cruiserdru

When you get on the ship, go to your cabin and dial the DINE line. They will take your name and put you on the list. Some times there are more people than slots so you want to do this right away.

Would we talk to the folks up at the kids/teen center to find out about this? I don't recall ever seeing this advertised in the Patters.

I think my granddaughter would love to do something like this with me on our Alaska cruise in June.

The OBC's from my TA have never shown up under the Personalizer and its new format.

However, my invoice from her shows the amount of the OBC and it is there even after a refare for a lower price. The invoice for my kids cabin did show a lower OBC after their refare.

When I get to my cabin, there has always been a card showing I have a gift from my TA and I print out my stateroom charges and it shows up there.

Only once has there been a problem and I emailed her from the ship. They would not let her fix it while I was onboard and her company cut me a check for the missing OBC.

Don't forget to ask questions of your booking agent.

• Is there a change fee?
  
• Does the lower price impact any OBC you have?
  
• Does it make your deposit non-refundable/non-transferable?
  
• Are they canceling your current booking and rebooking and will you be able to keep your existing cabin?
  
• Are there any other negative impacts on your booking?
  

Thanks for all the help everyone. Sounds pretty much like the Horizon Court where I have spent a lot of time. :)

Never been on a ship with a Café Caribe and we are going to be on the Crown in June. The Princess Dining Guide shows The Horizon Court as closed for dinner and the Café Caribe is open.

• What kind of venue is the Café?
  
• Is it table service or still a buffet?
  
• Is it walk-in or reservations required?
  
• Saw somewhere that it has themed nights. Are they advertised in the Patters?
  
• Does it take over the entire Horizon Court space or is it a very limited venue? From the deck plans, it appears to be less than half of the space normally seen for Horizon Court?
  

As we will have a 9-year old granddaughter with us, there are probably times we will not want to go to the main dining room and I am interested in what this venue has to offer. I had just assumed that Horizon Court was an option and it appears that is not true.

Thanks for any help. Would have searched but the search function is still down.

Glad my next cruise is already booked. DH lives for the bridge games and understands the importance of having someone there. That will be one more in his con column for cruises.

Unfortunately, I live in Virginia and my granddaughter lives in Idaho. We will be meeting up in Anchorage just prior to the tour portion of our Alaska cruisetour. Perhaps the hotel will have something although the Captain Cook is probably not any more reasonable than the ship.

I was not so much concerned about the price (yeah, I had to get a haircut once on the ship and I know the price issues but thanks for the warning) as it being a manicure that she would like. I'm fairly certain that her idea (she is only 9) of a manicure is cutesy.

Guess I will need to look for some other things.

Thanks for all the inputs.

First let me say I have never had a manicure or a pedicure so my knowledge is limited.

Our granddaughter is going to Alaska with us and wants to have a manicure or pedicure with her Grandma. I am sure she is thinking something that has cute designs on her nails, not just polish.

Does Princess offer that kind of service? I see I can schedule a manicure online but I do not know if they are plain Jane or more like what a 9-year old would want.

Any first-hand knowledge out there? We will be on the Crown.

Thanks.

There is no beer or mixed drinks available at Vines. Tapas is available free to anyone purchasing wine.

Looking for info on the Princess transfer from Vancouver to Seattle - things like what time it leaves Vancouver, does it make stops along the way, does it end at SeaTac (airport) and what time does it usually get there, how much does it cost and is the adult fare and the children's fare the same? Do you go through Customs/Immigration before boarding in Vancouver or do you make a border stop and what is involved if you do? And anything else those in the know feel would be helpful

I have the info for using QuickShuttle and Amtrak and am looking for a comparison.

Thanks for any help you can supply. Trying to help our son/wife/child work out the logistics of their return to Boise from an Alaska cruisetour with us. It is considerably cheaper for them to fly from Seattle home than from Vancouver IF the cost of getting to Seattle is not too high and they don't arrive so late they must stay overnight and get a flight the next morning.

I know that "early" debarking has been the norm in the past. However,when we boarded the Star Princess in San Pedro in late October, they were still debarking passengers after 11 am. I thought perhaps the ship had been late arriving but when we debarked on 5 November (and we arrived early) the same thing happened and that was per the schedule they gave us.

See below. We got two cards for our mini-bar on the 10/21 Star Hawaii cruise without any problem. Sorry, don't have link.

This is from Questions under Princess Captain Circle:

Elite Mini-Bar

Question: What will my mini-bar consist of?

Answer: Elite members will get a one-time complimentary mini-bar set-up (1 per Elite stateroom) which consists of two (2) miniature bottles each of Cognac, Gin, Vodka and Scotch Whisky, two (2) 12 ounce cans of beer, two (2) 12 ounce cans/bottles of tonic water, two (2) 12 ounce cans of Coca Cola, two (2) 12 ounce cans of Sprite, two (2) 0.5 liter bottles of water, two (2) 11 ounce bottles of Perrier. The contents of the mini-bar are subject to change.

Question: What if I have a specific request for how I’d like my mini-bar stocked?

Answer: Your mini-bar will consist of a selection of liquors, soft drinks, beer, still and sparkling water. Once on board, you may contact Room Service to change your mini-bar selection. Certain restrictions apply.

Question: Can I exchange the items in my Elite mini-bar for wine?

Answer: You may exchange all of your mini-bar items for one bottle of wine. You can choose one of the following:

• Chardonnay Kendall-Jackson

• Sauvignon Blanc Nobilo

• Cabernet Sauvignon Kendall-Jackson

• Pinot Noir Robert Mondavi

• Unwooded Chardonnay, Kendall Jackson (Dawn Princess, Sea Princess, Sun Princess - when based in Australia)

• Wyndhams, Bin 444 Cabernet Sauvignon (Dawn Princess, Sea Princess, Sun Princess - when based in Australia)

• Brown Brothers, Shiraz (Dawn Princess, Sea Princess, Sun Princess - when based in Australia)

Question: Can I exchange the items in my Elite mini-bar for full bottles of liquor?

Answer: No. Miniature bottles of liquor (50 ml) may be exchanged on a one-for-one basis with other miniature bottles.

Question: Can I exchange the non-alcoholic items in my Elite mini-bar for alcohol?

Answer: No. Non-alcoholic beverages may be exchanged on a one-for-one basis with other non-alcoholic varieties.

Question: What if I don't want any alcohol in my Elite mini-bar?

Answer: If you do not wish to have any alcohol in your mini-bar we will be happy to exchange your mini-bar for one of the following:

•Alcoholic beverages may be exchanged for non-alcoholic beverages on a one-for-one basis

•Full mini-bar may be exchanged for two (2) Coffee Cards

•All water mini-bar setup will consist of eight (8) 1.5 liter bottles of water

Thank you, Norris. This was an excursion we were unable to take when we were there in 2009 and your video certainly helped to fill the gap. Keep up the good work.

Have to say I kept waiting for the surface to open up and swallow up all of you.

I have experienced this problem in the past under two conditions:

1. excursions are not yet available and it just spins

2. pop-up blocker is on and it cannot open a window and it just spins

don't know if either is what is causing your problem or not.

A search only turned up one comment on what this suite perk actually is(candied almonds for the poster).

Has anyone else received anything different and hopefully a little more exciting??

The Star was in drydock in Nov/Dec 2011 and the 2013/2014 Cruise Atlas does not show any gaps in her sailings so it seems unlikely that she will have any changes for a December 2013 sailing.

On the Grand, adding the Alfredo's severely impacted the Vines to the point they no longer had tapas. That would be unfortunate (IMHO) as the Vines on the Star was a favorite spot of mine during our last cruise on her.

Definitely take advantage of the breakfast at Sabatini's available to suite 'residents'. You will not regret this wonderful experience. You may also order room service from the MDR menu for all three meals. All items will be brougth at once. In addition, the new perk of a free dinner at one of the specialty restaurants on embarakation day is a nice treat. (You still are responsbile for the cost of an alcohol/wine.)

I would like to go to the ICA Maxi on Lindhagensgatan from the dock at Frihamnen. Can anyone tell me how to get there by bus or metro?

It looks as if I could get bus #1 from Frihamnen to near Fridhemsplan and then pick up bus 52. Is this a very long trip? It appears to be somewhat roundabout.

Alternatively, I would like to go from Frihamnen to the Hemkop Ostermalm on Nybrogatan near the Ostermalms Saluhall but I am not seeing how to do that. Would I again try bus #1 and get off near Sergels torg and walk??

Thanks for any help.

Am hoping to buy some of this Swedish loose tea for my Tai Chi instructor while we are in Stockholm. Their website does not ship outside of Sweden. :(

Can anyone tell me where I might find some of this tea? Our ship is docking at Frihamnen on 7/12 from 0900 to 1700 and I will have as much of that time as I need to find my way to a source if I can ony identify a source in Stockholm.

Any help will be appreciated.

copper6606,

Suggest you check out the reviews for this hotel on TripAdvisor. There are a large number and many of them are recent. People either loved it or hated it. Those who hated it were very specific about their issues and many of them had the same issues. You will have to decide it they are things with which you can deal.

It also did not sound as if the hotel is very convenient to restaurants or shopping. The hotel would provide transport to places in a 3-mile radius but would not pick up afterwards.

Good luck.

Royalcruz,

While perusing the 960+ entries in this thread, I saw your mention of Total Wine in response to someone's query. I would never have thought to look for one in Fort Lauderdale.

They carry my favorite champagne so I can pick up some for our 27-day cruise in May 2011. Even better, though, is that in Florida they carry liquor AND that includes my husband's cherished single malt. (I drive 70 miles one way from where we live now to get his Scotch.

Neither of these are available on Princess ships and it would be tough to transport them safely on our flight from Virginia. No matter safe container I have tried putting my husband's single malt in to transport it, he has sworn that it "tainted" his Scotch!

You have just made his long trip so much better.

Thought that might be the case. I'll just wait to get some at our first U.S. port.

Thanks

Does the Vancouver Costco sell wine or do Vancouver/Canadian laws prohibit that?

We are staying near one of the Costco's before our cruise and thought we might pick up some wine there to take on the Coral Princess.

We will be returning to Vancouver on the Radiance on Friday, 9/11 but not flying out until Saturday. Do any of the local hotels have early checkin?

We will be off the ship by 10 am and don't know what to do until we can get into a hotel. We will have a lot of luggage because we have two cruises and a land tour.

Any help?