Teach a noob about cruises~~ More specifically Princess Alaska Cruise

[dark0821]

Alright guys, don't laugh...

So I am about to embark on my first ever cruise, leaving on Sept 3rd on the Princess Alaska cruise. Going with wife and 2 kids (12 yrs old + 10 yrs old)

Now we just have the super basic fare, nothing fancy.

So bare with me, if you can share some your expreiences, tips and tricks?

1) All those upgrades/wifi/drink packages, are any of them worth it? The "per person per day" over 10 days really adds up quick~

2) How much tips is the "norm" for the rooms/food/servers etc etc thru our the trip? Do I need to go exchange some "cash", like $300 USD in $5 bills, so I can just leave them whenever?

3) The excursions looks hella expensive, but then again it's not like we will be going to a cruise every 2 years type thing, wanting to get the best experience, should I just splurge and be done with it?

4) Specifically, if I don't book "dinners" now, I assume walk-in are extremely hard once you are already on the cruise

5) Worth it to park the vehicle for 10 days at Canada Place? Planning to just get my bro in law to drive us to the skytrain and we are planning to skytrain down to Canada place? Am I just being too cheap loool?

6) Clothing, what are essentials that I must bring, what are some things that was like "if only I knew, or if only someone told me earlier"?


I am a total noob, watched a few youtube "guides", but kinda feels like a few of them are "being paid off by the Cruise companies lolol", so want to get some real opinions

Thanks guys~

Need to diet extra hard now since I assume I will pig out for those 10 days~

[Hondaracer]

I think some cruises the tips are included in daily fees, outside of maybe leaving money for room cleaning

Wife recently went on an Alaskan one, 5 days, and the unlimited drinks package basically worked out to having 12-14 drinks a day to cover the cost, however, the convenience and ease of access for drinks like specialty coffees etc makes it worth it imo. Eating the additional costs and not getting “value” for the drink packages just puts you in a nickel and dime mindset and you’ll probably opt to not have a nice cocktail or fancy coffee when you see individually they are $14-$16 USD

[donk.]

bout to trigger someone: Unlike workers in USA that already get a 17$ minimum wage for being a server, they dont need tips (cali / washington)

Cruise ship employees make as little as 3$/hr since they get free board/food and are employed internationally, up to you how and who you want to tip. The last cruise i was on, had an auto xx% gratuity for everything we bought with their "ship" card they provide you.

Cruise ships destroy local international economies because they push you to buy their own on-shore activities, so they can make more profit. Furthermore, many of their guided tours ONLY take you to shops that are also run by the cruise line, then scare you into saying other shops are a scam.
In other words, dont be afraid to take a local diy tour once you get off the boat, with caution ofcourse.

I cant imagine "walk in dinners" being difficult, the cruise ship would get a very poor rep if they could not feed you 24/7.

Lastly, dont overthink it, go enjoy your vacation

[EvoFire]

We've only been on one cruise but here's what we did, answering you in no particular order

We tipped our regular servers (dining room manager, server, assistant) and room attendant on the last day.
We didn't do any excursions, we googled our stops and figured what was close by and what we could do.
We prebought the WiFi package before hand for 2 devices since we would need our phones to communicate with each other when we are at opposite ends of the boat with the kids.
I didn't plan on having any drinks since wife was breastfeeding and we try to abstain together. Also avoided sodas as well and just drank whatever tea/coffee and free drinks available.

We just brought regular clothes that fit the occasion and weather.

My dad dropped us off at Canada Place with our family car, and he picked us up from the airport when we flew back from our destination.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by dark0821

1) All those upgrades/wifi/drink packages, are any of them worth it? The "per person per day" over 10 days really adds up quick~

You can do the math on them based on what you think you'll use but typically no. The last time I went on one you had to be a massive alcoholic to actually make it worth it. Some people like it just so they don't have to actually think about the price of each drink, which is still a waste of money but if it helps you actually relax on your vacation it may be worth it.

Also check what the free drinks are. I don't drink much pop but I love iced tea so when those are included I'm golden.

Originally Posted by dark0821

2) How much tips is the "norm" for the rooms/food/servers etc etc thru our the trip? Do I need to go exchange some "cash", like $300 USD in $5 bills, so I can just leave them whenever?

idk the going rates but I'd use cash to tip on the last day and make sure you watch the receipts for auto-tips before you add one and end up tipping 15% + 15% on something.

Originally Posted by dark0821

3) The excursions looks hella expensive, but then again it's not like we will be going to a cruise every 2 years type thing, wanting to get the best experience, should I just splurge and be done with it?

They aren't actually operating the excursions themselves so you can usually find the local company and book it direct through them for less. Especially when you're just in Canada/the US it should be fairly easy. Also note that the descriptions of the excursions given by the cruise line can be out of date and what you actually end up doing can vary a bit from what you were told.

Originally Posted by dark0821

4) Specifically, if I don't book "dinners" now, I assume walk-in are extremely hard once you are already on the cruise

It's been a while but I don't think I ever had an issue with that?

Originally Posted by dark0821

6) Clothing, what are essentials that I must bring, what are some things that was like "if only I knew, or if only someone told me earlier"?

Make sure you've got proper clothing for any of the places you might want to go. I messed up once and didn't bring nice enough shoes for the one restaurant that we wanted to try. Also be sure to have a watch with an alarm so you don't end up being those people sprinting down the dock trying not to miss the boat at one of the stops.

[whitev70r]

Yah, the calculated tipping on a cruise when I went was shocking how much it all added up to on the last day. Servers, room cleaner, maybe others.

Someone alluded to it, the cruise ship is a microcosm of the world's economy. The wealthy white folks are the ones behind the counter and direct customer relations roles/jobs. The servers and cleaners are from the developing world. There are really sad and tragic stories of how big cruise ship companies registering in places like Liberia where there are no labour laws and then really take advantage of workers ... like promising them a job and then charging them for accommodations while they work the cruise in the bottom of the hull ... 6 days a week, 3 months at a time away from their homeland. So much excess food wastes at the buffets after one cruise. Waiters/waitresses, I don't blame them, were so friendly and happy when serving you and on the last day, they can't wait till you and your entitled asses leave the ship only to have like 6 hrs to turn over for next mass of people.

I said ... 'No Mas!' ... I'll do anything else other than a cruise for holiday.

[bcrdukes]

All the weight you are hoping to lose is about to go down the drain.

[Eff-1]

Wife and I love cruises.

1) All those upgrades/wifi/drink packages, are any of them worth it? The "per person per day" over 10 days really adds up quick~

I personally don't get wifi when on a cruise because it forces me to disconnect from the grid and recenter my life. But if you feel like you need it or want it, then you're stuck paying whatever they ask for.

Unless you are heavy drinkers and plan of having multiple drinks per day, the drink package rarely works out from a math POV. Especially when you factor in that you are paying for the drink packages even on the days you are off the ship doing activities in port.

But where the drink package is nice is you can order a drink whenever you want and not worry about paying for it. It's like having a seasons pass to a ski hill. Once you pay, you can come and go freely without worrying about the day pass cost. So if you truly want to be on vacation and live freely, then get it.

There is also a reduced drink package that gets you soft drinks and espresso coffees at the on-board starbucks if you want that, but dont' want alcohol as much.

With these packages, sometimes there are deals they offer half way through the cruise as the number of days winds down, they'll try hard to sell you the package at a reduced cost.

2) How much tips is the "norm" for the rooms/food/servers etc etc thru our the trip? Do I need to go exchange some "cash", like $300 USD in $5 bills, so I can just leave them whenever?

No need to carry any cash. Just add tips to the bills when they are handed to you for signature. Same with adding a tip to the final total when you disembark.

The only thing I'd consider brining cash for is for offshore excursions and for gambling in the casino. I think if you try and get cash for the casino on board, they charge extra fees but I could be wrong. At least with cash, you can set a limit for how much to gamble.

3) The excursions looks hella expensive, but then again it's not like we will be going to a cruise every 2 years type thing, wanting to get the best experience, should I just splurge and be done with it?

Yeah. Excursions are nice because it's all planned for you and in the event you are late coming back, the ship will wait for you. If it's not prohibitively expensive, I'd do it. But you can always just plan your own days off the ship too. Sometimes just wandering the area around the dock and finding a restaurant for lunch and whatever is good enough.

4) Specifically, if I don't book "dinners" now, I assume walk-in are extremely hard once you are already on the cruise

Depends on the restaurant but yeah, don't expect to get a 7pm or 6pm table on a whim. If you don't want to eat in the main dining room every night, then book resos now in advance. Also note some restaurants come with an extra cover charge. Usually you can get prepaid packages for that too.

Also it's good idea to book ahead of time any evening shows or concerts. They do have standy seats but you have to wait in line and it's not guaranteed you'll get in. For example, late night comedy show or jazz show is popular that if you don't book in advance, it's hard to get in.

5) Worth it to park the vehicle for 10 days at Canada Place? Planning to just get my bro in law to drive us to the skytrain and we are planning to skytrain down to Canada place? Am I just being too cheap loool?

Don't park there that long. Might be broken into. Get a ride and take the train assuming you can wheel/carry your luggage no problem.

6) Clothing, what are essentials that I must bring, what are some things that was like "if only I knew, or if only someone told me earlier"?

I've not done an Alaskan cruise but I'd plan to bring something for all possibilities: tshirts and shorts up to sweaters and rain coats. the wind and rain on a ship is fierce. also bring a suit/tie for the formal night.

Bring lanyards you can put your shipboard card in for easy access whenever you need it.

And bring those big clips you can attach your beach towel to the outdoor lounger if you plan on sitting on the deck relaxing.

[PeanutButter]

We're also going to Alaska in September. Seven days with Celebrity.
It will be our first time to Alaska, but we've been cruising before.

I heard the best excursion if you can afford it is the dog sledding. Apparently this experience was outstanding. You can book it when you arrive on land and it'll be cheaper. Also it's not Mexico, so it won't feel as sketch booking it on land when you arrive.

Regarding dinner, if you haven't booked your dinner time yet, it's probably wait list only right now. This is the more formal sit down dinner. You should try to get on the waitlist for it. You can still get dinner at informal dining, but you need a reservation for the more formal sit down dinner.

Parking is like $60 a day at Canada Place. Taking an Uber or Cab is much cheaper.

Tipping is usually done at the end. They will likely put a preset amount of tip on your bill, but you can modify it. For example, we're going with two toddlers, so we're not going to tip full for them. I also like to tip the house keeper daily, I feel like service is better that way and you get to know them and get better service.

Also, they should have some sort of teens club for the kids. This was actually pretty fun when I went when we were younger. So you should look into it for your kids

[Badhobz]

Parking: dont do it. take an uber/cab get a ride

1) All those upgrades/wifi/drink packages, are any of them worth it? The "per person per day" over 10 days really adds up quick~

are you a drunk who can drink 60-80usd dollars a day worth of drinks? if not, then nope don't do it. Wifi isn't worth it either unless you're on business. All the ports (stops) will have LTE coverage and majority of the passage from Vancouver to the tip of Vancouver island you will have cell coverage (and its not data roaming because its canada)

2) How much tips is the "norm" for the rooms/food/servers etc etc thru our the trip? Do I need to go exchange some "cash", like $300 USD in $5 bills, so I can just leave them whenever?

no need to tip extra unless you feel the service is exceptional. every day they will charge per person 15 USD. That is for all the gratuities. You can tip more if you like, but I wouldn't recommend it. 15 USD per person per day seems fair to me. You can technically argue your way out of paying this 15 USD per person per day, but its standard stuff for cruises

3) The excursions looks hella expensive, but then again it's not like we will be going to a cruise every 2 years type thing, wanting to get the best experience, should I just splurge and be done with it?

do excersions. they are hella expensive but whatever do it. My skagway railroad trip cost 150 USD per person for 3h.

4) Specifically, if I don't book "dinners" now, I assume walk-in are extremely hard once you are already on the cruise

You cant book jack shit right now unless you signed up for the princess app and finished all your preboarding stuff. You can easily book all your dinners as soon as you board the boat through your TV. Highly recommend you book every single sit down meal at various restaurants. Although majority of these "main dinning" restaurants will serve the same dinner, there are occasionally some differences. On princess you can only book 1 dinner at one restaurant. If you book 2, it will cancel the first one.


5) Worth it to park the vehicle for 10 days at Canada Place? Planning to just get my bro in law to drive us to the skytrain and we are planning to skytrain down to Canada place? Am I just being too cheap loool?

no, take an uber. WHen you return it's just like leaving YVR, its a set rate for certain taxi zones. to Burnaby I think its like 30 bucks or something.

6) Clothing, what are essentials that I must bring, what are some things that was like "if only I knew, or if only someone told me earlier"?

its around 10-15 degrees at the northern ports of call right now. bring a jacket. bring some rain gear as most of these places its rainy.

=========

random tips
- I booked a balcony room. highly recommended to get away from all the wackos on deck. plus you get a better view than whats on deck. Also for your room, the higher the floor the better. I was on floor 14 and not only do you get epic views, but you get this great canopy on top of the balcony so when it rains you can still enjoy your balcony space.
- I was on the Ruby Princess and its a nice vessel. Food was really really great. Not much for the kids to do though, although the shows were interesting and fun
- Casino downstairs is like all American casinos, you can smoke in them so its a bit much for my sensibilities
- buffet is better than you think
- they charge for water! so bring some bottles and go fill up water at the buffet everyday
- also don't forget to go to the restaurants for breakfast and lunch. You don't need to eat buffet breakfast/lunch
- at the ports of call, there is a ton of east indian jewelry places. i wouldn't trust any of those places. Even though they promise they sell certified rolexes, etc etc. Yah bullshit. if its not an authorized dealer, don't do it.
- Furs are decent in Juneau. I bought my wife an Arctic fox fur coat 5k USD, regular price for something like this is 15k USD. I saw a mink fur coat for 25k, not bad for something that's usually 50k
- also for juneau, there is the Mendenhall glacier. if you pay the regular excursion money its like 150usd per person to go take a "tour". total crock of shit, its basically a bus ride to the visitor center. You can do the same tour by taking an uber to the visitor center yourself and then look at the glacier across the bay https://maps.app.goo.gl/KbVrtKoUVYLZjdem6

- don't talk to the old fucks on the boat. THEY LOVE to tell you their life story. tell them to shut their face and to stop touching your kids.
- the railings on the top of the deck are kinda low. if you wanted to murder your wife and/or kids, have them run around the top deck when it's wet and when you're on the big ocean passage time and there is a high chance they'll go WOOOOPSIE right into "till-it-cums" mouth
- if you re in catch-a-can, go see the old timey whore house called DOLLY's https://maps.app.goo.gl/GZMJVcmu3Y4Pgquq7 its fun cuz she's an old prostitute who made good money giving out blows. fun for the whole family!

[Gumby]

Agree mostly with the comments made by those that have been on a cruise.

Drink packages, not worth it.

Wifi package, unless you/your kids must have internet, not worth it either (but if you get it, the connection is surprisingly fast and reliable compared to years ago)

I second badhobz’ recommendation and hope that you got a balcony stateroom especially for Alaska because the shoreline is beautiful (when you’re heading north or south I guess), the fresh air is amazing, and it’s a private extension of your personal space. In a worst case scenario, if you get sick, you may be required to stay in your room and you will thank yourself for getting a balcony.

Princess has 3 dining options in the Main Dining Rooms (MDR): set time (early and late seatings), reserved time, and anytime dining (i.e. walk-in). Note that eating at the MDR can take a long time, so unless you enjoy being served a multi-course meal, I suggest trying it once or twice, then going to eat in the World Fresh Marketplace buffet instead. There are tons of options and you can eat at your own pace. Much less formal. The specialty restaurants with cover charges are not worth it.

No need for cash on board as everything (including daily tips/gratuities) will be charged to your “onboard” account. However, you could, at any point, pay off your onboard account with cash. Otherwise it will just be charged to your credit card.

Shore excursions: the ones offered by the cruise line will be reasonably well run, but expensive. In this internet age, there are many reputable sites that list shore excursions offered by local companies for less. For example, check out Viator.com. Before internet was widely available, you couldn’t trust local operators and you were forced to get them from the cruise line directly. Do some research into your ports of call to see which ones have “must-sees” or “must-dos”, and which ports you can just walk around the port itself. For example, if you were a visitor to Vancouver, you can easily get off at Canada Place and walk around downtown. But when I was at Rome’s port, the port is actually 80km from Rome (imagine visiting Vancouver but actually docking at Tsawassen).

For Princes Cruises, each of you will be issued a small “medallion” the size of an Apple AirTag on a lanyard that acts as your “key” - you’ll use it to unlock your stateroom door and you can tap it to buy stuff onboard. While convenient, in reality the cruise line uses it to track your movements, spending, etc. but it’s also good for security purposes because they can see where you are and track when you get on/off the ship. You can use it to track where your family members are (so don’t tell your wife you’re going back to your room if you’re actually heading to the casino).

[Mikoyan]

Not much to add, as everyone here has put out some great advice.

I'm heading onto the Princess Ruby this week for 7 days.
Taking Skytrain down.
Wife took the wifi package for work reasons.
No drink package, as we're not drinkers, and as it's been pointed out, the math doesn't make sense unless you're drinking 24/7
We didn't book any excursions as they're pretty pricey, and we've got young kids, not worth it.
I purchased cheap air tag watch bands from Amazon, so I don't have to use the medallion on the supplied lanyard.
Travel agent friend gave me a tip to use magnetic hooks to use in your cabin to provide a few extra places to hang stuff.

[Badhobz]

Oh wow that’s the same boat as me !! It’s a good boat. The gym is fun cuz it was more or less empty

You can steal water in the spa next to the gym. It’s fruit infused water too !

The Medallion thing you can just keep in your pocket / man purse. I just looped the tether around one of my belt loops and the tag in my pocket. Almost never needed to take it out.


I would not suggest you guys eat at the port calls. Prices are ridiculously high and the food is crap. I bought my mom that 3lb of king crab for 280usd and instantly regretted it. It was salty, bland, and the meat wasn’t that sweet. Hell it was probably previously frozen or frozen at sea.

Just eat onboard. The food is fantastic on princess.

[Dragon-88]

One tip I have for communication with Family on board, when you connect to the Wifi, make sure it auto connnects(auto-join) to the Ships Wifi. Even though you're not on a package, the very minimal data it gives allows you to imessage around the ship. We found this convienient as there's really no other way to communicate with family unless your in a room or have purchased Wifi for all devices.

Drink packages are only worth it if you're really using it.. I find it sometimes very busy at the bars so sometimes you're waiting 10mins for a couple drinks. Bartenders are pretty good at serving, but they also have favorites that tip cash.. The boat will have a free juice (Ice tea/fruit drink), so bring a large bottle to fill that and then another water bottle for water. You can get away with drinking the free drinks all cruise, no hassle. I dont drink, but I got a pop package, and it wasnt worth it..


For the dinning, any high value restaurant will probably be fully booked when you arrive. You can line up on the first day and see whats available for reservations with their local reservation assisant, but depending on your party # it might be difficult.. The best ones are always booked up, unless you want like a 8pm dinner or something really off schedule. Buffet is usually open but has closing hours. so its no impossible to find food.

[Mikoyan]

Family friend gave us one of of those USB c charging portable personal blender things for Christmas. He said he uses it on cruises to make his own smoothies with the buffet fruits lol. I'll report back next week on how that goes.

The princess app has a chat feature built in, we'll see how well it works as most of the family are on Androids.

[Badhobz]

Originally Posted by Mikoyan

Family friend gave us one of of those USB c charging portable personal blender things for Christmas. He said he uses it on cruises to make his own smoothies with the buffet fruits lol. I'll report back next week on how that goes.

OMG THATS FRIGGIN BRIALLIANT!

so luckily i was on Deck 14. the buffet is on deck 15 and it was easy to bring a plate of fruit/breakfast down to the suite

if you are on the lower decks, you gotta fight those fat ass amercians to get on the elevator and its always a pain in the ass.

[Hondaracer]

lol that’s pretty ghetto.

What’s next, bring your own bbq on vacation? Lol

[EvoFire]

Just pay the $8 for the smoothie. You are on a vacation.

[Gumby]

One other stateroom tip: bring a small power strip without a surge protector for charging your devices. Often there aren’t enough plugs to charge stuff. Surge protected power strips may be confiscated as they are not supposed to be used in cruise ships for fire safety reasons.

[mikemhg]

Originally Posted by Mikoyan

Family friend gave us one of of those USB c charging portable personal blender things for Christmas. He said he uses it on cruises to make his own smoothies with the buffet fruits lol. I'll report back next week on how that goes.

The princess app has a chat feature built in, we'll see how well it works as most of the family are on Androids.

These things are awesome

Was making Mai Tais on the boat using one last week.

Fancy cocktails on the beach.

[unit]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

Just pay the $8 for the smoothie. You are on a vacation.

$8 doesnt seem bad. i was just in LA and went to Erewhon where their smoothies go up to $22USD.

[Dragon-88]

Another thing to note, if you're at a restaurant that has a menu, but its not one of the fine dining/pay extra restaurants, you can order literally as much as you want. They usually have the menu's posted before the meals so you can see what each location is offering, or ask for the next meals menu.

I'm a huge scallop fan so one day it was scallop day so I ordered like 6 plates. Server didnt blink an eye and brought them all. You could literally order 4 entrees in one meal if you wanted. No such thing as food waste or extra charges for not finishing your meals.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by unit

$8 doesnt seem bad. i was just in LA and went to Erewhon where their smoothies go up to $22USD.

Oh man, Erewhon.

[dark0821]

lool looks like we can bring a 12-pack of soda per person... man that's actually more than enough, i dont think we can go thru 48 cans of pop in 7 days loooooool

That's drinking solved + will bring refill bottles as suggested for water @ the buffets XD

Magnetic hooks + power strip (non surge protected kind)

Yea, we wont do drink packages or wifi, i am hella cheap loool

I did splurge on the Skagway White Pass Railroad Summit Excursion & Train Tour

[Badhobz]

p.s. dont tip the longshoremen who take your bags.... or anyone who isnt a "crew"

Those guys make a shit ton of money already and dont need additional tips from these sucker americans tourists