff, and officers fraternizing with guests. I would assume that would probably prohibit the behavior you described, in particular serving alcohol to an underage guest. You did the prudent thing by reporting what your son shared with you. Now that you have done so, I would expect that you need to allow Princess to handle it according to their HR procedures, which likely do not include reporting back to you in any additional way other then they already have in thanking you for sharing the information and letting you know they will act on it. This will likely involve a full HR investigation - it may be something that takes several weeks and involve contacting others for their comment, perhaps including the women involved. Employees have a right to due process and also confidentiality. You may never know the outcome and it is not something Princess would share. Every cruise line, and every business for that matter, have policies and procedures that need to be followed and inevitably, as is illustrated by the very disturbing current story about an RCI crew member, there are legal protocols that must be followed. No cruise line will want the potential liability of someone who may be crossing boundaries that could lead to legal or even criminal issues. I trust Princess will do what needs to be done.

Completely agree. Princess spa prices are quite high compared to what you would pay for similar services on land, even at many resorts. The 18 % is definitely adequate and I would feel no need to tip additional. I am actually glad they made it a mandatory included charge, because it removes that extra step of me having to sit there and figure it out.

No afternoon tea would be a huge disappointment for me. It’s one of the things I love about our Princess cruises. I really hope they don’t extend that to other ships.

Yes, $10 per person.

I’m generally a fan of the spinach and cheese ravioli, DH likes the beef tenderloin, and my daughter is partial to the salmon. Some of our favorite starters include the antipasti plate, chickpea soup, and shrimp and avocado appetizer.

Yes. If you don’t have a package there is a shipping charge of $10. Well worth it in my opinion to get it in advance and save time at embarkation, but you don’t have to get it shipped. You can pick it up at the port.

You may also bring flowers on the ship that you purchase in Hawaii. There was a vendor at the port in Hilo that we always purchased from - it was usually our last port stop and they lasted the full 5 sea days back home. You just can’t bring them off the ship when you return to LA

Well as someone who used to travel with my kids quite a lot, I’m not sure I’m the best person to respond. 😅 They are adults now but I always made sure they behaved. Yes, during school breaks you will find families traveling on Princess. However, they have an excellent program for children and keep them well occupied. However, if that is a big concern I will say that our HAL cruise had very few kids. My daughter was a teenager at the time and there was only one other young girl her same age and just a handful of younger kids. I will say, in general, the one way itineraries like the Sapphire is doing attract less families so you probably wouldn’t find a lot of kids, but definitely probably more than HAL.

Well given this is the Princess Board my guess is that you will overwhelmingly get support for the Sapphire option. That would definitely be my choice. I love the Sapphire - one of my favorite Princess ships. We did one Alaska cruise with HAL on the Amsterdam because of the incredible itinerary. It was a great cruise because of the itinerary, but not so much the ship. It was a little too low key for us and we found the food disappointing compared to Princess. But mostly it was just so quiet in the evenings. We would walk down the hallway at 8:30 pm and see so many rooms with the breakfast cards out on the door already. We aren’t exact party animals, but we do enjoy evening activities, music, and entertainment. My DH also enjoys the casino which was quite lackluster. Thankfully they had an incredible piano player who became our go to nightly entertainment which helped make our evenings more enjoyable. Princess, in my opinion, also does a better job with the Alaska nature and cultural information which always enhances an Alaska cruise. Given how active and engaged you both seem I think you would really enjoy Alaska on the Sapphire. But I would encourage you to ask this same question on the HAL board to get a balance of opinions.

In general, I think people who take the time to comment here are fans of Princess. Many have a lot of cruises with Princess and keep coming back because they like the product. So here on the Princess board you find the true blue! You can count me among that group, although I don’t think Princess is perfect or above critique. However, being a fan of the product likely makes me more forgiving of certain shortcomings and more tolerant when things are less than perfection. The people just stopping in to leave reviews may be less loyal customers and therefore more critical of even minor issues. Just my theory on why you might notice a more complimentary vibe here on the Princess board.

We park at the San Pedro cruise terminal so I can’t comment on the Princess transfers - it seems some people are reporting difficulties with the process. We have always had good experiences with Princess transfers when we have used them in other ports. But, to your comment about the transfer bus being able to drop people at their departure terminals at LAX, I just want to clarify that taxis, Ubers and car services can do that as well. The requirement for taxis and ride share services to use the shuttle lot only is strictly for arrivals not departures. So the OP could use a taxi or other service and still be dropped off at their terminal.