karatemom2

Just a note to say that if you are playing in the Casino, you should be choosing to do so because you find it fun and entertaining- win or lose, comps or no comps. DH would play Craps whether it netted him any cruise benefits or not because he really enjoys it. The cruise perks are a nice added benefit. Whatever game of choice - slots or table, ultimately the odds are not in your favor. You will likely invest more than you net, so ultimately you are paying for the benefits you might receive in cruise credit. If you go in understanding that and have fun playing as a source of enjoyment then you will be less frustrated then if you are always chasing a win or a comp.

Based on your preference for not being cold or wet, your best choice is probably mid June to early July. As Coral points out, May is lovely in terms of lack of rain, but it can be pretty chilly. Our warmest and dryest trips have been in mid to late June to early July. I remember one over July 4 where it was so warm on our day in Glacier Bay that people were admiring the scenery poolside in swimwear. Late July, August and into September, we see more rain and as it gets later in the season it gets colder as well. We love every time of the Spring/Summer cruising season, but for your weather priorities it would seem June, maybe early July is your best bet. No guarantee though - it’s weather so not fully predictable.

Depending on what time you leave the ship you will find taxis coming through dropping people off for the next cruise. Some people do start arriving as early as 9:30 a.m. You might be able to catch a ride that way if you don’t need to be on the road earlier. You don’t mention what day of the week you arrive in San Pedro, but it makes a very big difference in terms of the traffic you will encounter which directly impacts the cost of a taxi. Weekend traffic tends to be significantly lighter and your transit to LAX will be faster. If it is a weekday you are likely going to encounter heavy morning commuter traffic on the 405 and it can take much longer. The savings over using the ship transfer may not be as much as you might imagine and at least that is a guaranteed ride that is there, ready and waiting to take you regardless of how disorganized it might be. It removes the worry and hassle of you trying to figure out on the ground when you disembark and are trying to navigate without phone service. Your other option is to prebook a car service or shuttle with one of the many local vendors who provide the service, but that is likely to cost just as much or more than the Princess shuttle. If you can’t figure out a cost effective way to get phone service, I think you would be wise to stick with the Princess transfer.

I like the new design with the brighter blue and sea witch pattern in the background.

Not always. I’m glad you had a good experience. We were in the Dec 30 sailing, arrived at approximately the same time and waited an hour in the blue lane line while my daughter and her husband basically walked right on through the green line. So experiences vary - ours was a very full holiday sailing and the blue lane line was moving so slowly that they kept intermittently stopping the preliminary line for the metal detectors and carryon scanning. Your mileage may vary depending on the crowd volume and number of people who are picking up medallions as opposed to those who already have them. We will always get them shipped from now on to hopefully avoid a similar situation in the future at any port.

ISP is a great port for kayaking if you can do your whale watch in Juneau. Ketchikan also offers some good kayaking options.

You and my DH would be fast friends. You are exactly the type of player with whom he enjoys playing Craps. He certainly has many stories to tell about some of the behavior he has witnessed by highly inexperienced, drunk, or even belligerent players over the year. As they say “it’s a crap shoot” but entertaining for sure! 🤣

Priority boarding yes once you are through your check in process via your assigned lane. There is no longer a Suite or Elite line at check in. The best way to ensure expedient boarding is to get in the Green Lane and have your medallions shipped so your check in process is easier and you pass through to boarding more quickly.

You just tell them what you want to swap out and then leave everything as it is - they will come in and make the replacements. If it is just a few specific items, just be sure to tell them exactly what you want taken away and what you prefer in exchange. No need for you to pull them out.

We had L102 on Royal on our Alaska trip out of Vancouver in 2022. It was glorious! We have been to Glacier Bay a number of times, but experiencing it on our forward facing balcony was the best, just beauty in every direction.

Yes, even though the parking is very convenient it is easier to drop your bags off and then park. Given you are in the Green Lane and have your medallions, boarding should be quick and easy once you get through security.

We have always enjoyed the soft serve on our Princess cruises. I have been known to go out and get a scoop to go on top of my bread pudding or brownie dessert from the buffet. It’s been shared on the Sun Princess thread that while they still have “free” soft serve available near the buffet, the soft serve at the ice cream venue by the pool is $5 - because it’s “premium”. Not sure what constitutes premium soft serve, but I don’t think I would pay $5 for it. If I want to pay for premium ice cream, I’ll have the gelato!

We have experienced some pretty long lines at YVR immigration, both coming and going. The time frame you mention would be tight even in a situation where you weren’t clearing immigration. I would look for a longer connection.

Agree with this, we have never asked our steward. It has always been our understanding that this is a room service function. We usually call in the afternoon after boarding and generally we come back to the cabin to find it switched out after dinner or at latest by the next day. We also switch out for 20 diet cokes.

Thanks for your review. We loved the 360 experience on the Discovery on our New Year’s cruise. Like you, I agree that I wouldn’t necessarily need to do it again, but very worth the investment to do it once. Sounds like you had a great cruise!!

We have used Blackberry and also a company called EC Minibus which is especially good if you want to do any type of tour - like fo Stonehenge or Windsor castle - on the way.

Yes. The orange soufflé is always a great way to start the cruise!

Thanks for the live thread! Enjoy Sagrada Familia - it’s spectacular!

Quite an extensive Duckie discussion going on in this current thread.

Are you going on the Discovery? I would advise you make sure that you complete your preregistration and get your medallion shipped in advance so you are in the green lane. That should make your boarding process there much easier. Discovery Princess boards at Berth 92 at the Port of LA in San Pedro so not through the more spacious main building but at a separate entry building next to the USS Iowa that is basically a glorified quonset hut. It is less than glamorous, and quite cramped. Lines for the blue lane to pick up your medallion can be long - winding through a line maze similar to one found in an amusement park following transit through a tented area with the metal detectors. We waited in line for an hour for our New Year's cruise - while my daughter and her husband who already had their medallions literally walked right on the boat. Do yourself a huge favor - make sure you get your medallions shipped in advance and that should ensure an easier and more pleasant boarding process.

We still get the envelope with tickets in our stateroom when we embark for any pre-booked shore excursions. We also got them for our transfer last time we used that service - but perhaps it was because it also included a tour on the way to the airport. Be sure to hang to them even after you check in at the theatre or lounge where your group is gathering and get your sticker. Last cruise there was one couple who thought they didn't need their tickets any longer after they received their group sticker and left them sitting on the table in the lounge. The tour guide was collecting the tickets, as usual, at the bus as people were getting on, and this couple, who thankfully were on a different bus, didn't have their tickets. The husband had to go all the way back onboard with a member of the excursion team, find the tickets where they had left them, and then come back. It held up their group by a good 15 minutes.

I've had the burger in the MDR a couple of times when there was nothing else that appealed to me on the menu. Both times they were ok - not great, not terrible, and definitely a little on the overdone side. The burgers from the grill are much better - thinner, which I prefer, cooked to order and served hot. DH like to get his with grilled onions. They pretty much cook them for a standard time but I guess you could always request it rare - they are cooking them to order after all.

Well, likely for a few reasons. First the Royal holds a lot more people than the older Princess ships doing the similar itinerary and a lot more balcony cabins - so more capacity to fill probably equates to lower prices. Also, many prefer the Grand class style ships for Alaska in particular because they are small enough to do the true inside route out of Vancouver while the Royal has to go outside on the less scenic route, they have much more and much better outdoor public viewing areas which is important on a scenic cruise, and in the case of the Grand and Sapphire which are doing the same itinerary - both have indoor covered pool areas which is very nice on an Alaskan cruise. So, for all these reasons, the Royal may actually be a harder sell with more space to fill - hence the better pricing.

The table game question is and shall remain a mystery - it seems very subjective. My husband only plays Craps, and occasionally he will spend a bit of time at the three card poker table game or blackjack during the day when the Craps table isn't open if he can get a seat. He never plays slots. He plays consistently the same on all of our cruises and yet his offers vary from cruise to cruise. What we have found on our cruises out of Southampton, he tends to be among a group of very few Craps players and his play is quite significant by comparison to other players. On those cruises the come back offers were for free balconies with $600 casino cash. On both of these trips he was also able to get noticed by the casino host and develop a good rapport. He tries to do this on all of our trips, but it is easier on cruises with less table players. However, on cruises where there are a lot of high rolling Craps players, like our Mexican Riviera cruises on Discovery, the offers are generally less. His worst ever was on our recent New Year's Eve cruise where the Craps table was packed the whole time and he felt like he was having a hard time even getting his play monitored and he couldn't get any face time with the casino host. It didn't help that he got COVID the second to last day and missed that all important last night before the offers are developed. So, just based on his experience since he pretty much spends the same amount of time at the tables and invests about the same amount of dollars every cruise, he has come to believe that the rewards and offers are very subjective and perhaps driven by a curve or comparison with other table players, as well as the discretion of the casino host. We are back to Southampton this summer for a Norway cruise and he is hoping for a similar outcome in terms of better offer as our cruises these past two years.

It's completely separate from the Princess app. Stockperks is its own app - you can go the app store and do a search and then download on your phone.