K-Dogg

Hello,

Once they have the military service on file, you will not need to resend it each time. We found out on our second booking with Princess that it automatically applies after they have it in the system. Great perk! :)

Am I the only one who thinks rough seas are sort of fun? I do not get any motion sickness, and think having one day or night of rough seas adds to the fun of cruising. On our roundtrip from Seattle in 2012 we had one evening that my husband got slightly sea sick and took Dramamine, but other than that it was fine. :)

Thank you! That would work too! We are taking the Link from the airport to Westlake then the hotel shuttle will be picking us up from there. :)

Thanks, those are helpful. We are staying at the Springhill Inn Suites about a mile from Pike Place Market. The hotel has a shuttle that takes us (and others from the hotel) to the Pier, so stopping on the way may not be an option. I was trying to find something walking distance from the hotel to pick up the night before. I will try the one mentioned at Pike Place as we will be there Friday afternoon. Someone also pointed out to me there is a Target around the area as well. That would be fine. We just want to get a couple bottles of inexpensive wine (maybe Stella Rosa Black??), nothing too fancy.

We like sweet reds and Rieslings. Those of you who made suggestions: Do you have a recommendation for a sweet red blend? Thanks again!

Hello,

I searched around for this topic and was unsuccessful, so let me know if it is here somewhere...

We are flying in to Seattle for our Alaskan Cruise in September and are wanting to bring our allowed 2 bottles of wine on with us. Where is a good place to buy inexpensive wine near downtown Seattle? I tried googling it and am only finding fancy cellars and specialty places. I cannot seem to fins a grocery store, CVS, BevMo, etc. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Thank you! I am interested to try some of these places. Yum! :-)

We are only talking about a $20 difference, IF the cabs are really only charging $10 each way. Have any of you come into Victoria off of the Crown Princess before? When we were there before (same days and times but on the Golden Princess), the lines and crowds waiting for cabs/carriages/etc was insane. Our thinking with the Victoria Express was to avoid some of this and be able to stay together. My mother and father in law are not as keen on walking, otherwise my husband, kids, and I would walk. :)

Thank you! I'll take a look at those links. :-)

Thank you! Both those links seem to drop around the same place as you mentioned off Government. That should work. :) I am worried about getting all six of us in one cab and last time was very hectic to get anything when we got in to port. I think we may stick to the shuttle service just to keep us together and hopefully avoid a wait.

On another note, do any of you know a good place to get Poutine and a shop to buy canadian candies? I have a small list of items friends back home want to try. Thanks!!

Thank you! We are coming in on the Crown Princess. The shuttle is inexpensive, around $10 per person, and goes back and forth every 20 minutes. Last time we were in this port we waited in a long line for a cab, and it worked fine, but we have 6 of us this time and were worried we wouldn't be able to find a large cab to go together. Thanks again!

Hello,

I apologize if this is posted already, but after a few attempts at searching for it I could not find the answer to my question. We have booked ourselves on the Victoria Express, an excursion offered from our cruise line that takes us from the pier to downtown and back. It does not say where it drops off, and we are trying to plan a few things in the short time we are there (I think it is only 4 or 5 hours in port). Do any of you know where the Victoria Express drops off in downtown Victoria? TIA! J

Hello! My husband and I went to Alaska in Septemeber 2012 and were comfortable in our jeans. We both wore a versitile Jacket and never needed to add layers, and I believe September is typically colder. You should be fine in sneakers unless it rains a lot. :)

Hello! We cruised to those same ports in 2012 in September and found that the Alaska T-Shirt Company had the best deals in Juneau. Everything was 50% off or more and they had tons and tons of items. We went to Juneau first and were dissapointed at the other ports not to find the same prices. We are going again in September this year and plan to stock up on as much as possible again. The weather in September for us was perfect, but that probably changes day to day and cruise to cruise. The deals to us are worth the chance of off weather. Have fun!!

So for those of you that like both ATD and TD, what would you recommend for a party of 6? We currently have ATD because we have at least 2 ports that go past the early seating and do not want to do the late because of our kids. If we are fine being placed with others at a larger table will that help the wait? Or would it be better to just stick to TD and either eat at the buffet or come back to the ship early on those nights? Thank you!

I was looking at the patters again, and noticed that the Shockwaves patters say activities for ages 11-12. Did your sailing have a large group and break them up into smaller age brackets? I thought Shockwaves was 8-12. Thanks again!

You can see Shockwaves schedules from a 7 day Alaska cruise, round trip from Seattle here: http://s204.photobucket.com/user/cruisinmama06/library/Princess%20Patters?sort=3&page=1

 

My kids were older (12, 15, 18) on that cruise, so I can't help with Pelicans schedules, but if you look down the page, you will find Pelicans schedules from other regions which would give you some idea of the activities.

Thank you for the link! Those were just what I needed to see. :) I had found a YouTube video from some kids at Shockwaves and it looks like they did the same type of things as yours. Now I know it will be pretty close to the same. I wonder what they do if they combine the ages? The activities from Pelicans to Shockwaves are definitely different. I am so excited for them! When I started cruising I was 14 (? I think) and they didn't have all the activities as far as I can remember.

You can see Shockwaves schedules from a 7 day Alaska cruise, round trip from Seattle here: http://s204.photobucket.com/user/cruisinmama06/library/Princess%20Patters?sort=3&page=1

 

My kids were older (12, 15, 18) on that cruise, so I can't help with Pelicans schedules, but if you look down the page, you will find Pelicans schedules from other regions which would give you some idea of the activities.

Thank you! You both gave me some good information. :) I know I will likely not find exactly what I am looking for, but I am now that much closer! ISO stands for In Search Of.

Can I ask you both how your children enjoyed their cruises? My kids are usually very well behaved and easy to please, I am just needing some reassurance I suppose to justify the cost. ;-)

My husband and I did the Eagle Island Kayaking through the cruise ship in 2012 and loved it. We were rained on, but they supplied ponchos and we still had an amazing time. Our cruise happen to use Southeast Exposure (who are slightly cheaper when booking directly), and they were great! Hope you have a great time!

Hello,

I am ISO the children's program patters from the Crown Princess, preferably from a 7 day Alaska roundtrip from Seattle. I have searched around on here a bit and did not find what I was looking for. My kids will be 6 and 8 during our September sailing so I am hoping to get more information about Pelicans and Shockwaves. I am also curious if any of you have experience with these groups and how your kids enjoyed them? I am a little concerned that they will not be in the same age group, or do they combine if numbers are low? Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I was going to ask the same thing?! I looked at Barnes and Noble online and didn't find anything. We will be at some of the same ports in September. Thank you!

Hey now I got a question, where or how does one go about getting these coupons?

Is the Anan bear viewing offed through Princess? If so what is the excursion called? My husband and I will be there in September and bear viewing is one of our top priorities this trip. I see 3 options, 2 with Neets bay and the Bear Country and Wildlife Expedition. Thank you!

Thank you Travel_Maven and Thumper69! That looks like it will be perfect for us! My husband and I are traveling with our two kids who will be 6 and 8 at the time of the cruise. That set up looks great! Does anyone know if the Crown would be the same? Thanks again!

I found on my last cruise that no time was perfect. It really depended on which port we were in and what we had done that day. We switched to Anytime dining for that cruise, and now I can't decide which we should do on our upcoming cruise. I really enjoy having the same service team each night, getting to know your tablemates, and not waiting for a table to open up for dinner. We just hate to miss dinner in the dining room due to our excursions, etc. What would you all suggest?

For those of you that have been in a Princess Mini-suite, how do they set it up for 4 people? I read above that there is a pull down from the ceiling. Do you know if that is what they do on the Crown Princess? TIA!

My husband and I have cruised in an interior, oceanview, and balcony now. If you can spring for the balcony, I agree with those above who said go for it! Alaska is so pretty and the decks can get crowded during the glacier viewing.

However, I would not pay the extra money for an oceanview. An interior is nearly identical, and you can go on deck to get fresh air and see the view. The window was not worth the extra money in my eyes.

Good luck in your planning!