MillbrookMom

I think I would still like to try it regardless!

So, based on your wheelhouse comment, just curious who you would say the clientele is for Princess then? I see people bring kids on Princess ships (when they have been docked beside us at a port) and essentially my husband is just a big kid who likes to stay active.

The Celebrity cruise was one of their smaller ships many years ago and we chose it for itinerary and price. It was also a port intensive cruise, so we didn't mind the lack of activities. We did use the basketball court and the gym more than we do on Royal ships.

We have always cruised Royal Caribbean (with 1 NCL and one Celebrity). We would very much like to try other cruiselines and are thinking of Princess next. What we like about Royal is the number of activities to keep my husband busy (he gets easily bored and loves the rock climbing, surf simulator etc). Now we don't need those things, but are looking for recommendations on ships that would have the most things to keep an active person occupied. Thanks in advance.

We will see. An hour ago I had been given 2 x $50OBC (but not my refunded OBC that I used to buy the pass), now it has disappeared and I am back to the OBC amount I had left after buying the Premier pass.

Considering taking our 1st Transatlantic for our 30th Anniversary. JUst wondering if you would recommend a Minimum ship size? The worst seas we have felt were all on ships under 100,000 tons. I suspect that isn't a coincidence. But wondering if we should look at the going on the biggest "or widest " ships for a transatlantic to increase our chances of feeling any rough waters less. Would love to hear others experience and what their ship was. TIA

Darn, I was hoping it would show when Transatlantics open for Fall of 2024 😞

We have sailed Royal Caribbean many times from Cape Liberty and are very familiar with it. Just wondering if the Boston Port has parking there? Is it a garage or a lot? and where can I find more info. I have done a search, but always like to hear from those who have actually used it. TIA

Thank you. We may look at flights in and out of Athens and would do a few days on one side of the cruise there.

We are planning a European trip for our 30th in 2024. We plan to visit relatives in Switzerland for a few weeks and also do a Mediterranean cruise. Greece is a bucket list destination for us. We are more beach/scenery/foodie type people vs History. What 3 ports would you say are bucket list ports. (there are so many different itinerary choices, just trying to make the right decision as we likely would only do a Mediterranean cruise once. TIA

Anybody else watch Alaska Port Webcams to get their "Alaska fix". We went in May for the 1st time and absolutely loved it. Researching to plan our next cruise and or land based Alaska trip already.

Thanks, it's from RC

Not sure I am a fan of the new website for cruise planner. Time will tell. I do have a question about OBC. Where does it show up in the new site. We should have $200, but I don't see it anywhere.

Ship - Serenade of the Seas Deck -10 Stateroom # -1002 Stateroom Category – CB Starboard or Port Side - Port Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Relatively quiet except the water issue, more on that later. Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - Yes Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Great view overall except there is some obstruction from the bridge looking forward. But if they have their shades up you can see straight through. Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Seemed smallish, but have not been on this class before Was wind a problem? - no If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - Any specific problems with this cabin? - There was an issue when you would run the water or flush the toilet where it made a clunking noise (only for about 10 seconds, but mildly annoying) Any other comments? -

Wondering if anyone else has had trouble with the website in the last day or so when booking. We booked a cruise yesterday and it wouldn't let me apply my FCC (I did it after and they have been accepted now). Also, I was sent an email saying I paid the deposit, but still haven't received my emailed receipt for booking.

Can you please expand on this? We are thinking of doing it on Oasis and would like to know more details please.

We have done this many times and we always stay in the Parsippany/Whippany area. It's a super easy drive in the morning from there. You can avoid tolls, but honestly, they aren't that expensive. Just have some US $ on hand for them. Before they built the parking garage we could park in the lots, but the garage is great. Just try and have an earlier boarding time so that you can get a spot there. We did once do a park and cruise hotel, but didn't find it as convenient or any cheaper really. We like sailing out of here for the convenience plus there is the beautiful 911 memorial beside the pier and you can see the Statue of Liberty from the ship. Sailing under the Verrazano Bridge is also a cool experience.

So, the Airport is in Richmond and the cruise port is downtown Vancouver (Coal Harbour). We took the Canada Line Train downtown which drops you a few blocks from the port. Since we were flying within Canada we didn't have to do customs, so I'm not sure about that. I do know security in Vancouver was quite busy when we flew home, it was about 30 minutes to get through that line. I would give yourself a minimum of 30 minutes to get to the port depending if you take the train or a taxi give or take. We had amazing weather and great temperatures. 13-18 degrees every day. Quite warm feeling in the sunshine. We mostly wore sweatshirts with t-shirts under. We took so much stuff we didn't use. But I think we were lucky and would likely still pack all the extras we did. If you can bring binoculars for each person, I would recommend that. I also felt one of the best things we did was sleep with the curtains open so even if you woke in the night you could see a gorgeous view out your window (assuming you have OV or Balcony). The food was pretty good. Some things were amazing, some of the best we've ever had. Some, not as good as we remembered. The ship is in pretty decent shape for it's age. They did have some areas where they were painting or doing other maintenance. As far as entertainment goes. I didn't find there to be as many options as I remember on smaller ships in the past (maybe due to Covid). I personally didn't go to any as I was up so early and always went to bed early as the scenery was my focus this cruise. Hope that helps.

We are from Ontario, Canada so we didn't need post cruise testing to fly. I would ask under some of the roll calls from previous cruises in May.

If your excursion drops you downtown and hour to 1 1/2 would likely be enough to see the park. We spent roughly 5 hours off the ship walking everywhere, plus raptor centre, eating and shopping.

Day 7 was a sea day, but still lots to see. Around 10:30 am we were having a late breakfast on our balcony with we spotted a whale spout. It smacked it's tail a few times on the water and breached a couple of times. Today we did "A Taste of Royal" lunch which we really enjoyed. Once again we spotted a large pod of dolphins that were diving in and out of the water and making their way towards the ship. About 10 minutes later we spotted some whales spouting for the last time on this trip. We had some amazing views late in the afternoon as we sailed along the Vancouver Island coast again. This was truly an amazing trip. We feel so lucky to have experienced the raw natural beauty of Alaska.

Day 6 - Tracy Arm Fjord. Once again blessed with gorgeous weather as we traversed the Fjord. It's so lovely sailing past gorgeous waterfalls and beautiful 360 views. At this time of year there is a lot of glacial debris in the water (icebergs) so the captain was only able to get us close enough to have a brief view of Small Sawyer Glacier. It was still a great experience to be so close to the shore.

Day 5 we woke just before 4am to see the beautiful Chilkat Mountains out our balcony window just before a 4:09am sunrise. Today we were docked in Haines which I think is the most gorgeous view of the mountains right behind the dock and Fort Seward. We did a RCL excursion here that was a bit of a disappointment. It was on a non AC bus and for May it was HOT! We did the Deluxe Haines Highlights tour. We spent an hour and a half at the American Bald Eagle foundation which was way too long, and once we had left we found out why. The 3rd part of our tour had been cancelled due to renovations so we did not visit the Haines Packing Company. We then drove along the Chilkat River to Chilkat Lake where we spent about a half hour. It's very pretty, but nothing much to do other than take photos and chill. Upon return they dropped us off for a lunch of bread, salmon spread that was in individual self serve balls, and snacks. Most people skipped this part. There isn't too much to do in Haines compared to other ports, but my husband did go for a swim (he had a thing for swimming everywhere we go) and a walk to the Brewery to try a Sitka Spruce beer.

Day 4 - we awoke at 2:30 am to bright skies and a gorgeous view. Sunrise over the mountains and seeing a pod of whales from our balcony around 5am while heading towards Juneau was beautiful way to start the best day of our cruise. We had planned only to go to Mendenhall Glacier today, but once we got off the ship and took the $5 shuttle to town my husband talked me into a whale watching/Mendenhall Glacier combo. Turned out to be the best decision we made. First we took the bus to Mendenhall and our driver provided some facts along the route. We hiked out to Nugget Falls and took the beach path back. Then we met at the designated area for our bus to the whale watching. The tour company is Alaska Tales and we had an amazing crew. Captain Luke did a good job of finding us whales pretty quickly. We would see them spout a few times and their backs before the show tail before diving down. Then we went off to see a group of sea lions that were sunning themselves on a buoy. Then we took off to check out an area and this is where the action was. We found a young whale that was playing and testing itself. We were treated to a 15-20 minute display of breaching, tail flaps and fin waving. It was spectacular. Even our guides were so excited. It was truly a treat. (my husband has all the videos on his phone) When we returned to town we tried some local Halibut which was delicious. So many places to eat in Juneau.

Day 3 we were in Sitka. This was a gorgeous port (I mean they really all are). Here we decided to do a walking tour on our own. We took the free shuttle from the dock to town. Then we headed along the boardwalk towards the National Historical park. There are some beautiful views from here along with many totem poles to view. A nice easy hike with a few different paths around the park. From there we decided to walk to the Raptor Centre. The entrance is $15 and for our visit I am not sure it was worth it. They only had a few eagles at the time, along with a couple owls. There were sections that were closed as well. It is nice to see eagles up close and learn a little about what they do at the centre, but I think it is a hit or miss attraction depending on how many birds they have at the facility at a time. After that we made our way back to town, and grabbed a bite to eat, pick up a few souvenirs before heading back to the ship. We did grab a bite at the dock before heading back on. Crab and Seafood chowder which were both delicious.