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Paula_MacFan

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Everything posted by Paula_MacFan

  1. No, we're on the 9/7 cruise which is prior to the person I was quoting who said their 9/22 was cancelled.
  2. We're on the cruise right before that, haven't gotten any notices so I hope it's not changed. I guess if there are changes it's good to find out this far in advance 🙂
  3. Here's a link to the official port schedule page and parking options. We've sailed from Galveston many times, most recently January this year. The Regal was at different pier locations depending on the week -- see schedule. https://www.portofgalveston.com/80/Cruise-Lines-Schedules
  4. A few years ago on our Regal New England cruise as we left Newport we sailed past a fancy outdoor wedding in progress on the shore and the captain stopped and sounded the horn. Everyone on shore cheered. I assumed it was planned because if it was my wedding and a random cruise ship interrupted my fancy Newport mansion wedding I might not be amused 🙂 It was a beautiful evening and something we still talk about.
  5. We've sailed on CB twice and didn't have any issues either. We have a Caribbean/Panama Canal cruise booked on CB for 2026 and are looking forward to it. But then again we also sailed on the much-maligned Island last fall and had a great cruise as well.
  6. We just did an Alaska cruisetour in May/June and had a great time. I always book all our travel myself so option #1; however, we do have a Princess CVP who later added on an extra night at the Fairbanks Lodge for us. Otherwise I did all the planning and booking. If you break it down, there really aren't any more 'extras' than on a typical cruise. Per your list: transfers are included in the cruisetour, you can book your own excursions just like you can for a cruise, the insurance is no different than any other trip, and lodging is included in your cruisetour. I would suggest you look carefully at all the options on the Princess website and determine which option fits you best, i.e. Connoisseur, On Your Own, short/long etc. This grid is a nice comparison for all the options. https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/cruisetour-options/cruisetour-finder/ Then it's easy to book yourself online, or seek a TA to book for you. Airfare is easily booked online using the Princess website. I always do this myself and check fares daily and rebook if fares drop or a better flight option becomes available. Also I would suggest you read the Alaska cruisetour FAQs -- that answers a lot of good questions. The PDF download is handy to have. https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/cruisetours We chose the Off the Beaten Path 15 day option and have no regrets. We loved all the lodges but especially Kenai Fjords. We chose not to do Connoisseur as we are not big breakfast eaters and most of our lunches were included in our activities already. So we just paid as we went for evening meals and took grab and go packaged food for quick breakfasts. That also allowed us a little extra sleep in the mornings which was helpful with the big time difference from home 🙂 Lastly I would encourage you to book excursions early -- all of ours went way up in price as time went on, and many were sold out months in advance.
  7. We sailed Alaska on Sapphire this year May/June and would absolutely sail on her again. We were aware of the propulsion issues and were nervous but it wasn't any issue at all for us thankfully. We had an aft cabin which was awesome for Alaska beauty -- saw lots of wildlife sitting on our balcony. We loved the food and the ship was in good condition.
  8. We've sailed on Regal and Sapphire in the past few months and neither time was Alfredos a ghost town. A few weeks ago on Sapphire there was a waiting line and full tables both times we ate there.
  9. We've had to cancel a few excursions over the years and have never gotten any confirmation either. While I wish they would provide something, we've never had any issues getting our refund to the original payment source, usually within a week. I always keep a current copy of the Travel Summary and make notes of the dates excursions are booked and cancelled, if applicable. If you don't get a refund within a week or so I'd follow up, but we've always gotten ours in a reasonable time frame.
  10. We sailed on Sapphire in May/June with no health issues. We wash our hands before going through the buffet. I always carry individually packaged wet wipes and after we go through the buffet we use them before eat. We also generally try to eat everything with utensils and not our hands. By the way I also thought the thread title was referring to actual bugs before I read the OP. Edit to add we also never take the elevators and try not to touch handrails. I carry the individually wrapped wet wipes in my bag all the time. Never know when you have to touch something or the soap dispenser is empty, whether on land or at sea.
  11. Just to be clear I was referring to the USPS Informed Delivery system, not Princess tracking.
  12. This!! I love the system. We've sailed 3 times in the past several months and each time the tracking showed our Medallion progress. It may have been a bit frustrating watching at a snails pace, but they all arrived in time -- even for our recent Alaska cruisetour which we left home a few days early 😀
  13. I did see your post but it seemed you were asking where it would end. The OP said in the original post they were ending their tour in Fairbanks.
  14. I'm not sure why you'd want to get a Princess transfer back to Anchorage when your Cruisetour ends in Fairbanks, or if you even could get a transfer back there. That's a 6 hour drive at least. I'd just fly home from Fairbanks. We just did a 15 day Alaska cruisetour a few weeks ago and found the Fairbanks airport quite adequate. Unless there just aren't any flight options that work with your schedule. It just seems like another unnecessary logistic step.
  15. Thanks for the lecture I guess. I never said it was the best or only way to visit Paris, I was responding to another poster who mentioned looking for a Princess Paris tour.
  16. We did the Paris City Drive and Seine lunch cruise last fall while on the Island, and it was a marvelous day. I know a lot of people say it's too far to go to Paris etc etc, but we have no regrets. We had a fabulous guide who made the 3 hour drive go by so fast, our bus was modern and comfortable, the group size was nice and the bus wasn't full so we could spread out. We had a nice tour of all the sights, then a wonderful lunch on the Bateau Parisiens boat (with three courses of wine 😀) and a nice cruise. We had time for about 1.5 hours on our own afterwards so we walked around the Eiffel Tower, across the bridge, took some pictures and did some shopping. It was a long day but it honestly flew by. We also had a beautiful weather day which helped. I personally would not attempt a private tour for such a distance and we were happy with the Princess tour. We booked it several years in advance and it was postponed several times due to covid before we finally got to go last fall, so we paid $250 (quite a bit less than they are asking now). We are also going back in late 2026 and are hoping to do the Mont St. Michel excursion this time.
  17. Right -- so surely if entertainment is included in CA why wouldn't room service staff. To me they fall under 'dining'.
  18. I don't want to argue the merits or protocol of tipping for room service, but why wouldn't they be included in the tipping pool? Has Princess said they aren't included? https://www.princess.com/html/global/disclaimers/crew-appreciation/
  19. Agreed -- our recent room service orders have been good and the temperature fine. We've taken advantage of the Crown Grill options too and appreciated those after a long day in port. I'm not sure who would order ice cream from room service and expect it to be cold after eating the meal, or if they even still offer ice cream as an option. If I recall our dessert options recently were cheesecake and chocolate cake. But I could be wrong 🙂
  20. I think some people still think of Millennials as young 20-somethings, not people who are mostly in their 30s and early 40s now.
  21. You've already gotten some good advice but wanted to chime in on recommending the 8 hour tour. We did it last fall through Princess and it was a fabulous day. It was not too long at all -- it flew by! We had a great guide who provided commentary on our walking tour. Then we had a lovely canal tour. Lunch was on our own at a quaint local cafe, then time on our own. We went to the torture museum (maybe not for everyone but we enjoyed it 😀) and then did some shopping. It was a great day with a nice mix of guided time and on our own. My thoughts are we flew across the world to see these places -- let's make the most of our days ashore and not rush back to the ship. Hope you have a great trip! PS - take some coins for public washrooms.
  22. I'm trying to figure out what you mean by 'woke'. We've been cruising Princess for 20 years. I've noticed lately their marketing is geared toward younger people. We've cruised 3 times in past few months, haven't noticed any huge shifts in the Princess product onboard.
  23. Without knowing more about the actual timing involved of your schedule, I'd advise looking at the Travel Summary for the person in your party. Ours had detailed information regarding our transfers - where to meet, what to expect, etc.
  24. I can't answer specifically about departures but we arrived at Fairbanks in May around midnight and Princess picked us up as part of our cruisetour. I would assume if their buses are running for arrivals they would also be running for departures? Nonetheless the airport is very close to the lodge and you should be able to easily get a taxi. They were readily available when we arrived at the airport in May. It's under 2 miles and a quick 5 minute ride. My other thought is what do they plan to do after checkout time at 11am until they go to the airport for their midnight flight? Are they just going to hang out around the lodge all day? That would be a bigger concern for me vs getting a ride to the airport. Maybe I've misinterpreted the schedule though.
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