Northern Aurora

Harbor 360 is my recommendation. We stayed there when it was branded as a Holiday Inn (or was it a Hampton Inn?). The current owners have upgraded the facility. Incredibly convenient if you are taking a Major Marine day excursion. Winding Lodge can be rather noisy.

Hey Peaches : The longest length we have done on a single ship was 52 nights. It was a series of cruises, and if I remember correctly, was a B2B2B2B. And I will have to admit that it was a rather long time -- I quilt, we have hobbies (not just sitting on a cruise ship) and volunteer activities. Sometimes you just need to return to real life. But then again -- no one has to vacuum the stateroom, we have Zenith unlimited laundry, we don't do the dishes, and so forth. And the novelty unlimited food was lost for us around 2009. Neither the hubby nor I rarely gain any weight on a cruise. G.

Dana -- Indeed -- I remember you. The first time we encountered Celia was on the Eclipse while on a B2B2B in South America in 2019. I thought she was great, and she told us that both Milos and Brent Nixon had encouraged her to apply for the naturalist position. Milos seemed to live in the Sky Lounge. And Brent is often there too, or roving through the Ocean View during non peak dining times. Since there isn't an equivalent spot on the Edge I am really curious as to how the naturalists will handle this. Somehow that aft view from Eden just doesn't have the sense of discovery as the ship approaches whales or a glacier. In any event I will be curious to follow passenger opinions as to how suitable this ship is for Alaska. Gerry

I will also be following. We spent 40 nights on the Edge last fall boarding in Civitavecchia, transiting the Suez Canal and leaving the ship in Sydney. The ship has some interesting features, and I will be interested in opinions as to how suitable this ship is for Alaska. While the naturalists present their Beyond the Podium lectures in the theater, on M- and S-class ships they often are set up in the Sky Lounge with spotting scopes and so forth interacting with passengers. I wonder where they will be on the Edge.

I am also glad you are now at home. We spent 40 nights on the Edge last fall boarding in Civitavecchia, through the Suez Canal and leaving ship in Sydney. Both my husband and I were convinced that the stateroom corridors on the Edge are narrower than on either M- or S-class ships. Wonder if it is the same on the Beyond. While I don't have mobility issues my late father spent the last three years of his life in a wheelchair due to advanced Parkinson's. One of my pet peeves is seeing used room service trays left outside a stateroom in a hallway. So annoying.

I think I understand your question. You cannot pick and choose days for your beverage package. For example, your beverage package will be in effect for the duration, not just on sea days.

The laundry slip has per item costs listed for laundry, dry cleaning and pressing. A number of folks have posted that the Downy Wrinkle Release works well. Also folks will pack items which are prone to wrinkle in the light weight plastic bags that a dry cleaners return clothes in. In our case we revive unlimited laundry as a Captain's Club loyalty perk, but I still pack easy to care clothing.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. There is a roll call for that sailing. Consider posting your question there.

Were you actually on the Millennium this month?

Since I haven't experienced such a situation I don't know how I would handle it -- but I suspect I would want to be off that ship and on the road driving home ASAP. Your husband needs to go down to Guest Relations (I am assuming you are not in the Retreat) and demand the earliest luggage tag. And best of wishes for a speedy recovery. This won't make our OP feel any better but there is actually a frequent X cruiser (Zenith) who several years ago broke both her ankle and wrist leaving her M-class stateroom bathroom. The ankle and wrist were on the same side of her body. And they had to fly home across the world -- not just a two hour flight.

Yes -- that is an extremely unusual situation. Don't assume it is the norm. Princess is not my preferred cruise line, but the cruise line we frequently use (we are on a cruise ship 80 to 90 days a year) has extra time built into their schedule. So if they had a delay due to an evacuation (ie, leaving the port late due to waiting for an ambulance to arrive to evacuate a passenger) they can cruise at a faster speed to make up the time. The ship can also cruise at a faster speed to deal with weather delays. And I should have included in my prior post that we have had no issues with cell coverage while docked in Alaska ports. No strange roaming fees.

I have the impression that our OP is taking their first cruise, and doesn't realize that ships frequently arrive early. Also the distance between Alaska ports makes it easy to arrive on earlier versus later than scheduled.

While many passengers will arrive later on the Alaska RR chartered transfer, our experience has been that the luggage handlers will be available all day. I think you will be able to drop off your luggage before your plans to go to Exit Glacier.

Thank you for the info.

I am not interested in booking it -- I am curious as to what group it is!