karatemom2

What a shame if true. Take Five is such a great venue. I would hate to see it diminished. 

We did our 360 experience on a formal night, so everyone in our group was quite dressy. But on non formal evenings smart casual would be fine. There is no dress recommendation for the event. 

3 hours ago, smilesntravels said:

If you don't mind- can you explain that more?  I've been looking for trips/transportation that combines Stonehenge with the transfer to/from airport.  I saw one either through Princess or Dream Vacations shore excursions that includes a long stop at Stonehenge on the way to LHR.  That's the only one I've found so far.  We'll stay one night in Southampton pre-cruise, so if needed could do it on the way to hotel.  I figured we'd do it after disembarking, on the way to LHR but would like more options.  TY!

We used EC Minibus last year. We did a transfer that visited Stonehenge on the way to Southampton and on our transfer back to Heathrow after the cruise we visited Hampton Court Palace. 
 

Another company that provides the service is International Friends. We used then the year prior for a transfer to the ship from our London hotel that stopped at Windsor Castle on the way. 
 

Here are the links: 

https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/london-heathrow-to-southampton-via-stonehenge.html

https://www.ecminibus.co.uk/blog/portfolio/shore-excursion-central-london-via-stonehenge-southampton-cruise-terminal/

You can also check Viator:

Southampton Excursion: Pre-Cruise Tour from London to Southampton via Stonehenge

https://www.viator.com/search/5528PRTLON_STSO?mcid=64243

1 hour ago, notus said:

Thank you Wolfie and karatemom..... this sounds good.  Is it a bus, van, some type of watercraft?  Who is the tour operator?  

First time in Haines and looking forward to it...

 

 

 

Here’s a link through Viator. You are in small buses. 
 

Chilkoot Wilderness and Wildlife Viewing 

https://www.viator.com/search/37841P6?mcid=64243

Another good option for Stonehenge if you are on a tight schedule is to combine it with your airport transfer which is what we did last year using EC Minibus. Worked great to get us off running and fight the jet lag on our arrival since we were determined to make the most of our time. We had about a two hour stop there on the way to our Southampton hotel. 

I know from following your thread on the Alaska board how much time, planning, and anticipation went into this cruise. I hope it exceeded all your expectations. Thanks for sharing your review!

53 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

Wildlife and bear tour

Ditto this. You will be there at an optimal time to see brown bears feeding on salmon. Lots of eagles too. It was one of our favorite excursions in Haines. 

6 hours ago, v3cruiser said:

Very nice shots! What lenses were you using? Im leaving less than three weeks. 

Thank you! Those were all taken with my IPhone. You should see the shots my son in law got with his really fancy Nikon. Stunning!

2 minutes ago, akswimmom said:

Hi, I’m not sure you are going to have a conflict. The Olympics are this year in Paris, 2024. The next summer Olympics are in 2028 in LA.

The only Olympics in 2026 are the Winter Olympics in Italy and that’s in February.

 

Jenny

The cruise referenced here is 7/26/24 - not July of 2026. I could see how you might get that from the title. But it will be during the Paris Olympics. 

19 minutes ago, smilesntravels said:

Thank you for your detailed information!  This is such a great itinerary.  When I saw it, I thought it was perfect.  We still haven't booked, as we plan all vacations last minute.  Every single port is one that I want to visit, except for Portland.  Nothing against that port, but I figure we can use it as a fourth sea day, relax, etc.

 

I have looked into private tours for some of the ports.  I saw good reviews for Busy Bus on their tour in Holyhead.  Thanks again for listing them.  I think maybe we should splurge for the balcony and at the end of cruise, then pay for the drinks etc.  BTW, I'm from southern CA also.  But VA has been my home for the last 20 years.

 
If you decide on a balcony, try to choose one on the Starboard side. That’s the land facing side for most of the cruise. We were blessed with great weather on our cruise with just one day of rain on our last precruise day in London and a bit of rain in Edinburgh - which only added to the ambiance! We enjoyed really lovely sailaways on our balcony with some nice castle spotting opportunities. Be sure to bring a pair of good binoculars. 
 

My son just finished up three years of law school in VA last year and we enjoyed visiting him while he was there. It’s a beautiful state. 

We absolutely loved our British Isles cruise with Princess - one of our best ever cruises! We did have a balcony and definitely enjoyed it. Although it’s a port intensive cruise, you do hug the coast quite a bit so having the balcony, especially heading in and out of ports was nice. We had a beautiful view of the White Cliffs of Dover on the sail by.

That being said, given how port intensive this cruise is, we did use our balcony less than on some other cruises. We don’t really drink much alcohol at all and don’t drink coffee, so for us Plus just isn’t of interest. We just buy what we want when we want ala carte onboard, pay our gratuities in advance, and get 1/2 off our WiFi because we are elite. That works great for us, but if you enjoy a few cocktails each day or specialty coffees and like the casual dining restaurants, Plus might be nice for you. It definitely gives that all inclusive feel. Personally I would pick the balcony, but you might get a better experience with Plus depending on how much time you think you would spend on your balcony. 
 

The ports are amazing. We primarily did private excursions so I’m happy to share what we did:

Guernsey: (private guide Jackie Ward)

Castle Cornet

WWII Sites and Museum

Cobh: (Princess tour)

Rock of Cashel

Dublin: (Princess tour)

Glendalough Monastic City

Avoca Woolen Mill

Christchurch Cathedral

Belfast: (Odyssey Tours)

Giants Causeway

Dunluce Castle

Titanic Museum

Liverpool (tour to Wales) : (Busy Bus tours)

Conwy Castle

Snowdonia Park

Pontcysylite Aqueduct

Invergordon: (private tour Dougie MacLeod)

Dunrobin Castle

Cairn Liath

Falls of Shin

Dornoch Cathedral

Glasgow: (Discover Scotland tours)

Sterling Castle

Doune Castle 

Village of Luss

Loch Lomond   
Trossachs National Park

Edinburgh: (on our own with Uber)

Edinburgh Castle

Royal Mile

St. Giles Cathedral

Royal Yacht Brittania

Le Havre: (Overlord Tours)

Omaha Beach

American Cemetery

Bayeux - for Cathedral and Bayeux Tapestry

Honfkeur

Hope this provides some inspiration - you will love this cruise!

Edited to add: We ended up cruising during the last summer Olympics and to be honest, you don’t get much of it. NBC is not one of the channels offered and mostly you will be able to grab highlights via MSNBC news. If that is a super big priority for you, you may want to look at alternate dates. My DH is a big Olympic fan and he was very disappointed to miss a great deal of the coverage on our cruise. 

12 minutes ago, kad56 said:

At that time I would walk along the Tony Knowles coastal trail. It should still be light, there are some good views and and you're likely to see moose. I biked it once and it's the largest concentration of moose I've ever seen.

This is a lovely idea, and I concur that it’s spectacular and the one place in AK we have spotted moose, but given that MIL is disabled and in a wheelchair it could be pretty challenging unless one of them could push her chair on the trail. It is paved. But still might prove difficult. 
 

If you just want to get a nice overview of Anchorage, the trolley tour is a low key way of seeing the city highlights. 
 

The Native Alaska Cultural Center is an interesting place to visit as well. 

3 hours ago, Luv2cruz1000 said:

My two cents, rent a car for the price of 2 for the train. You can stop at the suspension bridge and Caribou Crossing to see if you want to do the dog sled. 

While renting a car can be great and we have done it a number of times in Skagway, I wouldn’t recommend it for a first or only trip. The train really is a unique experience that can’t be duplicated by driving yourself. Also, truly seeing the sights and getting your bearings to really understand what you are seeing the first time is so much better with a guide. Then on subsequent trips driving feels familiar. 

Personally I look at Glacier Bay as more than just “glacier viewing”, which yes, you can get at other glaciers. They are all spectacular in their own way. What I appreciate about Glacier Bay is the full national park experience, the abundant wildlife, the natural beauty everywhere beyond the glaciers you see. It’s a full meal!

2 minutes ago, jacketwatch said:

I spoke to a friend of mine who is going on her first cruise. It’s out of San Francisco on the Crown Princess and there will be 11 people and six children. They did not buy a drink package. I am wondering how much the drink package is  for children for just soft drinks? I’d like to bring this to her attention, but I’d like to know the price first.
 

Thank you very much! 
 

 

Classic Soda Package:

Will the excursion wait for you if it takes a little longer to get off the ship then you anticipate? My advice, find out the lounge where tickets are being provided for people with independent plans, and get there at least 30 minutes before it opens. We have seen people lining up an hour early, so you want to make sure you are toward the front. Also, make sure your entire party is with you. They won't give you your tickets until your full group is there. If you do this, chances are you will be among the first groups exiting the ship.

1 hour ago, 1025cruise said:

Probably will not find that in Maine.

Sure you can. Most places serve them both ways and you have a choice. I definitely prefer the butter and lobster only version of the roll. DH likes the Mayo version. 

We love Sitka - one of our favorite ports, but I think @Heidi13 makes and excellent case for the back to back 14 day cruise. We have been to Alaska many times, but I think one of our favorites was the B2B we did on the Diamond Princess many years ago. Believe me, there is more to do in every port than you could ever do on two visits. We loved having the extra time in each of these places and did something different each time. One idea for your second Skagway visit is to use it as a jumping off point to visit Haines if you want to fit in another really cool Alaska port. We loved having the turnaround day in Whittier and spent the day visiting Anchorage - our only AK visit where we saw a moose! Still memorable to this day. The extra scenic viewing days was great as these places are always changing and give different experiences each visit and even at different times of the day. We probably witnessed the most amazing calving we have ever seen on our second day at College Fjord - so very happy to have a repeat visit. Either way, they are both great cruises, but I would give the edge to the 14 day turnaround trip.

I would choose a combination like that offered by companies such as Chilkoot Charters - train up, bus back. You get the best of both worlds. The scenery and ability to stop and visit spots along the way is great, but nothing takes the place of the actual train experience, IMO.

It sounds like a wonderful cruise. We have been on the Emerald a few times, most recently for a British Isles cruise in 2022 and found her as lovely as we remembered. You mention that you like far aft cabins, so you might want to consider balcony cabins toward the back of the Riviera deck. That is a favorite spot for us as you can easily pop out the backdoor and be on the aft deck where the Terrace pool is located. It's a quick hop up the stairs to the buffet for snacks and Outrigger's Bar. If still available, the last two cabins aft on Riviera have slightly oversized balconies that are also quite protected, so very nice to enjoy even when the weather is less than perfect. We have one of these cabins booked for our Alaska cruise in September on the Ruby.

The numbers are R747 and R746. 

We have never found the Terrace Pool area loud - quite the opposite, it tends to be a lot quieter then the main pool area and even with a balcony, it's nice to have easy access to open deck space if we want to get a full viewing opportunity.

Not sure what ports you are visiting, but if it is a Med cruise you can find a lot of great information on the Europe section of the ports of call board. We did a Med cruise from Southampton on the Sky last summer and had a wonderful time.

Edinburgh is a great city - we have visited only once and spent a long port day there and wished we had more time. It's definitely someplace to which we will return. We visited Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, St. Giles' Cathedral, the Real Mary King's Close, and the Royal Yacht Britannia. I'm sure you will love it!

3 hours ago, Geezer Jim said:

NCL's berths in Alaska required shuttles to get to town.  Princess has in town berths.

 

 
Just to clarify, this is true for Ketchikan only. In all other AK ports, NCL uses the same docks as other lines. One of the reasons we would not choose NCL in Alaska is due to its remote docking location in Ketchikan, but in fairness to NCL, just wanted to note that is the only port where this setup exists since this comment makes it seem like it’s the case in all ports. 

2 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks everyone! I’m looking forward to my free lobster. Thanks karatemom2. I’m in portland oct 8 and i believe lobster will still be in season?

 
Lobsters are harvested year round in Maine, with peak season tending to be through the latter half of year so you will be fine. Fall colors and lobster - lucky you!

42 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks karatemom2. Do you know what your husband thinks of Prince Edward Island lobster? I've been thinking of signing up for a lunch there. Reviews say people like the lobster, but not sure if its worth it since i have lobster in the mdr. I'm also wondering if anyone knows where the lobster on princess comes from. It would be nice to have maritimes or maine lobster.

Any lobster you get fresh in port in places like Maine or PEI will be better than the lobster served onboard. You might want to try a lobster roll for lunch while you are in PEI or any New England port - very delicious! 

I don't know where Princess sources its lobster but it will be frozen, not fresh, and they are not your typical Maine lobster with the big tails. More along the lines of langostino size. Still not saying it isn't good - but not as good as fresh lobster. All seafood tends to taste better when it is freshly prepared within a short time from being caught.

Yes, still served in the MDR on one of the formal nights. The tails are fairly small, but usually they are good. I believe they are charging now for extra servings.

My DH is a commercial lobster fisherman, so I'm rather spoiled, but what they serve is fine, nothing special. You will find larger tails and better quality in the specialty restaurants onboard like The Catch and Crown Grill. Still not as good as what I get at home straight from the Pacific Ocean, but pleasant enough if you like lobster.

7 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I’ve only been on one NCL cruise and that was on the NCL Bliss. We saw the Jersey Boys and it was fabulous! The entertainment on NCL is top notch! 

Six was spectacular as well. Really Broadway quality shows. I wish Princess would take note and do something similar.