Live from the Golden May 16 Alaska

[wizard-of-roz]

thanks - i like to have fun on the trip as you may have noticed... the boas made our less than formal outfits pop! We just bought them at a dollar store for under $5 each - did check out Michaels but they were pricey but my boas may not last the trip seemed to loose more feathers than keep. We left a trail.

 

Thank you! I'm off to get some....before I forget!

[wizard-of-roz]

I have encountered the exact same thing on Princess, not so much on RCCL. I can't figure it out...it seems like a really cushy job.

 

Onboard the Sapphire we encountered a truly lovely gal....so sweet, so cute and so helpful.....Guess we really got lucky!

Let me understand something......we can not use just 1 FCC to hold a cabin? Please explain!

[hansolo]

I'm curious if you have to go through customs when you get into Victoria and if this would effect your one week exemption of declaration of goods when you come back through the border through Seattle.

[hansolo]

Hansel - Did Joanne make it back home in one piece? Personally I am preferring the Golden more than the Star because it has all the renos done to it - star doesn't have Crown Grill moved or Casino or new suites.

 

I like the Star's itinerary better as it is in Ketchican a lot longer and then it does Tracey Arm and Juneau in the same day, but in Juneau later.

 

But Tracey Arm is very early!

 

Thanks for the info. I think we'll do the Star, price-wise it's a little better and the kids club is better.

 

Joanne came back very tired and caught a cough at the tail end of Vegas. They didn't sleep much the whole week, we only slept 3 hours on the Star to start it off. They found ways to amuse themselves on the Veedam on the way back to Vancouver, you could say they were the kids of the cruise ;).

[cruzendude]

I'm curious if you have to go through customs when you get into Victoria and if this would effect your one week exemption of declaration of goods when you come back through the border through Seattle.

 

I don't know how it affects Canadiens but customs during a regular cruise stop in Victoria was a HUGE pain in the A** ...long, slow moving lines on the pier waiting to go through....you would have thought we had just sailed from Iraq or something....:eek:

[Archaegeo]

Sort of new to cruising, only second one coming up, but loving it. Last year on Celibrity they wanted you to book your next cruise while onboard and offered OBC and such.

 

What is FCC you keep talking about, and using 1 per cabin?? Where can I read up about this?

[LarryF]

Sort of new to cruising, only second one coming up, but loving it. Last year on Celibrity they wanted you to book your next cruise while onboard and offered OBC and such.

 

What is FCC you keep talking about, and using 1 per cabin?? Where can I read up about this?

 

FCC is Future Cruise Credit. While on board a Princess cruise, you can purchase a future cruise credit for $100 per person. The credit is good for 4 years and in that time you can use your credit as deposit for an upcoming cruise. At any time if you want your money back, Princess will refund the $100 back to you. If you don't use the credit within 4 years, Princess refunds you the $100. As a bonus for purchasing the FCC you also receive an on-board credit of $50 per cabin (I believe) per $100 FCC. So if you buy one for you and one for your spouse, you would spend $200 and get a $100 OBC on your next cruise.

 

I am confused about what posters on this thread are saying about using just one of your FCCs. Are you saying that if I purchased a FCC of $100 for me and another FCC of $100 for my wife, that we can apply just one of those credits as a deposit for a future cruise??:confused:

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

[Solara]

FCC is Future Cruise Credit. While on board a Princess cruise, you can purchase a future cruise credit for $100 per person. The credit is good for 4 years and in that time you can use your credit as deposit for an upcoming cruise. At any time if you want your money back, Princess will refund the $100 back to you. If you don't use the credit within 4 years, Princess refunds you the $100. As a bonus for purchasing the FCC you also receive an on-board credit of $50 per cabin (I believe) per $100 FCC. So if you buy one for you and one for your spouse, you would spend $200 and get a $100 OBC on your next cruise.

 

I am confused about what posters on this thread are saying about using just one of your FCCs. Are you saying that if I purchased a FCC of $100 for me and another FCC of $100 for my wife, that we can apply just one of those credits as a deposit for a future cruise??:confused:

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

Hi Larry,

 

We have always used only 1 and pay $100 deposit for the other person in the cabin. You still get the same OBC & you can save one of your FCC for another cruise. Say hi to Amy. Didn't mean to highjack this thread.

 

Donna

[Colo Cruiser]

You only have to use 1 FCC and pay the other $100 on a credit card. Thus saving an FCC for use another time and you still get the OBC for each of the first 2 in the cabin.

This is interepted by everyone at Princess as well as many TA's that you can't do it.

When all is said and done Princess reservations takes care of it properly. :)

[KansasScrapper]

We haven't been able to do that we have always had to use the $100 deposit for each person or had to pay the required deposit. We also only got a $50 obc total for the cabin NOT pp. We were also told we got 3 yrs not 4 which I thought was wrong. And BTW they will only refund it back to the CC you used to pay for it with if you do not use it. We were never told that until we were about to lose this one. So I think there is some confusion on it all around within Princess.

[Colo Cruiser]

We haven't been able to do that we have always had to use the $100 deposit for each person or had to pay the required deposit. We also only got a $50 obc total for the cabin NOT pp. We were also told we got 3 yrs not 4 which I thought was wrong. And BTW they will only refund it back to the CC you used to pay for it with if you do not use it. We were never told that until we were about to lose this one. So I think there is some confusion on it all around within Princess.

 

Yes you were short changed big time.

Did you use a TA?

The whole purpose if OBC for both people.

[Colo Cruiser]

Probably should get back to the live from, kinda getting off topic here (sorry).

[nini]

OK- I go by the "rules", but however, I am a casual person. Have you seen jeans on non- formal nights in the dining room for anytime dining? Many people can dress up a pair of jeans ( if they know what they are doing). I just need to know what other pants to bring, if need be. It is fun to dress up on the formal nights; everyone looks so nice. I also need to know what to tell my traveling companions who have never cruised beore. We were on the Golden in October 2003- what a great ship! Thanks for the feedback. Can't wait to visit Vines !

[nini]

Are you able to dock or do you need to tender into any port? Thanks!

[cruzzers]

So glad to see another saga from Vickie and Bernie. I love following you guys around the boards and sometimes we even get to take the same cruises. We feel like we know you by now and love the great information you send our direction. Thanks!

 

We board the Island Princess on Aug. 3 for 7 nights inside passage from Vancouver to Whittier and then get to spend 8 nights on a land tour. We have never been to Seattle, or Vancouver or Alaska so we are very excited.

Have a great time!

[themerle]

 

Dinner last night was the Chef's Dinner - we also pre ordered escargot! YUMMY.

 

 

Did they offer escargot on the menu or did you just ask as a special order?

[andrea63]

Vickie -

It was great to hear from you . Glad to hear everything is going well.

We also will be renting a car in Skagway in September.

 

You can add me to the list of the fcc debate.

When we bought them few years ago on the Diamond we were told we needed one fcc per person as a deposit. We bought two.

In January when I booked the Golden with Princess, I was told in order to get the 100 deposit for both of us, I needed to use both fcc credits.

Glad to see I was not the only one ripped off!:confused:

You just have to laugh about these things or else you drive yourself crazy. Now If we buy fcc, I'm not sure if we should get one or two?:eek:

[mrsihopes]

We went on a cruise last month on princess and we each bought a fc under each of our names on the cruise. We booked another cruise for the golden on the 30th and we only used one of the cruise credits deposits and saved the other for a later cruise. We should both get the onboard credit of $50.00 each as stated in the letter we received when we did the deposit on board. I asked the Fcd on board when we received the papers and asked her is we could use them for 2 separate cruises and she said that we were not suppose to but that that was a loophole in the princess policy so we are enjoying the 2 cruises with the credits.:)

[palolake]

Hey Vickie! Sounds like you guys are having a good time. Be sure to leave some of that good weather for us!

 

Did you guys go to the Captain's Circle Party? Was anyone not wearing a jacket? With all the weight of our other clothes, I was hoping Bill could get away with not packing a jacket. I'm really more concerned about the party than formal night. Say hi to Bernie for us.

 

Cathy

[SJ Cruisers]

Hi Vickie can you check out the Penthouse suites on Sun Deck deck 15 and let me know whet they look like? Thanks. We booked one for our cruise in September

[Cosmic Rays]

Hey Vickie! Sounds like you guys are having a good time. Be sure to leave some of that good weather for us!

 

Did you guys go to the Captain's Circle Party? Was anyone not wearing a jacket? With all the weight of our other clothes, I was hoping Bill could get away with not packing a jacket. I'm really more concerned about the party than formal night. Say hi to Bernie for us.

 

Cathy

 

Bill and Cathy - when are you going? Gwenda and I leave in two weeks now for Vancouver before we sail for Alaska..................we're not taking anything formal - I'm going to borrow Bernie's tuxedo LOL!!!

 

Colin

[chris2597]

We went on a cruise last month on princess and we each bought a fc under each of our names on the cruise. We booked another cruise for the golden on the 30th and we only used one of the cruise credits deposits and saved the other for a later cruise. We should both get the onboard credit of $50.00 each as stated in the letter we received when we did the deposit on board. I asked the Fcd on board when we received the papers and asked her is we could use them for 2 separate cruises and she said that we were not suppose to but that that was a loophole in the princess policy so we are enjoying the 2 cruises with the credits.:)

 

Thank you for the tip. Dh and I will be purchasing a FCC on our Golden May 30th cruise and we will follow what you did. We were told the last time we bought a pcl FCC that we had to buy 2 only using dh's name.

Have you signed up on the Roll Call yet? We have a Meet and Mingle arranged. Should be fun. We would love to have you join the roll call. Chris

[AlaskaGolden]

...Word is that the Crown Grill should be ready by the end of the next cruise, but they have set up a steakhouse in the back of the HC which I have heard is very good...- Hamburger/Pizza bar close at 7 pm -- miss it being open so late like other ships...

 

On the Sapphire, the Sterling Steakhouse (predecessor to the Crown Grill) is set-up in the back of the Horizon Food Court each and every night. Did the staff of the Golden just realize this? :eek: Seems like Princess lost some revenue here by not having any steakhouse for a number of nights.

 

We've been on three different Princess ships. On each the Hamburger/Pizza places all closed by 7 PM, sometimes it was even earlier like 5 or 6 PM. I agree, it would be great to have them open later. I'm addicted to pizza! :)

[Colo Cruiser]

On the Sapphire, the Sterling Steakhouse (predecessor to the Crown Grill) is set-up in the back of the Horizon Food Court each and every night. Did the staff of the Golden just realize this? :eek: Seems like Princess lost some revenue here by not having any steakhouse for a number of nights.

 

We've been on three different Princess ships. On each the Hamburger/Pizza places all closed by 7 PM, sometimes it was even earlier like 5 or 6 PM. I agree, it would be great to have them open later. I'm addicted to pizza! :)

 

 

 

I did not like that setup in the HC, and after experiencing a real Crown Grill don't think I would ever go back. :D

[chamima]

Bill and Cathy - when are you going? Gwenda and I leave in two weeks now for Vancouver before we sail for Alaska..................we're not taking anything formal - I'm going to borrow Bernie's tuxedo LOL!!!

 

Colin

 

Hi Colin

Make sure you take a picture of yourself in Bernie's tuxedo! :D

I seem to remember you being quite a bit taller than Bernie so this would be something to see! :p :eek: