digger69

Howdy y'all, 

We're considering a cruise out of Galveston next summer as part of our vacation time. We'd like to incorporate the cruise into a land vacation where we'd be pulling our 20' travel trailer. Anyone have any knowledge or experience with port parking that allows trailers in Galveston?

Sailing on Adventure of the Seas in a week. Am I able to prepay our tips online?

Thank you, I was hoping to hear that. 

We're taking two of our daughters' friends on our cruise vacation next week. Adventure of the Seas, March 15th. 

Each friend is bringing spending money. Some will be flagged for buying souvenirs at each port of call. They'd also like to be able to spend some money on board the ship at Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, etc. 

My question is can the two girls deposit their on board spending money and draw against it using their sea pass cards? Or is all money lumped together per cabin and drawn down equally?

We just returned from the 6/7 sailing of Grand Princess to Alaska from San Francisco. We took our 15 year old daughter with us. Hate to say it, but she was incredibly bored.

Yes, Alaska is cool and exciting. The port days and excursions were great. However keep in mind there are a lot of sea days on the trip out of SF.

It was announced there were 300 kids aboard of varying ages, and my daughter did meet some kids her age. They tried the Teen club and it was decided it was pretty lame. We asked my daughter and the other teens she'd met if they were watching any of the MUTS or other movies. The consensus was that they didn't come on a cruise to sit and watch movies. Touche.

Most of the guests were elderly and I'd say 90% of the activities on board were geared toward them. There was a paper airplane throwing contest and a beanbag toss. Really? That's all they could muster for the kids in the Piazza. The rest of the sea days were filled with Laurence Welk type music in the Piazza. I found this odd since Princess appears to be trying to pull off a coffee shop type atmosphere with the espresso bar and international cafe. You'd think they'd put out some cool jazz, etc. But then again, I don't think families & kids are the target demographic for Princess.

Of course as with any cruise, your mileage may vary.

Hi All- I am looking at a 10-day Alaska tour from San Francisco on the Grand Princess.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We're booked on the June 7th sailing out of SF this summer. We were on the Star on the same itinerary in 2014.

We've never been on the Grand, but have heard similar tales. I'm not really worried about it. I'm sure it will be fun. No ship is perfect and they all age; some more gracefully than others. :)

Merry Christmas to all! We've met so many fine people in our travels, many of which are also here on CC. Wishing you all a year filled with love, positive vibes and happiness in 2017. :D

3. Norovirus on the second day, perhaps caused by the kids?

Could be, but we've seen many adults in the embarkation lines who clearly should not have been allowed to board as they were obviously ill. Then again in the buffet area wiping their noses with their hands and then using a serving spoon that everyone else uses. Yuck! shame on them.

We make a game of it now in the embarkation lines; try to spot the sickos to avoid onboard. :p

I've got to agree with Thrak. The mass produced King of Beers and Banquet Beer just doesn't cut it when it comes to beer. There are so many other tastes out there. However, I do see where profit margin plays into this.

I spent several years in Chico in my early 20's and could rarely afford Sierra Nevada on a regular basis. But when I did have it, oh what a treat it was. I hear ya Thrak, I hear ya. :D

On the ships, I'm perfectly happy with Guinness. Would love to someday see some Bear Republic beers on the beer list, such as Racer 5.

Here is how I reduce my internet usage onboard. I put my phone in the room safe and keep it there unless I'm on shore.

I work in IT. The last thing I want to do on vacation is to stare at a screen and/or troubleshoot connection issues. :D

We took our 10 year old granddaughter on a Princess cruise combined w a 1 week DIY land trip. When we boarded the ship, she took a look at the teen club activities and pronounced them all stupid.

 

She said that she was there to see AK and to enjoy the dining room and not to spend time doing silly activities, playing games in the kids club and eating pizza and junk food like that. When things happened, she was up on deck with us. It was her choice and we let her do what she wanted to do.

 

That is one smart kid.

 

DON

Yep, smart kid! Our daughter did the same on the last two Caribbean cruises we took. We're of course leaving it up to her and her friend as to whether they spend any time in the teen club or not.

I was asking because as this is Alaska and not the sunny Caribbean, the days spent tanning by the pool aren't an option.

We're on the June 7th Grand sailing out of San Francisco. Along with our 14 year old daughter, we're taking along one of her friends.

Other than the teen club activities, they're asking what other interests there will be for them (other than the obvious Alaskan ports).

For those of you who have taken your teens on the Alaskan itineraries, how did they get along? What kept them busy on sea days and evenings?

Thanks all for the answers. I'm not sweating an upgrade, just curious more or less. Our last Alaskan cruise on Star Princess in 2014 we were upgraded from an interior to an ocean view, which was nice.

Where can I indicate that we're open to upgrades? I've looked in my online profile but may have missed it. :)

We're booked on the Grand for the 6/7/17 Alaska cruise. Our 14 year old would like to take a friend.

Has anyone ever done this? Any problems with booking a non-family minor in our group? Anything I should know when speaking to Princess about adding this person to our booking?

Carnival needs to hold the Muster drill in the public rooms instead of packing us like sardines under the life boats. Princess, Royal and Celebrity do it that way. Not sure about NCL, its been a while.

Just got off Navigator of the Seas. They had us packed like sardines under the lifeboats. Others were in the theater, lounges, etc.

Interesting review. Think Orient Beach has too many vendors!

Not sure what the beach was called in Phillipsburg, but we did not find the vendors to be a nuisance or too pushy. Yes there were plenty of them, but a simple 'no thank you' send them on their way.

Thanks for your thoughts. We were on the same cruise. This was our first time on Navigator. Our daughter also looked forward to Washy Washy lady each time we went to Windjammer. It's a wonder she didn't lose her voice.

We ate at Windjammer a lot, but quickly got tired of the same offerings. The main dining room was just too slow for me. My daughter liked the fancier idea of eating in the MD, but I just felt it took forever to finish dinner and the food just wasn't a WOW. Not that Windjammer would win any awards either, but at least there was variety.

Have to admit, I gave in to the siren call of the soft serve machines way too many times.

We enjoyed the beach time on Labadee and St. Maarten. Only spend about an hour off the ship in St. Kitts as we just didn't like it. No shore excursions here, just didn't like the vibe and the pushy locals chasing you around to put monkeys on your shoulder. :-)

It was a crowded sailing, being spring break and all. Bands of roaming teens everywhere, pushing all the buttons on the elevators, etc. Great fun. :-) My daughter struck up a friendship with some other girls here age and had a great time swimming and hanging out at the flow rider.

We had a great time in San Juan. Hiked to the forts and then quenched our thirst with a Cocoa Frio at Casa Cortes Chocobar. Mmmmm, well worth the long hot walk.

Has anyone cruised in this cabin before? It looks to be at the end of a hallway, but I can't tell for sure by the deck plans.

My big concern is noise and ease of access getting to/from the cabin.

Any pictures would also be welcome!

Any recommendations on hotels that allow the 'day' room deal in FLL? Can you reserve space in the Delta or United lounges, or is it walk-up only?

Depending on which port you get off at, sometimes RCL has post cruise excursions with airport drop-off for people with late flights. May be worth looking into.

Actually, this is a good idea. I do see some excursions that look kinda fun. :D

We're on the Navigator 8 day sailing on March 19th. When she pulls into port on March 27th, our flight isn't until 6:45 that night.

How long do they allow you to stay on the ship before you have to leave? I'm not sure what to do all day after leaving the ship. My feeling is that we'll have had our fill of beaches, so that's out.

What do you all do in the interim hours?

I'm sometimes pretty amazed at the level of snobbery I see on these boards. We cruise for the fun, time with family and the time away from work. We're far too busy to worry about free drinks, vouchers, robes or even priority boarding. Really? Some of you people actually stress out over waiting in line like the rest of us riff-raff? Next you'll be asking for elevators reserved for D+ members.

I'm not usually one to reply to these posts (I'm definitely not D+), but I do see a lot of these posts where people are complaining about how they weren't indulged and made to feel special or elite during their cruise based on some loyalty program. Get over yourselves, loosen up a bit and have fun.

How do you pay for the self-serve laundry on Princess ships? Stupid question perhaps, but I just thought that for a ship that is on a cashless system there may not be many pocketfuls of quarters.

We're heading to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria B.C.