cruisequeen4ever

It was fun to read about your cruise experience because we were on the parallel Royal Princess sailing. I don’t know if your captain said anything, but ours announced one time going to HI and one time coming back that we were parallel to you guys but too far to see you. We had to veer south due to the storms. It was cool to know you all were out there with us in the wild blue yonder. I’ve never heard of Opoli. Would you recommend it? I’m doing a cruise out of LA soon and am trying to decide on which transport service to use. I hope your mom heals well, and I hope you blog the Solstice cruise as that’s the one I’m soon doing. Thank you for sharing your experience!

We’ve been to both Dickinson Bay Beach and Jolly Bay Beach in Antigua and love them both. Both have beautiful long beaches, inviting water, lounge chairs for rent, and restaurants. Jolly Bay has jet ski rentals. Dickenson Bay had (pre-pandemic at least) a swim-up, floating bar out in the sea that was awesome.

You may be mixing up Juneau with Anchorage. Anchorage is our big city. Juneau is the state capital but very small and has lots of cool excursions. Anchorage may be a big city, but there’s plenty to explore…Reindeer Farm an hour away, Wildlife Center an hour away, Alaska Native Heritage Museum, Zoo, great Alaskan food at places like 49th State Brewery, Simon and Seaforts, and Glacier Brewhouse, beautiful coastal drive to Girdwood for a tram ride to the top of Alyeska, and lots of hiking trails. For the cruise itself, I suggest going with Princess or Holland America, since they go to Glacier Bay and are the original cruise lines to do Alaska. Princess owns their own lodges here, so if you want to do a Cruisetour, they are best. The one way cruise between Alaska and Canada will give you the best scenery. Happy planning!

I’ve never had a watered down drink on Princess. They’re very fair with their drink prep.

That sucks! I was so hoping to redeem one of the free cruises after saving my points for years. I’m not paying all those fees, though, on a “free” cruise when I can outright pay for a cruise on another cruise line for less!!

My mother-in-law writes on her intake form “If you want a good tip, please don’t try to sell me anything.“ That works really well for her.

I have a feeling it’s because of the Caribbean typically uses shuttles and vans for their tours, which don’t have the below storage for a scooter or wheelchair the way a big bus does. I totally understand your frustration. I second the recommendation to hire your own taxi to take you guys around.

We would hate that because that’s only a discount instead of a free product. We don’t purchase any drinks package usually, making this idea a non-benefit.

I have been following her blog for years, and my heart breaks for her. I hope she has a fantastic oncologist at home and will get the treatment she needs, so she can resume her exciting life at sea! Praying!

It depends. On both of our cruises, we were able to dock. One was on the Regal, and the other was on the Royal, which are comparable sizes to the Sun. They had a well-flowing system to board the shuttle to Mykonos town. Some people took the public ferry, which was cheap, but could be delayed. Some people walked. it was the return that was a long wait to get a shuttle. Our ship waited for the delayed public ferry to arrive as there were passengers from our ship on it. I wouldn’t count on that though because the ship could’ve left those passengers behind.

I used to love Swirls and would go there every day. Sure, sometimes it was on the ice milk side, but for the most part, it was creamy and delicious. Our Christmas cruise on the Royal, it was inedible in the beginning. I literally through my cone away. Mid-cruise, I tried it again, and after a few bites, gave up. It melted in my bowl, and the end product was exactly as it felt and tasted, totally grainy. Ice cream should never be grainy! I have it one last try at the end of the cruise, and it was edible enough to finish it but nothing like it was pre-Covid. I really hope Princess switches back to the old kind!

Looks good to me!

I’m happy to hear this as my DH and I were discussing how it doesn’t seem like it is prudent to be spending tons of money on new ships when there’s so much debt right now.

I definitely wouldn’t risk it. Barcelona had multiple very long lines when we flew out of there after disembarking.

We’ve sat up top many times on Princess tenders. It’s so refreshing up there.

Alaska Railroad train- It goes through scenery part of the way that can’t be viewed by car, is relaxing, has more spacious seating than an bus, and has gorgeous views.

A couple’s rate was not offered on our Royal Princess Hawaii cruise.

IF it performs as well as it’s supposed to, it will be a very helpful advance for Princess! We all know MedallionNet helped but not enough.

Awww, ok; that explains it. Thank you!

I don’t trust that as verification because that could be for any booking. It doesn’t show as attached to a specific booking.

You can only view that day’s menu. Beware that the dinner menu we saw on our stateroom TV often was slightly off from our actual dining room menu when we’d go to dinner. For instance, we specifically decided to go to the dining room one night for me to have Filet Mignon with Bernaise as per the TV, but then once we saw the paper menu, it said Filet Mignon with Bordelaise, which I don’t eat.

You can get a California Roll. It’s not on their official menu but is on Dine My Way and is available for order at Ocean Terrace. Other than that, the menu really is raw. It’s fun to go there occasionally for a mid evening snack while listening to the live music in the Piazza.

The International Cafe would be the absolute quickest to grab coffee and a pastry, but you can make the buffet quick, too, if you want eggs.

Local guides and drivers should be tipped in the local currency, so they don’t have to pay to convert their tips to Euros. On the ship, you can choose to tip crew in Euros or USD because both are useful to them.

A) 2014 17 day Med cruise aboard the brand new Regal- Only 1 other person had ever slept in our stateroom. The crew was the best of the best. Chef Alfredo himself was onboard, sourcing the best grapes and tomatoes from Italy and producing the best food onboard. The ports were amazing. This cruise started our Europe addiction. B) 2023 14 day Med cruise aboard the Enchanted- I can’t wait to return to Italy and the Greek Isles! C) 10 nights at the Sheraton Waikiki during the pandemic- I loved going down the water slide, playing in the ocean, having Eggs Benedict almost every day, the awesome fresh fish sandwiches, the Hawaiian music, relaxation, and evening strolls through Waikiki. I missed cruising terribly, and this was the closest I could get. D) 27, I believe