tsg

We normally only buy maybe 1 or 2 pictures on a cruise. Our cruise earlier this month was the first time we've cruised with my husband's family and my mother-in-law wanted to make sure we did some group pictures since we aren't all together often. So, we decided to do the $99 pre-cruise deal. We ended up with 31 photographs. I'd say only 5-7 of those are decent enough that I'd put them on FB and only maybe 2 that I would print and frame. The deal was tied to our room so my husband and I took advantage of every photo opportunity. They do have you do a bunch of cheesy poses. If I did it again, I'd just tell them the poses we wanted and not let them pose us.

Can you elaborate on the additional menu items?

Thanks

I wish I had paid more attention. I only remember that on one of the formal nights they offered lobster thermador as the special because I ordered it. The regular menu had lobster tails I believe that night. Sorry, I don't recall what the options were on the other nights.

How does the club class dining, food and overall experience, compare to anytime dinner dining?

As stated above, the menu is the same with a special item offered each night. On one of the formal nights, it was lobster thermidor in addition to the lobster tails on the menu. I only recall the one from that night because it was the one time I ordered the special.

Maybe because we had a group of 5 or maybe because we dined later - around 7:30 or 8:00, but we had the same table and the same wait staff every time we dined there for dinner.

We were on the Ruby last week and had Club Class dining. This was a family cruise and my mother-in-law generously treated everyone to suites. This was our first time sailing in a suite and only our second cruise on Princess so I can't really compare it much to whatever it was like before.

Our experience with Club Class dining was positive. We were always seated right away. My estimate is that Club Class was maybe 1/4 of the Da Vinci dining room. We tended to eat later usually between 7:30 and 8:00. I never saw a line on the other side at that late time. I did see lines earlier in the evening, but didn't notice whether they were people waiting to be seated or just waiting for the dining room to open. We sat at the same table each evening and had the same wait staff. I really did not notice a lot of wait staff in the Club Class section. It was not full at that time and once we sat down and started our dinner I didn't really notice the comings and going of the other diners.

My husband and I also ate there twice without the rest of the family for lunch.

I'm happy to try and answer specific questions. It seems the main concern is how it affects ATD and since we weren't hanging around early when it seems most people go to eat, I can't really say.

Will Club Class passengers have a separate section for Breakfast?

We are just off a week on the Ruby Princess and the Club Class section of the dining room was open for lunch/brunch. We did not try to eat breakfast there, but I believe it was open for breakfast as well.

Thank you all. I did check the Princess board first and there were conflicting accounts. Most said they stayed on local time, but there were a few itineraries where they stayed on ship time. So, I thought I would ask about this specific itinerary.

SadieN - Our stops are Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo. I found some Patters finally and it seems to be in line with your experience. They had the clocks going forward one hour after leaving LA which would match local time except for in Puerto Vallerta where we would be an hour behind.

Thanks!

Do the Princess ships on this itinerary observe the local time or is there a set ship time? I like to leave a copy of our itinerary with a family member and with our pet sitter in case they need to reach us and I'm trying to determine what times we will be in ports and have cell phone access.

Thanks!

There is some info on the glass blowing factory here https://cabosanlucascruiseexcursions.com/excursions/private-coastal-highlights-site-seeing/ , looks very interesting . I did a search online and it sounds like Sunset Da Mona Lisa

Thank you. The tripadvisor reviews were confusing because it seems that some people were reviewing the factory and others were reviewing a store of same or similar name. That restaurant looks very nice, but it is only open for dinner. So if it is the same one from the excursion, it looks like we would have to book the excursion to go there as our ship leaves before they open to the public.

I mean this with the utmost of respect. I know plenty of people do these dolphin swim things and really enjoy them, but are you going to ask the other people before you book. As a serious animal lover myself, I would never participate in this activity. Dolphin captivity is already banned in Maui and there are groups working on trying to get it banned on the other Hawaiian islands. After reading about it more, we decided not to do one when we were in Hawaii. I would be upset if someone bought this for me and I had to hurt their feelings by refusing to participate.

Princess has an excursion in Cabo that visits a glass blowing factory and ends at a restaurant with a city tour included. It lasts for four hours. We'd like to do a shortened version on our own.

Has anyone done this tour and can you tell me the name of the glass blowing factory and it's location?

Also might be interested in the restaurant. It is described as "One of the area's most renowned restaurants offers you a refreshing complimentary beverage while you take in sweeping panoramic views of the Bay of Cabo San Lucas. The restaurant is cantilevered over the water, so you can sit in a nice shaded spot and look out over the bay. You will see the famous El Arco in the distance as well as your ship at anchor." Any idea of the name?

Thanks!

We sailed out of Vancouver on Saturday, July 30 and had no problems. There were two ships in port - the HAL Nieuw Amsterdam and the Star Princess. We had a leisurely morning and lunch. I don't recall exactly what time we arrived at the port, but somewhere around 2 or 2:20PM. We dropped off our luggage and proceed upstairs to check in. There was a minimal wait of only a few minutes and then we proceeded to immigration/customs and security. I'd estimate we were through the whole process in 30-45 minutes although I didn't keep track. Our luggage was already waiting in out cabins when we arrived. Overall, I thought it was a very smooth and efficient process that day.

tsg: You must have been on the same excursion we were on (August 1) because you had the same experience. What a great time! Also, the guides, especially the captain, were outstanding.

Yes, we were. We also thought the captain and guides were great. What a fantastic day.

Does anyone know if Allen Marine has been able to do the small boats to the Sawyer Glaciers this week? We have a cruise next week that we chose in part because it has a service stop for the small boat excursion. While we will surely have a great time regardless, it will be disappointing if this is cancelled.

Just returned from our cruise and am happy to report that we were able to make it into Tracy Arm and the North Sawyer Glacier on our Allen Marine excursion. There was too much ice to go to the South Sawyer Glacier, but the weather was beautiful and we had a great morning. We spotted five bears along the shore on our way in and out and a few whales on our way back to Juneau. This is the second time I've done this excursion and it is always a highlight of our trips.

Does anyone know if Allen Marine has been able to do the small boats to the Sawyer Glaciers this week? We have a cruise next week that we chose in part because it has a service stop for the small boat excursion. While we will surely have a great time regardless, it will be disappointing if this is cancelled.

We have done NCL out of Seattle before, but have decided on HAL for our trip this year for several reasons. The primary reason is because the NA itinerary gives both a service call for the excursion to Tracy Arm and a day in Glacier Bay. We've done both on different cruises and enjoyed them equally so we wanted our family members who are going with us this time to be able to experience both. Second, because it is leaving from Vancouver. I've read this is more scenic and tends to have better sailing (I suffer from motion sickness sometimes and if I do it is generally on the first sea day so the smoother the better.) We also felt the HAL NA itinerary had better and longer port times. I'll try to remember to come back and give a comparison of ship and services between HAL and NCL after our cruise.

Are there any Hilton properties in good locations? That's where we have the most points.

We are staying at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown. According to Google Maps it's about 30 minutes by taxi or public transportation. It's not close to the cruise terminal, but my husband gets a discount through his company and since he stays at Hilton almost exclusively for work he has a high loyalty status and is willing to pay the taxi fare in exchange for the points.

The 1:00 arrival time is when the HAL ship is scheduled to arrive in Juneau - not when those on the Tracy Arm excursion get to Juneau. The OP wants to know the time of the latter.

Correct. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Juneau at 1pm, but I'm trying to determine when the Tracy Arm excursion arrives.

I was able to finally see the excursions in all the ports, but the Tracy Arm excursion information is still not showing up.

We are booked on a HAL cruise with a service stop for the Tracy Arm excursion. The excursion information is currently not available on the website and I can't recall the duration. I know the start time for the excursion is listed as 9:30am and the service stop is listed on the itinerary as 10-10:30am. I'm also not sure if the duration starts from when we meet or when we depart the ship.

I'm trying to figure out about what time we can expect to meet up with the ship in Juneau. Some in our party may be interested in booking another excursion in Juneau.

Has anyone done this excursion? Do you remember about what time you arrived in Juneau?

I'm having the same problem. It was happening intermittently last week to me too. I have tried several time yesterday and today and it's not working at all. Frustrating. :(

With only time for a cruise, then the best fit is going to be HAL. I have done this itinerary a few times, and it is excellent. Round trip out of Vancouver. You do have to add into your costs, the add on ship tour for Tracy Arm Don't get caught up in the "myth" of HAL not being "casual", I've sailed them several times in Alaska, and no change in my simple attire from any line sailing up there. Haven't done formal nights in over 10 years either. :)

 

I have also taken Carnival in Alaska, numerous times. Wrong thinking - if you are comparing to the Caribbean. :)

Thanks all. We did end up booking the HAL round trip Vancouver. It includes Glacier Bay and the service stop for the excursion to Tracy Arm. Really excited that our travel companions will get to do both - fingers crossed the weather cooperates.

I can't speak to the Millenium, but we've sailed Aft on our last two cruises and I got motion sickness both times. For me, I think it was the vibrations from whatever equipment was below us. On the last cruise, I used a scopolamine patch for the first time and was nauseated, but got out of my room and to the middle of the ship and it eventually passed. We were also in Alaska leaving from Seattle and once we got into the inside passage I was fine for the rest of the cruise (I did keep wearing the patch to be safe). I love, love, love the views though, which is why I tried a second time.

For our next cruise, I'm going to go back to something mid-ship and see how I do. My husband was fine on the last cruise - on the one before that which was New England/Canada even he didn't feel well and he rarely has any problems with motion.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. Due to work schedules, this will have to be a 7 day cruise. We might be able to fit in a few days on land in Alaska before or after, but do not have the time for a back to back or 14 day cruise this time. I probably also should have mentioned that we need to go in late July or August so the cruise itineraries that are only early and late in the season aren't an option.

I think I've narrowed it down to a couple of dates on Princess and Hal that have long enough time in port in Juneau to allow for an excursion to Tracy Arm. Putting together the options today so we can discuss with family this weekend and hopefully make a decision soon.

One thing with HAL and going solo... They *say* you can bring 2 bottles of wine per stateroom...but in reality it is one per person up to 2 per stateroom. So unlike other lines I have encountered where 2 means 2 regardless of how many people are in the stateroom, HAL does in a sense punish solos by only allowing one bottle.

 

If that matters.

It matters. :D Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the information. Good to know that other than the double rate the other fees should be the same. I've been looking for rooms and finding three adjacent balcony rooms may be difficult.

Earl - Thank you for the suggestion. I was trying to get us all close to each other if not adjacent, but it would be a good idea to have rooms on each side so we can enjoy both views.

I've always cruised with my husband or a friend. This year I am planning a cruise to Alaska for us plus two other family members. Neither of them have cruised before. I just assumed they would share a cabin, but they have both expressed an interest in having their own cabin. I think we've narrowed our choices down to either Princess or HAL. Looking at a couple of cruise itineraries, it looks like they would have to pay the same as if two people were in the cabin. Wondering though how things like the automatic gratuities are calculated. For one person, for two, something in between? Is there anything else we should know about before they book as a single?

Thanks!