margob111

Thanks for the quick response. The $800 difference is the the cost between the regular cruise tour and the Connoisseur cries tour so it's probably the $835 you mentioned. I did notice that they had changed my cabin. I'm currently in mini suite B504 and they quoted D415 and I haven't even had a chance to look to see if D415 is a covered, partially covered, or not covered balcony or look on the deck plan to check location. Also, someone mentioned not doing the Music of Denali Theater and seeing about an OBC - think Princess would do that? All of these questions because I read that we should upgrade the Natural History Tour to the Tundra Wilderness Tour LOL.

I'm currently booked on a cruisetour in May of 2014 from Whittier to Vancouver. I called Princess today to ask about the Connoisseur Escorted tour. I think some of the ports are slightly different than yours but it's close enough that it gives me a good comparison. Do you think the Connoisseur Escorted tour is worth the extra money? I got a price quote from Princess and there is a difference of about $800 per person, of course, it is a few days more.

Thanks for putting this list together - I'm sure I will get a lot of information for my trip next year. I'm going to subscribe to the thread so I'll be able to find it :-)

Great review. I'm on the Coral Princess next May doing the land tour first and a mini suite. I'm going to re-evaluate the suite vs mini suite. Your itinerary is the same as ours or close, so appreciate your reviews. Isn't the planning overwhelming to start? I had to laugh because you expressed my thoughts perfectly. Glad you had a great time and I'm looking forward to mine. Thanks for a great review. I'm going to bookmark it for reference.

Great blog - we are going next May and even though my itinerary is different, I will be in some of the same cities and will use your blog as a reference. I should learn how to put together a blog like you did.

I don't know how many hours it took you to write your review but I've been reading it for days and just finished. Your review is the best I have read on CC to date and reading it as well as Sandy's blog tells me I need to actually finish my reviews. I went to the Caribbean in May and wrote my review and never posted it. I think I did post a few things about my Mediterranean cruise but nothing elaborate. BTW, on our cruise a few years ago, we flew from San Francisco to Paris, spent a few days in Paris, took the night train to Barcelona, spent a few days in Barcelona and then boarded the ship in Barcelona. Our itinerary included Cannes/Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice, and Dubrovnik. We used RomeInLimodotcom in Florence, Rome and Naples and they were fantastic. You also get a discount if you use them for multiple cities. I prepurchased all my tickets, and it came in handy, especially for the Vatican. You will want a private tour guide in the Vatican. I did all the planning for 6 of us and did actually go on several tours in Barcelona with someone I had met on CC, so sometimes there were 8 of us on our tours. I will at some point go back to Italy and spend a month there, I loved it. You will have fun on your cruise - have fun planning and thanks again for the wealth of information you provided on Alaska. I definitely have a head start for my May cruise even if it's on another cruiseline.

I'm going to Alaska in May of 2014 and have been scanning these boards since I booked two or so weeks ago. I'm doing a land tour first through Princess then going on the Coral Princess ans cant wait. It took a year to plan our Mediterranean cruise so now I've got a year to plan the Alaska cruise. I'll be following your review.

I'm going next May 24 and can't wait. All the photos are beautiful. Hope we picked a good time to go.

I just wanted to tell you that your review and photos were fantastic. I'm going on the Coral Princess May of next year and I can't wait. We have a mini suite, doing the precruise cruisetour for 3 days. Seeing your pictures is very exciting.

Norris, I will check out your photo/video review on the Diamond. I was just on a Caribbean cruise last month, didn't do anything for me, so really looking forward to Alaska.

What a great review. I just booked our trip on the Coral for May 2014 to Alaska. I can't wait. Checking all the reviews to figure out our excursions. Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

I just booked our cruise to Alaska yesterday and included a 3 day land tour prior to the cruise. We will be going in May of 2014 on the Coral Princess but your posts are great, as we will be staying at some of the same lodges. Thanks for the information and pictures, I can't tell you how excited I am.

What a great review. I leave for Miami in 3 days and sail on the Breeze in 4.....can't wait.

Great review. I leave on the Breeze on Sunday. Flying into Miami Saturday afternoon and looking forward to the trip. Your pics are great, I can't wait.

What a great review. Now you've got me really excited for my sailing next Saturday! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

What if you have a medical problem and can't carry it? I can leave it in the shrink wrap, I just can't carry it with me until my room is ready. I like bottled water for ports.

Thanks for the great review and all the pics. We have a different itinerary but will be sailing on the Breeze on May 20 and can't wait.

Margaret

So - what did you think of it? Any photos?

 

We are looking at that cabin - can't decide between 1247 and 1075!

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

Go for 1247. I had that cabin in May - we had cabins 1245, 1247, and 1249. They had a great location, nice size, nice balcony. Enjoy!

We used cash - had no problem carrying the cash around, we would just take what we thought we needed for the day and left the rest in the safe.

My hubby got the premium non-alcoholic package and had lattes and smoothies.

Classic Non-Alcoholic Package - In addition to enjoying your favorite Coca Cola can and fountain sodas selections such as Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta Orange and Coke Zero, you may also enjoy fresh squeezed and bottled juices, Premium Coffees and Teas and Non-Premium Bottled Water. *Starting from: 14.00 USD Per Night

Premium Non-Alcoholic Package - Enjoy nearly our entire selection of sodas selections on board including all canned and fountain soft drinks from Coca Cola, Premium Bottled Water from Evian, Perrier and San Pellegrino, Specialty Coffees and Teas, Non-Alcoholic Frozen Drinks and Smoothies, Red Bull Energy Drink and Specialty Waters from Vitamin Water. *Starting from: 18.00 USD Per Night

Margaret

I bought one premium non alcohol and one premium alcohol package and I think on future cruises that I will just buy two premium non alcohol packages and pay as I consume alcohol. I did drink wine with dinner every night but that's because I wanted to make sure I did get some alcohol for what I paid. Since our cruise was so port intensive the first few days, there was not much drinking. We had a sea day and then another few ports, so again not much drinking. I also found the bartenders to be rude or very brusque, as well as the cocktail servers. I only found one server that was very good, and we tipped him well. I had planned to hit the martini bar and didn't. My husband's alcohol didn't amount to much at all so that's the way we'll go for future.

Margaret

I am just back from my Mediterranean cruise and used RomeInLimo for private tours in Florence, Rome and Naples rather than the ship's organized tours. What a difference - I used the ship tours twice after those organized by RomeInLimo, and I am so glad I used RomeInLimo in Italy.

As far as our drivers, we had Fabrizio in Florence, Franco in Rome and Giovanni in Naples. Fabrizio was the best tour guide we had (our trip started pre-cruise in Barcelona where we had a private tour, as well as accompanied another group on a tour they had set up for Montserrat with another tour company and a private tour in Cannes). Fabrizio arranged for a private lunch at a wine shop, and he provided the pizza, sandwiches, and cheese so we could do some wine tasting. Great day in Florence.

Franco was good but his command of the English language was not as good as Fabrizio's. We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Rome with him though, and have no problem recommending him. While we were in Rome, we met Duman, the owner, who thanked us for booking with them and wanted to check to see what we thought of his drivers.

In Naples, Giovanni was great. He pulled over at a photo op location, and opened a bottle of homemade wine and poured us a bit so we could enjoy the wine and scenery. He sang to us as we were going over the narrow road to Positano.

On the tours organized by RomeInLimo, you get to see so much more. You get dropped off at the location you want to visit (you do a LOT of walking so the close drop off helps if you have bad knees), you get picked up at a close designated location, you get personal service instead of a tour guide holding up a number and then trying to follow them so you can hear the tour. Definitely follow RomeInLimo's suggestions for guides in Pompeii and the Vatican, or you won't know what you are looking at - too much to see in too short a time if you don't have a guide. The two guides they provided for Pompeii and the Vatican were very good. My sister has just recovered from a serious illness and they managed to get us through the sites at a pace she could follow. They kept her away from crowds as much as possible (almost impossible in the Vatican!) and let her rest when needed. I can't say enough good things about RomeInLimo or their guides.

Margaret

I will be doing the Rome tour tomorrow but did Livorno today and you can't walk on the pier there. RIL met us at the port. Had a great driver, Fabrizio, local to the area. Can't say enough about the tour today - was a wonderful day.

Worked for me, thank you for the spreadsheet!