yourSLCwoman

Thank you for posting a live review!  I'm looking forward to following along as my husband, our two daughters, and I will be sailing the Sapphire to Alaska this summer.

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We were on the Majestic to Alaska last year with our two kids and they participated in Camp Discovery for the 8-12 age group (The Lodge). According to the paperwork I brought home with us, the hours were:

Embarkation Day

Open House 1p-4p

Activities 7:30p-10p

Sea Days, Glacier Bay and College Fjord

Morning 9a-12p

Afternoon 2p-5p

Evening 7p-10p

Port Days (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway)

Morning 8a-12p

Afternoon 2p-5p

Evening 7p-10p

Port Day Programming: Advance booking recommended to secure a space for your children. Junior cruisers age 3-12 must be signed in and out while the ship is in PORT.

1 hour ago, Ockatty said:

We will be on the Majestic NB on Aug 13th. No changes showing up yet, but sounds like it’s time to plan for Sitka. What are the times they are showing for your Sitka stop? 

The app and the travel summary online are both showing 10:30am - 8:00pm for our stop in Sitka this week. 

I am boarding the Majestic tomorrow and have been monitoring the JourneyView in the medallion app for the last week. I just noticed that Skagway has been changed to Sitka in the app. The last time we visited Skagway via cruise ship, we rented a car from Avis with the intention of driving to Emerald Lake. It was raining that day and the road to the Yukon was washed out so we had to turn around before making it to our destination. This trip was going to be our do-over to Emerald Lake. I do like Sitka though and I guess a do-over of our Skagway do-over is now in our future. 

When Princess says "within 3 days," you can take the test ANY TIME during the three days before your cruise. So for a Saturday departure, you could test Wednesday morning (since Wednesday is three days before Saturday). However, Canada requires the test be taken within 72 hours before boarding, so your example of testing on Wednesday at 4:00pm would be correct for a Saturday boarding at 4:00pm.

It is my understanding that for cruises departing Canada, the PCR test must be taken within 72 hours of embarkation (not 3 days), so you will want to do the test in the afternoon on Wednesday.  From the Princess website:

Voyages that embark in Canada:
Based on current Canadian requirements for cruising, all guests ages five and above will require a medically observed negative viral COVID-19 test result taken before boarding:

Within 2 days for Antigen

Within 72 hours for PCR

There were some times that reservations were required and other times it was first-come, first-served. We got him registered as soon as we were on the ship and my son-in-law made reservations for the first two nights. When he dropped the baby off, he was given an old nokia phone in case the caregivers needed to get ahold of him (never did). On one of the other nights, my son-in-law thought it was a walk-in night, so he went right when they opened at 7pm, but was told that reservations were required and they were full. He went back an hour later and there was a spot. I would talk to the caregivers at the time you register her and get a clear understanding of the reservation process.

They were running it last week on the Oasis; my grandson went a few times.

This is awesome!  I love getting ideas from other people for things I need to bring on a cruise that I never thought of; some things have been super useful, others not so much.  I hope you'll come back and post after your cruise with a list of which things ended up making the useful list.

I posted the daily newsletters from our 7-day cruise a little over a year ago:

Testing Copy & Paste

Thank you so much for the great tips! I wish I would have been a little more knowledgeable about my camera equipment when we went on our dream FP cruise. I'm going to start practicing now so that I'll be prepared the next time I visit (which will hopefully be sooner rather than later).

Absolutely stunning photos!!! And the St. Regis Bora Bora just got added to my never-ending bucket list. :hearteyes:

What a good review. I am actually sad there is not more to read. Anyway, thank you for sharing your cruise. Lisa

I too am sad it is over!

Please come back and let us know what you and your kids thought of the program - I would love to take my kids one day!

When you get back, I would love to read a review of this cruise with children. I would like to take mine when they are a little older and can participate in the Stewards of Nature program.

Ahhh.... the South Pacific! Thank you so much for your review. Some 8 years ago my husband and I did the same cruise - our first time away from our kids for more than an overnight :) Your review brought back so many memories! This trip remains one of my favorites and was so special for us. You've given me the itch to return. Thank you!

I haven't been home long and I've got the itch to return too - I guess it never goes away! :D

Hi Laura,

 

DH and I are on the PG cruise for the first time this July and are just trying to decide about the activities at each location...We love to snorkel and often snorkel from the beaches in Hawaii....How was the quality of the snorkeling at the beach you went to in Fare?

 

There is a private excursion (Marc's Motu Picnic) on Huahine that is 5-6 hours long and has snorkeling but we are not sure that we want to spend that amount of time away from the ship on the first day; we do want to snorkel, if the conditions are good.

Thanks in advance for your feedback and for putting this report together, it is very helpful!

 

:) Lisa

Hi Lisa,

We knew we would be snorkeling all week, so we were okay with just a slow-paced, relaxing start, but the public beach on Huahine didn't "wow" us. The water was shallow and calm and we did see a few fish, including a really unique one (looked similar to a trumpetfish) that we followed for a bit, but if you are looking for a great snorkel day, the excursion would probably be better.

Have a great cruise!

Laura

What a refreshing review, Laura. We like to take in the ambience of a place and don't feel that we have to fill up our days with excursions, but I was beginning to feel a bit out of step with everyone who was booking loads if excursions in advance.

 

One of the things I want to do is enjoy the ship and hang out with Les Gauguines from time to time. I like to spend some time chilling out.

 

Were there plenty of taxis meeting the ferry from Tahiti to Moorea? I'd understood we had to arrange transport in advance.

When we arrived on Moorea from the ferry, we ended up taking the bus to the Hilton, but there were plenty of taxis available.

One of my favorite days on the cruise was the afternoon we just hung out at the pool with about two dozen other passengers while everyone else was off on excursions. Enjoy your time chilling out!

Laura

Thank you Laura for a wonderful review. My husband and I are doing the PG cruise on May 26th and it will be our first time in FP. I am so excited to be going! Quick question about evening wear - is it acceptable to wear 3/4 length pants and a dress top? Or do you have to wear full length pants only?

Laurie :)

 

 

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Yes, I wore 3/4 pants a couple of nights.

Laura

Thank you for the review and taking the time to share your trip information. Love the photo from our children welcoming you home.

Thanks for the info about the app for re-entry into US.

We did the global entry a couple of years ago as soon as it was available and we have found it to be wonderful.

 

 

Again, thank you!

Kim

You're welcome! Since most of our traveling is domestic we chose to just get precheck, but I've heard that global entry is definitely worth it.

Laura