rwmiller

Our favorite tour in Ketchikan was a non-ship tour called Expedition Black Bear. You take a boat ride to a low cation where you walk to get to an overlook over a creek where the salmon run and the bears fish. Great viewing from not far away. Bob

Adding my 2 cents. If you go in July or early August the salmon are running which opens up excursions to view bears fishing. We did one in Ketchikan that was amazing. We have only done round trips so can’t comment on that. Our cruise have been on Princess and HAL. Both have a long history cruising Alaska and have infrastructure there that the other lines do not. We have had great lectures on board to build your knowledge of what you will seeing. Bob

Here is a screenshot from the abc7 news feed. Doesn’t look good for leaving SF today. Bob

@kathylynnt yes. The same court for basketball was used for pickle ball and there were set times for get togethers. Bob

We just got off the Ruby on Friday. Here are the main stage shows: We had three production shows- Stardust, Colors of the World and Magic to Do. Two comedians with a couple of shows each. A female vocalist doing two shows - one an Abba tribute. Finally Voice of the Ocean. There was one enrichment lecture a day in the main stage and many trivia contests, game shows and bingo tournaments in addition to musicians and games in the Piazza. You should stay busy. Bob

We just booked a free cabin offer with our CVP and the travel summary shows booked through Princess and the cost reflects what we paid with no balance owed. Sounds like exactly what you are seeing. Bob

We used a phone near the elevator bank to call the DINE line. The phone was answered quickly and they took our information and we got the invitation a few days later in our cabin. Best of luck. Bob

We were on Discovery Princess 3/4-3/11 and there was a lot to do at night but no themed events other than the Gold Party in the Piazza. There were shows or acts in the main stage as well as the Vista Lounge and Princess Live. Of course there was also music in the Piazza with people dancing. Usually lots of people at these events with a lot of energy. Bob

We enjoyed the UBD on our recent (March) cruise on Discovery Princess. We loved the food but there were two aspects that made it less enjoyable than the one we had on Ruby Princess in January 2022. First, the balcony on our mini suite was small with a center support that made the space very tight when the table was set up such that one of us could not easily get by the table to go back into the room. Second, we had really only one waiter interacting with us and he also had to work two other UBDs at the same time which caused him to disappear for long periods of time between courses. The service was excellent when he was there but there was no periodic checking on how we were doing like on Ruby. I would still do it again as it was our favorite dinner. Bob

The Chef’s Table Lumiere was $130 each with wine on Discovery Princess last week. Bob

Thanks Copper. I will pass it on. And as a Navy veteran I thank you for your service also. It was an honor to serve and I appreciate all fellow vets. Bob

Copper, You weren’t in VMGR-352, were you? Our son is a pilot with them now stationed at Miramar MCAS. We loved the New Years cruise on Koningsdam and can’t wait for our next HAL cruise. We are however heading back to Mexico in March on Princess after we got a great deal for a mini suite. Bob

See you onboard. The boarding process was smooth as silk and we were in our stateroom 35 minutes after leaving our hotel room. Bob

The bag is large enough to hold all the.items you list. You can always get 2 bags if you want more. Even better send laundry out every day. 😊 you leave the bag in your stateroom by 9 am and usually returned in the afternoon on the next day. I have been late sometimes with no issues. Laundry package is available on the Cruise Personalizer webpage. Go to the Pacages and Gifts section then Packages. Worth it in my opinion. Bob

We cruised Ruby Princess from San Francisco this year. When we were in Hawaii the casino was closed from the time we arrived in the first port (Hilo) until we left the last port (Kahului). Bob

Just for info, we are on the Ruby Princess now and Michelangelo is closed due to staffing and number of passengers. I don’t know how full your cruise is but this dining room is the one cut first. Bob

We are on the Ruby Princess this week. Update to captain and cruise director. Bob

Cabo is currently on Mountain Standard Time so it is currently the same as Pacific Daylight Time. I would guess ship will keep the clocks the same until you leave Cabo then shift you back to PST. Have fun. Bob

We were just on the NS and saw people walking in 5 minutes before closing with no problem. Even a few people showing up late were seated. Bob

That may have been what was done in the past but we are sailing on a casino fare this week and Club Orange on Nieuw Statendam was $25/ day per person for a 7 day cruise. Our PCC has told us that price is for cruises up to 13 days; it is $15 / day for longer cruises. Bob

If you look at the page Vmax1700 posted, HAL pools all the service charges for the entire fleet over the entire year and then distributes to the crew members. So it really is just a way to pay the crew while keeping the advertised rates lower. And it emphasizes the benefit of cash tips for extra good service as well as naming the best crew members in your survey so they get additional compensation. Bob

We also just purchased 4 AirTags to be ready for our next airline trip for our son’s wedding. Definitely don’t want to lose the luggage. 😊 A four pack is $100 from Apple and they engraved them for us so we can track which is which. Will be glad to have them but hope we don’t have to use them. Bob

Yes you can. We just did for an upcoming cruise on NS with a casino veranda cabin. Bob