Italy52

@martincaththanks for your post, I knew you would come through. Honey-Nut Cherrios are my go-to cereal but on cruises I can only find Special K and I am fine with that. Much like your wife, I don't like the generic brands as I never know what is in the stuff. The cereal that comes from those turnstiles always seem to get pulverized by the time I give them a couple of cranks. Thanks to all the generous people here on this thread I now have options. We arrive at YVR around noon so I should have time to see out my cereal. Many thanks again.

Update: I found the directions to Safeway. Thanks for taking the time to answer my post. I will definitely try local first. If that doesn't work, the Safeway is only about a 15 minute walk from our hotel.

Thank you for your post, I appreciate it. Yes, Martin is a great resource so hoping he sees my post.

Thank you. We have taken quite a few Princess cruises lately and the cereal choices have been subject to what is available at point of purchase for the ship when restocking supplies. We didn't see a lot of consistency from ship to ship so that is why I want to be prepared.

Thank you for your post, I appreciate it. I know the exact pharmacy you are talking about. We will be on the Crown Princess and I have seen on videos and told by someone who was on the Crown that the cereal choices are very limited. The ones I saw on the video are options that I would not like. We knew when we booked that we might encounter a problem but the itinerary was just too good to pass up. I have to stop by the pharmacy for hair spray before we board so I will definitely be on the hunt for the cereal. Thanks again.

We will be staying at the Marriott Pinnacle and I need to find a grocery store so I can get a box of cereal before boarding. I would bring a box from home but I would rather not have to lug it around on the airplane. We will be on the ship for 14 day and I have been informed that the cereal choices are not the best. So, it is up to me to find an alternative. I know some of the drug stores have some food items but not sure if they have what I am looking for. Any help would be appreciated.

We are shareholders and my husband is a military veteran and we have not receive any correspondence regarding the change in policy. Yesterday, I booked a 14-day Alaska cruise for August of 2024. My husband's military credit was applied at that time. After I received my cruise confirmation from my TA I immediately sent in our request for the Carnival Cruise Line shareholders benefit and this morning it was entered as a benefit on our reservation.

Could you please expand what are the requirements for HAL military and NCL military --- can veterans use this benefit?

So, does this memo mean that if I booked before June 29, 2023 I can get both benefits even if my cruise will be in June of 2024? Seems like it could work, right?

Just returned from the Royal to Alaska out of Seattle. Embarkation was very quick for us. If Elite, Room Service would not switch out mini bar -- told us to have our room steward do that, which he gladly did. Had a wonderful room steward. Toilet vacuum did not work on two occasions as the ship was having some plumbing issues. However, kudos to Princess for getting it fixed shortly after our requests and did a follow-up call to ensure all was OK. Cruise Director was wonderful. The ship was very crowded and quite a few kids were running around -- we adjusted as this was not our first cruise and we know how things go. There seems to be a shortage of staff still in the bar service areas and the buffet so be patient. We noticed on our cruise at least, there must have been a lot of early risers and people who preferred to use the buffet as it was always crowded. We have done 20 cruises with Princess and always eat in the buffet because we are light eaters --- we were amazed to see a crowded breakfast buffet at 7 AM. International Cafe had two lines: one for coffee and one for food service. LOVED this as it took away the confusion as to what line one should be in or people cutting in lines. The Casino was also great with wonderful Casino Hosts that were friendly and ready to help whenever necessary. AND, there was no strong smell from smoke like other Princess ship casinos. Our port times were adjusted a couple of times: once in Juneau (due to mechanical problem that was fixed while the ship was sailing) and the other was Victoria. Victoria was a wasted port as we only had a couple of hours and not enough time to go anywhere or do anything. In Skagway we tendered due to the rock slide -- tender service was well organized and quick. Disembarkation was quick and fast. Our documentation said walk off would be at 8 AM but the ship cleared a little earlier so that was a nice plus. We didn't attend any shows or eat in the dining room. I also didn't save any of my Patters. Hope you have good weather and an enjoyable cruise.

As much as I would love to take another Coastal Cruise I just don't trust any itinerary that says Monterey will be a stop. Our April Coastal Cruise was butchered when Princess deleted Monterey and rearranged our port stops. We also had to undergo a VERY lengthy Immigration process while on the ship because Princess had flipped two of our ports (San Diego and Ensenada). We waited in line for 1 1/2 hours for a 5 minute facial recognition process. We were assigned times so there was no getting in lines early, just get there when told and not before. Needless to say this cruise was a big disappointment for us as well as others who were very verbal about their feelings. I realize that Princess has the right to make changes on the itineraries so I have to live with that. However, I won't be duped twice -- I will now avoid any itinerary that has Monterey as a port stop because I know it won't happen.

One can only hope.

Sounds like you are making progress --- I am sure Princess will rectify it soon. You might know this already, but if you don't, Princess did not contact me to say I received my benefits --- I just kept checking my OBC for our booking and I saw it was given to us.

We are on the Crown in July and will have a tender port in Juneau. We will be going on an independent whale watching tour and are Elite. Hearing that we will no longer have priority tender boarding is disappointing.

We receive the same language whenever we submit a request for shareholder benefit. We have always received the OBC within one to two days.

F.I.S.H.E.S. is no longer in business --- Floyd retired a few years back. If looking for a good whale watching company in Icy Strait my recommendation would be Glacier Wind Charters. Have gone out with them many times -- well run company.

@latebuyer. Might be tough to get Jayleen on short notice but I would definitely give it a try. If Jayleen is booked, she might be able to make some suggestions for you. Good luck.

When are you sailing?

Sorry, I don't know if the Crown has a grab bar as this will be my first time on her. Perhaps someone else can answer the question --- Coral perhaps?

No, I did not order a shower stool as I don't need that. Thanks.

Thank you for your reply. I had my TA pre-order the shower head when we made our reservation 7/3/22. It appears on my Travel Summary under "Special Services." But of course, my request will only be good if someone passes that information along to my room steward. Because my request is more for medical reasons, I will definitely be doing whatever it takes to get it done.

The Crown will have fixed shower heads and the Royal will have the hand held shower heads. I have a big problem with the fixed shower head and have requested a hand held shower head. Some times the requests are honored and some times they are not (no availability). Hope mine is recognized when we board. If not, I will check with my room steward.

@martincath, great shot!

@martincathI like your comment about the photographer who verbalized what camera setting to use. We were on a cruise, out on deck, and viewing glacier calving. DH was shooting in sports mode to catch the action and this lady leaned over after the shot and said, "can you tell me how to do that on my camera." After she was shown, she was so excited to catch the next glacier calving experience.

If you are on Princess and using their shore excursions you will probably be going with Allen Marine. A good company but we don't like the fact that their vessel has too many passengers on it. Fighting for good railing space to take pictures is something we prefer not to do. There are smaller independent vendors that offer great whale watching experiences. You will find a lot of repeat cruisers on this board will have their favorites: ours is Jayleen's Alaska. When selecting your vendor, check to see how long your whale watching time on the water is --- the more time on the water the better chances of seeing whales and other wildlife.