itzmered

I love warm weather cruises also but there is nothing like the views in Alaska even in the rain. It is spectacular, heading out in less than two weeks on our 2nd Alaska cruise. Rain or shine it will be stunning scenery and wont disappoint.

Do you have to sign up for and book this like the regular specialty restaurants?

Make flight reservations out of Vancouver. Is 12:30 to early? I hear disembark and getting through customs at Vancouver airport can be a lengthy processes.

You need to know what your pricing is. I have bought camera lenses in St Thomas a couple of times. I shop around at home and online so I know what the pricing is and then when I get there see what they are offering. I save almost $300 on one lens and about $100 on another, plus the sales tax I would have paid if I purchased at home. And yes they were name brand under warranty from the manufacturer lenses.

I also highly recommend a whale watching tour. Nothing like getting to see them close up. We did one through Orca tours and had a stop at Mendenhall afterwords. We are doing the same tour in July we enjoyed it so much

"On every cruise we have taken we have been told to bring our passport with us when we get off of the ship. "

 

I have been on over 30 cruises and on ALL of them, it is strongly suggested NOT to take your passport off the ship. Infact, in most cases, it is writtin on the daily planner. Take a some other form of identification....not a passport.

 

Nicola

On our last cruise in January we were told repeatedly the day we were in St Thomas to bring our passports with as they were checking them on the pier and sure enough they asked for them.

My passport never left my body unless I was in my hotel room the entire time I was in Europe for 17 days and when I was in China for 28 days. I carried it in a pouch under my shirt. They would have had to rip my clothes off of me to get it :p

It doesnt matter what cruise line you go on they play the music way to loud, especially out by the pools. My children who are in their mid to late 20's even commented that it was so loud it wasn't even enjoyable. You shouldnt have to scream at the person sitting next to you to talk

When we went to Alaska a few years ago on the Golden we saw everything from Tuxedo's to khaki's/jeans and a polo shirt on formal night and they were all admitted to the dining room. It was a much more relaxed formal night then any other cruise we had been on and my food still tasted the same ;)

Wow we were on RCL in January and they have the drink package and we never saw anything even remote close to what you are describing. You must have had a really bad bunch of people on your cruise.

We were in an Aloha midship cabin on the Golden on our Alaska cruise and it was good location. Pretty much any balcony cabin on an Alaska cruise is good :)

here you go http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/

We have two the Canon D10 and the Canon D20 love both of them

Pic taken with the Canon D10

Pic with the Canon D20

My favorite Princess cruise was on the Caribbean out of San Juan for a B2B during their last season there. We took our adult children on the Jewel of the Seas in January out of there. I love cruising out of San Juan and also wish Princess would put a ship back there.

We prefer the emerald deck balcony cabins towards the aft of the ship. They are fully covered and the same size as the caribe deck balconies. You are also as low to the water as possible and we like that for better viewing of whales and other sea life.

Just curious, since as a non-smoker I try to stay out of the smoking/non-smoking controversy here Did you use your E-Cigarette before or after January 1st?

e sailed after Jan 1st and I used my E cig in the room and on my balcony. Also left it sitting on the night stand or dressing table while plugged in. Room steward never said a thing. There was a guy two balconies over that smoked real cigarettes every evening on his balcony also. He did it all week so can assume no one complained.

Well, I am not a happy camper. Just booked the 3/4/13 Gem and was hoping to get the UBP. Now, they say they won't offer it between 3/1 and sometime in April cuz its 'spring break". Since when is the first week of March spring break???? If it was spring break I wouldn't be going on this cruise!!!:cool:

 

Now, I am forced to bring my Rum Runners out of retirement!!!

We went the 1st week of March last year and it most certainly was Spring Break and we had 200+ college age kids on the ship with us :eek: I thought the same thing as you that it is not spring break yet so we will be safe ;)

Always love reading your reviews! Thanks for sharing it made for a nice read on a snowy Saturday morning

It was closed most days last summer when we were on the golden. It made for a great spot to stand out of the wind and view the scenery. There were quite a few people standing in there, most of the loungers were pushed off to one side

Do you think the captain and crew all clang beer mugs,and hoot and holler when they hear the toilets are broken and the A/C has issues?

 

Your posts indicate this must be good news for the crew,and these are the trips they wait for and enjoy the most.:confused:

Where in the persons post that you quoted did they say anything about the crew acting like this was good news :confused:

We've only been on four Princess cruises, but we've managed to miss boarding lines. We always show up just about when the doors open after our hotel kicked us out and we have NEVER waited more than a minute or two. I don't remember many CC posts where folks complain of lines at boarding. Why try to fix something that ain't broke?:confused:

When we sailed out of Seattle last June the lines were terrible. I thought it was one of the more disorganized embarkation ports I have been to.

I'm bringing my T2i on the next cruise so I'm curious how your shots came out.

 

So thrilled that your itinerary is untouched and you're in St. Thomas!

I carried a T21 with 24-105 lens with me for 2 weeks on the CB in December. Best investment I can suggest to you is buy the Rapid Strap. It makes carrying your camera around so much easier. I am a female and my neck would ache by the time we got back after a long day on shore. Not anymore since I got the Rapid Strap. I took about 3000 pics while on the CB ;)

Where did you get the idea there was a seafood buffet? :confused:

We were on the CB in December and they had the Seafood Buffet the 1st night.

Great review so far Sue! We loved the CB

Well now you all are making me think and I hate that!

 

I organize a lot of M&G for 30 day type cruises. There are a lot of private tours we set up. We usually manage not to spend the M&G discussing them all.

 

Several years ago we were on a cruise with a GRM that we knew. She very graciously offered to have all 35 of us put on the first tender so we could make our private tour. I had never thought to do such a thing. However, it was very helpful for getting us all together in one area and then on the tender. The GSM stated they do this quite often and I was just to ask. So on future cruises I have done just that with no problem.

 

After reading all the posts here I am now questioning that. I honestly never thought about hurting HAL's bottom line with this. Which may make me thoughtless but does it make me rude or grasping? I'd love some opinions on this from all of you.

I am pretty sure that the cruise lines only expect to get a certain percentage of people that purchase excursions through the ship. If they have no problem accommodating tenders for private excursions then I wouldn't worry about it. It is not hurting their bottom line and if it was they would tell you no that you had to wait in line like everyone else :)

is this available on all ships or something you get as a perk for mariner status?

Same goes for Hotels and land vacations. Any time you have a large amount of people congregated inevitably someone is sick and passes it around. Hotels have air ducts and so do airplanes :) Your best bet is boost up your immune system that way the stress you said you said you felt wont get your body down so you succumb to the germs going around because they are everywhere :)