HaveDogWillTravel

Thank you to all who have been posting and taking us along on this voyage. I’ve read all 13 pages and my apologies if I’ve missed what I’m looking for. I’m interested in a picture of the port side balcony cabin 4174 and 4176. They appear on the deck plans to have a double wide deck due to the white space. I’m also curious what that white space is. I’ve booked this cabin for 21 days in August 2026. Many thanks for any help you can provide.

I imagine that passengers being given more than one rightfully thought the crew would only do this if there were plenty to go around. This seems like a crew error.

The Sapphire has two B4 balcony cabins with a larger bathroom/shower and huge balcony. Here’s my review with lots of pictures. https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2934389-sapphire-diamond-d736737-review-with-photos/

When I sail in cabins that are not full suites I always write in whatever I want on the card and to date have always gotten it. Bowls of berries, bacon, sausage, cheese omelets, hash browns….. most recently on the Sapphire last December.

We’ve seen them twice sailing out of Skagway. Like you we book the aft facing suites for Alaska. Set our alarm for midnight after going to bed early and then bundle up on the loungers that are facing north for that long sail down the fjord. Good luck! I hope you get to see them.

Last year 4 of us flew in the day of the sailing from SFO and took the sky train. We all had one large bag with a smaller bag on top and a backpack. It was really easy and cheap. we had no problem walking our luggage from the station to the pier. We even stopped and bought wine on the way to the ship.

I’m hoping this will be the case on the Ruby when I start sailing her out of SF this Nov. (& then January, & June). But I’ll still pack mine for my room.

I sailed Sapphire for 34 days this past December (and into January). Agree completely about the Plus wines. There is one blend called Aqui that is drinkable. If I remember correctly it’s on the room service menu. It should be available at one of the bars. You can order 4 glasses of it at one time on room service. And it was so very annoying that you could not get a decent glass without a rolled lip on it without begging. I really really really hate that about Princess. I always pack my own glasses because of it but that is getting so old.

The train turns around at the top. No need to change seats as the folks on the right side are on the outside rail going down. Also some people don’t like to sit on the outside (left going up and right going down) as there’s some really steep drop offs. If you are not a fan of heights don’t sit next to the window on the scenic side. I’ve taken the train 5 times and everyone has always been super polite and accommodating. People share the spaces well in my experiences. Safe travels and Bon voyage.

It was so weird wasn’t it? I feel the same way.

Neither Adam nor I have gotten the refundable OBC back from the Sapphire cruise that ended Jan 4th! On this eclipse sailing I went to GS and had them combine our folios. Hope you get the prize thing worked out.

This will be a very different experience than July. I did one trip in August and while I appreciated many facets of a summer trip to Alaska I greatly prefer the less crowded & colder early spring experiences. The best side depends on which way you’re headed. Going up out of Skagway sit on the left. If you do the Yukon tour that drives you up into Canada (they were doing that again last year- we saw Dall Sheep 🐑 on the mountain at the Yukon border. Close enough to see with the naked eye but fortunately we had our binoculars that put them up close and personal) then sit on the right heading down back to Skagway. Of course be sure to spend some time on the open area at the back of the cars. I also prefer sitting in the last car. Best views out the back! You also get nice views of the rest of the train as it goes over bridges and into tunnels. We were on the train May 5th. We were at Hubbard Glacier May 2 and it snowed on us! I grew up in the snow in NY and while I do not miss living in it I do sometimes miss those snowy silent fluffy flakes days.

@Ken the cruiserthis will be a fantastic journey and I will definitely love following your adventures. I sailed an 11 day RT Vancouver Sapphire itinerary that left April 29th last year. I’ve sailed the early May trips often but last year leaving those few extra days earlier really made a difference. In particular the White Pass Railway out of Skagway was even more stunning than usual. When we went thru the tunnel the waterfall that is usually flowing was frozen solid. It was spectacular…everyone was surprised and oooohing and ahhhhing. We didn’t get pictures as we were just so gobsmacked by how pretty it was and didn’t want to take our eyes off what we were seeing. FWIW we sailed between Vancouver Island and the mainland during the evening last year while still light. It was such beautiful scenery. I just checked my photos and we entered around 4:30 and were at the south end around 8:30. I’ve sailed it at 3 other times and it was always during the daylight hours. At least on my sailings the naturalist always let us know where we’d be when and what to look for. Do you already have the Alaska book Princess sells onboard? The big foldout map inside is worth the price. Have a great time and thanks for taking us along.

That’s great!

Oh and no folio for me either. I last disembarked a princess ship Jan 4th of this year and the folio was in an email before I got to my hotel after the cruise. I had a balance due at the end of this cruise and it has been correctly billed to my card (I always take a screen shot of my folio last night of the cruise). @Cruise RaiderI am sorry you are having to chase down that spectacular prize. We have enough videos and photos to remind corporate of it though lol. They made a huge production about giving that prize! @beg3yrs We saw you at the Marriage show! You two were adorable! I will not tell your secrets. 😇We didn’t stay for the second half so I don’t know if you won or not.