Rebel

If I request my mini-bar set up swapped for bottled water how many bottles will I get? I really did try to get this simple question answered on Princess.com and by calling 1-800-PRINCESS but the website says nothing about how many bottles of water one would get and I spent nearly an hour, the most frustrating hour of my life, speaking with Princess customer service who claims they have no idea. TIA to whomever can answer this for me.

I’m booked on the Ruby to AK on 9/4…hoping they can get repairs done and cleared to sail by then. I’m traveling with a friend who’s never been on a cruise or to AK before. It would a shame if she had to wait another year. 

Just got off the Grand today on a 10 day cruise to Mexico. Here’s an almost complete list of the movies being shown. I’ve probably left out a few...sorry about that.

The Glass Castle

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The Greatest Showman

The Shape of Water

Battle of The Sexes

American Made

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2

Beauty and The Beast (live action 2017 version)

Wonder

The Emoji Movie

The Darkest Hour

Victoria and Abdul

The Space Between Us

Moana

Just got,off the Grand on 7/10 and Luigi Moretti was the Maitre'd. Fun fact: he's the husband of my travel agent.

Just returned from a 10day Alaska cruise on the Grand Princess round trip from San Francisco. I had pre-booked and paid for a helicopter and glacier walk excursion via my cruise personalizer on Princess.com. Princess really screwed up tender disembarkation in Juneau; very long story why this happened and I still don't know all the facts, but this is the first time it's ever happened to me on the many, many Princess cruises and excursions I've taken. And, it ended up being a blessing in disguise.

I was able to book a ziplining excursion with Alaska Zipline Adventures. It was absolutely amazing! I've done ziplining before but AZA put the others to shame. I don't know how to post a link to my long, detailed review that I posted on Trip Advisor and Yelp but, if you get a chance check it out. I'm Lynn M. from Sacramento for both websites.

The cost was $491 for three persons.

Thanks for posting the photos of the Patters. On 6/30 I'll be boarding the Grand with several family members; some of whom haven't been on a cruise before. I forwarded a link to your post so they could see all the activities they'll have to chose from.

HRReader: you and I will be on the same cruise!

When I want information about the ports we'll be visiting on a cruise I always start with the ports of call forums here on CC. I also go to the website for each city we'll be visiting. I'll be boarding the Grand on 6/30/16 (10 days, yay!). If there's something specific you'd like me to check out, get a photo of, etc, let me know and I'll do my best. One more thing: have you joined the roll call for your cruise? You might be able to get some info there.

I'd also be interested in a preview of the MDR menus. I'll be boarding the Grand on 6/30/16. Yay!

So, do all ships use the cruise card to get tokens or do some require quarters?

My husband used to give up sodas, drinking only water when he wanted to lose weight. He never bothered with eliminating carbs. He never had any trouble dropping the pounds rather quickly. Men seem to have an easier time of losing weight. I could fast for a week and gain weight.

In that case, congratulations! You will only have one first cruise. It took forever for my wife to convince me to try a cruise as I positively, absolutely knew I would hate everything about it. Of course, when I got off the ship after the cruise ended, I wanted to get right back on again. D'Oh

 

That is the real Princess secret. You will probably get hooked. Enjoy your cruise.

You sound just like my husband! I had to drag him kicking and screaming onto our first cruise. And at the end of that first cruise I had to drag him kicking and screaming to get him off the ship. I booked a 7 day cruise for our first and was so worried he'd hate it. On the last day he said "you should have booked a two week cruise". We've never done less than 10 days since.

I was just reading about this a few days ago and I believe it said to order afternoon tea 6 hours in advance.

My husband and I really liked Manzanillo. It doesn't get many cruise ships, although this may change soon, and it's not "touristy". You can walk around the town near the port unmolested by vendors trying to sell you junk. There are souvenir shops with the usual crap but very few. No Senor Frogs, Carlos and Charlie's or Diamond International :eek:, at least not when we were there a few years ago. I'd love to visit it again.

Thank you all for your input. I was asking because my daughter wanted to schedule a salon appt. for the first formal night via the cruise personalizer on princess.com. I explained to her that figuring out the first formal night will be difficult. She'll just have to go to the salon immediately after boarding. The spa personnel will know what nights are formal, yes?

I'll be on the Grand on 6/30/2016; 10 day cruise to Alaska round trip from San Francisco. I'm trying to determine which nights will be formal nights.

I know there'll two and they always fall on sea days. I've looked at the itinerary and am fairly certain the second formal will be on 7/7/16. The last sea day is the day before we disembark and I don't think they'd schedule formal night on that day.

It's the first formal night that I'm not sure about. There are two back-to-back sea days on 7/1/16 and 7/2/16. They are the second and third day after embarkation.

Does anyone know how I can find out for sure certain what nights will be formal?

TIA!

Can anyone confirm if the drink prices have gone up since the spreadsheet was last updated in July 2014? I'd be very surprised if they haven't.

On our first Alaskan cruise I did a lot of research on what to pack. The previous posts are correct that layers are the way to go. No bulky coat required. I wear a waterproof hooded coat that has a fleece lining that isn't snug; you need room for the layers. I got it at JCPennys, of all places; best coat I've ever owned. Under the coat I wear a long or short-sleeved t-shirt with a sweater or sweatshirt over that. In my backpack I bring a scarf, hat, gloves, extra pair of good wool socks (I recommend Smartwool). And I usually wear jeans.

Now, here's the thing I didn't bring on that first Alaskan cruise but, I always bring them with me now...thermal long johns. They kinda look like leggings. I've seen them made from silk or other high tech moisture wicking, body heat conserving fabric. Google it and you'll find all types in all price ranges.

I thought jeans would be more than adequate for keeping my legs warm...not even close. My legs were sooooo cold! My upper body was all nice and toasty warm. Don't forget your legs when you pack for Alaska.

And, what surprised me the most was where/when I was most cold: scenic glacier cruising. It was so freakin' cold out on deck as the ship slowly cruised through Glacier Bay.

We were on the Golden last month and the charms were available. In fact, I bought a couple.

Trapshooting? I'd love to do that onboard.

What is a meta upgrade?

Want!! Truly, I'd really like get one....are these for sale somewhere?

So here's what I've learned from my fellow CCers and Elites:

1. Deluxe canapés aren't but, the chocolate covered strawberries are good. My TA has ordered these for me before as a gift and they were terrific. I look forward to ordering them on my first Elite status cruise whenever that is; we haven't booked it yet.

2. Afternoon tea is good and it can be ordered every afternoon but, be prepared for a lot of food. I'll probably order the full tea service the first time just so I can have the full experience but, for future orders, I'll most likely order just tea and scones, as gooch47 does.

Thank you all for the information and advice!

Once we complete our cruise next month, DH and I will be in Elite status (yippy, skippy!) I've read the list of benefits on the Princess website but, I still have a couple of questions:

1. Deluxe Canapés Selection...on a cruise that has no formal nights, such as a three or four day cruise, will we still be able to receive this benefit?

2. Afternoon Tea in your stateroom...may I order this everyday or is it offered only once per cruise?

TIA!

Lynn

We were on the Grand last March and we decided to try the Crab Shack. I was concerned my DH might not like it because he only likes crab and shrimp cocktails. Neither of us were disappointed.

We started with Manhattan clam chowder which I really liked but, DH would have preferred Boston style. Also, hush puppies, popcorn shrimp and garlic bread. At this point, I was already pretty full.

I ordered the Grand Steamer which was a large pot containing crab legs (I don't recall how many; I gave them to my DH), clams, mussels, shrimp, corn on the cob, sausage and potatoes. It was a TON of food and very good.

I don't remember the name of what my DH ordered; it was the one with mostly crab. His also had shrimp, corn on the cob, sausage and potatoes.

I don't remember what we had for dessert as I was in a food coma 😜

I would have dinner at the Crab Shack again in a heart beat! Even my picky, hard to please DH said he'd go again. In my opinion, it's well worth the $20 p/person.

I drink a lot of iced tea with lemonade. I went to the dollar store and found a small plastic pitcher. I bring my own tea bags and get my sugar or Splenda from the HC. I order hot water from room service or I get it myself at the HC. After the tea bags have steeped in the hot water for awhile (all of this is in the pitcher), I put in the stateroom fridge. When I want lemonade in my ice tea I get it from the HC. So much better than the vile ice tea on board ship.