sherryf

On 4/25/2024 at 2:55 PM, YourWorldWithBill said:

We take ginger tablets, and she will take Bonine (Meclizine). 

Ginger is a great preventative.  I take ginger chews/candy from Trader Joe's, but also just drink ginger ale if I'm feeling a little "off".  If you have HIA, it's easy to stop by a bar and ask for a can of ginger ale or two, and keep them in your fridge in case you need them later.  

I also bring generic meclazine, but only use it if I really need it.  Luckily I'm not very prone to seasickness, just feel a little "off" on the first sea day.  The rest of the week I'm fine.

Vancouver is a lovely city.  If I had a choice of which city to visit, I'd choose Vancouver over Ft. Lauderdale any day!

9 hours ago, jean-lynd said:

No plans for it to be fixed this year per the Mayor of Skagway.

Thanks, it's good to know in advanced so we know what to expect.  We are scheduled to be at RR Foreward.

23 hours ago, jean-lynd said:

Be aware in Skagway if you are at RRF you will be tendered to shore and if you are at RRA you will ride a shuttle. This is because of the land slide there a couple of years ago. This is still in place fir the 2024 season but it may be corrected in future seasons.

Does anyone have an update on this?  I thought it was supposed to be fixed for this season.  We don't go until mid-August, so I'm hoping things are back to normal by then.

11 hours ago, SightCRR said:

I would think the Sitka bus ride back to the ship would not be great with salt water wet clothes. 

I don't imagine that he'd be going in fully clothed. If he strips down to swim trunks, the rest of his clothes will be dry.  Depending on the weather that day, his trunks might dry long before he heads back to the bus.  There might even be a public restroom where he could change afterwards and put his wet suit into a plastic bag to take back to the ship.

Also, there are probably going to be very few children on board since they'll all be back in school.

But personally, I probably wouldn't do it unless it was REALLY cheap. I've been to Alaska many times and wouldn't be devastated if the weather was really bad or if we ended up missing ports because of weather/rough seas.  If this is likely to be your only trip to Alaska, you might end up being disappointed.

17 hours ago, memoak said:

We just boarded in Vancouver about 10 days ago. We had a meal on shore and went to check in around 2:00. Very short line check in and customs took no more than 30 minutes. We have found that boarding later avoids all the crazy crowds who just have to be the first group on board

Maybe they have improved the process since last year.  We waited over an HOUR just for US Customs, plus all the time for every other step of boarding.  I think it was about 1.5 hours total from when we arrived until we set foot on the ship.  This was on HAL, but both ships in port were going through the same customs line, so it didn't really matter what cruise line we were on.  People told us that they were working on improvements for the process in Vancouver, so it sounds like it is better this year.

5 hours ago, flhokie said:

We're sailing in June and someone in our online group reported that they went to add on Plus the other day and were not able to. They were told that it was sold out (the website does say that the packages are limited and subject to availability). 

 I've seen some posts saying that this "might" happen, but this is the first one I've seen that says that it actually DID happen.  Has anyone else experienced this?  We have been planning to wait to buy Plus when we board, but we'd hate for it to be "sold out" when we get there.

The water on board is great!  I never buy bottled water.  We always bring reusable water bottles and just drink ship water.

7 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

There is an excellent tour operator in Skagway that offers combined train and van tours called Chilkoot Charters as one example based on your interest in that excursion. Highly recommended and very well reviewed. 

I will second the recommendation for Chilkoot Charters. We have used them twice - once for the bus/train tour to Caribou Crossing and once for the Lake Bennet train/bus combo.  They are excellent and cheaper than booking through the cruise ship.  The best part is that they use much smaller buses so more personalized tours without the huge crowd.

13 hours ago, ReadyToCruise2 said:

The only reasons I can think of would be that the price goes up (it didn't, it was still $60) or as noted, they limit it/sell-out, which seems highly unlikely.

I've seen several comments in various threads about the danger of them "selling out" before you board, but has anyone ever actually encountered this problem?  Nowhere on the Princess site have I read anything to indicate that they limit the number of Plus packages.  Why do people keep mentioning this issue if it doesn't actually exist?

We plan to purchase Plus on board for some of the reasons you mention (mainly the cruise fare/insurance reasons) and our TA agreed that it was a good idea.

14 minutes ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

Hey, I will check Princess out.  I had pretty much figured it was too far out of the budget, but I will throw it in the mix.  

Princess and Holland America are similar in style and similar in price.  They both have been doing Alaska for a long time and do it well... and they both go to Glacier Bay.  If this is likely your only trip to Alaska, you don't want to miss Glacier Bay!  I have cruised both Princess and HAL to Alaska and enjoyed them both very much, but I would give a slight edge to Princess.  They have better naturalists, more enrichment lectures, and extras like husky puppies, Libby Riddles (first woman to win Iditarod), etc.

Mine shows up in the same area, but when I click on it, it says Crooners.  Our cabin is mid ship, so I guess it's possible... or not. 🤷‍♀️

I usually want hat and gloves on glacier sailing days, but otherwise I don't need them.  You definitely don't need a heavy winter coat.  A light, waterproof rain jacket is a good idea since it can rain a lot.  

We've sailed many times with no package, no drink package, no internet, etc. and it was fine.  We drank plain coffee, carried wine on board, used our phones in ports (Alaska, so in our US plan), and were careful about how many drinks we bought.

The first time we had a package was on HAL for my son's wedding cruise.  We all had their "Have it all" package and it was so nice to try different drinks with my (adult) kids, to have internet so we could all communicate easily, etc.  I think that trip spoiled me for doing it any other way. We will be getting Plus for our Alaska cruise this summer.

I've done the math, and it adds up for me.  I also found one of my folios from a cruise about 6 years ago, and just with drinks and gratuities, we spend nearly as much per person as buying Plus, especially if you allow a bit for inflation over the years.  I'm not sure if I could ever justify Premier, but Plus makes sense for us.

3 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

I agree, but that wasn't the OP's question.  

True, but the OP might want to consider both shows and glaciers and find a happy medium.  You can enjoy good shows on a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay.

But Royal Caribbean does not go to Glacier Bay.  For me, glaciers are more important than shows.  YMMV

I've seen this tour when we've driven into the Yukon.  The bikes share the road with huge tour buses, tourists in rental cars, etc.  I, personally, would never do it.  

It depends on your teens and what they enjoy.  We took my 3 kids to Alaska on Princess 3 times while they were teens/young adults, and we took one friend on 2 of those cruises.  They all had a wonderful time!  They would not have been interested in go carts or climbing walls.  They did go to a few lectures.  They met friends in the clubs, and hung out with each other also.  They stayed up late and ate everything in sight. They enjoyed the pools and hot tubs.

Honestly, the most important thing about an Alaskan cruise is Alaska!  Don't choose your cruise based on what you think your kids will like on the ship.  Choose based on best port times, glaciers, and enrichment/naturalists on board.

1 hour ago, wolfie11 said:

I wouldn’t rely on the bus. It only runs once an hour.

If the timing is right, it could work, and only costs $2 per person. (Though it may gone up in the past 5 years since we used it.)  It was a very interesting experience!

You'll have to do the math and figure out what makes most sense.  Add the cost of her gratuities, wifi package, non-alcohol drink package.  Figure out what other perks she will use, such as the 2 casual dining meals.  If the rest of you have the casual dining perk and want to go together, you would have to pay the cover charge for her.  Would she use the exercise classes? It might be worth it to just add the Plus package for her if she will use a lot of the perks, even without the alcohol.

2 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

This is all not fresh locally sourced. It's loaded just deep-freezed in Vancouver, Seattle or Whittier.

Well, they claim to have Alaskan seafood: 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2022/03/princess-cruises-goes-wild-for-alaska-seafood-with-new-menus-and-events-debuting-spring-2022

It's been 5 years since I've been on Princess in Alaska, but I remember there being quite a few Alaskan seafood dishes.  I found some menus from last year posted online, and most nights there is at least one "Alaskan" dish listed, some nights have several.  Whether that seafood is really sources in Alaska, I cannot say for sure, but there will definitely be a lot of Alaskan-style dishes.

The water on board is very good.  Bring a reusable bottle and fill it from your tap!

6 hours ago, TheArtfulPenguin said:

As regulated as tours seem to be, and as protected as eagles are I feel that if it is illegal they'd be shutdown.  I think this is something my 9yr old daughter would love.

Your choice of course, but you can see plenty of eagles without a tour.  I love bald eagles and am always on the lookout for them, but I respect wildlife enough to refuse to support anyone who is feeding them.