IdahoCruises

Must be something wrong with me....I love rough seas.

Have been a boater for more years than I care to count and have had a prior boat I owner (36' Grand Banks) in 30 foot seas.

The had my latest, a 60 footer in 20 foot seas.

For me - just like a roller coaster....

Link only due to copyright issues.

Earnings better than expected at $1.58 per share on increased profits.

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/ccl

I just read this article and agree 100% Princess might benefit by following these principles. ;)

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-kjerulf/top-5-reasons-customer-service_b_5145636.html

Cruisers who abuse crew members deserve the same in return.

Treat the crew members as you would like to be treated, and your cruise experience will be far better than if you "grump" around and complain all the time.

Thanks for this review!

Your pictures are incredible! Princess should use some of these in their promotional efforts.

Your commentary is also very nice and very enjoyable to read....

This happens once in a while in the oceans of the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

Warnings were put up on beaches and news outlets ran stories.

Do not eat and sea life from the affected areas and things will be OK.

What a wonderful review - and the pics are really appreciated!

We will be going on our third cruise to AK next year and can hardly wait.

Thanks SOOOOO much!

Really liked our Lido Balcony L304 on the Crown. Just around the corner from the pool and buffet and near the elevator as well.

Thanks! My impressions as well.

Don't want to book unless people are pleased with it.

We usually stay in minis or suites (been upgraded to suites twice).

For two of us...this just seemed a comfortable place to be...

Just make sure that you book a cabin that is forward of the elevators. Much less traffic that way. I do like Lido cabins. :)

Thanks....have been looking at midway between elevators and bridge.

Great pricing for previous cruisers on Princess as well....

Thinking of booking for Alaska next year.

Any pros or cons?

Seems like the location may be quiet, not far from the Horizon Court and pools.

Close proximity to elevators...

We had an Owners Suite - B750 - for our 15 day Hawaii cruise last October.

Watching the wake is great! Service was impeccable. Room was awesome. Bed very comfortable.

Not much passenger traffic except those that had rooms there.

Although we had a beam running from ceiling to floor. it did not bother us at all.

Would book another aft in a heartbeat....

On most lines, there is no deck 13, and no cabins with 13 in the number. The exception is MSC. On Divina, there is a deck 13. EM

Makes you wonder if Costa Concordia had more than one Deck 13....

Knob Creek? OMG, I love that stuff. It makes you lick your mustache.

Enough of that stuff and you lick someone else' wife's mustache....

Have to agree....we were on the Grand last October to HI and everything was great, including the food...

That being said, we enjoy cruising out of SF as it is easier for us to get there....or Seattle...

We are lucky to take an occasional cruise and make of it what we want....nothing better than being on the water for us....

On our last AK cruise, we did not get to stop in Victoria due to bad weather.

My wife had never been there, disappointing....yes

Bur the Alaska part of the cruise more than made up for it...

Agree with so many here. Tipping is a personal thing.

If service is good....we tip well.

If service is bad.....no tip.

That being said, we've had very few bad experiences....

The pictures posted on this thread look just like the Owners Suite on Grand Princess which we booked last Oct for a 15 day Hawaii.

Lots of room, great amenities, comfortable bed and furniture, very nice bathroom area.

If you book it, you will enjoy it....

For those of you who have plans to stay during a cruise tour....not sure if Princess's lodge was directly affected.

DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, Alaska -- Officials organized an airlift for dozens of lodge guests and lodge employees at Denali National Park and Preserve after flooding hit one lodge and flooding and rockfalls prompted the closure of the only road into the park on Thursday.

Overnight rains swelled small streams, park spokeswoman Kris Fister said. Flooding in the Kantishna area, near the end of the 92-mile road, prompted a road closure near Wonder Lake. Later in the day, falling rock temporarily closed the road at the Eielson Visitor Center. That's located at Mile 66, or about two-thirds of the way into the park.

Denali Backcountry Lodge was housing about 100 guests and employees when two nearby raging creeks flooded the facility. Those people were evacuated by bus Thursday and taken to a smaller nearby lodge, which provided food but couldn't house them all, Fister said.

So an airlift was arranged, using two helicopters and several small planes to transport those people to either buses at a ranger station or to private airstrips, the spokeswoman said. The airlift was completed by late Thursday night, she said.

Fister said streams became "raging torrents" overnight along and across Denali Park Road after a torrential downpour, CBS affiliate KTVA reported. Much of the Kantishna airstrip was underwater Thursday and not usable by fixed-wing aircraft.

Other lodges in the area did not flood and their guests should be able to get out by road on Friday after some temporary road repairs were completed, Fister said.

A park helicopter also picked up four stranded climbers on the south side of the McKinley River, the spokeswoman said. They advised by satellite phone that had been trying to cross the river for several days but river conditions kept growing more hazardous and they had run out of food, she said.

People camping at the Wonder Lake Campground were able to leave on a bus that was allowed in Thursday afternoon. Fister said some campers chose to remain at the campground on higher ground where there is no danger of flooding.

More than 3 inches of rain have fallen in the 6 million acre park, located between Anchorage and Fairbanks, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wonder Lake recorded 2.91 inches overnight.

"That's a lot of rain in that part of the world," National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Thoman told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "That's really extreme."

- Via CBS News

Some interesting news about Denali area this morning:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dozens-airlifted-from-flooded-denali-national-park/

Just trying to help.....

Here is an expedited passport site recommended by the Wall Street Journal:

http://www.rushmypassport.com/?gclid=CMCCgOClmL8CFfSjMgod9jQAaQ

So true, Pam.

On one of our AK cruises, we booked a balcony as did our friends.

And we had only cruised Princess once before....

We both got upgraded to Vista Suites - BOY were we happy!

Our bed in an S2 suite in October on the Grand was two twins put together with a single topper.

Did not even notice a difference.

It does need repainting as do most areas on heavily used ships in saltwater environments.

I owner a 70 foot yacht in salt water for years and the maintenance is continual on any painted surface and metal surface.

Would I complain that my ship did not look like it came out of the show room...for these reasons....No....

Our experience in Seattle was that there were porters in 2009 - 2012. Last year, the porters all seemed to be busy with a couple of transfer buses that arrived at the same time as us. We did take our own bags into the terminal, but someone lifted them onto the conveyor for us. I go again in 34 days, and will report back about this year's experience when I return.

 

I've been on the Golden to Alaska 3 times and have thoroughly enjoyed it every time. I go to Alaska for Alaska, not for bands and other entertainment. I go to shows if they appeal to me, but it's not a major part of my cruise. I'm usually in bed by 10 - 11 PM in Alaska anyway due to early mornings and long port days.

Gotta agree with you.

We seldom go to shows on cruise ships....too much else to keep us occupied.

We make our cruise experience what we want it to be and we have never been disappointed....

Yogi once said to Marilyn Monroe after she said "You look so cool in that uniform (something like that)"

He said 'Your don't look so cool, yourself...."