jnc411

Hi Shogun: First thank you for the help and answers you have given us in the past. I would also suggest the land first tour ,then the sea portion. We chose the Of The Beaten Path tour and loved it. And both of our Alaska trips were in September , was fine with the weather , a bit cool the last few days , but hey , your in Alaska :). Wonderful trip , we intend to do it again hopefully in 2016. Have a wonderful time..

Cori

We have stayed at Delta Suites, very nice and close to port, our daughter has stayed at Blue Horizon, she liked it, and bus and trolley stop right there. We were there three days used the "big bus" easy to get around. Loved the city, lots to see and do. Enjoy

Cori

I think there is still a bus that goes from Lahaina to Ka anapali , it lets you off at the shopping mall area right there on the beach . It has been a few years since we took it but I think the stop is one street behind the main street and it is inexpensive , try researching the Maui , Lahaina bus transportation see if it comes up. Just a thought. Last few times in Lahaina we were on excursions or just stayed in Lahaina , so not sure about it anymore .

Cori

I checked it out and it still looks like it is running. the web site is

http://www.co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?NID

Hope this helps. Cori :)

I think there is still a bus that goes from Lahaina to Ka anapali , it lets you off at the shopping mall area right there on the beach . It has been a few years since we took it but I think the stop is one street behind the main street and it is inexpensive , try researching the Maui , Lahaina bus transportation see if it comes up. Just a thought. Last few times in Lahaina we were on excursions or just stayed in Lahaina , so not sure about it anymore .

Cori

We love sea days, if you want to be busy there are lots of things to choose from , if you want to be lazy , go for it, it is vacation enjoy it. But I do realize it isn't for everyone . We are booked on the Ruby round trip to Hawaii this fall , it will be our 3rd time on this cruise and we enjoy it . Only you can tell if it suits you or not. The 4 days goes quickly and then you are in port for 4 days then back at sea. Astro flyer listed the things available to you , check that out , that should help.

Cori

We have cruised in inside cabins , obstructed oceanview, oceanview, balcony, premium balcony, mini suites, and I can honestly say we enjoyed each and every cruise. Really was apprehensive on the first inside because I am a little bit claustrophobic, but I did ok. For us it seems to be the itenirery which determines which type of cabin, more sea days we like a balcony , more port days a inside or outside are fine. My DH has had some serious illness's and in considering that we usually go balcony now , in the event he isn't feeling well at times then he can enjoy the balcony and still have a good cruise. We just enjoy cruising. :)

Cori

Ok thanks...I don't think I would make a reservation for ATD anyways, kind of an oxymoron, seems to me.

Exactly.... by making reservations I believe they change the original concept of anytime dinning, for me the reason I book anytime dinning is so I can go

Anytime .

Cori

Yes, you'll get one, but they are often called "one size fits none." :) The standard ones are those waffle weave things that come in one size. I find them too small.

Exactly, I just don't bother to order them any more.

Cori

Count us in, would love that, maybe vary the ports in AK a bit, how about the area around Kenai ,and would like Victoria in there as well. Love sailing from LA, going on our 3rd LA Hawaii RT in a couple months. Love the sea days. We also do not enjoy flying anymore , like someone mentioned earlier, my DH is 6 ft ,5 in. And the airlines have priced the extra room seats so high,that it is just to much.

Not to mention the gauntlet you have to run at the airport, because DH is a big man he ALWAYS gets pulled aside for the second check.

So Princess if your seeing this, please consider it, think there is a market for it.

Cori

Thanks for the info. Will be on the Ruby in Oct. R/T . Hawaii, look forward to seeing the seeing the Ruby.

Cori

You would think that the name 'carribbean' would be a clue

to princess management, where they should put the ship.

 

Grand, Golden and Star have a cover over one of the main

pools, which would make them much better for cooler itineraries.

 

I think when carribbean enterered service, they hyped the

two open pools as being good for the CARRIBBEAN...

We were on the Caribbean Princess on back to back cruises last Oct 20014.

For the most part, we had a good cruise, we did not have plumbing issues in our cabin, but some of the laundry rooms were closed because of plumbing or machine problems. We had to go down two decks to get a working laundry.

Our room steward was excellent, we thought the food was good in the dinning areas. But we won't do another back to back, even though the cruise we bought was sold as a fourteen day, it was in fact a back to back, and the entertainment and menus were repeated the second half of the cruise. But the ship it self was fine. But having said that, if I had a cabin that flooded and it took several days to fix, I probably would think twice about sailing in that ship again.

Cori

I would like to know this also.

Cori

When we bought this stock in 2013 our adviser tried to dissuade us from purchasing..."bad investment", "slow growth".

It has doubled $$$ since we bought it. Plus dividends, plus OBC. Works for me!!

That is the same thing that happened to us when we called our broker to purchase the stock. It was a few years ago and have just kept it, plus purchased more shares over the past couple years. So the higher dividend is a good thing, and of coarse the benefits are nice :)

Cori

No. But if I have a highlighter in the color it shows on the computer I will shade in some of the area.

Good idea, thanks for the hint.

Cori

I bring 4 12-packs of Cherry Coke Zero, and wife brings a few bottles of wine.

Planning on bringing caffeine free coke zero on next cruise, so do you wrap them all together with super tape or put them in a case or box ??? Then pop a tag on them, always take a flat of water for DH,( his legs swell up otherwise) super tape it and pop on a tag, just was not sure how to pack soda.

Thanks for any responses.

Cori

Would someone out there, either sailing now or in the near future, please find out the cost of the 50th Anniversary "Pandora-type" bracelet bead? I need to know in order to give someone money to purchase one for me. My cruise plans had to be cancelled when my husband fell and hit his head causing a bleed in his brain. With rehab and therapy he is coming along quite well. Miracles do happen.

So glad your DH is doing better, keeping you in prayer, that you will both be able to cruise together again soon.

Cori

No, we did not get any notification either. I finally found it on my cruise personalizer. I called Princess a few times about this. They had to check with their "help deck". Since we were going to have a Bon Voyage on this cruise, I called several times, about parking & porters.

This is what they told me:

1. There is no parking @ pier 54, not even short term parking for the Bon Voyage

2. There will be porters @ pier 54

3. If the regular parking lot @ pier 91 is full,(which it darn well might be) they will have us go to a remote parking lot & shuttle us to I don't know pier 91 or 54.

4. Since I asked about Bon Voyage they said to get there no later than 11:30AM

Hi, Thanks, I went to Personalizer yesterday and searched , finally found the information , and it said that we should bring our luggage to 54, so that answered my question on that. Did Did you decide to take the 4 day cruise before this ?? You mentioned you had looked into that option, also hope to hear about your Bon Voyage experience at the meet and greet.

Don't you think that Princess should at least send an email to all passangers about embarkation at 54 , what about the people who are not on Cruise Critic and don't know to look for this information ?? Before I saw this on CC , I just assumed we would board at 92 or 93 like we usually do. Anyway it should be interesting at least.

You're welcome...all of us will be learning from you experiences if we're ever in the Port of LA with 4 ships...thanks. :)

 

That's odd that your Lane Victory friend is not aware of 54 being used for the Ruby. If you've called Princess, what have they said about what to expect?

I have not called Princess , we booked with a TA, but now that I have made final payment, I might give them a call next week.

I just went on the Princess personalizer and searched through it, I did find the information, but it is not listed in port information, found it under boarding information. It sounds like they want us to go directly to 54 with our luggage, for those who need to park their cars, it says there will be a shuttle at 92, 93 to bring them back to 54. Don't know if this is right, but that is what it looks like to me, I could be wrong or this might change before we cruise. Guess we will find out.

Cori

Passengers embarking on the Ruby on 10/25/15 have already received this updated procedure for sailing from 93 & returning to 46 and surprised that they have not informed you about the procedure for your cruise. :confused:

Thanks for the information, we have not gotten an email or snail mail about this, I don't know if other passengers have . I found out about it on the roll call so maybe they have, I don't know.

Anyway thanks for posting that notice for the 10-25-15 cruise.

Cori

Cori,

Are you on that Oct 3rd sailing???

Yes, we are on the roll call, I saw you on the roll call. We did call our friend on the lane victory and he had not heard about them using berth 54, but he knew about berth 46 being used.

Did you get notification from Princess by email. ?? We didn't.

Joe...thankfully I've never had to sail from either 46 nor 54 and hope to never experience it. ;)

 

Based on discussions on those other threads from 46 they shuttle passengers to the primary cruise terminal's parking lot. At 46 they set up a large tent to process passengers in an adjacent parking lot like they previously did at 91 before the USS Iowa was berthed at 87. At least 46 is described as a cruise berth & event location whereas 54 is for frozen & cold cargo. Also based on the photos of 54 they may have to move the Lane Victory located at berth 49 to dock the Ruby. No one has posted about any previous experience at 54 & after 10/3/15 maybe someone will share their experiences.

 

Hopefully it won't be too chaotic for passengers but it may be a problem. One passenger posted they're sailing on the Ruby's preceding 4-day cruise sailing from 93 partially to avoid the possibility of any problems when boarding at berth 54.

We will be on the Ruby out of 54 also. I happen to know the guy that runs the Lane Victory , we will see if he knows anything about it, if so I will post.

Since we live near the port we were hoping to be able to drive right to the 54 birth with our luggage, have not gotten any information from Princess re this issue , hopefully that will be forthcoming.

Cori

The names of those lost in the plane crash have been released. The information can be found on the website of the Alaska Dispatch News.

We have a friend that is on the cruise, she is not one of the victims of the crash so we have been searching for the information. We were relieved to not find her name on the list, but our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those that lost their lives, May they rest in peace.

Cori

KIRO7 news just tweeted that none of the deceased were WA residents...

I have not seen anything about the people involved either , mostly it just says they will first notify families ( as it should be) then release the names.

Thanks for the information , my friend is from southern California , and as I understood , several others were also from our area here around Long Beach , CA. But some were out of state , so still waiting to hear.

Whoever it was , it is so tragic and sad , we never know what tomorrow brings.

Cori

I have a good friend on this cruise , she is traveling with family and part of a large group of 60 or so people who are from different parts of the US. Have been watching the news and checking the boards for any information on the plane crash. We are praying that they are safe. From a previous post saying the people on the flight are from South Carolina, we think that they are ok. But are praying for the family from South Carolina and their loved ones. Thanks for any information posted here, won't be able to reach my friend until Sat. evening .

Cori

Thank you Sailor Jack , you made my day. When I saw a new Sailor Jack review I knew it was going to be good.

Cori