Van1982

We are long time Princess customers that are trying RC for the first time with our teen daughters. Taking Radiance of the Seas in May for a 5 night Roundtrip from Vancouver to Alaska. My family is very food oriented so they spent dinner tonight compiling these questions:

- Is there a pizza stand like Princess has? If so, is there a speciality pizza each day and what are the hours it's open?

- Is the ice cream stand open for Alaska cruises? If so, what's included and what is extra charge?

- Is there a punch card for specialty coffees? If so, how much is it and is it worth the cost?

- Does anyone have a link to the dining rooms dinner menu? What are you favorite items? Is crème brûlée a dessert option? Does the menu change over nightly?

- Is there afternoon tea with mini sandwiches and desserts in the dining room? If so, is it included and what time is it offered at?

- Is there a hamburger/hot dog stand like Princess has? At night does it change over to add extra items like ribs? Are there daily specials in port in Alaska (ie. Princess will make crab cakes one day, fish tacos another based on local restaurant recipes)?

- How much wine can I bring on board? Princess allows one bottle per adult, is RC the same? And how much pop can we bring on board? My husband like Canadian Coke Zero and Princess lets him bring on board as much as he wants. Is there a fridge in the room?

- What sort of sandwiches do they have in the café? Where is the café located? Other than speciality coffees, is there an added charge?

- My husband read somewhere that they have donuts. Is this true? When and where can he find them? What types do you recall?

- What are your foodie secrets? Anything we should be aware of?

A huge thank you in advance for taking the time to answer what you are able to. The kids are super excited to try a new cruise line!

Yikes. I was planning to book another cruise while on the Star next week to take advantage of the lower deposit and OBC...now I'm not so sure. With a family of four, those small increases really add up.

Personally I couldn't care less who the CD is...but I rarely participate in the entertainment on the ship. I am more of a food and spa cruiser.

I think once they reach about 25% then may impact the other guests and they should tell us. I was on an Alaskan cruise with several hour from an East Indian tour and it wasn't an issue at all but the only adjustment made for the group was food which suited me just fine. If I was on a ship with a larger group of teens that would be a different story, particularly if I was traveling without my kids for an adult vacation.

I am from Vancouver so accustomed to the rain. I usually bring a really good rain proof knee length jacket with a hoodie (mine is from Stormtech)...I find it is easier to go that route than opening/closing an umbrella as you go between stores. However, as a Vancouverite I am not scared of rain. People from more mild climates might prefer an umbrella.

I never gain weight on a cruise...my husband averages 1 pound of weight gain per day cruising so weight gain is normal if you don't police yourself.

My secret:

- daily exercise (get up early and hit the gym for a minimum of 30 minutes)

- always eat a high protein breakfast (never skip breakfast, eat a protein rich breakfast like greek yogurt or hard boiled eggs within an hour of waking)

- take advantage of the sauna in the lotus spa on a daily basis for at least 30 minutes, I tend to go just before bedtime

- drink tonnes of water to flush out the extra salt that is in your food (cruises always use way more salt in cooking than most people would at home)

- eat high protein, low carb meals (eat all the seafood, meats, cheese you can handle but skip the breads and starchy sides)

- save the cheats for the last day (on a 7 day cruise, I spend the first 6 days eyeing desserts I want then I go ahead and have them on the last day if I still really want them).

- avoid the sugary beverages (I stick to a glass of red wine with dinner rather than a margarita pool side)

- Do not take the elevator, always use the stairs. I get sea sick so I try to book cabins on the lower levels now which helps because there are more stairs to climb to the buffet.

- In every port, force yourself to do a full loop of the tourist shopping zone. I find if I do that I am easily walking 5-10km in every port.

I hope that helps. We cruise several times a year so I tend to really be careful about the weight gain. However, if you rarely cruise, don't feel too guilty about just indulging and working the weight off after your vacation.

You forget Vancouver's downtown rates get you a nice hotel walking distance to the cruise terminal - not a $300/night Holiday Inn that's 2 hours from the cruise terminal (yes I'm still bitter haha). Vancouver rates are fairly comparable to Seattle and Americans are getting a substantial discount courtesy of the exchange rate. There are deals to be had - check the Renaissance downtown, my parents stayed their for $165 last week.

For the budget cruise traveller, I highly recommend staying in Richmond off the skytrain (such as the Pacific Gateway or my favorite the Riverrock casino resort). The 90 day advance rates are around 130 CAD, you can get to the hotel by free shuttle or the skytrain than take the skytrain to the cruise terminal the next day. This is of course dependent on you keeping your luggage to one suitcase on wheels.

I'm a mocha drinker and the cafe makes a great one....I don't mind paying a few dollars for my caffeine fix. I find the hot chocolate they serve overly sweet.

Save room for the fettuccini Alfredo at the dining room...it's been on the menu for years and it's my favourite (also my husbands favorite). Comes in a cheese bowl...very yummy!

I think your points are dead on.

Grand Princess is my family's favourite boat...we've taken several cruises on it and my kids always ask if we are going on the Grand when I tell them booked a cruise. Unfortunately, next month we are on the Star...hopefully I'll be back on the Grand soon.

I'm in my thirties, my husband is in his forties. We have two teen girls.

I have done both routes, and I've cruised both cruise lines in Alaska. I personally don't enjoy HAL, I find the princess experience to be far superior from a food options and entertainment perspective. I've given them a couple chances (including on the Volendam) and we won't ever cruise with them again,

I prefer the Roundtrip route. Whenever possible I take Roundtrip but I may be bias per as I live in Vancouver so it means I don't need to worry about flying. I really dislike flying into anchorage because the cruise ship terminal is so far from the airport (2 hours) and hotels are overpriced for what you receive.

My dislike for HAL overshadows my dislike for 1 way routes...given your two choices I'd do the princess 1 way.

Air Canada has a Vancouver to anchorage flight during the summer that arrives at 3:58 to conveniently arrive by the 4pm cutoff many cruise lines have. Embarkation is often 8 or 8:30pm. Anchorage to Whittier is 1.5-2 hrs (depending on tunnel traffic). To be safe, we book the airfare and shuttle from the cruise line...it's worth a little more ($50) to book through the cruise line to have next port protection.

Absolutely. Just give them a call.

I cruise Princess all the time and just realized this year that this was the case. It's great news because my husband doesn't drink. TBH I'm not a heavy enough drinker on a long cruise to make it worth while but on short coastal cruises I can drink my money's worth if it's only for 3 days.

Ok I booked it this morning. Since they don't discount for the 3rd and 4th passenger in the stateroom, we booked rooms next to each other (was cheaper as they are running a 50% off the second person in the stateroom promo). The kids will be happy and maybe going outside my comfort zone will be rewarded.

I always do ATD. I find there is a rush as soon as the dining room opens up but by by 6:30 (when we go) the wait is short. There appears to be another bottleneck between 7 and 7:30.

The answer to your question varies greatly by region. Because a lot of the cruises out of my region are one way, requiring airfare for me, I always aim for round trip cruises to keep costs lower. I can usually get an inside cabin for $100pp a night including taxes and port fees. If it's more than that, I check alternate dates or don't go.

Usually we cruise Princess but we are going to try RCI for the first time next summer with our teens (15 & 17 next summer). I have a couple questions.

Pricing it out online. Do our teens qualify as children? It appears that RCI charges less for children? Princess charges less for the 3rd and 4th person in a stateroom but it appears RCI doesn't - would it be the same price for us to book two adjourning rooms?

I saw a promo of 50% off the second person in a stateroom last night but now that I'm pricing it out it isn't showing me that discount. Is the promo over or is it because I'm pricing out in CAD?

Viator is safe to purchase from but you might want to purchase direct from the hop on hop off (Vancouver trolley or westcoast sightseeing) as they offer discounts off attractions if combined with HOHO. The concierge desk at most hotels have coupons for attractions but those aren't accepted by the HOHO operators.

Pink is operated by westcoast sightseeing which is a reputable company that has a stand right outside security in the cruise terminal making them easy to find. The buses are right outside Canada place just like trolley (next to each other). You can't go wrong with either westcoast sightseeing or Vancouver trolley.

Another vote for quick coach.

Not out of the question assuming it's this summer, a weekend and a domestic flight. Never do it if it's the first time that ship is in Seattle for the season...last time I was on a ship into Seattle for the first time at the beginning of the season they took hours to clear the new staff before allowing guests to leave. If you make sure your in the first group off, carry off your luggage and grab a cab you can probably make it. Rush hour could delay things during the work week so don't forget to factor that in.

What I often do post cruise is rent a car. That way I can get around to outlet malls for example, have a place to store luggage and have a way to get to the airport. I usually train home from Seattle so I can't advise on what car rental is close to pier 66. Usually it costs me under $50 for a day rental in the U.S. which is less than a cab ride to the airport from several cruise terminals (ie. Long beach to LAX).

Coral - The kids never make use of the kids program. Cruises are the only time they actually want to hang with us....probably because we don't buy an Internet package and their phones lose service :-)

Thank you for all the replies.

I live in Vancouver so my husband and I regularly cruise Alaska (last minute deals) but we've only once taken the kids to Alaska (the 4 day round trip this past May). Itineraries are not important, the kids really couldn't care less where the boat cruises to as long as they can get dessert (they live for creme brûlée), freshly cooked pizza and there are movies under the stars. They are very food oriented ;-)

I'd like a round trip sailing from Vancouver since flying 4 people to/from Alaska can get a bit pricey and my husband is a nervous flyer (after our last cruise, he was that guy on the flight back from LA screaming 'we are going to die' when there was turbulence) which can be a tad embarrassing.

The boat is the Radiance of the Seas. It has a stop in Prince Rupert which seems odd to me though.