karatemom2

You need to plan a trip to Greece. Cats to keep you company everywhere! I don’t recall ever seeing any cats on our Alaska trips. Maybe you would enjoy the sled dog puppies in Skagway - they are very cute!

Get your food and then find a table. There is no need to save tables and anything left on an unoccupied table is apt to get cleaned up the crew as they work very hard to keep the tables refreshed so EVERYONE can find a clean place to dine. OP, it is quite a stretch to imagine that anyone would "steal" a container of flavored drops. Most people have no interest in using someone's used, open food item - not knowing really what is in it or where it has been. The likely scenario is that it was cleaned up by the crew - many times I have left the small bottle of hand sanitizer I carry with me on the table and come back to find it gone. My fault for leaving it there. It's too bad that the item you left on the table got picked up. Next time, just keep it in your pocket until you are seated at the table.

Given that it is 15 years ago, he will likely not have an issue, but you may not be able to verify that in advance. In our case, we traveled with a young adult family member who had an underage DUI - not over the limit, but because he was only 19, any amount registered resulted in a citation. When he traveled to Alaska with us we were advised it could be an issue, but because it had been over 5 years that it might be ok. We were prepared if he was denied entry in Victoria, but it ended up being a non issue. He has traveled with us to Alaska several times since and has never been flagged. In terms of the Skagway excursion, if you are going with a private tour like Chilkoot Charters, you could probably get their thoughts given their years of experience transporting clients back and forth across the border. In any event, it would likely be a really good idea just for peace of mind to complete the Application for Criminal Rehabilitation. Given how old the offense was and assuming no other issues since, I would imagine it would be granted and then you don't even have to worry about it.

Yes, this was our experience. We opted to make a 6 p.m. reservation for each night of our recent 10 day Med cruise and it was all in Allegro. Most people were coming in with pre-set reservations like ours, but it did appear they were taking walk ins at Allegro based on availability. So, while Concerto is the walk in venue, It seems like Allegro was providing back up space for walk ins as well. I really like having a reservation though - makes it so much easier and if you find a table and waitstaff you like, you can set it up to keep returning to that table and team.

A few suggestions. First consider pushing your dinner reservation back and going to the 9:30 p.m. show instead. That way you can drop the kids at the club and still enjoy your adults only specialty meal and catch the show. Secondly, speak to the kids club staff when you register your children. Often there is one or two nights when they may do special activities that may include and early dinner with the kids - often this happens on port days when the hours are sometimes extended to coincide with port schedules where some parents may opt to leave their kids onboard. Third option, take the kids with you. The servers on Princess are lovely with children and your kids are old enough to enjoy a nice meal, even if they are ordering from the kids menu. It's never too early to start instilling a love for fine dining and all the etiquette that goes with it. My kids grew up on Princess, and now as adults, they are fine dining pros!

You might want to do a search for cooking classes or photography tours as something different that you could try. I seem to recall seeing some offerings in these specific areas of interest. Some ports have food tours as well. In Victoria, you could do an afternoon tea offered at one of a number of locations. We did a mine tour on our last trip to Juneau which was interesting as, like you, we had already done many of the other activities.

Any Alaska port is easy to do on your own with planning and research. We often rent a car in the ports and explore on our own which is very doable if you are comfortable self driving in new locations. The roads are very safe. However, if there is something you really want to experience like whale watching or the train trip in Skagway, those require either booking an independent excursion or ship excursion. All the ports are very walkable and have interesting things to see within walking distance if you are fairly physically fit. For a first time Alaska cruise, I think I would advise strong consideration of a whale watching excursion and the train in Skagway. If I had to pick one or the other, I think the train offers the best experience depending on how important it is for you to see whales up close. You will generally have the opportunity to see some from the ship from a distance. Be sure you bring along some good binoculars.

Best views by far on Royal Class ships are the forward facing balconies on Lido and Marina decks (15 and 16). Cabin numbers are odd or even L or M 101-108. They book up quickly so jump if you can.

There is no chart or rhyme or reason for table play. Unlike slots, it’s an ongoing mystery how they calculate. My DH plays Craps primarily, with a bit of blackjack and poker. The best explanation he has been able to get is that they use a combination of the amount you cash in whenever you play, amounts you are betting, and time spent at the tables. He has found it pays to get to know your casino host and be visible and engaged. He plays basically the same way every cruise - yet sometimes he gets an inside offer with something like $200 free play amount, other times he gets a balcony with $600 free play and free drinks. We just got off the Majestic and his offer was a balcony and $750 free play. But let me tell you - he worked for it putting in the hours every evening. Paid off this time - good offer and came home winner! 🙂 Definitely not the case every time. He has noted when the casino is quieter and less table players, he tends to get better offers as perhaps he stands out more? This recent cruise was a Hearts cruise so there was a good contingent of table players and a few really heavy hitters, but fortunately he was able to garner a good offer this trip.

One thing we have done on cruises where we plan to enjoy our balcony a great deal is to place a room service order first day and then keep the plate covers - I let our room steward know we don’t want them removed. Then I use them throughout the cruise whenever I want to bring food back to the room - making sure to clean them out with a Lysol wipe between each use. Works great!

Just back from our 10 day Med cruise on the newly refurbished Majestic Princess and can share that it was as shiny as a new penny. Fresh paint and carpet everywhere - still had that new ship smell! We enjoyed playing pub trivia in O’Malleys though we didn’t eat there. We did see lots of people enjoying meals there that looked good. We had a terrific meal at The Catch and overall wonderful service and food throughout our cruise. We had some concerns about the prospect of work still ongoing during our cruise but saw nothing more than some revarnishing of handrails on our floor. It was all great! Just a note that although many of the venues have been changed or updated, the ship still maintains its signage everywhere in English and Chinese. And there were sadly no changes to Princess Live - it’s still the original theatre style setup as opposed to the much more comfortable lounge set up on the newer Royal class ships. I was hoping they would have updated it as well, but it’s a dinosaur that appears will remain as is. Overall we loved the Majestic and look forward to cruising on her again one day.

Currently on the Majestic and we had two of the white waffle style robes and two Princess bags hanging in our closet on arrival. We usually find robes waiting on our cruises and don’t request them, but not always. If you want to make sure you have them, you can select them in the personal preferences section of your preregistration - same area where you indicate bed configuration, special events, etc. Or, if they aren’t there you can simply ask your room steward the first day.

It was great. We were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather. We did not see any bears this trip, but we saw lots of eagles, otters, porpoises, and whales, including a pod of Orcas as we headed back into Vancouver on the last sea day. The salmon were still running in Ketchikan and a few folks caught site of some bears at Herring Cove, but our timing was not with us that day.

We also live in SoCal and have cruised in Alaska many times, so I will use our local weather as a comparison. August in Alaska can be very similar to February/March in Southern California. It can be cool and rainy, but it can also have some sunny warmer days as well. Just like we do here at home, layers work well. I generally start with a turtleneck and jeans, and then add a Patagonia pullover or jacket. Water resistant is good, but I usually always just carry a few packets of disposable rain ponchos in our backpack that I can throw on if it gets too rainy. A little rain doesn't bother me - a jacket with a hood works fine. Personally I have a cute rain hat I bought in Scotland that I like to wear. In terms of footwear, I like my boots. I wear the same ankle height all weather booties that I wear in the winter here at home. The are comfortable, dry, warm, and look nice with jeans. They also work well in town or on trails. The average temps in most ports during the day are from mid 40's on the low side to mid to upper 60's on the higher side. It isn't all that different then the weather we have been experiencing locally this past couple of weeks, so try not to overthink it. You probably have everything you need in terms of clothing already.

Thanks for sharing these photos - very cool to see them. We are on the first cruise on Majestic after her dry dock and are excited to see the updates.

Respiratory viruses are generally airborne and have an average incubation period of 2 to 5 days, so it is unlikely that you picked it up in the buffet the day before your symptoms appeared. More likely you were exposed in an area of the ship where you were in a crowd like the theatre or elevator. Flu and RSV have been rampant this winter, and are still with us, so very likely if not COVID it was one of those viruses. It's no fun getting sick, but unfortunately a risk of any type of travel. You are lucky to have had 23 illness free cruises. We also cruised for many years prior to COVID and only ended up with garden variety colds in a couple of instances and Noro on one cruise. But since the pandemic, it seems someone in our crew has come home sick more frequently - usually with COVID.

Ketchikan and Icy Strait Point both have really great kayaking opportunities - Juneau and Skagway less so unless you do a tour at Mendenhall in Juneau or Dyea in Skagway. We really loved the kayaking tour we did in Icy Strait Point.

Herring cove is easy to get to on your own. We often rent a car in Ketchikan from Alaska Car Rental and head there to watch for bears. Advantage is that we can stay as long as we want and come and go a few times throughout the day. We have been pretty lucky to see bears on most of our trips, not all. The salmon are easier to catch at low tide, so if you do it on your own check the tide schedule.

Just a note to add to my previous post, I should have clarified that this photo was from our forward facing balcony on the Royal Princess. We love the forward balconies, and have had them on our recent Alaska cruises, our Med cruise, and our Norwegian Fjords cruise this past summer. Even on our Norway cruise where we had some less then perfect weather, there was never a day, even a sea day, when the balcony was not usable. Cruising through Alaska's inside passage is generally fairly protected - we loved having a forward facing balcony. The full panorama it provides is exceptional.

Yes, it’s worth it. It might be cooler than subsequent months, but rainfall is low in May and you can always bundle up when you are enjoying your balcony. We spend more time on our balcony during our Alaska cruises than any others, including when we have cruised in May. We are out there with our binoculars as much as possible enjoying the beauty and looking for wildlife. The photo below is taken from our balcony in Glacier Bay during our May 2022 cruise.

Definitely do the Tracy Arm small boat tour. It’s amazing. We have done it twice and spotted a whale each time, but it doesn’t really replace a dedicated whale watching trip. We love to rent a car in Ketchikan. There are so many beautiful areas that are easy to explore on your own - Ward Lake, Totem Bight, Lunch Creek etc. it’s one main road there that dead ends in both directions. Lots of beautiful nature and waterfalls with scenic hikes. Sorry to say no moose sightings are at all likely. You really need to head to Anchorage for that. And puffins are equally rare, sometimes spotted in Glacier Bay but really most visible for those taking a tour from Sitka. You are pretty early in the season so you won’t find bear feeding on salmon yet, but you might spot one along the Yukon highway munching on dandelions.

Unfortunately the point system for table players is extremely inconsistent and mysterious at best. My DH plays Craps and is very consistent in his play from cruise to cruise, yet despite this on some he has received great comeback offers with free balcony and $600 free play, others an inside with $250 free play, and yet others just free play, no cabin. There seems to be no real rhyme or reason. Only now after years of being a dedicated casino player are his offers pretty reliable. One thing that has helped is his concerted efforts to really engage with the casino host on all of our cruises. However, we still don't always get free balconies - sometimes just insides. If it is any consolation to you, continue to watch your email offers. You may be surprised to find that you will get better offers after your cruise once you are in the mix. Sorry you experienced such frustration. It is a hard system to understand because there seems to be no real guidelines for table players.

With all due respect, stating that you wouldn't do it doesn't really answer the OP's question, does it? They are doing it and looking for advice from people who have actual experience. For those of us who have done it - for me that means over 20 years of cruising Princess starting when my youngest was 4 - we can provide actual real life experience and recommendations. It wasn't like the OP was asking for input on people's opinions about whether they should cruise with Princess or not - they have a trip plan and are looking for advice on how to make the most of it for their family. It would be nice if people would stick to that topic and keep their personal preferences, well meaning or not, to themselves.

This is absolutely false. There are many activities outside of the youth center on Princess that target families - I mentioned a number of them. They literally market to families! The cruise entertainment team offers numerous activities that are family friendly. And the OP has already stated they are booked to travel with Princess in November, so recommending Disney doesn't really answer the question asked, does it? We tried Disney before we started cruising with Princess and it is way overpriced and my kids actually enjoyed Princess as much or more. OP, you don't say when in November you are traveling, but later in the month you will find the ship decorated for Christmas, and starting with Thanksgiving week through the holidays, Princess adds a lot of extra family activities related to the holidays like gingerbread house decorating, cookie decorating, etc. You will enjoy!

Our kids are all grown up now but they cruised on Princess with us for many years as children. It's true that Princess does have a very good kids program so don't hesitate to take advantage of that for your kids. However, I do understand the desire to also spend time with them onboard as we had similar goals. Although Princess doesn't offer the bells and whistles of some of the other lines like Royal and Carnival, there are some other activities that you can do together as a family. Here are some things you might consider. Sky Princess has a small mini golf area that doesn't get much use that could provide some family fun. There is also an arcade that offers opportunity for game play. And speaking of game play, one of our favorite pastimes on our family cruises was to bring some games along and find a nice spot in one of the lounges to sit and play together. Also, if you enjoy Bingo, although the kids can't play, they can sit with you and help which my kids always found fun. Also, look for family friendly activities offered by the cruise entertainment staff that you can do as a family. Examples would include paper plane and egg drop challenges, scavenger hunts, family friendly games, towel folding demonstrations, arts and crafts projects, etc. There are usually a few activities each day on the agenda that are suitable for the whole family, and much of the Piazza entertainment throughout the day is very family friendly. Talk to the kids staff coordinator as well. Often there are special activities for kids outside the kids club that they might offer, or they might have some great suggestions as well. One big thing - we ALWAYS dined together as a family. The Princess dining teams are super with kids and families and really go out of their way to make it a great experience. Have a great time!