goodie2shoes

• I have traveled on several different Princess ships with a scooter.  I hate to tell you this, but it is completely up to you to bring one that will fit through the door, and you must keep it inside your cabin unless you are using it.  It's awkward sometimes, but since I made sure that the width met the standards (22 inches if I remember right) and have been able to go just about anywhere I want to.  Best of luck, and I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Thanks everyone!

 

What about the player playing blu-ray?

I can't answer that question for sure until I get on board on the 14th, but judging from the past the answer is No, it will not play Blu-Ray. And the list of movies they offer for you to borrow is very limited and old. And that's if you are even able to get one because of others already getting it and not returning it right away. I intend to take some of my regular movies (when we buy blu-ray we usually get the regular disc included) just in case I get bored.

I am not sure I understand your post. Please clarify a few things for me. You are flying to Vancouver to catch the Island for a cruise to Alaska? Or will you be taking a repositioning cruise from LA to Vancouver, but still flying back to LA?

 

If you are flying, then why couldn't you book passage on the Coral instead?

 

I love the Coral and because of the changes to the Island Princess, have chosen not to sail on her. These were two of Princess' best ships. I am so sorry they thought that the renovations would enhance the Island's appeal.

As I said, I can't fly, so I will not be flying to anywhere. We will drive to Vancouver and back for the cruise. The Island was the only ship that fit our time requirements, so that is why I booked her. I can't book the Coral because she does not have the wheel chair accessible cabin I require. My point is that Princess needs to renovate more ships to add cabins that are desirable and allow wheel chair access. There are a lot of us out there that would like to cruise more, but can't ever manage to snag an accessible cabin if the ship has one we would consider acceptable. Inside, Ocean View, Balcony and even Mini-Suite are not desirable cabins for me, as we were spoiled by a Suite on our first cruise. Tried a Mini-Suite once and hated it!

I would like to speak on behalf of the minority here. First, I want to give you my cruising history on the Island. Our first cruise was in a suite on the Island to Hawaii in January of 2006. It was followed within the year with another trip to Hawaii, again on the Island. It has always been our favorite ship.

Recently our life has changed, and I now need a handicap, wheel chair accessible cabin. But we still want the space and benefits of a suite. We live in California, and flying to anywhere to cruise is out of the question, so unless a cruise is from a west coast port we can't do it. Because of this, we have not been on board for some time, and we really miss it.

We are now booked on the Island in one of the new accessible suites, for Alaska next summer, and I can't tell you how happy that makes us.

So, please forgive us for thinking that you are being very selfish in the way that you are only considering what the majority of healthy cruisers want. We are now forced to see beyond that, and realize what the small minority of cruisers need. I can't wait until next summer, and I hope that those I meet on board will forgive me for being happy to be able to be there in comfort.

I agree 100%. I have done Alaska on both the Star and the Coral. My pick would be the Coral over the Star any day.

Be aware that if you order a steak rare in the main dining room you may be asked to sign a release for ordering undercooked meat. Happened to us several times. My husband prefers rare in most steaks, and after sending one back three times the head waiter came with a book and asked him to sign it as they could not serve anything rarer than what he was getting without it.

One other time, when ordering a hamburger from room service he ordered medium rare and when they brought it he had to sign a release.

It can be a struggle, but you can get what you want if you are patient.

The pictures are good enough to figure out which deck is which and which cabin is the one you want. But there's no key telling you what each color means. Can you post that information, please.

Thanks for the reply. I don't remember ever seeing that car around town, but you never know. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

This morning I also signed into my cruise personaliser as I always do to look at the cruise I have booked. When I clicked on my upcoming cruise said I had to fill out the booking number birthdate etc to access the cruise. I have never had to do that in the past. When the sign in came up it showed my last name as spelt wrong which it has always been right in the past. Will have to call princess and find out how this happened.

mrsihopes, I couldn't believe it when I looked at your location. I know there's someone other than me that lives in Tehachapi and cruises Princess, but have never seen her post. You wouldn't happen to be the person we met on a 14 day Alaska some time ago, and again later on a Hawaii cruise, would you? We never did manage to exchange emails or any other contact information. If you are that person I would be more than happy to give you my email so we could talk without bothering others on this board. And I apologize to every one out there for this interruption. When you find someone else in your small town posting here it's exciting.

While we have not been in that class cabin on the Pacific Princess, we have sailed in one three times on her sister ships, which would be the same experience. We were in 8052, 8059, and 8065. The quietest cabin was 8065. In 8052 and 8059 we heard a lot of noise from moving the chairs, tables, loungers, etc. around the deck. This was most often in the early morning. It wasn't a problem for us, as we are early risers, but if you want to sleep in it could prove a problem. We have only been in 7119 of the Pacific Princess, and being located between two decks with only cabins on them, it was quiet. We didn't know there was anyone above or below is at any time. But that's a completely different class of cabin, so not what you were asking about.

We were on a B2B when we reached Elite, and had to see the Captain's Circle Rep to get our benefits after we boarded. But ours was a B2B moving from one ship to another, so we expected that. Your case will probably be the same, with only 2 days between the two cruises. It's more of a minor nuisance than anything else. You get to meet the CC Rep, and he or she will take care of everything for you. Enjoy your new status!

No ravioli of any kind. There was a pasta with vegetables, a beef (tough according to DH) dish in sauce, Cod, and BBQ Chicken. The salad was a Chicken Cob. There was a tomato stuffed with smoked salmon and a veal Carpaccio in the appetizers, and a Corn Chowder with Sweet Potato. There was also a Cubin Sandwich. It was all pretty much forgettable.

If you have OBC from Military credit you can not use it in the casino. We have a friend joining us on a future cruise, and he read the restrictions for that credit and you can't use it in the Casino or for Gratuities. I don't know if this is new or not, but it is currently on Princess.

We were on the Ruby on Sunday (April 26) and they did not have the menu for lunch that includes the salmon. Everything was new, and not as good as what we had in the past in my opinion. They didn't have the Souffle for dessert either, or the shrimp appetizer. It was quiet in the dining room, and the food was not bad, but it was a disappointment to not be able to order what we expected to have. Guess that's a problem we have created for ourselves, as we always have lunch in the dining room when we board and knew what was on the menu that we enjoyed.

I still recommend having lunch in the dining room, but don't go expecting something you have had in the past. The Future Cruise Consultant said that this was the menu they are serving now, so I guess it has been changed for at least the last couple of weeks.

There was a Bon Voyage Experience scheduled for today on the Crown. Does anyone know what is going to happen to the people who have paid for this and now it appears they won't be allowed on board in time for lunch or touring the ship?

We have seen the Captain have breakfast there when his wife was on the cruise. He sat a discrete distance from the rest of the diners, and no one bothered him. I guess we all understood that it was something special for him to have his wife along, and it was probably the only time in the day they could be together.

I would add my two pence worth...please do not concern yourself with the fire doors between sections. They are only ever used in case of emergency; otherwise they are always open.

Except when someone who has indulged a little too much thinks it's fun to close them as he staggers to his cabin very late at night. We had one cruise like that. Rather annoying to have a heavy door slam right outside your cabin when you are sound asleep.

While staying in a suite we have never been turned away when requesting the Chef's Table. I can't say if that was because of the suite, or because calling to put our name in for the Chef's Table is one of the first things I do when I board. But we have been 5 times over the years, and as I said never told no.

Thank you. I never thought of that because I don't trust Wilkipedia. I've seen too many pieces of information on it that I know are not true. Hope they are right this time.

I know there is someone who reads this board who will have the answer to my question right at his or her fingertips.

The Ocean Princess, previously the Tahitian Princess and soon to become Sirena with Oceania, was originally an "R" ship. She and her sisters were each designated by a number. I would like to know which one she is. I can picture the plaque on the wall in the hall leading to the Bridge, but I can't see the number in that picture. It's a small thing, but I spent some hours awake last night thinking about it. I hope someone can give me the answer so I can get some sleep tonight.

Thanks in advance. I know there will be an answer.

In 2008 we were on the Tahitian Princess for our first cruise to Alaska. It was a 14 night cruise, and to this day I wish it was still available. Near the end of the cruise they auctioned off the Chart of our cruise that had been prepared by the Bridge Staff. I purchased that chart. After all the details of paying for it were completed (this is one item that could not be charged to your ship card) we were approached and invited to meet the Captain on the Bridge that evening before dinner. It was formal night, so we were all well dressed. We were conducted to the Bridge where the Captain and other officers showed us all the instruments and talked about what they were doing and seeing. There were just the three of us, me, my husband, and our adult daughter. Needless to say, it was the experience of a lifetime, and I will never forget it. The pictures we have with the Captain are wonderful with us all looking our best. Sadly things like that don't happen much any more. I think of it every time I look at the chart that is mounted and hanging on my office wall. What a wonderful memory.

Some time back we were on a Hawaii cruise, and the weather was bad returning to the mainland, which delayed us a lot. We arrived outside Ensenada at around midnight (never entered the port) and a boat brought the officials and paperwork out to us where all forms were filled properly and the officials returned to port on their boat. We then headed north to Los Angeles. Believe me, it happens.

What I find really interesting is our Mexico cruise on the Golden, sailing April 6, 2015 is not on the schedule at all. I think this is not a complete schedule, especially for San Pedro.

Dinners in specialty restaurants can be confusing. We often book a suite, which gets us a free dinner on the first night. We also get a free dinner on the first night from our AmEx card. Needless to say we only get one dinner, since we can't change either one. I've tried to get Princess to let us change with no luck. Guess I'll have to talk to AmEx and see if they can change what they give to an open night rather than the first night. It would be nice to try two restaurants (for free) rather than just one.

We are back from a lovely, though very rainy cruise to Alaska from Vancouver on the Pacific Princess. I would like to share a few things about this cruise with others who might be interested.

First, boarding in Vancouver. Since we were the only ship in port that morning, it was absolutely the best I have ever experienced at any port. We arrived at the port with 4 bottles of wine for the two of us, fully expecting to pay the corkage on 2 of the bottles. They were in a clearly identified wine carry bag, and went through the security and back into our possession without anyone saying a thing. We proceeded to check in with them in plain sight, and no one said a thing. There was no place to show them what we had and pay the corkage. We boarded the ship and still no one said a thing. So we went to our cabin, put them away to enjoy there later during the cruise, and that was the end of it. No corkage charged.

If any of you think you will never get enough cruises/days to qualify for the Most Traveled Person party, well think again. The most traveled couple on this cruise had a total of 288 days. We were told at the muster drill by Silvaine, the Captains Circle Rep. who was also conducting the drill that we were number 5 among the most traveled, but that there would be no party because there were so few people to attend, so they gave us free dinner in a specialty restaurant. There were only 13 Elite on this cruise. Over 500 of the passengers were Blue Cards - first time Princess cruisers.

The ship was beautiful, and crew delightful, and the food in the dining room and specialty restaurants very good. The buffet left something to be desired. We did not find it very good, but did enjoy making our own salad and picking up a piece of pizza (which was excellent as usual) for lunch once or twice.

My only complaint with the ports was where we were docked. The only way we could have been further away from the businesses in the ports would have been to be anchored and have to tender. It seems that Princess is not a favorite with the various port authorities, and always gets put the furthest away, while Celebrity seemed to be a favorite and in the best spots on this cruise.

For those driving to Vancouver, I have to say that judging from this cruise and the one two years ago, Canada has the most unfriendly Customs / Border Guards I have ever come across. Two years ago the woman processing us asked bluntly "Where is your Gun?" We were stunned. My husband finally said "at home locked in the safe where it belongs" which really didn't satisfy her. She kept asking questions about guns. We wondered if she thinks that everyone in the US, or California since that is where we are from has a gun.

This year the man we got looked at our passports and asked why we were driving all the way from California when we could have taken a plane and spent less time getting there. I leaned over and told him that I don't like to fly - that's why I cruise. He let it go at that, but I had the feeling both times that they just don't want us in Canada. We go there, we spend our money in their country, but they don't want us. Maybe I will have to start looking for cruises from Seattle or SFO from now on, and be sure to not get off the ship in Victoria since my money is obviously not wanted.

Overall we enjoyed the cruise, and the ship, and are looking forward to Alaska next summer as the summer just doesn't seem complete without visiting Alaska.