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We just got off of the Caribbean Princess yesterday.  We had an "obstructed" oceanview cabin - E410  - but it was a perfect location and very little obstruction.  You will LOVE the Caribbean Princess - it was one of our top cruises of all times as the Cruise Director, Matt, is hysterical - and his staff is incredible.  The Ocean Medallion worked great for us and we loved how it would unlock the door - and help us find our "shipmates" as well.  The internet is very fast.  It was a great cruise and I wish we were still there!  You will have a wonderful week!

Another vote for Island Wide Family Tours! We just returned from the POA and we used them for both Hilo and Kona and they were awesome. They will do what you want to do and all their tours are private. Kyle is Mary Lou's son and he and his wife used to do the overflow for Mary Lou until they started their own awhile ago. They have a great love and knowledge of their island and will be happy to share. Highly recommend!

We booked a tour with Island Wide Family Tours, which is run by Mary Lou's son, Kyle. All of their tours are private and they will customize whatever you would like to do. They have been great to work with and we booked with them for both Kona and Hilo. They are definitely worth checking out!!

We love packing cubes - can't be without them. We have used the envelopes as well as the cubes and both are so easy. I do not think they add much weight as they are very light but they organize and make things so easy to unpack. We have used Ebags and they are great and have been used for several years and still look like new.

Having sailed on all 3 ships, I would definitely give the edge to the Star. We recently completed our 3rd Alaskan cruise - and it was on the Star - and our best cruise ever. I believe Captain Tuvo is returning to the Star and he will make a great cruise a fantastic cruise. Never have had a captain as enjoyable as he is - he is amazing. Our second choice would be the Coral if we could not sail on the Star.

We are sailing on the POA in April 2019 and this will be our second cruise on her. We have also done land vacations on the islands, but if your time is limited then the POA is the best way to see the islands - especially with the overnights in Maui and Kauai.

We are looking forward to sailing her again and never experienced any problems with our first cruise on her and are expecting to have a fantastic cruise this time as well. It is a different cruise experience from other itineraries, or ships, but it is a wonderful experience! We are spending a week on Oahu before boarding.

We just got off the Star on 9/9 after our Alaska cruise and the ship is in great shape. No major problems at all and we loved the entire week. Captain Tuvo is absolutely amazing and his positivity and happiness is reflected in the crew as this was one of the friendliest crews we have ever had. Captain Tuvo was leaving the ship for 2 months when our cruise ended but said he would be back on the Star.

Would sail on the Star again in a heartbeat!

On our trip to Alaska we used our Verizon phone in Ketchikan to call home. No problem with the cell transmission.

 

Then we later got the bill - we got hit with ROAMING Charges, big time.

 

We no longer have Verizon.

We have Verizon as well and just returned from Alaska. No problem with service and no roaming charges in any of the ports. Sounds very strange as Alaska is included in the national plans.

Today we returned from our 3rd Alaska cruise - the first one was NB followed by a land tour. Our second cruise was SB with the land first, then cruise. This time we DIY for 5 days before the cruise, and sailed SB again as we believe it is much better than the NB ones. We fly from NC and the flight to Anchorage is very long as well as the time difference (4 hours) and we would rather get that over with in the beginning and have a shorter flight home after the cruise.

We left Whittier at 8:30 pm and it was not dark - a little drizzly but not bad at all. We had great weather the entire trip, with the exception of Glacier Bay, which has always been iffy. All 3 of our trips have been at this same time of year and every time we have had all sunshine and temps in the mid 60's - perfect. Having sailed both NB and SB we also feel the SB is so much prettier on the last day as you sail the inland passage and through Seymour Narrows - going NB it is dark when you go through this area. This cruise the captain made an announcement around 4:30 a.m. stating the Northern Lights were out and what a show it was. This is the first time we have ever seen them, but will never forget the thrill and beauty. We also could not dock in Skagway due to the recent rock slide they had and we were diverted to Haines and many of the ships tours were cancelled, however, we had booked a private tour with Beyond Skagway to go to the Yukon and they were outstanding in getting us reduced rates on the high speed ferry to Skagway and back - and it was a gorgeous day.

We could not ask for a better cruise - the captain and crew were some of the friendliest we have ever encountered on our 14 Princess cruises. Outstanding! Hope we can go back again as it is spectacular!

We will be taking our 3rd cruise to Alaska and the 3rd time in September! We have been very lucky previously and have had perfect weather on both cruises and land portion. As the weather can be so unpredictable at any time of year in Alaska, we have been very lucky - but will be prepared for all types of weather. Love the colors of September and to see the "termination" snow on the mountains is awesome! Always a great time!

We saw him on the Regal the week of March 5-12 and he was awesome. We went to all of his shows and they were hysterical. He is so talented - and humble. He said he was getting off of the ship on March 12, taking a week off and then back on another ship but not sure which one. He also mentioned he would be doing the Alaska cruises out of Seattle this summer.

If we ever have the chance to see him again, we would do so in a heartbeat. Good, clean humor - outstanding! He had everyone having a wonderful time. He also filled in for the Captain during the Voice final and he was great!

Was the rescue of the fishing boat on the 3/5 cruise, or the week before? If it was the 3/5 cruise I missed it.

It was during sunset. The Voice of the Ocean had not yet started and the Captain was scheduled to be a coach, however, once he made the announcement about the fishing boat, his name was removed and replaced with Steve Moris. I believe Princess gave them enough fuel to get to the Bahamas. To the best of my knowledge, they did not bring them onboard. I can only imagine how those onboard the fishing boat felt when they saw the Regal turn around and head back to them.

We were also on this sailing - our second time on the Regal as we sailed her last March as well. She is a gorgeous ship and we had a fantastic time even despite the winds the first few days. We found the crew to be outstanding and very happy as every single crew member we saw, smiled and spoke to us.

We had a deluxe balcony cabin on Dolphin deck and loved the cabin and location. Typically we like the aft facing cabins, which we had last year, however, since the reclassification, we decided to go with a deluxe balcony and it was great. We had the champagne breakfast on the balcony one day - fantastic.

We did not attend the production shows since we saw them last year, but we did attend all of Steve Moris' shows and he was the best ever. Could listen to him for hours and he provides pure entertainment.

The rescue of the fishing boat was amazing. Captain Street is one of our favorite captains and it was wonderful how he kept everyone informed during the process. He also participated in the Liars game show and it was great to see the other side of him. Billy Hygate was the CD and he was one of the best we have ever seen.

We had such a great time on this cruise. We were travelling with many friends and everyone thought this cruise was definitely awesome - despite the weather, which no one can control. For as windy as it was, we felt the ship handled it very well. Would have loved for it to have been calmer and warmer, but we were still on a ship, away from work - and it was wonderful!

Loved hearing the Love Boat theme played when we passed the Royal Princess. You can't help but smile!

We are counting down to our next cruise this August to Alaska on the Star, but would definitely book the Regal again in a heartbeat!

We will be in Amber Cove on March 7 on the Regal Princess and have booked a tour with Marysol Tours for our group. Francisco has been wonderful to work with over the past few months. We are doing a private tour which includes the cable car, rum factory, amber museum, Fort San Filipe, Central Park, fruit market, Malecon, cigar factory. Tour looks great and covers everything we hope to see.

We have done both and prefer the southbound and are doing that again this September on the Star Princess. We like flying to Anchorage first and spending time in the area (have done cruise tours both previous times but this time we are DIY). Truthfully you can't go wrong either way - we just prefer the times in port and flights home from Vancouver.

If she's not available she'll probably recommend someone else. If not post and I'll ask my friends on St Thomas for other recommendations.

I have emailed her already so hopefully I will hear from her before long....I will keep you posted on our success. Thank you again - I really appreciate your help and info!

If you make a reservation you save time, because the taxi is waiting for you so you don't have to wait for a taxi to fill up and maybe make stops along the way to Red Hook.

 

There are many good taxi drivers on St Thomas, but you may want to contact Clover Fleming at yamflem@yahoo.com. Very nice lady!

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for. I will reach out to her and give her all our info and go from there!

Thanks!

We will be visiting St. Thomas on March 8 on the Regal Princess and will be in port from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. As far as I can tell, we will be docked at Havensight, and we have a group of 8 who are heading to St. John for the day and a tour with Starfish Tours. Does anyone know if a taxi can be prebooked for our group or should be able to find one easily once we disembark to take us to Red Hook? Since we have an extra long day in St. Thomas, we are hoping to spend most of our time on St. John and should have plenty of time to enjoy the tour and relax and enjoy afterwards as well.

My main concern is getting a taxi for our group - or shouldn't I worry? Thanks for any advice you can give!!

On our last trip to Alaska, we took this excursion and it was the best ever! We had a large group and everyone had an incredible time. It is a long day, but worth it. When the boat is cutting through the ice as it gets close to the glacier that is such an amazing experience! Would do this again in a heartbeat! You will not regret it....and yes we saw many, many whales!

We have done two cruises with land tours to Alaska in late August/early September. One northbound with the tour following the cruise and one southbound with the tour before the cruise. Both times we had spectacular weather and were able to see Denali in all her beautiful glory - which is rare to see it once let alone twice! The last cruise we wore tshirts and did not need jackets in any of the ports - hardly a cloud in the sky.

We are going back next year sailing southbound on Sept. 2 and are really looking forward to it. We love this time of year because you can see some of the fall colors starting to appear, which makes it all the more special.

As always, you never know what Mother Nature will have in store at any time but Alaska is so beautiful no matter what the weather. You will have a wonderful time! Be prepared with layers and you will be fine.

Definitely the Regal! We sailed on her March 6 of this year and had zero problems with spring breakers. Not many on board and those that were there were very well behaved. We have booked March 5 for next year as well. Your daughter will love the Regal and the itinerary!

Any recommendations for a private tour guide?

We have booked with Marysol Tours for our March 2017 visit to Amber Cove. Francisco has been wonderful to work with so far and has great rates. We are doing a private tour - he has very high reviews on Trip Advisor. Website is marysoltours.net

Cindy

We have never not had cabins ready when boarding. We sailed the March 6, 2016 cruise on the Regal Princess and we boarded a little after 11 a.m. - cabins ready and no problem at all.

We have sailed on the Island and Coral, however we chose the Star for Alaska for 9/17. Don't think you can go wrong with any of them as they all have their "best" features.

Looking forward to the Star.

Cindy

We were on the Regal March 6-13 and loved it! Never noticed any excessive behavior with the spring breakers onboard. There was a wide variety of ages onboard and everyone appeared to be having a great time.

This was one of our favorite cruises and we are booked again on the Regal for next March 6, 2017! The Regal is a spectacular ship and has plenty to offer for everyone!