walkingsoon

Just to show that not all agree, I'd prefer Grand out of San Pedro to Ruby out of San Francisco. But the Ruby out of Vancouver might top both those choices. Hope this helps, but know it doesn't 😉 Walkingsoon

This is a really easy choice, dmwnc1959. You can't go wrong - pick either and enjoy your choice with no regrets. They're both great ships. "My fear is that, as she’s the second oldest ship in the fleet after Grand and carries the least number of passengers she may be sold off soon. Cruise lines are building bigger and bigger ships and there’s no place in the fleet for the old ones. I still miss Pacific Princess. 😩" Wolfie11 - Not all cruise lines are going bigger and bigger, just the mass market lines. Higher fares, but some lines have been recently putting really nice small ships on the water and others are keeping the older ones alive. Perhaps it's time to check out Azamara Onward. Sadly, when NCL and Princess finish aging out all their ships with <3k passengers, I'll probably be done with them. Too bad, but life goes on. I'm curious to see what HAL will do. Walkingsoon

"you have to pay double" Not always. You might want to check out *****.com or cruiseplum.com. They both have specific pages for solo travelers seeking a cheaper solo supplement. On the Princess website's own cruise search page you can plug in "1 guest", sort according to price, and find deals that have reduced or even nonexistent supplements, though ***** might point you in the right direction more efficiently. NCL has single cabins but I've found them to be no less expensive (though obviously smaller) than their corresponding full size inside cabins. I found the attached lounges for the singles area to be disappointing, so I usually just booked a regular cabin. If you are indeed finding that Princess is insisting on 100% solo supplements, you might check some of the luxury lines, such as Seabourn or Silversea which seem to do better than the mass market lines when it comes to solo travelers. I believe you can interact with as many or as few other passengers as you choose. I wish you well on your planning and future cruises. 🙂 Walkingsoon

Regarding the gym, the windowless lower deck location has the one small benefit that the only people in there are actually using the gym to exercise. This is a nice change from the sun and lido deck locations with large groups of loud lookie-loos barging through, people sitting on the machines eating pizza while looking at the view, etc. I actually kind of liked the Island gym.

"If the original delay was due to water contamination, they would have debarked all crew living on board. Can't have people staying on board with bad water." I recall JP-5 contamination in the water while on a 'cruise' on the Enterprise. They didn't let us debark.

"hotel pick-ups" No. But as Jadn13 said, if you want to make your own way to Victoria Coach Station then you can use that transfer. I wasn't impressed by the Princess offering (crowded, delays) and found reserving a car service to be more convenient and not much more expensive for two or more passengers. To Upwarduk's recommendation of Eavesway Coaches, let me add Blackberry Cars and Onward Travel Solutions. How are you getting from the airport to downtown? Walkingsoon

Good. There are some (well, me anyway) who believe that all of the ships built 2004 and earlier are superior to all the ships built after 2004. It's just that simple. Island gets a bad rap because they removed some public spaces to add extra staterooms. This makes it pretty easy to compare it unfavorably to its sister ship, Coral. But it still rates better imo for 'crowdedness' than any of the larger ships. As Paula M notes, it deserves some extra credit for going places the others don't.

They're more alike than different. I sailed both this year and would happily do either again, but... For Alaska, I'd sail out of Vancouver on a smaller ship with a promenade deck, Sapphire or Grand, 14 days roundtrip to Whittier if you've got the time. If you can only do 7 days, do Ruby roundtrip or one of the others one way. Better ships for that destination (my opinion) and better itineraries. Don't regret your final choice, whatever it is. It'll be a fine cruise. Walkingsoon

Wanderfully - I respect and applaud your preference to board simply without any pre-cruise reservations or package upsells. You can certainly do so and it might enhance your relaxation to not give it another thought. Keycards do still exist, despite the absolute claims by some that they don't. As others have said, you might or might not be able to substitute the medallion for a one once on board, depending on the ship. Another option for you if you can't get a card (and I don't know or need to know your motivation) might be a credit card sized Faraday pouch. It'll fit in a pocket without taking up much more room than a card. Keep you medallion in that and pull it out only when you have to.

I'd choose Caribe deck just to be a bit closer to the water. Cruisedeckplans' cabin guru spells out some differences between decks, but I wouldn't overthink it. These are amongst the best cabins on the ship with really nice wrap around balconies. If you find them inadequate, I'd suggest that you're trying too hard.

I prefer the aftmost dining rooms, Cielo in this case. I've found them all to be pretty much the same, as far as decor and service goes, but I enjoy the more remote feel of being at the aft end and they do indeed have more windows - 3 sides instead of 2. Arguments against that choice are that it is perhaps a longer walk, nor is it directly adjacent to a bar for a pre-dinner drink, and the stairwell and elevator lobby sometimes get crowded and disorganized at busy times. Some people get confused figuring out how to get to it. Others might be bothered by more motion at the aft end. It's still my first choice though, preferably in one of the far corners or with a modest view of the wake. Many disagree, Walkingsoon

"must say I am finding it very frustrating" Lady Bordeaux, let me suggest that you don't need to worry too much about the dining reservations. Perhaps keep the ones you've already made. You can delete them, change them or add to them once onboard, or you can simply engage in improvisational relaxation. You don't need reservations at all, but if you want a consistent routine, communicate with a head waiter early on in the cruise. Nor do you sound like a good fit for one of the upsell packages. You can change your mind about that onboard as well. There's a growing number of customers who find the pre-cruise process maddening. Don't join them. Just show up at the pier with your passport and proof of purchase. You'll have a great time! "Except that Princess became so enamored of "Medallion" that at the same time they moved from keycards to medallions, they renamed ..." I'm surprised, lstone, that they didn't name one of their new ships the Medallion Princess. Can you imagine how far behind schedule that inaugural cruise would be? Nothing would work right, then it would catch fire, hit an iceberg and sink.

They've been screwing with Princess for a while. Missed baksheesh, I expect. Seriously, it fits.

Perhaps try something different. For that particular itinerary on that particular ship, my unwavering pick would be to pay the $8/day (way cheaper than reserve collection) upgrade from a mini to a one of their window suites. Not even close, though I recognize others may see things differently. Enjoy the space, enjoy the view and if you must sniff the sea air, walk one deck up. I had a nice covered balcony on a Pacific crossing, but I doubt I spent two hours on it.

Stockperks worked pretty well for me. The portfolio confirmation took four business days to complete and then the 'redeem perk' process was completed the same day. One thing I did to avoid having random people see my entire portfolio was to segregate my CCL shares into its own separate account at my brokerage.

I like Princess, but their transfers range from sort of alright to annoying, with my experience in Seattle being the latter. Check out Quick Shuttle, at 'quickcoach.com' and be the master of your own schedule. Them I like. Cheaper, on time and more professional. My opinion, Walkingsoon

Upgraded MD to S3 for $78 pp per day. It was my highest bid for that segment, though not the one rated most liable to hit according to their likeliness meter. In fact it was a minimum bid deemed "unlikely" as opposed to a couple others classified as strong bids. Cruise is seven weeks out, e-mail offer sent ten days ago with my bids made that same day, and accepted today. Prior to the bidding process, all suites had been listed as sold out for the preceding few months. I rather hope that one of my bids for the following segment hits. Don't want to move from a nicer cabin to one more modest. The other direction is OK.

Thanks to all for the answers 🙂 I'm guessing that the TK >--> Solis transition is possibly the source of my reservation difficulties. One segment shows both restaurants and is allowing Solis reservations, but not TK. The other segment only shows TK but isn't allowing reservations. I've got time and I assume it'll work out. The App is only allowing me to see the first booking and periodically times me out, a function of changing pages - not time. I don't care too much as I probably won't use it at all once aboard. Stan is right about the menus. It makes me realize how plain my planned dinner for tonight is.

Does Seabourn run shuttles from port to downtown when the pier is far removed from the town area? If so, free or charge? Are the shipboard offered excursions limited in size, as in van versus full bus? How soon before the cruise can one make reservations for TK grill? How available is it for shipboard reservations or walk-ups? Is the "Source" app developed by the same company that does the Princess app? Is it well regarded by Seabourn regulars? Does the casino have "Fun 21" or just regular blackjack? TIA...Walkingsoon

All of my future cruises' military OBC, as expected, are designated as non-refundable. In the past, I always got my refundable OBC balance back via check a few weeks after disembarking. Now I structure my onboard spending to have a $1 to $10 balance paid by my cc.

It's a great cruise. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I'd choose Coral, Sapphire or Grand out of Vancouver, or even Ruby out of San Francisco before I'd do Royal or Discovery out of Seattle, despite the fact that Seattle would be the easiest for me. The Royal class ships, Discovery and Royal, are much bigger, have flower box sized balconies (with some notable exceptions) and have no wrap around promenade deck. Likewise they don't sail East of Vancouver Island through Johnstone strait. I personally prefer any non-Royal class ship to any Royal class ship, but recognize that very many here feel exactly the opposite, the Royal class ships being newer, having a better buffet and more activities. Are you going for an inside cabin or a suite? If inside, I'd definitely want a wrap around promenade deck. Sapphire's is great and Coral has really cool aft viewing areas that would be a good, nearly private, balcony replacement for a nearby aft inside cabin. If you're going for a suite, then maybe Royal class might have some advantages. Regarding itineraries, the best would be seven days up to Whittier and then seven days back, hopefully taking in College Fjord and Hubbard as well as Glacier Bay. Sitka is a fun less often visited stop, Icy Strait Point perhaps less interesting. (my opinion) Don't expect much from a Victoria stop. It's a lovely town, but it's scheduled as a too short evening stop with frequent time changes (sometimes even disallowing people to go ashore) that the Seattle based ships have to do to meet the Jones Act requirements. All these negative sounding comments are just details. I'll repeat that they're all great cruises. Have fun! Walkingsoon

I thought the 26 Glacier tour was quite poor, especially for the price, but then I was one of the unfortunates assigned an interior table seat. I won't do that tour again, just too crowded and aggravating. I'd check onto the ship, put some hiking shoes on and, as SCX22 suggested, head on over to the Portage Pass trailhead. Go seek out a glacier on foot, a nice relaxing hike on your own schedule. Just my opinion, Walkingsoon

" Is there anywhere on the ship that we aren't permitted?" With a few small exceptions you should have access to all the public areas of the ship. There's the Sanctuary (a pay per use sun lounging area), parts of the spa and a small suite/concierge lounge. Likewise expect an adults only pool that might be off limits to your young children if you bring them and some kid's only areas that would similarly be off limits to the adults. But in general they don't separate a large part of the ship for a different class, such as the Haven on NCL. "do you have to make your way back to the airport and be picked up there if you use their transfer service?" The Princess transfers will pick up from Heathrow and also from Victoria Station in downtown London. Personally, if I were going in just one night early, I'd take a National Express bus (reserve it beforehand) directly to Southampton and get a room there, the London traffic and prices just not worth it for a single night's jetlagged visit. Alternatively, use Blackberry car service. Sounds expensive, but if you're going with others, not really. I found the Princess transfer not particularly appealing. " Do you think that is too risky?" Too risky for me, Murphy's Law and all. That'll be an awesome cruise, btw. Enjoy the time with your Mom.

It greatly exceeded my expectations. It sort of works! One odd anomaly - trying to book MedallionNet, single device for 32 days, the new app wanted $270 while the old one charged the expected $240 ($7.50/day after discount). I used the old one. I will note that my dining reservations, excursions and the newly purchased MedallionNet did all get transferred to the new app. Despite some sign in and timeout issues, I have high hopes that this new app might not suck quite so much as the old one. I tend not to carry my phone around on the ship, so I don't really care that much about the app as long as they let me on board.

I've done just that several times, including on the Crown. I'd try it in Botticelli. Take those two available reservations (hopefully one is for the first or second day) and try as you describe, though I usually do it midway through the meal as opposed to on the way out, when it's likely to be more chaotic at the entrance. Your description of the reservation availability for four weeks out sounds familiar. It's the dining reservation system failure more than the app or website. All are kind of broken, though. I doubt elite status matters in this instance, gentle modesty and respect while communicating with the head waiter and front table employees being more important. walkingsoon