Island Princess May 8 Voyage of Glaciers lazy live

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Yes we saw the northern lights!  It wasn’t National Geographic spectacular but it was pretty amazing!   

Saw some great calving in glacier bay.

DH caught that huge splash in the second pic! It was the biggest one of the day. 

Edited May 14, 2019 by HaveDogWillTravel

[packerpegster]

Thanks!  No problem ....

[travelin.sisters]

thanks for the updates & the great photos! I see that the Island is getting the new internet this week, do they also have on demand tv (we found great travel things on our Hawaii cruise & & hoping she will have them for our south pacific one next year...don't watch much tv on a cruise but on one with lots of sea days it can be nice on occasion)?

[SETexaslady]

On 5/12/2019 at 7:12 PM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

 If there’s anything else you want to know I can try and get it for you.

 

 

I would love to know if the power outlets in your cabin are really scarce. Did you bring a power strip? I'm still debating if I should or not. I've read where you can bring a non-surge protector power strip but some say they have been confiscated. 😮

[SETexaslady]

Your photos are outstanding!!  And you got to see the Northern Lights!!🤪 Awesome!  Is that viewable every night or only during certain times?  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

We’ve been the only ship in every port. In fact we haven’t seen even one other cruise ship so far ( except the coral in Vancouver at sail away). 

I’ve been brought out of this fantasy, dream vacation by the incredibly tragic events of yesterday to those 14 Royal pax and pilots. 

This is just...so... sad...   I simply can not fathom how those on the Royal are coping. And the families of those injured and dead. There are no words. 

[603NHcruiseAlaska]

We leave May 22 on the Island Princess.  Thanks for sharing so much about your trip and the info on internet upgrade (think we'll buy the internet package now).  Your pictures are gorgeous.  So sorry about your luggage, but it looks like you're having a wonderful trip!  Yes, it is so sad about the Royal and there are no words.  Prayers to all.

Edited May 14, 2019 by 603NHcruiseAlaska

[SETexaslady]

Yes, it's devastating. 😢  

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

17 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

thanks for the updates & the great photos! I see that the Island is getting the new internet this week, do they also have on demand tv (we found great travel things on our Hawaii cruise & & hoping she will have them for our south pacific one next year...don't watch much tv on a cruise but on one with lots of sea days it can be nice on occasion)?

No they do not have on demand tv. Like you we don’t watch a lot of TV but really enjoyed the quality of movies available last Dec on the Grand.

We have a full suite so we asked for the DVD player to be installed. Unfortunately it can only be on the living room tv and the dvd library is not very good at all. 

Oh well. Not a big deal.  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

6 hours ago, SETexaslady said:

Your photos are outstanding!!  And you got to see the Northern Lights!!🤪 Awesome!  Is that viewable every night or only during certain times?  

The university of Alaska has a website that shows where they are expected to be visible and gives a 0-9 scale of likeliness. 

The season is April to August. Basically you need a dark and clear night sky. Jay Dot from our Burro creek day said an hour or so on either side of midnight is generally when he sees them. 

Last night was very overcast and our aft cabin was facing south. Bad on both counts for us last night. The night before was awesome since we were heading south pointing our aft cabin north as well as having perfect clear skies. We had incredible stargazing as well that night! There was a half moon so that’s maybe why the northern lights were not expansive. I used to book so we’d have a full moon but now  going to book so we have s new moon!  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

In the prince William sound headed to college fjord. Another sunny warm day. I am so glad I packed tons of sunblock. Just wish I had my sunhat! 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Some special drink menus for this cruise that I haven’t seen before. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

The Wheelhouse Bar drink menu. It has the same drinks as the other bars but I’ve not seen this format before. 

 

Also we have found free hot cocoa in the buffet. I don’t go everyday, but the two days I did it was there. 

 

I asked a bartender about canned sodas and the drink package. While canned sodas aren’t included DH will get 25% off them. I really love that princess doesn’t make both (or all) people in a cabin buy the bev pkg. We only bought it for DH for the first leg since he wasn’t sure if he’d want it on the return trip or not. He and I will buy enough bottles of wine (some will stay in MDR & some will come back to the room) at 25% off today to last us for the next 7 day leg. The makers mark will be delivered tonight. We also get 3 more mini bar set ups tomorrow. Much less expensive than the $2000 it would have cost for us both to get bev pkg for the 14 days. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

The photos of the northern lights are not very good. There were greens and reds along the northern horizon with flashing lights extending up into the sky. My iPhone simply can’t catch that. 

[SETexaslady]

2 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

The photos of the northern lights are not very good. There were greens and reds along the northern horizon with flashing lights extending up into the sky. My iPhone simply can’t catch that. 

 

So cool!!!

[HaveDogWillTravel]

12 hours ago, SETexaslady said:

I would love to know if the power outlets in your cabin are really scarce. Did you bring a power strip? I'm still debating if I should or not. I've read where you can bring a non-surge protector power strip but some say they have been confiscated. 😮

We have Brought on a regular 2 dollar extension cord without surge on every one of our dozen princess cruises in the past 3 years. Never had an issue. We have a full suite so ymmv but we have one desk with 3 outlets and another with one outlet. One outlet in bathroom. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Some pictures of the island. We love the promenade deck. 

 

We rented that cabana in the sanctuary for our second glacier bay day. Since we are doing the b2b we could book for the next cruise. We have $600 of non refundable OBC and this will use $220 of it. It comes with a mini bar set up and a special lunch. 

[golfb4cruzing]

Enjoying the ship pics. We've been on the Coral and are on the Island in October for the Panama Canal.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, golfb4cruzing said:

Enjoying the ship pics. We've been on the Coral and are on the Island in October for the Panama Canal.

Lots of people complain about the island but we are having a great time in her. Amazing crew and service. She never feels crowded. Just the usual cluster around the photos that’s annoying. The aft elevators have been so quick to get.  We are amazed.  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Just leaving College Fjord. It’s really worth it to get up here. It was a little chillier as we were here from 6:30 to 8 pm. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

You REALLY need to remember to pack binoculars!  We saw many sea otters (with babies too) and DH spotted a bear on the shore in college fjord. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Oh and I have to commend Maya and the Princess customer service staff at the pursers desk with trying to find my luggage. Maya had $250 OBC put on our account for the inconvenience of losing my luggage. It was not even their fault!  I was shocked. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Everything I ever wanted to know about a B2B in Whittier. So happy about how it’s done!!!!!

No customs, no muster, no need to get off the ship.........and best of all my account will not close out so my new OZbC will cover all our wine we bought with the discount today for MDR next week. 

[603NHcruiseAlaska]

You're pictures are amazing (my binoculars are packed)!  Can't wait to cruise on the Island in 7 days!  If you see any advertisements on board for the new MedallionNet internet, can you post it?  Princess is currently only selling the old internet plans (240 minutes and up) on the Island cruise leaving May 22 . . . trying to decide if I should prebuy internet or wait until we board.  Thanks.

[bubraves83]

As an FYI (I know it won't help you for next week) but we are on the Island in September and MedallionNet is available for me to purchase.