georgiacat

We did an Alaska cruisetour in June when testing was still required.  If all of the tour is directed by Princess, then they will arrange for COVID testing between the land portion and the cruise portion.  No charge to you.  You do need access to email for report of the testing.

Instead of the floor, you can do the overhead route.  More convenient for us.  Magnets from Amazon.

We might look behind the bed next though.  Did not know that outlet was there.

We asked our steward to bring us a paper copy each day, and he obliged, leaving the next day's activity sheet on our bed or in the mailbox in the evening.

 Check out waikikibeachrentals.com (condos) Ilikai Resort.  We are going in May and I am considering this place.  They have 3 bedroom condos.  Their fees are competitive with 2 hotel rooms, especially since we have the common area and kitchen for breakfast and snacks.

If you go EZ Air even with Delta, be sure to check the Delta website and the Princess air site frequently.  Delta notified us by email of the first change; Princess just had a red banner at the top of the EZ air page about changes, no email or call.  Then there were many changes that we were not notified about.  We ended up with a 3 leg journey that I would not have booked, but I did not catch it until too late.  At that time the price to fly to Alaska was too much to change from our original amount.  We made it; just be watchful.

Looks wonderful.  Wish I could go.

Don't use the Carnival transfer bus for port of Miami transfer to FLL.  We did this in September:  debarked from ship about 8:30 am; sat in sun; buses started coming for FLL airport about 10:30.  True the ride was less than an hour, and our flight was at 2 pm, so we were okay.  Next time I will take a taxi or something else.

Go for it!  You don't know what you might be missing.  If you don't like the first one, change ships/timing/cruise lines.  We are in our early 70's.  We have sailed mostly Princess, but we did try Carnival about 10 years ago.  In June we completed an Alaskan cruisetour with Princess.  Then we did a southern Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Horizon in September.  As we approached the Horizon, I could hear my husband behind me jumping up and down with joy (virtually):  Oh goody, they have waterslides!  This in spite of being told by his doctor in 2020 (after rotator cuff surgery) to give up waterslides.  He went down both watersides twice and rode the SkyRide twice.

We enjoyed the Havana area of Horizon and Vista.  The pool area is less crowded and we can always find a seat (in the shade, but close to the pool).

We are not party animals; we don't drink or do casinos.  We do enjoy relaxing and finding a quiet corner to read (and people watch).

We did not hear which hotel until the final itinerary was posted.  That is where you will find the hotel, in the fine print.  At that point many hotels may be booked up.

Though I think that Fairbanks Riverfront Hotel is the primary hotel that Princess uses, they also use one in downtown Fairbanks; I don't know the name of that one.

We take factory packaged granola bars and snack crackers everywhere we go.  We have had no problems, and have passed the dog sniffing test.  I take packages I have bought at my store and then take out a few to place in a zip lock bag in my purse or backpack.  Never try to take fresh fruit off or on the ship.

We arrived a day early in June, 2022 and stayed at the Fairbanks Princess Riverfront Lodge.  They have a desk devoted to Princess information and staffed with a couple of people.  It is to the side of the main lobby on the way to the dining room.  We did schedule our extra day through Princess because I did not wish to change hotels.

I made a report on our stay in Fairbanks on the Alaska forum.

Thanks for the information.

Royal B515 (mini suite), June 2022.  Sister ship to Regal.

We have done 2 Alaska cruisetours and 1 Canada/New England cruisetour; we loved all of them.  Princess does a great job of looking after you.  They are expensive and would be cheaper if you like to do the same things on your own.  But if you don't wish to drive, or research lots of history and look for sites to visit, cruisetours are our best way to do these things.

In 2018 we used Spearhead Tours.  I do not know if they are still in business, but we did everything that Overlord Tours did.  The notebooks the guides used were the same.  I think our guide had trained with Overlord Tours.  I would recommend them.  Very enjoyable day, and we did not worry about missing the ship.

Thursday, August 16, 2018 – Le Harvre, France

Beaches of Normandy Spearhead Tours

Our tour left at 8 am.  There was a mini-van with 3 couples.  We had enough room.

We visited the American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, and a couple of churches.  We had lunch at a café Le Roosevelt at Utah Beach.  Our guide and driver Florin had good commentary and stories.  He had a book with pictures of events.

We were not able to visit the museums and no shopping time.  There was a long ride back to the ship, arriving about 5 pm.

Check out my post and pictures on the Aruba site.  I think they have food though we did not look at the menu.  They are very nice.  Later in the day (after noon) chairs are $10.  Sand is very soft; water lovely.  There was a steep drop off a few feet out.  I went in up to my knees.  Hubby went further and told me about the drop off; be prepared.  Pretty beach, nice breeze too.

Thank you all for replying.

Does NCL have any Black Friday sales for excursions, beverage packages, etc?

Thanks for posting the daily activity lists.  Could you please comment on what excursions/trips you took off of the ship, whether private or ship sponsored?

We did the ABC islands cruise on the Horizon in Sept.  The best Havana aft cabin was 9473.  Cabin was good size, but balcony was great!  That was my favorite spot with aft view of wake.  It was fully covered, but did get breezes.  Comments and pictures are on the CCL cabin board.

The only bad things:  there was a very large step up into the bathroom (seemed common with our table mates) and it was a long walk from places.  Only 1 floor up to the lido marketplace, though.

Did not hear any disturbing noises.  AC worked very well; we kept curtains closed when we were not looking out to help AC.

If you want sun, we stayed on deck 6, Havana aft balcony on Vista a few years back.  That balcony was HUGE, but full sun all the time.

What excursions (POA and independent) have you done or plan to do?  This is the stage I am at.  I have Honolulu planned (not bought), and they want a helicopter ride.

Thank you for the review.  I have been looking for some information about POA as we go in May.

We recently (Sept. 2022) did a Carnival excursion on Aruba called "Best of Aruba and Eagle Beach".  I had trouble finding information, so I thought I would give my report.  We departed on tour at 8:30 am.  Toured the island with a few stops:

Natural Bridge:  drinks, ice cream, gift shop available.  Restrooms $1 tip, nice and clean.

Stopped by Rock formation for 15-20 minutes.  Restrooms are very tiny, no toilet paper.  Do not use these unless necessary.

Stopped by California for pictures only, no restrooms.  5 minute stop

Stopped at Eagle  Beach for 1 and 1/2 hours.  Arrived about 11:30 am and left about 1 pm.  Bus dropped us off and left; came back later.  There was a park and beach refreshment store (definitely sold drinks, maybe food).  I don't know the name.  Restrooms $1 tip; clean and nice.

Beach beautiful.  All loungers were rented by the time we got there, but we rented a couple of sit up chairs for $5 each.  Better for our needs.  Bus driver said loungers w/umbrella were $20 each.  When we were leaving about 12:30 pm or so, the guy renting told a couple they were $10 each, with umbrella.  (2nd rental of the day).

Sand was powder soft all the way to water, beautiful water, strong waves as Hurricane Ian was forming.

I cannot seem to attach pictures to commentary.  Hope you can follow.

We did ABC cruise on Horizon.  I posted a cabin review on the Carnival section for cabin reviews.  We had Havana aft balcony 9473.  Loved it.  Check out review and pictures on the cabin review section.

My husband had 2 regular extension cords.  I did not know he had 2, and said that we might have to switch sides of the bed.  It was great.

We have also taped cord to floor, but I tend to trip over lines on the sidewalk, so not a good solution for me.  I am sure the steward prefers the ceiling route for vacuuming.

I ordered the hooks for hanging things and he needed them for previous cruise and this one.  I need to order me some more too.  I had gotten the hooks right before cruising shut down.  When he was discussing running his extension cord to the side table, I said he could use these.  He was amazed and did not know that we were living in a metal box (ceiling included).  He thought I was so smart.

I learn so much on Cruise Critic.