CRG7

Texts will depend on your phone. My husband and I have Galaxy Notes (he has a 9 and I have a 20 ultra) and can send and receive texts and calls through wifi. Just make sure you are always in airplane mode, then enable wifi. 

If you're like my family and use Facebook messenger for group chatting, that will also work for wifi messaging. 

We did a Princess Alaska cruise last year for our delayed honeymoon. We booked an aft balcony and used a cruise site travel agent who marked our cabin as no upgrades. Our ship ended up changing and the room category we booked didn't exist on the bigger ship so we had to pay additional to get our aft balcony back but did end up with a larger balcony. The aft cabin was a great choice.

We'll be a party of 2 on the upcoming cruise

It's been a while since my last Carnival cruise (and we had a party of 8 on the last one) - if you select a dining time can you choose to have a private table or are you still seated with others in the MDR?

Do the 4k obstructed view interior rooms still have french doors that open into the room or are they windows? The description says doors but videos of similar rooms say they are windows now. Specifically looking for information on cabin 4155. 

Also received ours in our emails yesterday from the 12 day. I checked periodically throughout the cruise and on a few occasions, they charged a drink to my husband's folio. We had the package but I assume they picked up his medallion and used that for his included drink then charged mine. They just returned to service and I could tell the crew was genuinely trying, and it was overall such a low amount so we didn't bother taking the time to have it corrected.

3 hours ago, fairmontracer said:

I'm pretty convinced my issue is not the app but the back end database. The app does not work correctly on two iPhones, an iPad, and Android phone or a chromebook. We have been struggling with this for two cruises now. Also when we try and get to the information via the web option, it will not let us log in (although logging into the app and the normal website always work fine). The Princess rep I talked to on the phone yesterday could not get into my bookings to look at my "Ocean Ready", just another reason I think something is wrong on the backend. 

I also couldn't get into our booking (after changing ships/rooms) until the day before sailing despite trying on multiple Androids, iOS, web, and countless calls to Princess. Sitting in the airport the day before, it miraculously showed up. 

It worked fine on the ship for mobile ordering but dine my way stopped working until a few days into the sailing as well as journey view. We requested print copies of the patter from our steward and took photos of the schedule so we had it on the go.

We just did Sitka on the Royal Princess and had not been aware that you have to bus into town (or walk 5 miles). RC was in Port with us and when we got off the ship, people were reporting 2-3 hour waits for the busses. We were told there are 2 or 3 taxi companies but they would probably be too busy. 

We ended up walking through the Sitka National Park after visiting shops downtown, which is about half a mile from the bus drop/pickup.

Off the Royal Princess 5/2-5/14 sailing - laundry tokens were $3 each and detergent/dryer sheet tokens were $1.50 each. The token dispenser on our floor never seemed to want to work so we had to go up a floor to get tokens or you can get them at guest services.

I packed a few Tide Pods and a ziploc bag of dryer sheets. 

The sign said about 30-35 minutes for the wash cycle and 40-45 for the dryer. We went back after about 40-45 minutes to switch to the dryer and someone had removed the clothes from the washing machine. 

Also on the Royal right now and wanted to add a couple of things from our experience, hope that's okay!

Covid testing was available if you have a flight to the US on the 14th, even if you have your own transportation. It took us about 25-30 minutes from entering the lounge to receiving our results but some people were still waiting after an hour.

We skipped the MDR a lot but preferred the Allegro to the Concerto. No Club Class for us, so we found the Concerto to be too crowded. Michael in the Allegro was beyond fantastic - we tried to request having the same table but the manager of the dining room said it couldn't be guaranteed - one of the reasons we rarely did the MDR.

We tried breakfast in the Concerto one morning and once again, they were seating people on top of each other even though there were plenty of open tables.

If you play in the casino or win at bingo, make sure to cash out before arriving in Victoria - if future cruises do Victoria to Vancouver. The casino was closed all day but also tonight. We were told if you have more than $25 in your casino account, they will mail a check. If it is less, they donate the money. 

We have had a wonderful experience with the staff and the entertainment team. Between all of them and the low capacity, we have been spoiled for future cruises.

Has anyone experienced the app not finding the booking number? We are on the May 2nd Royal sailing and have not been able to use the app. When logged in and attempting to link the booking, we get booking not found (tried with capital letters and with lowercase letters).

When trying to login with Quick Access, it says the information is incorrect. I've tried on a new Android, iPod touch with the latest OS, and the web browser version on different browsers. It seems to be a problem with the booking number not being synced, not a device issue.

We had no issue with our original confirmation number when the sailing was on the Sapphire. Princess changed the ship and we had to have our room changed and have been unable to use the app since.

Calls and emails to Princess haven't yet yielded any results. Hoping someone has experienced this and can provide some direction. 

Thank you!

Does anyone know what category would be equivalent to the Sapphire's B4? We have an aft balcony booked but see D4 on the Royal deck plans.

Looking for thoughts/experiences:

We had previously looked at July itineraries but September seems to offer a couple of options that work for us. It will be for a delayed honeymoon (getting married in July).

We are currently looking at the 10-Day Inside Passage with Glacier Bay National Park on Princess Star Princess - Aug. 31-Sept 10 round trip from San Francisco. Includes Juneau, Skagway, GBNP, Ketchikan, Victoria.

The other option is NCL Sun 11-Day Ultimate Alaska Sept 4-15 round trip from Seattle. Includes Endicott Arm & Dawes, Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, GB, Ketchikan, Victoria.

Thank you for the responses!

I know a RT itinerary makes it a little less important but was still interested in hearing thoughts.

We are looking at doing the Alaskan cruise as a honeymoon. The Glacier Bay options for July appear limited, unless I'm just not finding them - I saw a handful or less with NCL but we can do the 10-day Carnival for the same as a 7-day NCL... if I recall, the GB itineraries were one way, and airfare seems costly from the bit of searching I have done thus far.

Definitely open to suggestion but the SF trip has so far stood out as the best option.

We are looking to do Carnival's round-trip cruise from San Francisco to Alaska next summer on the Miracle and will be booking a balcony room.

Which side of the ship would be preferred for the best viewing? Is there a floor that is best as well?

Itinerary:

San Francisco 

Juneau

Skagway

Icy Strait Point

Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord

Victoria 

San Francisco 

Thank you!

On 2/28/2019 at 1:25 PM, maulers2000 said:

Do you know if the Choir of Man has moved to the main theatre?

Thanks

Choir of Man was in the main theater. The Supper Club had The Company Men and The Rocket Man Experience. There may have been others but those are the only two I noticed in TSC.

3 hours ago, shanley said:

 Is this the price at the bar or in the room in the mini fridge?  That's an expensive Pepsi! 

 

We drink mostly ice tea, lemonade and flavoured water for free on the cruise.  I have a deal with my teen that I would buy her a diet coke in each port.

This reflects the bar price. Also take note that if you do the soda package, it does not include cans. Just got off the Escape and we were given a can at Great Stirrup Cay for which we were charged and one in a main dining room one night (all other nights it was a fountain soda).

When I mentioned how we had the package at dinner, we were told the charge would be reversed. It was not. A couple of sodas aren't worth complaining about to Guest Services but definitely be aware. I saw cans being brought to guests on server trays in the theater as well.

Seems silly to ask but can an internet package be purchased onboard after the first day for the remaining days (for example, with 2 days or so remaining)? Or is there an option for per minute or something similar if you don't want a package for the entire duration? 

I decided against a package for my upcoming trip on the Escape but would like to know if I have options should I change my mind while onboard.

Did an Altun Ha excursion in Belize with Carnival 2 years ago. Not as large as some of the others posted here but it was interesting and not overly crowded.

Why would there not be a stop at GSC? Is this common? 

Considering bidding on an upgrade from a balcony but not looking to spend on Haven since I'm not certain what all is included other than private areas and obviously larger rooms.

Debating bidding low on a mini suite and a spa suite. Would any of these have the Privasea balconies? Are there concerns about any of these room types other than potential noise (I use a white noise machine so I'm not sure we would be affected by an average amount of noise)? I doubt we would get the upgrade if I do bid but would like to be aware of any cons (and pros).

Sailing on the Escape next month

On 1/16/2019 at 10:47 AM, bkrickles1 said:

Not going to miss Brat Pack. Saw it and After Midnight in July on Escape and they were both underwhelming.

Choir of Man was absolutely fantastic. Lucky to have seen it with the original cast that created it and it was probably the best show I've seen on a cruise. Between Choir of Man and the dueling pianos, we were very entertained.

Booked on Encore for Jan. 2020 and hopefully Kinky Boots is a good one. I heard they won't have the dueling pianos on Encore and that makes me sad. So much fun that you could walk in on at any time of the night and enjoy.

Just saw Kinky Boots on Broadway and it was very entertaining

I was on the same cruise as you. Fun trip, i thought the service was top notch, service on the Freedom was over the top good.

I agree on the service... aside from the photo area which was extremely hit or miss in my experiences there. As in an earlier post of mine, found the wait times at the casino bar to be the longest although the bartenders were friendly.

Only one of your party ordered from the steakhouse menu? For some reason I figured you had a large party and several did. Would not make much sense that an incentive is offered for just one participant. Maybe, it is based on how many orders they sell in an evening. Like a contest or just having x amount ordered. Who knows? I will ask my servers next cruise.

 

The Pixels Gallery is a crap shoot. I have been on cruises that I couldn't get even the simplest question answered, to some, that the person just looked at me and located every picture I was in on the whole cruise. (which was actually kind of weird, as I can't help but wonder what made me stand out?)

 

Our next cruise is on the Freedom. Smallest ship we have ever been on. Also, gets lots of bad reviews as to not having many activities day or night. I refuse to be bummed out by this as we have always enjoyed our cruises. I feel we will find things to do.

Thanks for all your input.:)

I wish I had held on to the FunTimes from the trip! There seemed to be activities almost all of the time, although this will depend on what interests you. There were some days when we had to choose between a couple of options at once.

We did Bingo, the adult comedy shows (Cowboy Bill Martin was on the first couple of days and he was hilarious - thought I wasn't going to enjoy him as I don't care for the whole "country" aspect but his shows were mostly void of anything related to the topic), performances in the theater, a few trivia sessions, etc.

In between, we lounged on the decks, stopped by the casino, ate, enjoyed cocktails. I brought a Kindle filled with new books and a tablet with some movies/television shows... never even touched them! Hopefully you have as good of a time on your Freedom voyage!

I'm not sure if it is in writing anywhere about the wait staff receiving a longer break. We had no idea of this ourselves (our wait staff never tried to push that menu on us) until we ran into our staff in port and at dinner that night they informed us they were given a longer break because a member of our party ordered from the steakhouse menu the previous night. It may not even be fleet-wide for all I know of it.

Our ports (sailing from Galveston) were Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. After visiting Cozumel 20 years ago, it was a pleasant surprise to see how it has been built up. In Roatan, we found a guide within the port to take us on a tour outside of the port. We returned to the ship for lunch then back out to Mahogany Bay. Two of us did the Altun Ha & Belize City Carnival excursion (the others in our group stayed only in port) in Belize. In Cozumel, we got a van in port and went to a beach area before returning closer to port to shop.

Our cruise director was Malcolm and he was a lot of fun. We didn't catch him around until we saw him doing a trivia session; from then on, we tried to catch his activities.

On the Freedom, I found the casino bar to be the slowest at getting drinks - didn't matter if there were 2 people there or 20. The Red Frog Rum Bar on the deck, across from the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, also had slow service. The staff in the Red Frog Pub inside on deck 5 were extremely friendly and a lot of fun.

Our wait staff in the Posh dining room was also excellent.

The only negative experience I had on the ship was with the Pixels gallery (photos). I only dealt with one staff member there who was pleasant and none of them seemed overly informed on some items - the flash drive, for example. When I am spending hundreds of dollars on photos over the duration of the cruise, I'd hope for some halfway decent service.