MWcruiser

Thorough interesting review!  Brought back great memories of the Mediterranean cruise we did several years ago.  Thanks for sharing!

Nice short review. Appreciate you sharing your opinions and experiences. Sounds like you enjoyed some of Alaska's best offerings. We love Princess but agree that the older ships are in need of more cabin updates.

My husband also has a severe shellfish allergy and he always carries an epi-pen. Even shellfish odors can bring on a minor reaction for him. We try to do traditional dining and always notify the head waiter on our first night. On most Princess cruises, the head waiter brings the menus for the next night and reviews it with my husband. Sometimes he'll even take his order for the next night. We avoid the dining room on nights where lobster is served, usually opting for a specialty restaurant, where a table for two is available and spacing between tables is better.

We also indicate the shellfish allergy on the cruise personalizer under dietary requests. Response is an standardized email from dietary explaining that it is important to notify the Maître de' to discuss your needs. We bring this email along to show the Maître de'.

We cruised on Royal Princess two years ago with a group of 8. We did anytime dining and tried to dine at 6:30. At least half of the nights, we had a 30-45 minute wait to be seated. The rest of the nights we were able to walk right in.

I'd suggest going by 5:30 with your group of 7 if you do not wish to wait.

Traditional dinner in my opinion is much safer. You do not have to explain your allergy needs every night and waiters are more aware. The head waiter is also aware of where you are seated. When we travel alone, we request a table for 2 at the time of booking. Getting a table for two still involves a trip to the Maitre de' on embarkation day to discuss his needs. We explain that dining with fellow cruisers is difficult because we do not want to ask others at the table to avoid ordering that shrimp cocktail.

Our next Cruise is on the Star Princess and I have read that there are no 2 tops in the early traditional dining. We'll talk to the Maitre de' that first day but are prepared to change to anytime dining. Our experience on Royal Princess was that reservations could only be made in anytime dining for 5:15 or before, or after 7:30. We'll eat at 5:15 if we have to so we can make that reservation and have same waitstaff every night.

Our experience on Princess ships regarding this shellfish allergy has been good. My husband has never had a major reaction, although there have been times when he has had to leave the dining room because of overwhelming smells of shellfish. So far, we have been pleased with the way Princess manages allergies.

Thanks for the information on this program. It sounds so interesting and fun, definitely something my husband and I would be interested in down the line.

Thanks for the review. You may have convinced me to do the ultimate balcony dinner. My husband is allergic to shellfish, so may be a good option on a night when lobster is on the dining room menu.

I just am so thankful that you posted your experience with GV Tours. They were one of the companies I was considering for Punta Arenas in January 2019. I had read some other very positive and very negative reviews and now I know to avoid them, at least in Punta Arenas. Sorry that you missed your excursion.

Great review and pictures. I especially enjoyed the perspective of a first time Princess cruiser who has lots of other travel experience. With all the talk of declining quality of mainstream cruising, your fresh eyes on the Princess product reminded me of the things we enjoy about Princess.

Your assessment of the game show type entertainment is spot on. It should not replace good production shows and other talented entertainers. Quality of entertainment has varied from excellent to mediocre on Princess ships we have been on, and we have become selective in what we choose to attend. We do enjoy MUTS which you did not mention. I also hate the lack of enforcement of the dress code and the tolerance of chair hogs.

I am glad you enjoyed your first Princess cruise and thank you for your interesting review. I intend to spend some time reading other travel articles on your blog.

Enjoying your review and pictures. We are doing this itinerary in 2019. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, mnocket. Really enjoy objective well thoughtout posts like this. We have not sailed on Celebrity but do want to give it a try soon, although we do like Princess and all the extra perks we receive.

Very good review. Love your comparisons to Princess. Hoping to do Disney cruise with our grandchild in a few years. Sounds like we better start saving now!

SWScruiser....We sail January 11. We are from Southern Illinois.

Thanks danfiveoh. Your info helps a lot.

I've read all the posts I can find about transportation at Bayport cruise terminal, but I am still not sure if taxis/shuttles are readily available when we disembark.

There are 6 of us, and we most likely will need 2 taxis. We plan to do the earliest walkoff the ship we can do.

Our cruise is in January. I did not know about the fog/weather issues prior to booking this cruise and air. We have a 1pm flight from Houston Hobby. Really worried that we will make that flight.

Are taxis/shuttles waiting as they are in other ports at the time? Or do I need to book something in advance? I think a taxi will be quicker to airport than Princess transfers.