Outerdog

It's amazing that this is even a debate. How can it be the "same food" if the menu items found on the SD menus are not available in the MDR? I find it remarkable that at home, folks will go out to dinner and drop $50 to $100 pp without thinking twice, but the SD up-charge on a ship warrants all this consternation and hand wringing using subjective terms like "worth it" in the process. Speciality Dining food is better, the preparation is made to order, the service better, the menu unique, the ambience different. If one is on a tight budget, then it might not be "worth it" -- those who are making it rain don't give the money a second thought. Maybe it's a matter of YOLO versus FOMO. I tend to rock the former.

A kitchen is a kitchen. The menu is what is different. Look at some of the menus and compare them to the MDR menus that are floating around. https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/food-and-dining/specialty-restaurants Decide if those dishes are something you would enjoy and worry less about which galley it comes from. You're ordering dinner, not being elevated into some secret society high table.

That seems like a problem. Bringing outside food into the ship's food preparation areas seems like a Bad Idea™. No way that's allowed.

Shouldn't be an issue. I typically bring along my own laser printer, memory foam mattress, blender, emergency roadside kit, foot bath, hydroponic garden, loudspeaker, life-size skeleton, cotton candy machine, winch, and electrical test equipment. Never had a problem.

Whatever got you this is correct. Anything else is probably garbage.

I hate that this is the best answer but it is: sort it out on the ship. Princess on board has been super great dealing with excursion changes, cancellations and such. One time we were late arriving to the excursion meet up point and missed the excursion. I was tipsy and missed the time change. So they hustled us onto another cheaper excursion (super fun). They automagically credited the difference even though it was totally our fault and we didn't ask for any credit at all. Princess shoreside, on the other hand, sucks. They can't find their ass with both hands and I never call them for anything unless absolutely necessary. Just handle it on the ship.

There is a forward structure ahead of the window. You can't access that area. They look like forward balconies, but they are not. The note you're seeing is trying to tell you there is a metal balcony which obstructs your view somewhat.

The medallion doesn't know anything other than a unique identifier that looks something like this: ff3766fb-c088-4c90-b86f-561800cd414b The medallion transmits that number whenever it is pinged by the medallion system receivers around the ship, including the white pucks on the ceilings and stateroom door entry devices. That same number appears in a database on the servers where things like folios and room assignments are stored. Simply stated, Princess crew tell the system that a particular medallion number is permitted to open cabin door R123.

They do not "carry" anything other than a unique ID number. All of your information is stored on the servers, not the medallion.

A nifty little coin-sized device which replaces the cruise card. The system is able to locate people (medallions) around the ship, crew use it to see who's who. https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/princess-medallionclass https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/princess-medallionclass/medallion-accessories-customization Some will tell you it's a curse upon humanity. They think Princess is tracking them all over the place and the Medallions are the gateway to a privacy violating dystopia. Psst, you're already a customer, you're already on the ship having spent hundreds or thousands of dollars to get there, and they were collecting data long before the Medallions.

The shipping notifications and tracking info for Medallions is ironically unreliable. Sometimes I get notified and can track, other times not. They will show up in the next few days or they won't.

So the cruise "game changer" has noting really to do with the ship or the cruise. Nice.

If you want tons of bottled water in your room, just order a bunch of the water packages. It's $7 for 12 x 12oz bottles. It's a great price and a hell of a lot more convenient than dragging cases of bottled water all over the place. I purchase these even when we have one of the packages. It's cheap.

Bad photo, but gives you an idea of what the raft is like: The river is shallow, but it's cold out there. The nests are large -- 2,000 pounds in the extreme cases.

Agree with Lee on Haines/Skagway Eagle Preserve raft trip. Very hands-on experience as you might imagine. Lots of eagles. This isn't a rafting experience. It's a floating experience. Other must-dos in Skagway are the train (obviously) and those helicopters you'll see there in port. They will fly you up and land you on a glacial ice sheet to get out and explore. Pretty fantastic ride up and over a mountain range. Nat Geo scenes for sure. When I think of all my trips up to Alaska, this is the one that comes to mind the most (and I can't resist sharing a couple pics)...

I really struggle to think what a "game changer" for cruising could actually be. Things like modifying PVSA, return of CTN, truly all-inclusive one-price fare, 4x security/check in staff to eliminate terminal wait altogether? Giant ass ships with literally everything -- 2 decks interior promenades with animated canopies, roller coasters (!) -- none of those are "game changer" for Florida. I mean, we're talking about Princess here -- the same Princess who called the Medallion a game changer. I like the Medallion, but let's not pretend it's nothing more than a cruise card on steroids. Hardly a game changer. That's it! Maybe we're getting new Medallions! Brought to you by Flava Flav!

$50 OBC for Florida residents. Game changer!

I just did. Two, in fact. One of those is the same Hubbard Glacier boat thing. That sells out pretty quick. $1k in excursions for May 2025.

Hang your door decorations on the INSIDE of your door. Everybody wins!

You should file a claim with your travel insurance to recoup the costs of the medical services.

This looks even better

Doesn't look that way to me. It's life or death AND immediate travel. Not "or". https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html

Not quite. Jackie and Shadow abandoned the nest after they determined the eggs were dead. The ravens came to the nest and devoured the eggs. They never hatched. The same thing will eventually happen this year as well.

Do you expect people to take these comments seriously?

Same. DW and I were first and second pax on once. That's a nice story and we don't need to repeat it.