camarodrivenrs

I only made the mistake of flying from the lower 48 to FAI in coach, without a stop once. It is too long to be in a Boeing 737. For me, I'd rather sit in Anchorage for an extra 45 mins and catch the next flight to Fairbanks than do it all in one leg. Unless you're talking first class.

The Subways up here all seem to operate completely different. Some take coupons, some don't, guess it depends on the owner. Because its glitter gulch, I'd think they wouldn't because I seem to remember stopping there driving down to Anchorage one time and their prices were a bit higher than the other subway along the Parks.

Your best bets in the summer are Alaska Air, United, or Frontier to the lower 48 without a stop in Anchorage, but because it looks like you are going to eastern Canada you'll probably have to fly to Anchorage. Most majors fly into Anchorage during the summer including Air Canada. Both Alaska and Ravn Alaska ( formerly Era) have multiple flights per day from Fairbanks to Anchorage.

My thought is at what point did the TA ask for your SSN or DL number? We didn't have to provide one. And the cruise line would need at the minimum one of those to run a back ground check. They can't just run if off your name they would get thousands of hits. And I don't know if it's the same in every state but in ours you have to sign a waiver giving permission for employers to run them so I would think it would be the same for a cruise line also. Just my opinion.

I'm pretty sure you can get all the info you would need about somebody with a passport number.

McDonalds, in Fairbanks and I think in Juneau, have free WIFI as well.

Many consider the Spirit class ships to be Carnival's best offering. When we were on the Legend and Costa Atlantica for that matter, both compared very favorable with our Princess and Celebrity experiences. If you were able to score a suite or aft balcony for the same price as the Pacific Princess balcony, I would definitely lean towards the Carnival cruise.

I don't think this is exactly what you're looking for, but you could do one cruise out of miami, stay in/around miami or the keys for a few days than catch another cruise out of miami or FLL. That would give you your ocean/beach resort for a few days in between.

Noticed this morning that cabin E731 just came open on our Alaska cruise this May on the Crown Princess and we were able to snag it. From searching the location it seems everyone really likes this cabin, is there any worry about sound from below?

We are looking at the Ruby Princess for Spring break. My husband and I are mid 50's but love to have fun. Dancing, working out, tennis, running, rock and roll..... Do you think that the Ruby Princess is a good fit for that?

There is fun to be had if you look for it. The night club on Princess is usually not too full, but you see the same faces in there and get to know them and it usually is a good time. It will probably be a party atmosphere during spring break though.

I didn't notice the pools being heated during our cruise. They were chilly at best.

I am trying to decide to book my first ever Celebrity cruise on the Reflection in early March or go on the Royal Princess or Ruby during that same time period.I have been on the Ruby twice.

Can the OP tell me which ship he liked best between Celebrity and Princess?

I will very likely be sailing solo though

That's a tough one because I've always considered Grand class ships my favorite. I really enjoy the tiered aft end of the Ruby, but I'm not sure if the Royal has that. My girlfriend would definitely say the Reflection. We faced the same decision as we were deciding between the Reflection and the Royal for New Year's. If you drink and can get the 123GO deal, I would definitely suggest going with Celebrity. It was so nice not to have any bill at the end of the cruise.

Excellent review!!! We sail on the Reflection this summer!! We usually cruise with RCCL, Celebrity and Disney, never tried Princess. I will like to read your opinion about the groups that both lines are aiming to. :):)

We both felt that Celebrity is aiming to attract customers that you would find in any major city at popular night clubs, bars, and restaurants. Princess is much more traditional with their offerings and is a bit behind whats popular in major cities. Gastronomy and mixology are increasingly important at venues in major cities and likewise they are present onboard Celebrity.

Celebrity's aim did show during our cruise. I've never seen such a fashionable and attractive crowd aboard a cruise ship. The gym was packed every day and it seemed to be a very health conscious crowd. I don't know if that was a result of it being New Year's or not.

Interesting you found the entertainment on board the Reflection better.

Good to hear.

We like Princess due to their array of entertainment.

On the Summit we found entertainment to extremely limited. :cool:

I thought the live performers on the Reflection were better than those onboard Ruby Princess. I did enjoy the fact that island music was played about half the time onboard the Ruby.

We just got back from our winter vacation. We’ve been planning this trip for almost the entire year. I’ll post my review of the Celebrity Reflection here and will also provide a link at the end to my review of the Ruby Princess.

A quick background on us, I’m Brett and my girlfriend is Hannah and we are both engineering students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in our 20’s. We both work hard all summer at our internships so we can escape the terrible Alaskan winter. The Ruby Princess cruise following the Reflection cruise was a complete surprise to Hannah who thought we were flying out of Fort Lauderdale after the cruise.

We flew into Tampa International a day early and rented a car to do some sightseeing, eventually ending up in Miami. I’m originally from Sarasota, FL and thought it be nice to show Hannah around a bit. We cruised out of Tampa last year so driving over the Skyway Bridge was definitely cool for her. We took SR 70 across the state and headed south on A1A. We stayed in the Conrad Miami which we got a nice price on through Hotwire. The hotel was very nice and even had snow falling in their bar every half hour. We ate at Vapiano right across the street which was really fun then had a few drinks in the hotel bar which provided nice views of Miami from the 25th floor. We called it a relatively early night though, because we had flown all night, explored all day, and were really excited to get aboard the Reflection as this would be our first time on Celebrity as well as our first New Year’s cruise.

We arrived at the port around 11:30 am, check in was very quick and we were onboard around noon. The Reflection was very impressive as we walked around for the first time. The ship was spotless and we didn’t find a space we didn’t like. We were given 7143 and the room was fine and our steward and his assistant were great. We continued exploring the ship and made our Qsine reservation until around 1:00 pm when the announcement came that our staterooms were ready. We did upgrade to the premium drink package and our booking also came with $350 OBC and a specialty dining gift. At the end getting off was pretty painless and the lines at customs are no fault of Celebrity. I’ll break the review up into sections from here.

The Ship and Crew

We found the Reflection to be in incredible condition. The layout was great and it was very easy to find our way around. I’m a big fan of Grand class ships but thought the Reflection’s design really showed how cruise ship design has changed since the late 90’s when the Grand class was introduced. I’m not sure how many people were on the ship for this cruise, but according to various bartenders it was well above double occupancy capacity and the ship seemed to handle the load fairly well. One drawback to the layout of the ship was the location of the Solarium made it a major walkway for traffic moving to and from the rest of deck 14. We also missed having an aft pool, but thought the ability to lay about the lawn made up for this. There were a lot of children onboard, many large families, and a large group or two. The children and large groups were a bit overwhelming at times. Numerous times we encountered children sitting at bars at night with their parents, which was a bit annoying. We both thought the crew could have been a bit stricter in enforcing rules. Multiple times we saw children crawling around and chasing each other around the buffet and dining room. The staff and captain were very visible during the cruise, the captain even sat with us and chatted for a few minutes one evening while we were enjoying a martini in the Martini Lounge.

The Food

We opted for 2nd seating dining and found the food to be great. Quite a few steps above the food we ate during our Carnival cruise last year. Our waiter, assistant, and sommelier were great. Food came in a timely manner each night even though on a couple of nights our waiter, Jose, had a large table come about an hour late. Our wine glasses were never empty during dinner. We thought the dining room food was slightly better on the Reflection than what we found on the Ruby Princess the following week. We ate at Qsine which was a lot of fun, the food was great, and the service was fantastic. We thought the buffets were good, but didn’t really change from day to day. The buffets never seemed to be fully open when the largest crowds were looking for food, especially during port days around all aboard times. Room service for breakfast was always on time and the steak and eggs were great.

The Bars

We booked during the 123Go promotion and upgraded to the premium package which proved to be a smart decision because we really enjoyed the molecular bar and the bartenders that worked there. We managed to try every drink at least once and only disliked the one with raw egg whites in it. Even with the large number of people onboard we rarely had to wait for drinks except at the Martini Bar at night, but that is expected at any popular venue or it wouldn’t be considered popular. The only problem with the bars, as mentioned earlier, was we encountered children sitting with and without their parents and never saw any staff telling them to leave. Not only do they take up seats and space that people actually consuming beverages could use, but when a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds are yelling at each other and fiddling it kind of ruins the atmosphere.

Entertainment and Music

We had heard all about the loud rap music before we booked Celebrity, I failed to hear any real rap music, hearing mostly popular pop and hip hop. The shows and comedy were far better than what we found on Ruby Princess the following week. We did find at times the music was either too loud or the wrong genre. For example laying out on the lawn really doesn’t require loud pop music. Some relaxing island music would have been much better. We thought the singers and DJs were fine the majority of the time. The only other problem we saw with music was when Zumba was moved to inside to the main atrium area. Not the best substitute to a windy deck.

Overall, we were happy with our Celebrity Reflection cruise. I did find that I don’t really agree with the people who say Celebrity and Princess are more alike than different. We both thought Celebrity was definitely aiming at a different group of people than what Princess was aiming at. I think before we pass any final judgment on Celebrity we should do a non-holiday sailing for sure, because the atmosphere might be completely different.

Would we cruise Celebrity again? Absolutely

Would we cruise the Reflection again? Of course

Would we take a holiday cruise again? Never, one and done for us, we’ve experienced the balloon drop and don’t need to again.

Any questions feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Ruby Princess Review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1969057

Celebrity Reflection Review:http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41240212#post41240212

We just got back from our winter vacation. We’ve been planning this trip for almost the entire year. I’ll post my review of the Ruby Princess here and provide a link at the beginning to my Celebrity Reflection cruise since that one was first.

A quick background on us, I’m Brett and my girlfriend is Hannah and we are both engineering students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in our 20’s. We both work hard all summer at our internships so we can escape the terrible Alaskan winter. The Ruby Princess cruise following the Reflection cruise was a complete surprise to Hannah who thought we were flying out of Fort Lauderdale after the cruise.

We got off the Celebrity Reflection and met our limo driver after getting through the Port of Miami zoo, I mean customs. I used Limos of Miami and they were great. They had overbooked their normal limos and to our surprise sent a stretch Escalade. This horrified Hannah as the thing was huge and it was just the two of us. The driver took the long way to Port Everglades, he even drove through the departure drop off part of the Fort Lauderdale airport to complete the surprise. She was completely surprised when we ended up at the port. This was her first cruise on Princess and my 5th.

We arrived at the port around 11:00 am and were onboard no later than noon. As was the case with my previous Princess cruises our room, A747, was ready. I don’t know why all cruise lines don’t let you go to your room right away and drop your things off, even if the room isn’t ready it is so nice to be able to drop off your bags. After almost four years without being on a Princess cruise it was nice to be back onboard a familiar ship. I’ve always considered the Grand class ships my favorite design, however Hannah thought the layout was confusing and very closed in compared to the Reflection. I’m not going to directly compare the two ships because the Reflection is a much newer design than the Ruby so there’s really no point. I at some points compare service and food though. We didn’t make our Cozumel call because of weather, instead calling on Ocho Rios. Once this was announced we quickly booked a Dunn’s Waterfall and Green Grotto Cave tour. We walked around downtown a little after the excursion and it isn’t a great place to be. At the end of the cruise getting off was no problem and customs was much smoother than at the Port of Miami.

The Ship and Crew

As mentioned above I really like being on Grand class ships and the Ruby Princess did not let me down. The ship was in great shape and the crew was hard at work painting and refinishing wood during our cruise. We enjoyed watching football on MUTS and enjoyed the aft pool area a lot. The ship never seemed to be overcrowded and was very relaxing after the partying and madness of a New Year’s cruise. A747 has a unique balcony shape which provides quite a bit of extra space. I wish they would put reclining chairs on this balcony but we just pushed the chairs out of the way and it was easy for both of us to lie on beach towels on the balcony. The commodore and staff were not very visible around the ship except on the formal night. Our room steward was great, however some of the crew seemed a little unenthused and after talking to our waitress she seemed to think some of the crew didn’t enjoy doing 4 and 5 night cruises.

The Food

We opted for 2nd seating dining and found the food to be very good. The dining room food was quite a bit better than we had last year on Carnival, but just half a step behind what we had the previous week on the Reflection. 2nd seating dining was not very popular for some reason and a couple of nights our wait team only had us and another couple at our table in her section. I really like the buffet setup on the Ruby Princess, it is nicely separated into sections and never seems crowded compared to what we found on the Reflection. We both thought the buffet food was better on the Ruby than the Reflection and the variety was better, with dishes changing every day.

The Bars

We didn’t drink much on this cruise as our livers were recovering from New Year’s and our drink package, but when we did the bar service was fine. We did try one of the giant margaritas available at the aft bar.

Entertainment and Music

We did not enjoy the performances by the Ruby performers, but that is ok because I personally would never go to the shows anyway and just go cause Hannah wants to. It was so nice to hear island music around the open decks while laying in the sun after not hearing it all week on the Reflection. Jobs, The Wolverine, and World War Z were offered on MUTS as well as NFL playoffs and the BCS National Championship Game. It was a windy day before the BCS game and many of the MUTS chairs were stacked up and tied down. Numerous staff watched passengers untie and unstack the chairs so they could use them without offering help or telling them not to do it, seemed odd that they would do neither.

Overall, I was very happy to be back on a Princess Ship and I thought the Ruby was great. My girlfriend really enjoyed it but not quite as much as I did, as she thought the layout wasn’t as good as the Reflection and was confused by deck 6 not being continuous. At first she didn’t like the tiered aft decks, but by the end she really liked it, so I think Grand class ships need more than 5 days to grow on a rookie. I did find that I don’t really agree with the people who say Celebrity and Princess are more alike than different. We both thought Celebrity was definitely aiming at a different group of people than what Princess was aiming at.

Would we cruise Princess again? Absolutely

Would we cruise the Ruby Princess again? Sure

By the way the 100% back credit had already been applied to my circle savings account by the time I was back in Alaska.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to answer.

Deleted---Ooops you are not going to Bonaire

Maybe it was just an off day for me, but I felt the vendors in Grenada were much more aggressive than in Montego Bay. We walked around on our own in both places, but this was a few years ago.

I've always done really well with Hotwire in the FLL area.

We are doing a similar trip only switching between Celebrity and Princess. If there is no free transportation definitely check with limo companies as we found one that was basically the same cost as taking a taxi.

I'd also imagine you'd be able to view in your stateroom if its on tv in the casino. Celebrity is probably missing out on some nice drink sales revenue by not tapping into the NFL's popularity.

Before everyone hammers Princess on this, remember the engineers that designed this were dealing with incredibly complex simulations to predict this. There are so many variables that would have to be considered--weather conditions, turbulence created by the ship's structure, fuel quality, etc. I'm a petroleum engineer and I deal with fluid flow (especially fluids with multiple components like gas, liquid, and water) and they almost never match the models 100%. Give Princess a few months to develop a solution as I'm sure they are working hard.

People should be receiving partial refunds though for sure if this is a continued problem.

Falling over board ruins my vacation...every time.

Is the 15% service charge covered under the promotion? If we upgraded to the premium package will we be charged 15% of the actual price or just 15% of the difference paid?

Guess I'm just surprised to see that its that much more considering I'm comparing it against Royal Princess, NCL Epic, and Celebrity's newest ship as well.

I'm researching eastern caribbean cruises for next new years week and was wondering why Royal Caribbean is so much more than all the other mass market cruise lines. I know its the Oasis class ship and all, but it is running $600-1000 more than the others. I've got prices from Celebrity, Carnival, NCL, and Princess which is on the new Royal Princess and still Royal Caribbean is more. Is the Oasis class ship really worth that much extra?