freshair8

I watch prices about twice daily... before I go to work, and when I get home from work.

When I see a cruise at the price that I am comfortable with, I jump in... sometimes its a few months in advance... sometimes its as short as 2 weeks.

Sometimes, the cruise I am watching sells out.... thats ok... I move onto another then ..... I go by price, not where I want to go.

Eventually, I will get to all the places I want to see.

Hope this helps you! :)

Hello... I don't drink either, and change out my mini-bar for water. If you want the 1.5 liter bottles of water, you will receive 8 of them.

If you like Perrier, you will get 20 of these.

Hope that helps!

Happy cruising! :)

Both ships are wonderful. If you do book the Coral, make sure your balcony is on the "bump out", not in the "in-dent", otherwise you will not be able to see forward or backward, only straight out when standing on your deck.

Hope that makes sense. Check deck plans if you are unsure.

I spent 32 days on the Star in April / May and loved every second!!

Alaska is wonderful, and I think you will enjoy it no matter which ship you choose!

Happy cruising! :)

Very cool.... thank you!! :)

Helen & Jerry,

Glad you got such good service. We will be on the Star starting July 23. I am not sure who was your captain, but we will have Stafano Rivera. We sailed with him a few times on the Tahitian/Ocean Princess.

Captain Stefano Ravera was on board for the 32 days I was just on as well. Great captain!!

Enjoy your cruise to Alaska!! :)

Posts from recent cruisers complain of lack of hot water on some floors. Hopefully it will be resolved for our August Alaskan. :o

I hate to tell you this, but that is been a problem for years and when you cruise through the Panama Canal, I found that the hot water was then TOO hot!! because of how hot it was outside..... just my experience. The Coral is an awesome ship.... would sail on her in a heart beat! :)

good morning....

Love the Star. Just completed 32 days on her and I did walk the promenade deck all the way around 10-12 times everyday!! Gotta walk off those desserts!! LOL :)

Like others have said, you don't hear MUTS unless you are right there... I have never had a problem with it.

The 10 day coastals are a great cruise out of Vancouver... alot of Vancourites are onboard, as well as many from the rest of British Columbia.

I have done this cruise about 6 times now and really enjoy it, especially the overnight in San Fran. that is very cool, indeed!

Have a good cruise!

thanks for posting this...... I have bookmarked it :)

Love Plaza deck location as well....... I also do not feel any movement on that deck, but I have been cruising for many years, so maybe thats why.

We just returned from our Alaska southbound off the Island, and decided we do it again next year, just reverse. We have done this same itinerary 3 times and LOVE it because of all the scenery! I was looking to next year and saw that the Emerald does a round trip out of Vancouver, minus the Hubbard Glacier and adding Sitka. Here are my questions...

 

1. Does Sitka have scenic hiking trails right off the dock? We aren't into the shopping or excursions, just exploring the natural beauty for free. Sitka would be our replacement of Skagway on this itinerary, and there are quite a few hiking trails to see a lot of beauty there.

 

2. Is the cruising very scenic from Vancouver to Sitka that first full day at sea cruising?

 

3. Does it feel like you are missing some scenery if you don't do the North/Southbound cruising?

 

4. We haven't cruised such a large ship in Alaska, so will the Emerald feel crowded? I know we will be tendering because of it's size, but that doesn't bother us.

 

At this point, it's so early that we have plenty of time to research, but thought I would ask CC first.

 

Thanks for any responses!

HI... I just returned a week ago from the Star R/T Vancouver that had Sitka on the itinerary... loved the cruise!! We docked.. ( orginally we were to be tendered), and they gave us a free shuttle to town that only took 10 minutes.

There were loads of walking trails right near by and the town is wonderful to wander through.

From town I walked to the Raptor Center where they re-habilitate bald headed eagles. Very interesting indeed.

The scenery on the first day was wonderful.... and cruising into Sitka was gorgeous. Loads of little islands dotting the path ..... lots of kodak moments :)

I have cruised numerous times to Alaska both northbound and southbound and do not feel like I missed out on any of the scenery....

I love the Grand/Gem class style of ships and do not find them crowded at all. Now, that is just my opinion.... others may find them to big.

Hope you do book this cruise, as I do not think you would be dissappointed.

Happy cruising!! :)

just returned from the Star and I purchased the soda and more package and had hot chocolate everyday, many times during the day. You can get it at any bar and also at the IC. At the IC.. they have the powder if a large glass bowl with a lid, they add a little hot water to mix it up, and then add hot milk... very creamy and frothy!! YUM YUM :)

Did you go to the Casino? Any luck? I'm curious what the table minimums are.

I played a few of the machines, but not the tables. Sorry, I do not know the answer to your question.

Hello!! Just disembarked this morning from Star Princess. Spent 32 days on her, ending with the 7 day Alaska voyage. Loved everything about the Star. The crew are amazing and the Captain is still Stefano Ravera. Last night, he took the ship along the most scenic passage, past Alert Bay... the sun was shining and the views from Skywalkers were simply amazing.

The Star does not have the new mattress's.... if my memory serves me correctly, I believe the end of 2017.

Hated to leave the ship this morning, but hope to return real soon.

Anytime dining in Portofino and Capri was easy-breezy... no waits at all... I usually dined around 7:30 and later.

If anyone has other questions, please ask! :)

hello everyone!! In Kauai today on the Star... yes, we have the noro on board, not sure of how many..but the crew are doing an outstanding job of cleaning everything.

Today, we had to remove everything from the bathroom and top of the dressers, so they could do a good cleaning of all the cabins.

Having a fabulous time, and yes, in the buffet, the crew serves you and in the dining room, they serve you the buns, butter, and salt and pepper.

Your cruise "keycard" use to be made of paper and the details on it were actually "typed" with a typewriter!

Some ships used an actual "key" to open your cabin door.

They use to have a "directory" of everyones names, cabin they were in, and where they were from. This was in everyones cabin and it was kinda fun to see where everyone was cruising from.

Soooooo many changes now, its a completely different ballgame!

Still love cruising... just have to go with the flow.

Currently on the Star... cruising for 32 days.... in San Fran.

LOVING it!! LOL :)

Arrived on Star into San Fran yesterday afternoon,... 2 hours late.... heavy swells all night long... Captain said 20-25 foot swells, with a 50 knot wind. The whole ship was shuddering and shaking all night long. We are overnighting, as per our itinerary, but the Captain did tell us all that the Crown would overnight as well, due to the bad weather.

It is sunny and warm now in San Fran. We sail out tonight.

Having a fabulous time onboard. We are heading back to Vancouver.

what a shame..... remember him from many years ago..... RIP...

Formal Nights

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to know what to pack and what to wear when you’re dining onboard. See below for an example of formal night schedules based on the length of your cruise.

Length of Cruise Number of Formal Evenings

1 - 4 Days 0

5 - 6 Days 1

7 - 13 Days 2

14 - 20 Days 3

21 - 28 Days 4

29+ Days 5 Minimum

Princess offers formal wear rental on all cruises – this can be arranged prior to embarkation.

Formal Wear Rentals

OK.. excellent... thank you!:)

How many episodes are there?? I have finished number 6... is there more??

Thanks!:)

Receive emails once in a blue moon, and have sailed with Princess many, many times.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but our recent cruise on Star Princess around the Horn of South America was a bit of a surprise. I had heard the same story that the contributors to this thread have given, so I went with a casual long-sleeve button-down shirt and a blue blazer. On formal nights, well over half of the men had tuxedos, the vast majority of the others had dark suits (not sport coats, mind you) and ties, and a pittance of us were business casual. I'm a big boy and I was OK standing out, but my wife was not happy and I will DEFINITELY be packing more formal wear for our June cruise on the Pacific Princess. So.............if you don't mind standing out, and your partner is OK with you being very different from everyone else, you will be allowed in the dining room in business casual attire. But you will unquestionably stand out. I applaud Celebrity, and this next cruise will likely be our last on Princess.:(

Agreed......... our South America on the Grand was extremely formal... tux and long gowns.

Did the one nighter last year... Seattle to Vancouver..... best comedy show ever!! the guy did 2 different shows, one being quite late and it was the funniest I have seen in a long time. Lots of gambling was going on and everyone was just having a good time. Would I do it again.... You bet! In a heartbeat! :)

Yes, you do... I did the 1 day sailing Seattle to Vancouver last year and I got the mini bar setup. I actually switched it out for 2 coffee cards. Enjoy !! :)

Thanks!

 

According to the Princess Patter from 3/19/2006, it was Captain Tony Yeomans...

thank you!!:)