BabySarge

DH has mobility issues somewhat similar to your spouse's and uses a mobility scooter that we have taken on tours, used in ports, and on the ship(s).  One of the things you want to keep in mind is that the rest of the world is generally not ADA-compliant.  For example, in the US almost all sidewalks and crosswalks have a ramp and no curb while most foreign countries do not.  It isn't impossible to get out and about or to go on tours but having a lightweight and foldable scooter makes it a lot easier.  We have also found that people around the world have been incredibly helpful when they see us struggling even a tiny bit in navigating any type of obstacle with his scooter.  Even going so far as to pick it up and carry it for us.  

The scooter DH can be found at the below link.  There are many kinds though, but we have been happy with this one and have taken it to Italy, Spain, France, Canada, Dubai, Oman, Jordan, Israel, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, etc.  Because it folds up and only weighs 40 lbs we have not had an issue taking it on tenders and if the shore excursion is a bus with under bus storage it fits there with no problem also.  It fits in balcony cabins on Princess and HAL ships with no issue especially when in it's folded state.  We have flown with it and had no problems.

We had one minor issue with one of the small stability wheels (DH caused the issue by being pigheaded) but the wheel was replaceable (it unscrews) and I just contacted the company and paid for a new wheel to be shipped to me.  Had fantastic customer service from them.

Hope this helps.

Amazon.com: iLiving V8 Foldable Electric Mobility Scooter : Health & Household

The number one airport that I avoid like the plague - Heathrow.

My least favorite airline that I work hard not to fly - BA

Sorry, you ended up with that twofer but glad you made it home safely.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." (Marcel Proust) 

@YVRteacher thank you for being my new eyes.  Wishing you safe and stress-free travels home.

While it certainly doesn't justify the unacceptable rudeness you've experienced, it's possible that many crew members are nearing the end of their contracts, putting them at the end of their rope in dealing with the public many of whom are not anywhere as nice as yourself.  This, coupled with being understaffed, overworked, homesick, and just plain worn out can obviously affect service quality.

Plus, I would be willing to guess there might be a leadership issue on board, starting at the top and rolling downhill, resulting in a negative atmosphere for the crew that is, unfortunately, being passed on to the passengers, which should never happen.

If your cabin does not smell good, and the bottom line is it should not smell of smoke or any other odor, please do not hesitate to go to guest services and ask for a cabin change.  Ask to speak with the manager for guest services if you have to.  

Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland (west coast of Scotland) has quite a few varieties of palm trees on the grounds.  Has something to do with the trade winds and Gulfstream bringing warm air that allows them to flourish.

All Sorts Licorice and Smarties - when the Dover AFB Commissary gets specialty items (please don't hurt yourselves laughing) at Christmas time I buy disgraceful amounts of them and try not to eat them all at once. 

Once again, late to the party with my remarks and reading but life keeps interrupting my coffee, bonbon, and reading time.  At any rate, despite having that free laundry perk I prefer to do our laundry and take it down in one of our suitcases with the wheels, along with my Kindle and a bottle of water.  If the laundry room doesn't have a chair and space available, I take our folding camp chair that we have started bringing since they took the extra chair out of the balcony and below cabins.  If no room and no chair, then I find the least intrusive space in the hallway and claim a bit of carpet to read whilst the wash is doing its thing.  Once the clothes go in the dryer, I like to keep a close eye on them as the settings can sometimes simply be suggestions and the actual temperature a lot hotter than wanted. 

Laundry room wars are real - while on the 2023 WC two couples were removed from the ship in Australia because of fighting in the laundry room and not allowed to rejoin the cruise.  Foolish!

8 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

Yes, the Mahjhong players have been overwhelmingly present on our last few Princess Cruises. They sometimes open one of the dining rooms in the day for games, etc to discourage the take over of the buffet seating. I’m not sure if this is possible on Island with only 2 dining rooms though. 

On the 2023 WC they used the Bayou Cafe for game play during the day (cards, board games, mah jong, etc) and if memory serves me correctly (no guarantees) there were notices in the Patter (or whatever it's called now) about NOT taking up tables and playing in the Horizon Court.

The first rule of cruising - there are no calories on a cruise.  The motion of the ship zeros out all calories.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it 😁

Oh, my goodness yes, the perfume, and sometimes the aftershave/cologne, that some tend to douse themselves in can be quite dreadful.  There have been many times I have had to exit an elevator long before my destination floor because of the overpowering scents from others.  

12 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

?? If you embarked in Seattle and Vancouver is one of your Ports along the way on your cruise, I don't' understand why you would not be able to get off and back on the  Ship, as in any other Port along the way.  I would look up a restaurant close by to meet up with friends.   Since there ship doesn't leave for a couple days, they may not be allowed access to the terminal??  Sure you can figure this out, without a GPS, good luck  maybe I am missing something, 

@NW Pacific you didn't miss anything.  We are not on a B2B but rather what I would call a full-circle cruise for 53 days leaving Seattle and returning to Seattle making port stops in Canada, Alaska, Japan, and Hawaii.  There were two options for booking this cruise; the one we booked and then the other was Vancouver to Seattle which is why there will be people embarking when the ship is in Vancouver. 

Thank you to everyone for your helpful suggestions.  At least now we are armed with more information and options and can make a plan.

16 hours ago, Milhouse said:

 

Ideally, set up data access for your phones and your friends' phones either via free wifi at Canada Place or mobile data off your home carrier (may or may not be expensive depending on your carrier) or via some third party travel sim.  

 

Then align on using some third party messaging app like Whatsapp, Signal, Google Chat, etc so you can message each other on the fly.  Many apps have a feature where you can send your current location info.  Otherwise you can just send a message advising where you are at a landmark/business.

 

Your friend can then enter that landmark/business into their mapping app (like Google Maps) and click the option for routing/navigation on foot (versus car, public transit, etc).  The mapping app should then provide a walking route to that location.  However, the navigation might get finicky if the destination isn't at street level.  

Thank you for this, made the penny finally drop for me.  My brain went immediately to On Star and car when GPS was mentioned and got stuck there.  I worry about myself sometimes 🙃.

Won't we have cleared Canadian immigration in Victoria, our first Canadian port?  Not doing an RT to Alaska - doing a 53-day Alaska, Japan, and Hawaii originating and ending in Seattle so doubtful about the US immigration also.  Plus, why would we need to skip meeting our friends?  We are in port from 0700 until 1600 which means probably be able to get off the ship by 0900 and have to be back NLT 1500.  Surely even if we have to go through Canadian immigration, they can't be that inefficient.

14 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

text them on your phone. tell them your location. they can use GPS to find you.  Or better yet, find a coffee shop ( starbucks or whatever) close by and have them meet you there.  You can find that stuff on Google Maps

Not sure if they will have ability to receive text on their phones as they are from Australia but I'll check.  Also not sure if my plan covers me in Canada so need to check that also.  Gah, something else to add to my "To Do List".

Okay, going to sound really, really stupid here probably but how would they use GPS to find me if they aren't in a car?

21 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

You would most likely need to meet outside the terminal.

Is this an actual port day, or a turnaround day?

Port day for DH and me, but there will be passengers embarking to start the cruise.

17 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Oh wow! You are an expert on the Island Princess! Anything I shouldn’t miss?

Nope, not an expert by any means just love long cruises and lucky to have the time and resources to take them.  Have you found the little sitting room "mini museum" area of the Wheelhouse Bar yet?  One of my favorite places to hide away with my Kindle when it all gets to be a bit too much.

Welcome to Princess!  I'm thoroughly enjoying your "Live from...", writing style, and glad that you are having a good experience so far.

While the Island Princess isn't our favorite Princess ship, we still like her enough to have spent 111 days on the World Cruise in 2023, and we've already booked another 102 days for the 2025 World Cruise on her.  The thing we miss is, as others have mentioned, there is no International Cafe; however, hope springs eternal that whilst she is in dry dock at the Fincantieri Shipyard in September corporate will have finally gotten tired of all our whining and begging and put one in as they did on her sister ship the Coral Princess.

Happy sailing.

I hope this is the correct place to ask this question.  We are arriving for a port call in Vancouver on HAL ship the Westerdam in September and friends from Australia visiting Vancouver while waiting to board a Princess ship a few days later want to meet and spend the day with us.  (So excited to see them!!)  At any rate, wondering if anyone could give some helpful information as to where within the terminal would be a good place or landmark for us to meet each other as neither of us is familiar with the terminal, and what I found online was not particularly helpful.  Would it be better to pick somewhere outside to meet rather than inside the terminal?  Any help is greatly appreciated and thanked for in advance.

Great information, thank you so much for sharing.  We are making arrangements for a private car, driver, and tour guide whilst in Kyoto due to DH's limitations.  

Many thanks for the information and links.  Fortunately, the scooter folds up to the size of a carry-on suitcase, only weighs 40 lbs., and has a pull handle plus DH who uses it can walk for short distances and climb a few stairs as long as there is a handrail.

Three of us have received permission to disembark in Shimizu to travel to Kyoto and then rejoin our ship two days later in Osaka and have figured out the best way to get to Kyoto is by train but that is where it gets a bit challenging for us.  From my research, it looks like we would need to take a local train from Shimizu Port to Shizuoka on the JR Line which really would not be ideal as one of us uses a mobility scooter (small and folds up but even so). Hence, my question is does anyone know if we can get a taxi to take us to the train station in Shizuoka (Shin-Shizuoka) from Shimizu Port?  

For those with allergies to feathers or down, such as myself, vacuum-packing my pillow from home is the best way to ensure I don't have any issues.  Several times there have been all feather or down pillows and I have not been able to get any hypoallergenic replacements from housekeeping.  With the pillow vacuum-packed it is flat and takes up little to no room in a suitcase.

On the World Cruise last year and then again on a recent trans-Atlantic cruise, both with Princess but different ships, we learned quickly to order two drinks at a time once we got a server as it was the only way to ensure we ever got a second drink.

Our very first Princess cruise was on the Regal in 1994, a 7-day Caribbean with Captain Antonino Vito.  We had a wonderful time and were hooked on cruising with Princess and now have 43 cruises and 705 days at sea all on Princess.

I confess though, that at least for us, the bloom has gone off the rose a bit as regards cruising with Princess in the past year or so as things are changing, and the brand seems to be struggling to find its way.  Or it may be that we have just become too irrelevant for them.  So, we're giving another line a try and will see how it compares.  Hopefully, we will be back for cruise 44 and more.