fishywood

If you look at the Regal deck plans by clicking on the forward facing cabins only those on decks above the bridge (Marina and Lido) have the warnings about limited balcony access and obstructed views. The similar cabins on decks below the bridge (Aloha and Baja) do not. I know the higher ones will also come with the requirement to keep your curtains drawn after dark so light does not shine down into the bridge; I don't believe the Aloha and Baja cabins will.

My understanding from when this topic previously came up is that the visa for exchange students is almost always not multiple entry. If they leave the USA--even for a quick drive across the border to Mexico or Canada, never mind a cruise--their return is seriously in doubt.

Now I may be wrong. But you need to be 100% sure that I am.

Looking at the port schedule for Ketchikan:

http://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Ketchikan-–-KTN-2019-1.pdf

...my count is seven days with Princess ships having to tender there this year.

As the answer above indicated Princess has most of the activities and entertainment you crave. But note that especially on the northbound Voyage of the Glaciers most port days you are alongside well into dinnertime. They will have local entertainment onboard (such as Libby Riddles and one of the Deadliest Catch captains) until sailaway those nights. You will find very quickly that Alaska cruises are almost entirely about the destination and not the standard cruise cliches as on Caribbean itineraries.

Note also that Glacier Bay scenic cruising--essential for one's first time in Alaska--is almost exclusively the domain of Princess and Holland America. The NPS allows two large ships per day inside; most weeks 9 or 10 out of the 14 visits are Princess or HAL; NCL has most of the rest.

If you pre-paid the gratuities or purchased any shore excursions through the Cruise Personalizer you have to cancel them before the closing date for changes to the personalizer. Cancelling pre-paid excursions onboard does not result in a refund to the method of payment but an onboard credit. Which in his case will be to a shipboard account that doesn't exist. Even if somebody else paid for them once the excursion tickets are issued the OBC only goes to the name on the ticket. Which is a non-person if he is a no-show.

You will be incommunicado (unless you want to make a voice or text call over Cellular at Sea) in between Vancouver and Ketchikan. Unless you keep your device in airplane mode, or at least disable data roaming, you will pick up a data signal from rural Canada. If you want to use the internet that sea day you will have to buy a package. 

7 minutes ago, paul929207 said:

Coral

Coral and Island have window Mini Suites. Not Window Suites. Nice cabins but no suite privileges.

And for those of you questioning whether the two much larger Window Suites on Sky (and further future builds) should be mentioned in the same breath as the ones on Caribbean, Golden, and Star: there was a thread earlier this year from someone booked into one on Sky who said despite the premium size and location they fit into the price matrix exactly the same--most sailings the fare is no more than a Club Class Mini, and hugely less expensive than a much smaller Full Suite that has a balcony.

Do I make redundant bookings for travel or accommodations? No.

Am I prepared to shift gears at a moment's notice should events conspire against me? Yes.

Do I always have travel insurance? Oh hell yes.

This is more than enough back-up planning for me.

Not going to bother to watch a video from a lecturer/author who can't even spell his purported area of expertise correctly. 

3 hours ago, Dani24 said:

We sail in two weeks. Just within the last week or so I was looking at buying the former “unlimited” package. That was, for sure, in my personalizer. But when I just looked now, that package is gone and replaced with the $189 package for 10 photos. 

I don’t think I’ll bother now. I’ll just pick one or two that I like and buy those a la carte.

The unlimited package was for all candid ship's photos that you were included in.

This new 10 for $189 is specifically just for portraits. Not photos taken on the gangway, in the dining room, or elsewhere on the ship--only ones such as the formal night sittings in front of their backgrounds.

So the package will be useless to anyone who just wants to pick a la carte. You are right to skip it; sorry you didn't jump on the old package in time.

11 hours ago, satxdiver said:

If you arrive at the ship when they first start boarding, you will wait in line.  To avoid the line go later in the afternoon to walk right on to the ship with little delay.  Be aware that although the ship may leave at 8:30, you must be on the ship at least one hour before.  They will lock the doors in the terminal before the ship leaves because they have to submit the manifest of pax to the US government.     

The opposite is true when boarding in Whittier. The vast majority arrive after 3:30-4:00 on a bus or train at the conclusion of their pre-cruise land tour. When boarding started at 12:30 on my cruise there were less than 200 people waiting, I am sure they were all onboard in 10-15 minutes tops. And since the ship remains in US waters until the final day of the cruise there are far fewer formalities beyond your passport being scanned. You just have to be onboard in time for the muster drill which should be approx 7:45.

Poring over the info on the Princess website would be the best place to start.

MedallionNet is the new high speed internet sold only in cruise-length unlimited packages. It is only tangentially related to Medallion Class Cruising in that it must be up and running before the Medallions will work onboard.

Current rollout status is here: https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ocean-medallion/medallionnet/

Medallion Class Cruising is the catchall term for ships that have completed installation and activation and thus replaced the cruise card with the Medallion.

Current rollout status is here: https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ocean-medallion/

Ocean Ready is the app that must be downloaded for the Medallion to be shipped to you before the cruise. See section three in above MedallionClass link. 

The other apps listed have vary degrees of necessity. If you want to be able to use your smart phone to work in conjunction with the Medallion to order drinks, message/find others in your party, and the other stuff that Princess@Sea did prior to all this Medallion gobbledygook, you should install Ocean Now and Ocean Compass just before you board (section 4 and 5 of above link). The other apps mentioned seemed to be just for "fun stuff" (some of which is fee-based).

*I too suggested that the first post on the two stickies be a Medallion 101 primer that our friendly host can edit as necessary. Sensible but impractical I guess*

8 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

For years now we have had twin beds because this placement gives much more usable floor space in the cabin. We haven't ever heard our neighbours, but maybe we have been lucky. When we had a cabin above the stage in the Princess Theatre, we heard the bass sounds during the late slow. Otherwise there were no noises.

I prefer twins even when I travel as a solo. I don't toss and turn beyond the width of a single bed and it is much easier to "approach" from the wider middle gap. But when the steward sees just one name on the booking they always leave the bed as a queen no matter what I request in the personalizer.

Though I too have been lucky at guessing which side of the cabin will not have a noisy neighbor. Heard not a peep on my two Alaska cruises in inside cabins last year.

Does Princess always refer to 3rd/4th passengers in a cabin as "extra guests" on internal TA communiques? At the very least it makes them sound less important that the first two pax; at worst the term is borderline pejorative.

How hard would it be for the first paragraph to just say "for third/fourth passengers" rather than "for their extra guests"

(the unnecessary insertion of their into the sentence again functions as a diminutive implying that a client who brings "their" kids/grandma/friends along but shares a triple/quad cabin is an inconvenience rather than an asset)

A lot depends on the placement of the beds. If both you and your neighbor have twin beds flush to the side wall rather than a queen with a narrow path on either side, once it is quiet at night you just might find out if the person sleeping inches away from you separated by only a hollow metal wall is a snorer. Or thanks to the richer than usual diet is afflicted by noisy gastritis in their sleep. 

Any OBC showing in your account may be used to purchase shore excursions in advance. Usually that is just Princess OBC, Travel Agent OBC usually is not added until after you board.

Other than for shore excursions the OB in OBC is taken literally. Once onboard they can be used for any or all the items you mentioned above, including the daily service charge.

(There is a concurrent thread a bit below on page 1 on the contentious recurring topic of whether certain items are ineligible to be purchased using non-refundable OBC. Tread there if you dare. Or maybe you already have read it thus your need to ask for more clarification here...)

If you booked either on the Carnival website or with a random rep by just calling the 800-number, can your booking be switched to a PVP after the fact?

I know on Princess the answer is no, so have to wonder if Carnival is the same. You would just be assigned a PVP for future bookings but would have to call general customer service to maintain your existing ones.

9 hours ago, weedpindle said:

Then its a mistake when I use OBC for casino play or the daily gratuity charge. Do you not cruise? If you do you will see what OBC is used for .

Oh come on I was just answering the question (that I quoted in my response) as to precisely where the policy can be found in writing, at least to one form of non-refundable OBC (the shareholder benefit).

"Do I not cruise?" Really? Hopefully never on the same ship as someone so arrogant as to ask that question--and advertise their Elite status in their avatar. 

6 hours ago, steelers36 said:

I don't feel like looking, but I don't recall ever reading that OBC cannot be used to pay for the daily gratuity charge.  Wherever and whatever it says about that is not true. 

http://www.carnivalcorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit (click to save and open document)

 This benefit is not transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash and, cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities charged to your onboard account. 

(second paragraph below table)

15 hours ago, denmarks said:

Your account only has a total. There is no way to distinguish what the source of the funds were.

Not true anymore. When viewing your account onboard on Princess@Sea each OBC is labelled as 'refundable' or 'non-refundable.

Now if there is a way for Princess to distinguish any charges that are not eligible for certain OBCs it has yet to surface.

15 hours ago, voljeep said:

there is language that some/one  non-refundable credit(s) can NOT be used in the casino or for grats

As has been long reported on here, all OBC may be used for the daily gratuities. In theory it cannot be used for additional tips written on to the chit in bars, specialty restaurants, the spa et al in order to prevent passengers from "gifting" any leftover non-refundable OBC to a crewmember in exchange for a kickback. But there has been nary a report of anyone getting caught AFAIK.

1. When I sailed Golden from Whittier last year check-in and boarding started at 12:30. So if you weren't planning on arriving until a bit before dinner you will be able to walk right on. The Muster Drill will be at approx. 7:45 so I guess the little one's bedtime will be slightly delayed (all souls must attend).
2. Yes, metal hooks should work. Which category of cabin do you have?
3. In Juneau you can take a tour that includes Mendenhall Glacier but does not require walking on and off. Ketchikan has the tried and true Lumberjack Show. And the White Pass & Yukon Railway is pretty much a rite of passage from Skagway (if you want the train that stops directly at the cruise terminal you have to book the ship's tour, if booking independently you have a bit of a walk to the station).
4. Passenger laundry machines are $3 each wash or dry. You buy tokens with your cruise card to use them. Very easy to bring along some Woolite in a TSA-sized bottle to rinse out items in the sink; there is a retractable clothesline in the shower.
5. Nice slacks and a dress shirt on the men, and "stylish separates or equivalent" (to use another cruise line's wonderfully ridiculous term) for the ladies should grant everyone admission to the dining room on formal night. No one will be looking at your feet.

Enjoy your first cruise. Golden is one of my favorite Princess ships.

Grand, Golden, Star, Island, and Coral Princess have indoor pools.

Ruby and Royal Princess do not.

If you are on the open-jaw Vancouver/Whittier (or reverse) sailings the weather will be more variable as you spend two days rather than one Glacier cruising. You won't need an overcoat but fleece or flannel trousers and shirts, plus hat and maybe gloves depending on how hardy you are in winter at home. Most ports will be warm enough for lightweight slacks or even shorts, just be prepared for rain (almost guaranteed daily in Ketchikan). If you remember nothing else a couple of dollar store ponchos each will get you through most port days. Obviously if you plan on some of the all day outdoor excursions layers you can peel on and off should be your guide.

As I tried to imply which turnaround port you are starting/ending from makes a difference. Weather in Whittier can be all four seasons in one day--but right now the Anchorage area is under a massive heatwave. Vancouver and Seattle should still be pleasantly mild early August (but come September can turn on a moment's notice). And if you did choose the 10 day round trip San Francisco, heed the hoary old adage: "The coldest winter I ever spent...."

I was on Grand Princess way back when Leaves Tea Library was first added. I could only find the Patter for four of the seven days in my collection, but whether in port or at sea the listing said Tea Served 1:00-6:00.

To the best of my recollection it was all loose leaf teas. And there was a small charge. The T&C of the current Coffee Package is very vague about the inclusion of tea altogether. Nor does the PBP mention Leaves (which is on Grand and Majestic Princess) as one of the venues accepting it.

Searching "Leaves" on the Princess website turned up absolutely nothing about that venue on either ship. Nor is there any mention of Leaves on the Dining Venues Details & Hours document. I guess whether or not Leaves offers anything beyond what you can also get at the IC (unlimited with the Coffee Package) is left for us all to figure out for ourselves.

Have you tried adding the second excursion through the Cruise Personalizer? If it is considered in conflict with an already booked one I believe the system will not allow you to.

In multiple places on the website (and the Excursion FAQs linked in your Personalizer as well) Princess states:

Multiple Excursions in One Port

30 minutes ago, rjrice1 said:

• I just booked at the Comfort Inn airport Miami;  it doesn't open up till Sept 2019 so I am assuming it is a new place;

can park cars $12.00 per day; free transportation to pier;  

Paid $142 with AAA.. klng size suite... 

I don't recall the OP saying he needs a hotel with cruise parking.

Brand new property or not, that location--across NW 36th St from the airport in the city of Miami Springs---is a massive, massive, massive drop-off from staying in the Brickell neighborhood near Downtown and the port. Only reason to stay there is if arriving very late in the evening with no plans other than to barricade yourself in the room and go to sleep. Yes I mean barricade, you do not want to be walking around that area after dark.

(The hotel's website says they will open October 15, 2019 btw)

1 minute ago, go4ak said:

Perfect thanks so much. I am currently at 12 - but have a 1 credit and a 2 credit already schedule. That will get me to 15 full credits. 

Because you booked what rightfully will be your first cruise as Elite prior to reaching 15 cruise credits on intermediate sailings you will be listed as Platinum on all pre-boarding documents. Unless the gap between 15 and 16 is sufficient for the status in the Circle Center to change from Platinum to Elite don't be surprised if you are issued a Platinum cruise card (or Medallion) rather than a black one when you board. Just check with the Circle rep to make sure they know you are Elite, and you will be able to exchange for the proper color.