miss prairie girl

Towards the end of the cruise and on sea days, Princess will have "sales" in one or more of the Lower Dining Rooms. You can find watches, hats, jewellery, wraps, jackets, tshirts, beach bags, some nice bags with the Princess logo, and other goodies for around $10 and less. One cruise I picked up a few nice lightweight front zip summer jackets with some gold designs on the front. 

2 hours ago, idahospud said:

Looks to be all of the northbound and southbound sailings through 9/9/20.

Idahospud, thank you so very much! I will pay attention to this! You are the best!

Awesome news! Do you see any southbound Alaska cruises with Vancouver as the final destination? Thank you.

As rkacruiser said, "Layer your clothing.  Bring rain gear." 

If you are doing excursions or walking around the ports, you will want to have a good pair of shoes for walking. I wore my trusty runners and DH wore his Blundstone leather boots. 

I would also bring a pair of gloves if the weather turns cooler or if you go on a glacier tour.

Sunglasses would also  be helpful for eye protection.

If you 'forget' something important, the ports have clothing stores with all sorts of clothing for you!

Enjoy your Alaska cruise!

Sorry, I am not understanding this.

Was the email sale offer for an inside cabin or a balcony cabin?

Did you book an inside cabin and then Princess upgraded you to a balcony?

Perhaps if  you posted your question over at Ports of Call: Asia, you might get some replies.  Including the main idea of your question in your title would be very helpful, too, for readers to respond to you!

We take a 'warm' holiday every year......flying south from the frozen Canadian prairies. We wear a light jacket, long pants, and shoes for the taxi ride to the airport. After that, we are indoors or on the plane all the way until the weather is warmer!  (Leave the winter coat, boots, mitts, and scarf at home!)

Thank you, Colo Cruiser and voljeep!

Is there a website to track Princess cruise fares for specific ships and sailings? Or would I need to check on my own at regular intervals? Also, is there a specific day of the week that the Princess cruise fares are updated (as our local grocery store changes its prices/specials weekly)? Thank you for any tips!

Love Afternoon Tea on sea days! Great way to meet people!

Yes, I am sure the OP will bring something for each of her students! These kids are 7 years old.......so perhaps a post card for each child of the cruise ship.....a note pad......some of the little things that have the cruise line logo on it......as someone said earlier, to use the items for discussion and learning......

I believe that a fellow Cruise Critic member has a website with Princess Cruise ships and pictures of cabins. Find it here at:

https://sites.google.com/site/cabinviewbyrenmar/

Scroll down the left hand side to find your cruise ship and go from there!

Happy cruising!

You may want to go to the Alaska board and post your question there. Many Alaska residents post there and can give you some first hand advice and options!

6 hours ago, steelers36 said:

 

 

There is a lot of seat saving going on by one spouse for another, etc.  No one seems bothered by that.  I suppose it happens, but I have never seen anyone trying to hold a row and half a row.  They make the announcements about not saving seats, but pax don't seem to mind someone holding a seat or two if another person is on the way or stopped for a bathroom break.

 

Reminds me of our last cruise.  DH and I entered a row to sit down. One woman in the middle of the row approached us and informed us in a loud harsh voice that she was saving the whole row for her family. At that moment, an announcement came on about No Seat Saving. I looked at her and said, "Did you hear that and did you understand that?" She glared at me and repeated that she was saving the whole row for her family. DH and I sat down a few seats away from this person. During most of the show, she turned sideways towards us and glared at us. End of story: No family came to sit with her and the row slowly filled with nonfamily members. We noted she did not confront any one after us. There are always some people who do not play nicely with others.

15 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

 

Any cruisetour itinerary can be easily replicated as a DIY trip.   You just need to figure out what you want to see and do in the amount of time available. 

As AkStafford said, a rental car gives you the most flexibility. You can move around at your own pace, and stop at places of interest or wildlife sightings.  As you can see in the attached link, there is really only one hwy between Anchorage and Denali, so it's an easy drive and pretty hard to get lost !!  The drive from Anchorage to Denali is around 5-6 hrs, maybe longer if you get caught up in road construction, and with the hwy being one lane in each direction, slow moving tourists can also hold you up.

http://www.alaska.org/assets/content/maps/Transportation_Map.pdf

 

If you don't want to drive, you can replicated any cruisetour by using the Alaska Railroad and/or the Park Connection Bus.  (Just make sure you choose a hotel that offers transportation to/from the depot, ie a cruisetour hotel)  The train is limiting in that there's only one departure per day. The Bus has at least 2 in peak season. 

 

p.s. this chart shows distance and travel time between popular locations  http://www.alaska.org/advice/mileage-chart

 

 

Thank you, mapleleaves. These links are very helpful! Now some thinking and planning to do......but....today is a work day for me, so it will be tomorrow's activity!

21 hours ago, AKStafford said:

In addition to the advice you can find here on Cruise Critic, you can also do some research on the TripAdvisor forum for Alaska: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28923-i349-Alaska.html

 

For the land portion of your trip: how much time do you have? How many are in your group? And the big question: are you going to be renting a car (which is the easiest and most convenient way to do it)?

Most people fly into Anchorage, but Fairbanks is another option. From Anchorage, plan a full day for the drive to Denali National Park, plus a day back, plus at least 1 day going into the Park. So a minimum of 3 days for Denali.

To get into Denali National Park you use the shuttle buses: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

 

Thank you, AKStafford. These links are very helpful. We are planning for about 4 days for the land tour. There are two of us.  DH is thinking about the car rental option!

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has used the Alaska/Yukon Trails shuttle service, more specifically, the Anchorage to Fairbanks route return. Thank you.

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 1:41 PM, AKStafford said:

Instead of a pre-packaged tour from the cruiseline, would you be open to putting together your own trip with a rental car? There's nothing offered on a cruisetour that can't be booked independently.

Putting our own trip together is an interesting option after reading the replies on this thread.  AKStafford, I see that you are a resident of Alaska, and would have so much knowledge. Would you be so kind as to lay out a few options for cruisers?

We want to do the land tour first and then join the cruise in Whittier. Our desire is to learn about the Denali area.

Thank you for any advice you can give to beginners.

We bring our runners. We like to walk every morning and every afternoon on the Promenade Deck. Sometimes, we will 'do stairs'  slowly!  We don't look at it as a race or an endurance test, but as something enjoyable to do together. Depending on what other activities are going on, we try for 20 minutes to one hour of walking each morning and each afternoon. Walking is great for heart health, weight control, and sleep happiness!

On the last sea day, one of the Dining Rooms is converted to a Bargain Shoppers' Paradise. T shirts, shawls, jackets, hats, travel bags, watches (some themed with the Princess Logo or with names of places visited on the cruise) are for sale at bargain basement prices! The sale runs from about 10:00 am until noon, I believe! While I shopped for last minute purchases for ourselves, family, and friends, DH sat on one of the chairs provided for 'non shopping partners' and visited with many cruise guests!

Loving your photo review! We were in the Malecon area just before Christmas and your pictures just brought the experience back for us! Looking forward to following your travels!

Thank you, Bostonjetset. We really enjoyed your photos and your commentary! The Ruby looks to be a beautiful ship! And, so happy the weather was great for you and your mom!

Our cabin for our last cruise was on the Caribe deck. Here is a picture.

We were on the Caribe deck on the Caribbean Princess last April. I have attached a photo that I took before we left Fort Lauderdale. We had 2 good size chairs with a reclining back, 2 ottomans, and a circular smaller table.  We would have our coffee or tea on the balcony and the table nicely held everything we needed. I also took along a little oilcloth tablecloth for the table.

Also.......Coral has just posted on this Princess board an upcoming Princess promotion running Feb 12-28 which features 2019 land and cruise options that you may be interested in!