Rudy888

We did a connoisseur land trip last summer. Pur tour guide narrated during our bus trips from place to place. She made dinner reservations at the lodges which was very beneficial. If you have a problem , room, mobility etc. The tour guide will help make arrangements. The tour guide is more like a travel manager.

12 minutes ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

So...just what is the difference between traditional and reserved?  Just the times available? I predict confusion by eliminating anytime, which has been our preferred for years.

 

 

The difference is with traditional you have the same table , same waiter. And if you share the same tablemates, 

Reserved, same time. But maybe different table and waiter. 

On 3/20/2024 at 5:37 PM, Polopup said:

If you're considering book a cruisetour for Alaska this year just skip it and go on a cruise only.  Princess handles the Alaska cruises just fine.  Adding a land tour on to your cruise is an absolute waste of money. 

 

Here are the problems I experienced (that sucked so bad I almost never want to cruise again)

 

1) The "Lodges" are nothing of the sorts.  They are like staying in a 3 star best western, perhaps doublewide might be better.  They are NOTHING like a lodge or cabin style accomodations.  Woefully dissapointed on the lodging.  I've stayed in better Motel 6.

 

2) The bus transportation is slow and you don't "see" any more Alaska than you do on a regular Alaska cruise.

 

3) The train from Whittier up to Denali is 9 hours and I think being in solitary confinement in a prison would be better.

 

All in all it was one of the worst experiences up my life.  Don't do it.  Yes, a Princess cruise to Alaska is great, but adding a land portion and making it a landtour with overnight stays was terrible.

 

And you can see "all" of what Alaska is in an Alaska cruise only!!!

 

We did the cruisetour last year. The best part was the land portion. We cruised Alaska some 18 years ago. We felt the ports no longer felt like Akaska. They felt like the Carrebean, Diamonds Inter, etc. 

The lodges were great. These are not resorts they are Lodges. We were in 5 lodges over 10 days. Most rooms were basic. In general the common areas were great. The food in all was great. Most were in great locations. The bus trips were long but they stopped every few hours. The train, OH the scenery,  that is what we came for and what we saw on the cruisetour.

We were unable to visit Skagway and that may have changed our minds on the cruise portion. I would do the land portion again but not the cruise.

Lots to do in Tampa near the cruise port. Just off Contellation with 3 B2B. Trolley is nice, free. Pirate Water taxi.

I'd stag before the cruise in Tampa. History museum,  Childrens museum, Aquarium . Was not impressed with Ybor city. 

I wonder if they are not used because they are not as comfortable as in the past. People are on the upper levels of the pool deck which are breezy when underway.

I just do not remember from past cruise an empty prominaud deck, empty with chairs and people.

On 3/5/2024 at 10:30 PM, Arizona Wildcat said:

Are you asking about the loungers being uncomfortable or that there are just a few?

As you said, the seating on the promenade deck is rarely crowded.  My DW feels it is to exposed when the ship is underway. 

We were just on the Constellation for 28 days. Nice ship. Past cruises we could ho to the Prominade deck, relax on a padded lounge chair, on the shade and tead or enjoy. The Connie has a great prominade, very wide but almost no chairs. They have a small section for smokers and maybe 20-30 pool loungers at the very end. Not very comfortable. Is this a  trend? I will admit, the loungers they had were under utilized.

We were just on the Constellation 3 back to back 12 5 12. No lectures on the first 2 cruises. On the last 12 date cruise there were lectures every sea day. We attended all and they were well attended.

My wife has some mobility problems. We are looking at a future Holland America Cruise. Which ships have stairs/steps vs. ladders to enter the pools?

3 hours ago, kelliebiz said:

You say you make space if asked, but the thing is nobody is gonna come and ask you. Why put the onus on somebody to come and tell you not to behave this way? You say you’d move to make space, but I would venture to say you’ll give them plenty of eye rolls and sighing noises to let them know you are annoyed.
 

Yes, you need to change your ways. You are being a chair hog if you are occupying that space all day just so that your party will have someplace to sit IF they are there, while people who ARE there don’t have anywhere to sit. 
 

it’s not cool for one person to sit there all day and save seats just in case the other three decide to come back.

I couldn't have said it better

My wife has problem with pool ladders. We were just on the Contellation and the main pool had steps which was great in one of the two pools on the pool deck not counting the indoor pool. What other ships have steps? 

It is instinctive,  they bring 4 or 5 towels neatly arrange, attach their clips, they are building their nest for the day. Watch it is comical.

10 hours ago, ski ww said:

Rude people will never think that they are the problem, it's all about me,me,me. Chair hogs will always be with us.

We were just on the Connie

 The outlet on the desk was close enough to use the standard CPAP cord without an extension. 

We booked the cruise tour with meals included. We felt the lodges good was very good, didn't have to worry about cost. We did 10 days land and felt meals included was the way to go for us

Just now, Rudy888 said:

 

We always went to Cellarmasters before dinner 6pm nevervjaf a problem.

On 2/20/2024 at 12:18 PM, Sailing12Away said:

Seems like you're always having a bit of a wait to get a drink in the evening. Is there no Retreat bar/lounge area on this ship that you can go get something from? 

As some have indicated, prices may not be that bad, and the food has been very good but add to the cost the dinner we did not get in the MDR, and the gratuity it is quite expense. I probably would pay that much a home except force very special occasion

Before "all inclusive" we used Outlook for our Captains club free minutes. Log on, download Emails , send pre-wrtten Emails all done in less than 3-4 minutes.

We like a glass of wine with lunch and maybe 2 at dinner. We are Ellte but the limited selection doesn't work for us. Everybody is different. What works for one doesn't work for someone else.

I always have booked through a TA. I always receive from the TA the confirmation they receive from the cruise line.

I understand Alamo has a faculty close that will pick you up at the cruise port and take you to their office

They had a big sale a couple of months ago for excursions

 Don't know if they will do it again, I hope so.

Anyone ever upgrade and then want to cancel the upgrade? Is that possible?

We will.be cruising on the Constellation on 3 B2B. 28 days

We like the smaller ships. Many do not prefer smaller ships. Fewer specialty restaurants and other activities. We are not gourmets but we do.like good food at the MDR. We will see.