Dani24

I realize it may not quite be the same experience, but we're okay with that. We have had success doing other land based vacations, including visiting crowded theme parks, with our precautions keeping us healthy. I don't expect we'll be boarding with the idea of hiding in our room the whole time. However, we'll play it by ear and enjoy the things that are meaningful to us. We have zero problem wearing masks, and still do in certain circumstances in our daily lives. We've been on enough cruises that I'm fully aware of where our risks lie, and we've accepted that this won't be a germ-free experience. But we also don't need to lick handrails and huff elevator air to have fun! 🙂

Unfortunately, COVID is still around, and unlikely to ever truly go away. As it is an airborne illness, it can linger in the air for some time, and cause infection even when the contagious person has left the area. Any illness can spread on a cruise ship, just like in any other crowded venue. We haven't cruised since 2019, but have a sailing this December. We splurged on a suite so that we can enjoy meals in our room if we feel doubtful about conditions. But we also plan to come equipped with all of the measures that have kept us healthy over the last 4+ years: masks, updated vaccines, hand washing, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and a few other prophylactic measures we've had success with. Ideally, anyone feeling unwell on a cruise will keep away from others, or at least mask and wash up to avoid sharing their germs. But if the last 4 years have taught me anything it's that many people have zero care for others when they are sick, and would rather share their germs than be mildly inconvenienced. So we do what we can to protect ourselves while still enjoying life.

We've only done two cruises with our daughter. A San Diego to Vancouver on Disney when she was 4. And a San Francisco to Alaska when she was 7 on Princess. The Disney cruise was fine. But the Alaska cruise was amazing -- especially with a kid! VERY family-friendly and they had a TON of activities on board for the kids, and people of all generations. My daughter had an absolute blast on that cruise, from the kids club to the shore excursions to the other experiences on board like the sled dogs, shows, movies under the stars, piazza activities, etc. If you do Glacier Bay they bring a National Park ranger onboard and the kids can earn their Junior Ranger badge. IMO, an Alaska cruise is perfect for families/multi-gen cruises.

This makes me think of that Seinfeld episode where Elaine was trying to see what the doctors were writing about her in their charts...

It could be helpful to list which itinerary/ship. It can vary. You might also find success if you go to a roll call for an earlier sailing of your same itinerary/ship and ask if someone about to board will capture that for you.

Our first cruise (back in 2005), we booked a guarantee obstructed oceanview in the very back of the ship. We booked after final payment, and the next day we had our assignment. We were placed in a mid-ship obstructed oceanview. Our new room was definitely better. Better location, less of an obstruction, a less noisy area. We were very pleased. It was a couple categories higher. Our second cruise (2 years later) we booked guarantee obstructed oceanview and got the category we booked. We were happy with our room. Our third cruise was our honeymoon (16 years ago now). We booked an oceanview guarantee. We were placed in a mid-ship Caribe deck balcony. We were stoked! Fourth cruise (14 years ago) we booked a guarantee oceanview and were assigned the category we booked. The last one and our current one we didn't do a guarantee. So we've had a 50% success rate with guarantees. But a 100% success rate with being happy with our rooms. 🙂

I've had a Princess credit card for around 15 years now. We have thrown a lot of purchases on it, and find that every few years we have enough points to pay for a cruise for our family of 3 in at least a balcony (although we've been using it to upgrade to a suite for cheap). There's no fee for the card, and we've had no issues with it. You can use your points for other rewards and travel credits (e.g. airfare, hotels, etc.). But you get the best redemption value if you use it on Princess purchases over $4001, because then you essentially double your points value. Normally you'd get 1% of those 20,000 points, for a $200 credit. But if you had a Princess purchase of over $4001 you could redeem at 2% which means 20,000 points would equal a $400 credit. Hence why we tend to use them for suites. 🙂

You may want to look up Patters for some recent Alaska cruises (which at this point means either last years, or visit the roll calls for some of the upcoming Alaska sailings -- particularly your same ship/itinerary -- and ask if they can share pictures of the Patters). That will help give you a sense of what activities are on board. Most are free, so encourage her to try everything and see what she likes. We did our first Princess cruise at 25, and our first Alaska (on Princess) at 29. So a little older than her, but we still had a blast! Encourage her to bring a camera, or have her phone ready to take pictures. Alaska is awesome for scenic cruising (even outside of Glacier Bay, which is just an amazing day on its own). You may spot whales just off the ship, or bears along the coast, or gorgeous vistas for days. As someone else said, it's perfect for making some epic social media content! The Discovery at Sea educational programs on Princess Alaska cruises are top notch too. On our last Alaska cruise they had some fun additional activities like an escape room, and a multi-day murder mystery thing. Check the Patters for your sailing (or ask people who are sailing before you) what kinds of special activities are onboard. Movies Under the Stars is fun, if you like the movie. But Princess has a decent selection of movies available in the stateroom too. Games/activities like BINGO, trivia, karaoke, gameshows, etc. can be fun to attend or participate in. Musical acts, comedians, and theater shows are worth checking out at least once. There's also dancing at night. The library on board may have board games and books you can check out. They also usually have daily puzzle sheets. My husband and I like to compete with each other to see who can finish each day's puzzle the fastest. We carry it around with us and work on it when we have down time. Bring a book and find a lounger on deck, or a quiet, cozy spot indoors (inside Skywalkers during the day is a great place to watch the scenery and read in the quiet). I saw you mentioned she likes video games. Some ships now have a video arcade in place of the old cigar lounge. It costs money, but perhaps a little gameplay will scratch that itch for her.

You would need to have Elite status to order to a room other than a Suite. However, you can attend tea service in one of the MDRs on most sea days in the mid-afternoon. We've enjoyed that amenity a lot over the years. We usually end up sitting with other people on board and meeting some new people. But we've also enjoyed a quiet table to ourselves, in case you aren't up for socializing.

We used the kid's club on Princess during our 2019 Alaska cruise. My daughter was 7 at the time, and at the top of the younger kid's age group. Her only other cruise prior was on Disney, so I was hesitant about how it would compare. I was also a little nervous about her being one of the oldest kids and potentially being surrounded by a bunch of really little kids that she couldn't befriend as well. In the end, we were very pleased with Princess! My daughter had a blast in there. She even seemed to enjoy it more than the Disney kid's club (which was far too screen-heavy for our family's tastes). She made a few friends, including one that we spent a little time with on an excursion (that both of our families had happened to book) and at a family activity in the Piazza. Like the poster above, our daughter came back with all kinds of crafts and a stuffy (which she still has 5 years later). She didn't spend a huge amount of time in the kids club (we like spending time with her, so it was maybe a couple of hours on sea days). And this picture is from our first full day onboard. I didn't get a picture of everything she had done/collected by the end of the cruise, but it was a lot even though I didn't feel like she spent a ton of time there! 😄 We're looking forward to our next cruise, where she'll be in the tween's room (though again at the top of the age range!)

We booked a full suite and calculated that Premier made the most sense for us (based on the things we knew we'd likely want to spend extra on regardless of a package). Your calculation will vary. That said, I looked over the suite perks, Platinum perks (the level we are), and the Plus/Premier perks. There's not a lot of overlap. You get a free minibar set up in a suite, but you may or may not find that adequate (we don't tend to care for the minibar selection). The speciality dinner on the first night is a nice suite perk, but a 16 day cruise you may want to do specialty dining on other nights of the cruise. You can order off of the MDR menu to your room in a suite, but I believe you may have to pay a $5 fee for calling in your order (someone who has cruised in a suite more recently can correct me). That fee would be waived with the Plus/Premier. Something a full suite would get you, that might be really handy on a 16 day cruise, is free laundry (send it out and it's typically back to you the next day). You also get a special suite-only breakfast daily in one of the specialty restaurants -- a perk that I personally love! There are some other little perks too, but none of them overlap with the Plus/Premier. I think you could be perfectly happy either way you go. But I recommend doing a price comparison between the two options to see which makes more sense for what you'd actually want/enjoy.

Are you asking about the regular dinner in the MDR, or reserving a specialty restaurant (like Sabatini's or Crown Grill)? If the MDR then you will be able to make your preference in the app. Be aware that they just changed the options available and are clearing prior choices in the app for all cruises after 9/14/24 (unless you are on the Sun Princess). In that case you can go on the app starting on June 17 to indicate your preference. I will have to leave it to someone else to explain the process for reservations in the MDR if you choose the "reservation" option. For specialty restaurants, you can make reservations on the app, however they only release so many reservations through the app. If you can't get a reservation in advance, you can do so once you board the ship. I recommend calling or going to the venue on the first day.

Do they still offer the "You Made a Difference" cards on the ship? We have used those while sailing to submit praise for crew members, and then also add their info to the survey. But that way if something goes wrong with the survey, I know they received recognition on the ship.

I love Riesling (I'll take it dry or sweet). While I typically gravitate towards Rieslings from Germany, I have seen the Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling on some of the Princess menus. I live near San Francisco and wine country, and this is a common offering at high-end restaurants. It's a solid wine, though it won't blow you away.

I've been on 5 Princess cruises, all on different ships, over the last 20 years. I've also done one Disney cruise. People tend to rave about Disney cruises, but in my experience we much preferred Princess for their food, service, and value. Not that Disney was bad -- just we felt we get a much better experience on Princess overall. Even our daughter loved the activities on Princess for kids on our last cruise. We have sailed ships that were brand new, and ships that were very old. When we went on our last cruise on the Grand I saw a lot of complaints from people about the condition of the ship, to the point that I was becoming concerned that we were going to have a bad time. After 10 days on that ship I did see some signs of wear (some couches that looking a tiny bit "lived in", and one day we noticed a small leak near the photo area that was quickly rectified. Otherwise the ship looked fantastic for her age and I saw crew constantly working on her upkeep (as I have on ALL of our Princess sailings). In no way did we feel like the ship was unsuitable, or detracted from our stellar experience. We'd sail her again without question. What I have learned: In general, people are more likely to come back and complain about something than praise it, and are more likely to repeat their complaints over and over and over (making it feel like there are more complaints than praises). People who are apt to be nitpicky and complain about things in regular life are just as likely (if not more so, because they feel entitled because they "paid for" it) to complain and be nitpicky on their vacation. They'll find things to criticize that others would never care about. Some people just like to be the victim, or have entitlement issues, or like the attention when they complain, or can never be satisfied with anything. I can't speak for how you tend to approach things, but personally I have no qualms about sailing on any Princess ship. I expect that older ships will have some challenges, but I also expect that Princess will be on top of it as they always have been in my experience. I hope you have a wonderful cruise, whatever you decide is best for you!