goodie2shoes

According to a recent email from Princess, Luigi Pascale will be the Maitre d' on the Pacific Princess for our cruise on June 17, 2014. Please update the list.

Can someone point me in the direction to find a Complete Listing of Wines available on Princess for 2015 & 2015? I have heard that they no longer carry one of my wife's favorite, Chateau St Michele Riesling. :confused:

This is also one of my favorite wines, and one I have enjoyed on Princess for many years. I'm sailing in less than 2 weeks, so I will know for sure then, but I was on board for a BVE and checked the wine list while I was there. I'm sad to say it is gone.

I agree. 1030 is about the earliest they start taking luggage.

 

 

Mike:)

And last time we sailed out of there every porter working on the Princess ship went to lunch at the same time at about 1100. Of course we arrived just at that time, so there was no one who would touch our luggage. DH had to lug it all into the building and deposit it somewhere inside while I waited outside with our carry-on.

Thanks for this!

 

I think after doing some more reading this morning, we are leaning towards the Pacific. My older son is thinking we've done everything Alaska has to offer, but maybe a different sized ship will show him differently. :)

The difference is like night and day. I love the other two ships, but for Alaska the small ships are the best. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did, and expect to do again very soon.

I have sailed the Golden, Sapphire and Pacific. For Alaska the choice is hands down the Pacific Princess. Less crowds means easier access to good viewing when in Glacier Bay. Things to do on board are not as important during the day as there is always something to see when cruising, but there are activities for those who wish to participate, and the time in ports is always filled completely with things to see and do. My daughter, who had also sailed on the Golden and Sapphire enjoyed every minute of it as well. I'll be heading to Vancouver in just two weeks to board her again for another wonderful time in Alaska.

We have sailed the same itinerary on both the Ocean and Pacific, one year apart. We found the experience to be the same on both ships. The only difference would be in the passengers, and there's no way to figure that one out. Since we were in the exact same cabin on the cruises, I can say that the furnishings were almost identical. Choose which one works best for the time you want to sail, and don't worry about not getting the best ship. They are both the best in the fleet! I love the small ships!

We did it once, and like the previous poster we would probably not do it again. You will find the whole atmosphere completely different from the usual Princess cruise. It is the ultimate party ship! There were bachelor and bachelorette parties that ran all night long. We took a look at what was going on early in the evening, decided to go to our cabin and lock the door. Just a bit too wild for us.

But we also know people who love it and do it as often as they can. So I would say give it a try. You may be one of those who love it too.

We have done it 5 times, all while staying in a suite. We have never been turned down when we request it from a suite. I don't think being Elite has any bearing on whether or not you get in, but I do believe that even before they listed it as a suite perk you got in automatically if you were in a suite.

We normally don't bother to get off the ship when it's such a short stay, but a couple of years ago we decided to book the Pub Crawl. I was cancelled due to lack of interest. So be aware that if enough decide to stay on the ship tours will be cancelled.

The only problem we have had with light on the balcony was one trip when our neighbors left their light on all the time. I mentioned it to the steward, and he turned it off when he cleaned their room. It never came on again, so I guess the neighbors didn't know where the switch was.

No. Sabatini's is not open for breakfast on disembarkation day. We were able to order the egg sandwich from room service that day on the Star in Alaska last year though.

You are going to love the ship and your suite. While we have not been in that one, we have been in 7119, deck below you and on the starboard side. We will be there again in June, so it's exciting to hear from someone who is going to be on before us to check her out. I'll be watching for your posts while I start packing.

Why?

 

I suspect they are trying to make the product so bad that passengers weill avoid it.

 

Then Princess can eliminate the dining room lunch on embarkation day claiming it was not used enough to justify continuing it.

 

One question about the limited menu. Were the always available items such as hamburger not also included?

I think you are very correct about them wanting to get rid of the dining room lunch on embarkation day. They have always made it difficult to get in or even to find out which dining room it is going to be in.

As for the limited menu, the answer to your question is NO. Nothing other than what I listed was offered. My husband had almost decided before we got on board that he was going to have a hamburger. Didn't happen. I really wish we had got up and left when we saw the menu. There are other places to eat available, and since we were among the first on board they shouldn't have been too crowded yet.

There are crab legs available for a $20 surcharge if they are offering the Crab Shack in the HC. I believe that is the crab legs the prior poster referenced.

 

You can also pay $24 for one King Crab leg at Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau.

 

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Be aware that King Crab is NOT in season during the summer. Tracy's will be serving you the same frozen crab legs you could buy at home.

Salmon is available in all the ports you mentioned. King Crab (frozen and very expensive) is also available. On board Princess ships we have seen Reindeer Chili served on deck during Glacier Bay cruising. The salmon served on board has always been Atlantic, and comes out of the freezer. On 8 Princess cruises in Alaska we have never seen fresh, local fish brought on board. But I keep hoping. . .

The only time we have seen fresh local salmon brought on board a cruise we were on was on Oceania a couple of years ago. It was delicious!

When you disembark in a port ask a local where to find what you want. They have always sent us to good places, and often not too expensive ones.

We were on the Sapphire in January, and the embarkation lunch menu was terrible. It had several different choices but the food was just plain bad. I wish we had done what you did. But we sat there and tried to eat what they served us. Thank goodness the food was better for the rest of the cruise! It seems they are really trying to discourage people from using the dining room.

Our next cruise is June on the Pacific. We'll see what happens there. And then in the fall, when the ships start moving out of Alaska, we will do some more BVE's. With new ships coming to our ports and the ones we know and love leaving, we need to see what looks good to us for future cruises. How better to do that than spend a few hours on board and check it out. We may run into each other one day.

In the last two weeks we have done the Bon Voyage Experience twice in San Pedro. They were very different and neither was like any experience Pam has talked about here. I would like to give you my thoughts about each of them, in the hopes that if you are wanting to do one you will have a better idea of how different they can be.

Wednesday, April 16th we scheduled our first BVE on the Island Princess. This was the first Princess ship we ever sailed on, and we wanted to say hello to the “old girl” and see how she was looking after nearly 10 years. She was beautiful, and we felt as much at home as we did when we first sailed her to Hawaii. We arrived at the port to check in at around 11:00 a.m., having been instructed to be there by 11:30 a.m. by Princess. There were no lines anywhere. We walked in and were directed to the check in where we were quickly given our cards, a map of the ship, and a letter. We then went to a special seating area to wait until it was time to board. We sat and chatted with others who were also doing the BVE. Everyone had a different reason for being there, and sharing those reasons made the time go quickly. Shortly after 11:30 a.m. the Future Cruise Consultant came and joined us and checked everyone off on her list. We were missing two people, so we waited. They arrived near noon, and we all were then escorted on board. We stopped and had our pictures taken as we boarded, just as usual, and were told to come to the photo gallery to pick them up before we left the ship. Since it was time for lunch, the FCC suggested that we go eat and then tour as we desired, and if we had questions to come ask her and she would assist. So that’s what we did. The menu is the one that Pam has mentioned – the normal embarkation day lunch, with lots of choices and yummy food. After wandering around and seeing all the areas we remembered, we collected our pictures (they gave each of us one) and since it was near time to disembark, we did. While the service at lunch was not up to par, we excused it as we knew it was possible that there were new people in the positions who were still learning their duties. My biggest complaint was that when I asked what wines they were serving the best answer I could get was “red and white.” Over all, though it was a shorter time on board than we had expected (less than 3 hours), we were happy we did it.

Saturday, May 3, we were booked on the Crown Princess. This is a new ship to us, as we have never sailed on her or any of her class. Since she is going to be on the West Coast for a while, and ships we know and love are leaving, we figured we needed to get acquainted to see how we liked her. This time traffic was very light, and we arrived at the port early. We parked, and watched people getting off at the end of their cruise. There was a second ship in port that day (actually 3, but the third one was not at this pier), we noticed that those who were wanting a taxi were waiting a very long time for one. There seemed to be a lot less available than what we are used to seeing. But everyone seemed in good spirits and had a smile on their face. We noticed that they were letting people enter the building so we decided to get out of the heat and go inside to wait for check in to start. We were inside the building a little after 10:00 a.m., and check in started around 11:00 a.m., but we didn’t mind. It was cool and the seats were comfortable. We were happy. Our check in didn’t go as smooth as the last time, as the machine that reads your passport didn’t want to read mind. Finally it did, and we were ready to go. Again we got our cards and a letter plus a full size brochure with the ship schedules through March 2015. It was nice, but awkward to try to handle. You couldn’t fold it and put in anything. Mine ended up on a chair and stayed there when we finally boarded. We were not given a map of the ship, so my husband had to try to get back through security to get one. Not easy, but he managed.

It seemed everything was running late. There was nothing set up in the Elite waiting area. No coffee, water or anything. I’m sure there were a lot of unhappy people because of that. Not a good start to the cruise for many people.

So we were seated in “our special area” and watched people, and there were plenty of watch. We were told there were about 60 people on our BVE, and in addition there were 64 travel agents doing lunch and a tour as well. Of course we talked to lots of people, and enjoyed hearing their experiences and sharing some of ours. Time passed, and I was looking for the Future Cruise Consultant to show up, but she didn’t come. We asked if anyone knew why no one was boarding. No one knew (and I still don’t know). Noon came and passed. Still no one and no information. Finally, about 12:30 p.m. they called the TAs and they quickly boarded. Then they called us, and we followed. It was 12:45 when we stepped foot on the ship. Still no one with us to tell us where to go. We went inside, and finally, across the ship we spotted the Future Cruise Consultant. She was trying to catch everyone and tell them to just go do whatever they wanted and have a good time. We asked which dining room we were to have lunch in, and she told us where it was and how to get there. So we headed straight there, were quickly seated, and looked forward to a good lunch.

There was no photo area set up before you boarded, so after we were seated in the dining room a photographer came around and took our picture, but didn’t tell us where or when to get it.

When the menu was brought we couldn’t believe what we saw. I wish I knew how to attach a picture, but I don’t, so here is what the choice was:

Menu

Cold Smoked Salmon and Crayfish Tails

bloody mary marinated crayfish served with dilled cucumber salad

OR

Fettuccine Alfredo in Crisp Parmesan Basket

An All-Time Princess Favorite

rich, comforting, and entirely satisfying

Trout Amandine

toasted almonds and brown butter, creamed leeks and parsley potatoes

OR

Chateaubriand of Beef Tenderloin

truffle-madeira essence, market-fresh vegetables and berny potatoes

Milk Chocolate-Hazelnut Souffle’

amaretto sabayon

Coffee or Tea with Homemade Gourmandises

That is the entire menu. Note that in each case where there were two options it was "OR" with "both" not an option. No substitutions, though they did ask if we wanted the Fettuccini Alfredo in an appetizer portion or a full serving. Of course, it was very good, and the Chateaubriand was cooked exactly the way we ordered it, and was very tasty. The lady next to us ordered the same thing cooked differently, and it appeared to be cooked to the temperature she ordered. At the end of the meal we asked for the Gourmandises (the waitress called them “a plate of little cookies”) and waited and waited for them. I finally reminded her and she said she hadn’t forgot. Finally the plate came, and she said they ran out and had to go make up another for us. It was different from what the next table got earlier in the afternoon.

There was a mother with her pre-teen daughter sitting next to us, and she asked if there was a children’s menu, as the girl did not want anything that was offered. After much discussion the waitress went to talk to someone and finally came back and said they could fix her a hot dog or hamburger or spaghetti, but she did not have a menu to show them. The girl finally said she would eat a hot dog, but she was obviously not happy about it. When they finished they left and headed to the pizza bar to get the girl something she would like. This was a poor start to what the mother hoped would be an experience that would convince the girl that she would enjoy a cruise. It seems the girl was afraid of sailing, and the mother hoped to entice her with this experience. I sure hope it worked and they found some things she would enjoy.

So, we finish lunch, and it’s 2:30 p.m. We went looking for the photo gallery, figuring that would be where we would find the picture. There was a photographer taking pictures of people as they came by that way, so I assume they were trying to catch as many people as they could after they boarded. We asked him about the pictures and he said they would be at the counter when they were ready, and that they were working on them. We thanked him and walked away, to leave the ship without our picture because we were not going to hang around and wait. People were already heading to their Muster Stations with their life vests. We got off the ship about 2:45 p.m., and it was like a salmon swimming upstream. People were pouring on. We looked down and saw cages full of luggage everywhere (except on the ship). We hoped that it all got on before the ship left port for the sake of the people on board, heading for Vancouver.

When we got back into the building there were still hundreds of people sitting in the waiting areas, hoping that their group would be called soon. I hope they were, as I am sure they were exhausted and more than ready to get on board, into their cabin, and maybe even get a bite to eat.

So now I want to ask Pam just what magic she works to be on board long enough to relax with friends, have a drink, and feel good about her day. We were exhausted by the time we got off. The noise level in the waiting area was very high, and I have never been in a dining room that was so loud as well. I guess noise bothers me more than it does some people, but I was wishing I had a cabin to go to and get away from it all. Over all the BVE gave me what I wanted. I had a chance to see a little bit of the ship, and form an opinion about whether or not I would enjoy a cruise on her. But the time was so short – only a bit over 2 hours total with lunch taking most of that time because of slow service – that it was not the experience I had hoped for.

We were in San Pedro yesterday and observed a porter stapling someone's luggage tags on the bags. It appeared they were taped, and he didn't feel they were secure so he was putting staples in to make sure. I would think he would know what was the best way, but you never know.

One reason, at least for me, is that I get a ton of OBC (over $550 for my next cruise) so why would I pay $$$ when it's covered by the OBC? :) When I got one on the Sapphire after boarding, they hand wrote the charge and it was put into the system after sailing so there was no local tax.

Same with us. We have over $800 on our June 7 day Alaska cruise. We did a cruise on another line in January that included wine at lunch and dinner, sodas, water, and booze in our cabin. Also included all gratuities. We had to work very hard to use up our OBC on that trip. We thought we had it all covered, but when checking our account on the final sea day we discovered that there had been more added to our account. Fortunately that was refundable, as it was the result of them charging us for something we didn't purchase when we booked and no one noticed. They credited what we didn't use back to our credit card immediately after the cruise. We saw it on our cc account the next day after disembarking when we got home.

I'm sure I would like them if they thought about us "plus size" women. I can't get them closed, so what's the use of having them take up closet space? I'm glad they won't be in the cabin unless I request it in the future.

We learned about Bonine when our daughter was a pre-teen. We took the ferry to Victoria, and she (and her dad) got sick. In Victoria we found a pharmacy and bought Bonine on their recommendation. Both took it and the trip back was enjoyed by every one. They both keep it handy when cruising to this day (dad is 74).

May is early, and may be a bit cooler, but it is dryer as well, so you should not have to deal with as much rain as later in the season. We have done the first cruise available for the season several times, and it was fine. In fact, we sailed on May 10 one year, and it was one of the best. I have also sailed on HAL and they do a very good job in Alaska. While I have not been on the Oosterdam, I would not hesitate to book it if it fit what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it.

Our best wishes for your mom and family. It's so nice of you to take this over so she doesn't have to worry about it at all.

I just called and booked for both the Crown on May 3 and the Island on April 16. I'm going to check again near the end of the Alaska season and see what they are offering in the fall. It's great to be able to get acquainted with the new ships on the West Coast, and to renew an acquaintance with an old friend, the Island Princess, our first Princess ship.

If you haven't already done it, stop by the Member Services office at your Kaiser Medical office. They will provide you with any forms and phone numbers to be used if you need medical assistance. We carry them with us on each cruise, though we haven't had to use them (knock on wood). My DH has had a similar problem, and the nurses showed me how to pack and remove the packing material because we live some distance from the doctors. We only went in once a week for them to check it. Each day the wound got smaller until I could no longer pack anything in it. The most important thing is to keep everything clean. I am not going to tell you to go ahead with the cruise because it is up to you and how you feel about doing it. If you feel confident, go for it! I know we would not stay home if we were confident that we could handle the normal progress of the healing. And, according to our doctor at Kaiser, the ships facilities and personnel are excellent. Have a great cruise to Hawaii! We love it. In fact, I think maybe it's time to start looking at a date to do it again.

September is more likely to have mosquitos than May. Some areas near glaciers will be off limits in May because of the seals and new pups. There are good things and bad things about any time. I prefer May because of the drier weather and more daylight. I have seen it be 90 degrees on my balcony in May, and a day or two later cold and heavy rain. Just go with an open mind and don't get upset if something doesn't turn out as you imagined it.