USCcruisecrazy

15 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Gosh I hope this video of a huge calving at Hubbard Glacier loads!   Simply outstanding day!  Yes there was sleet yes there was rain yes it was really cold but when you have these overcast days the glacial blue ice is so vibrant. It doesn’t translate well in my photos. I’m sure professional photographers were able to capture it. 

IMG_2824.mov

My 4 years living in Alaska, it wasn't uncommon to have rain, sleet, snow, and sunshine in a few hour span. 🙂

This has been an incredible journey.  I am very thankful for your attention to detail and all the incredible pictures.  I wish I could say this has prepared me well for my world cruise, but am afraid this journey will be my best opportunity.  Thank you for allowing me to go along for the ride!!

1 minute ago, Ptroxx said:

This post is more about being able to contact princess.   Not weather it’s hard or easy or complicated to get a refund.  
 

Yes, the point was that using the chat feature the process was quick and easy.  Just felt like too many times Princess employees get chastised and I wanted to give them some props. 

1 minute ago, tml1230 said:

Thanks for sharing....we had a similar and very  positive interaction with a live chat agent recently....(once I found "live chat " box on the webpage!     we hope your family member is doing well....

also hoping my Gators beat your Gamecocks!

 

Thanks for the kind words...I will pass that along.  May the best team win...unless it's FL!  🙂 

I read a lot of negative things on this site about Princess and being able to speak with someone.  Or complaints about it taking forever to receive refunds.  Therefore, I want to make a positive post with kudos for Princess.  Unfortunately, due to a family issue with an aging member, we had to cancel a 10 day Southern Caribbean scheduled for 8-18 January.  It took me 2 minutes to get someone on the Live Chat.  It took 5 minutes maximum to cover all options and confirm what I needed to confirm.  Then it took about 5 days to receive a full refund on not just my deposit, but also the monies spent on excursions.  Well done Princess!!!   

12 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

LOL  Casinos never give away anything FREE.  It is all calculated on the person's past loss rate or potential loss rate.  Casinos always eventually win and MOST people always lose on cruise ships.  I am sure people are willing to show their print outs of exactly how much they play and win which are kept by the cruise lines to prove me wrong.  It is amazing how much money people are willing to throw around in a cruise casino to get a free "inside cabin and $300" in free play which often do not apply to many cruises or destinations.

Yeah, I realize nothing in this world is free...nowadays, not even the air you breathe with the advent of Carbon Emission Taxes.  LOL!  The jest of the question was directed at how does the casino determine who gets the offer for the "Casino Cruise".  But I appreciate your very informative post.  Truth be told, I usually play a little Craps once or twice...not much else.  So not planning on qualifying for a cruise, but just curious to how much others spend to get that "Freebie".

11 hours ago, wowzz said:

If you read my post, I am not challenging the service charges. 

All I am suggesting is that the service charges be rolled into the overall price. The staff would still get the 18%. and the customer knows exactly the price of the drink. Win/win . 

 

I'm guessing it has to do with the book keeping.  By charging the gratuities separately, it's easier to track the numbers.  Can you imagine the accountant having to figure out income via gratuities (not taxable for Princess) vs income via sales (taxable)...what a nightmare!!  And now with their different packages, with the Princess Plus you get charged a gratuity for only the amount above $12.  

Not sure why when they joined or how many posts they've done should make a difference.  Everyone did Post #1 at some point.  My concern would be, assuming their post is accurate and truthful, why the quality at this particular lodge was so bad and what Princess intends to do about it.

Amberwoodsplac...sorry for the poor ending to what sounded like a nice trip.  AK is a wonderful spot to vacation in the Summer months. 

18 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

We heard that the weather in June was fairly good, but turned cold with an increase in rain during July. 

We did 2 weeks in AK traveling on our own from 28 June through 11 July and the weather was awesome every day.  Only saw a light rain 1 morning the entire trip.  AK can be very hit and miss.  Lived there 4 years and some Summers the average day was 70 degrees and drizzle.  🙂

30 minutes ago, cruiser113 said:

thanks  for  the  clarification.

 we  sailed  in  Jan and that  is  how  we  were  charged.  Mostly  wine  was  only  about  a $1 upcharge plus   18% grat.   Must  be  more  wines over  $12 limit  now,  but  still worth the charge.

Is it 18% Grat on just the additional cost or the entire cost?  Seems like Grats on the first $12 should be included.

1 minute ago, Riley_Mon said:

yep, I'm actually considering something similar.  I know a couple of people that went there last year, hopping on small planes to go from destination to destination. They loved it.  I think we are considering an extended vacation in Alberta/Banff next year but I would definitely like another shot at Alaska without being at the mercy of a cruise ship. Our shore excursion guide drove from Colorado to Skagway and I've thought about that several times over the last couple of weeks. We've also talked to people that took the ferry out of Seattle. Maybe in a couple of years.

Years ago we drove from Montana to Anchorage, taking the ALCAN Highway from Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction in Alaska.  It was an incredible journey.  Just need to do some pretty good pre-travel planning because places to stay are very limited in certain areas.  This last trip though we flew into Anchorage and took a vehicle to all the locations mentioned.  We stayed in a few VRBOs and a few cabins.  The ones in Talkeetna were very nice and reasonable costs.  The ones in Hatcher's Pass were primitive (no running water) but absolutely incredible location and views.  It's worth saving up a few years if necessary and doing the trip.  Best of luck!! 

2 minutes ago, Cruiser933 said:

The crew wear masks in public areas. I don’t think they are wearing them in crew quarters.

Good point.  Can't imagine how that effects the cruise experience with so many crew members out.

22 hours ago, Riley_Mon said:

After reading about people getting a FCC of 50% from May cruises on the Crown, to be honest I was expecting something from Princess on ours.

 

The June 18 cruise, while not horrible, did not go to Icy Point (they didn't even try) and was late for Juneau resulting in all shore excursions canceled. Reading the "we failed to live up to the standards Princess sets for cruises" in earlier remarks for the May cruises, I thought surely our cruise would fit that category as well.

 

But we are in mid July, almost a month past and no communication.

 

From the little exposure I had to people on board, I know that everyone I came in contact with was upset with the sailing schedule, so I would assume that was reflected in the survey.

 

Anyways, I'm not sure what I would do with an FCC, I don't really plan on cruising at the moment, this experience was so frustrating in combination with travel and covid that I don't think cruising is worth it at the moment, but I'd like at least some admission on Princess' part they screwed up my bucket list Alaska vacation.

Sorry to hear about your dream Alaska trip being disrupted.  I recommend adding a "do-it-yourself" Alaska trip in the future.  We just got back from 2 weeks of traveling around the state and it was awesome.  We stayed a few nights in Talkeetna, Hatcher's Pass, Anchorage, Girdwood, and Seward.  Good luck!!

Some strange numbers...only 4 passengers but 114 crew.  Odd since the crew wears masks.  Then 10 passengers (I'm guessing that were asymptomatic) tested positive trying to leave the ship.  What are the Aussie Rules for those testing positive?  If the ship docks in 8 days, will those folks still have to quarantine?  Could the crew being hit hard with positives cause a cancellation of the next sailing?  What a mess!!

Chinook's in Seward is a great spot...was just in Seward last week vacationing.  Of course, be prepared to spend about $100 a pound.

The cruise lines are certainly packing them in for the land tours.  We saw many, many buses around Denali, in Anchorage, and all points on the highways between the two.  We did 2 weeks of a land tour on our own and have to say, the weather was some of the best June/July weather I've ever seen, and I lived there for 4 years.  But caution if you must...no such thing anywhere we went having mandatory masks.  From breweries (lots now in Alaska) to restaurants, from the parks to the tourist shops...we saw very few masks, but also saw or heard no one seemingly sick. If you don't want to risk the land tour and then getting on the ship, I recommend planning a road trip and hitting up the sites, especially some out of the way that the land tour doesn't do.  It was awesome!!!

3 minutes ago, nini said:

Yes, they were wearing masks but it does not take an Einstein to read the remaining/ visible facial features and expressions as well to hear their words and tone of voice.

You are ignoring the point.

Actually, I wasn't ignoring the point at all.  Asked a simple question...only required a simple answer.  But, like you assumed they were not smiling, you then assumed I was ignoring whatever point you were trying to make. Personally have never had a Princess crew member treat me that way.  Maybe because of the way I smiled and treated them.  But that's another story. 

53 minutes ago, nini said:

Many of the objections and observations ARE in the control of Princess and their crew.

* Have you ever had a crew member be rude and snap at you? Congenial crew and smiles DO NOT COST MONEY! We were quite shocked by many non-smiling crew members and their proclivity to argue with us. It was just very strange. Thankfully, there were other lovely crew members to make up for that.

@JeffroK- I do not know how many Princess cruises you have been on, however, we have sailed on Princess enough to notice that the Princess Vibe was not on the Emerald. However, it appears that some of the other ships are doing better.

Just had to ask...if the crew were non-smiling does that mean they were not wearing masks?  I thought all crew kept masks on at all times.  Of course, that could also explain some of the perceived attitude. I'd not be happy with a mask on my face for 10-12 hours a day (or more).

19 hours ago, roysue said:

I was on Enchanted in March.  She is beautiful and I would sail her again tomorrow.  Remember when we worried about Noro, before covid became our big concern?  I believe safety on board is mostly in each passengers control.  Don't get in crowded elevators.  Wash your hands frequently.  Keep your hands away from your face.  Avoid touching things that don't require touching.  Use a mask in necessary crowded situations.  Eat outside when you can.  I traveled with a group of 8, one who is immunocompromised and none of us got sick.  Just my thought.

 

 

 

Glad to hear she's a beautiful ship.  We sail on her for a 10 day Southern Caribbean in January and I'm excited to check her out!  Glad you had a great voyage.

Awesome pictures!!  Well done.  We love Rome.  One of our favorite spots.  Enjoy your cruise!!!  I look forward to following along.

5 minutes ago, ldtr said:

 

 

Even at current rate, lowest so far, the annualized rate would be about 78,000 tied to active cases.  Not counting any effects post active disease due to increased rate of cardiac events, strokes, etc. that are showing up in people that have been previously infected vs populations that have not had Covid.  Those would not show up in Covid data, but only in total mortality figures which are pretty much tracked only in annual data sets.  

 

If we have solved the impact of Covid then one would expect total mortality rates to show drops back to the more normal trend line starting in 2021 data and certainly in 2022 data (normal annual increases are 1-2 % per year, compared to the 18% increase that occurred in 2020.  Basically the numbers should show a drop in 2021 vs 2020 and certainly a considerable drop in 2022.

Not sure where you got the data, but doing simple math...SC averaged 5 a week for the last month.  That's about 250 a year for 5.5 million population.  Times that by 60 (based on population of 330 million) and you get 15,000.  But not supposed to talk covid stuff...just trying to show cruising is no more risky now then it was pre-covid for those that have been vaccinated.  So, again, unless you test and mask for the other killer viruses, doing so for covid is just not necessary.

7 minutes ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

Statistics in the US are no longer accurate since they are no longer testing in most places nor keeping records like they first did with Covid.  Also, no one knows the number of cases detected by home tests.  It is all just pure BS now on CC.

Yeah, got that too.  I am just trying to show how cruising is being what I think is overly cautious based on the current truths.  We have vaccines and treatments for COVID so not keen on treating it any different than other potential killer viruses.  I think cruising should return to normal and if some folks want to still mask and social distance, I have no problem with that.  Sort of like some people want to wear the Tux and others want a T-shirt.  I'm good with that too! 🙂  Had to get a formal nights dig in there.  LOL!

6 minutes ago, Level six said:

1 million deaths is a bit different than 28,000 in USA.   6.3 million worldwide.  Even if you double or triple the flu deaths to make up for the added time (about 2 years), there is no comparison. 

Wasn't trying to compare the deaths, but with the current variant, 28,000 deaths in a year in the USA is unlikely. Sure not comparing to the original virus from 2 years ago.  So, if the current death rate is even the same as the flu why not test for the flu as well?  Or Noro before boarding?  If your goal is to have safe, illness free (as much as possible) cruising, then why not test for all viruses??  Or are we just enamored now or scared over the SARS virus?  A question that really doesn't have an answer besides cost.  Anyway, food for thought.

On 6/13/2022 at 7:30 AM, leck57 said:

 

Wouldn't it be higher than that?  Australia with about a tenth of your population had 800 flu deaths in 2019.

In 2018-2019 380,000 hospitalizations from the flu in the USA and 28,000 deaths.  That was a good year.  Wonder when they will start testing for the flu pre-cruise in order to keep people from spreading it on board??

On 6/10/2022 at 9:16 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

I guess we’ll just have to keep our masks on when flying back home and stay up to date with our boosters. But I have to say our stress level just went down big time not having to worry if we were all going to be able to fly back home after our upcoming family Med cruise.
 

But at the same time, no C19 tests have ever been required on domestic flights which can sometimes be 3-4 hours, even longer if you’re flying back from Hawaii.

 

We are in the air for 7 straight hours flying to Anchorage...no tests required and no masks required.  I'm guessing that's longer sitting in a crowd than even any potential time while cruising.