I return to the room and was greeted by chocolate covered strawberries and canapés.
After a short nap, it was time to walk around, go to Vines and meet my husband in the casino for our pre-dinner meeting.
It was the formal night dinner, but we were going to Salty Dog pub instead but I got to see them prepare for the champagne fountain of glasses.
Then to Vines, wine and sushi.
Meeting with my husband in the casino.
I went to the wine tasting which lasted a couple of hours. The maitre’d and sommelier discussed the process of making wine and champagne and the wine was paired with certain foods to bring out the elements of each of the wines.
Time for a short nap before dinner.
A sea day, sleeping in, then off to Breakfast. Another advantage of the suite is breakfast in the crown grill and it includes a mimosa.
After breakfast we went to a presentation about Alaska but no one showed up, so after about 20 minutes we left. I looked at my emails and I had one from work so worked from the room for a little while and then I was off to see Sheryl Crow in concert, on the outdoor movie screen.
Then to lunch. Fried calamari, chicken and trifle.
Next, a wine tasting.
My husband is a smoker and I am not. Smoking venues are limited on most ships. I am a gambler but he is not. Our meet up spot is the casino. We usually meet there and have a pre-dinner drink.
The Crown Grill had an insert on their menu for Alaska and seafood specials.
I had Clams casino and French onion soup and my husband had the shrimp. Also I had another 24K Margarita.
I had surf and turf, my husband had chops and we had baked potatoes and spinach.
Finally I had chocolate peanut butter dessert and baileys and coffee.
As the reservation was kind of late and it had been a long day, we called it a day and went to our room.
End of Day 1.
Next to explore the piazza, live music Vines, international cafe and people watching.
Vines was another favorite place. Wine, sushi, tapas and taking in the activities of the piazza.
Next off to the Explorers lounge for trivia and a cosmo.
We received our luggage and unpacked prior to the muster drill. After the muster drill I went to Crooners, the martini bar which also had live music at night.
Off to see our home for the next 7 days. I loved it, plenty of space.
Shortly afterwards the room steward came by to introduce himself and brought champagne. Hey, I could get used to this.
As a martini drinker, I find the drink package a good deal, I have rarely hit the maximum drinks, but like one cost that is prepaid. On Princess for some reason one of my favorite drinks is the 24 karat gold margarita.
Next was Lunch at the Salty Dog Grill, it was a change from prior lido grill. I thought it was good.
Afterwards we explored the ship, we went to the Crown Grill to make a reservation for dinner. The suites have a complimentary dinner on embarkation night at one of the specialty restaurants. Next we see our room.
My husband slept in and I had the breakfast buffet. I like Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte but am too cheap to get them very often. There was a Starbucks in the hotel so I got a PSL.
After a while we left and took a cab to the pier.
So my husband’s favorite place to go is Alaska and mine is the Mediterranean. We were in the Mediterranean in 2018, but Carnival announced a refurbished ship sailing in May 2020. My husband has always been ready to go and just asks what clothes he should pack. I told him we would go to the Mediterranean in 2020, but go to Alaska in September 2019. This was all before COVID, so unbeknownst to us it would be the last cruise for a little while.
Room
We have sailed in all types of rooms from Inside to Suite. Certain itineraries seem better suited for a balcony and Alaska is one of them, especially with a day viewing glaciers. We had sailed Princess in a club class mini-suite and enjoyed the experience. I looked at the club class room around Labor Day, however, I found a full suite was cheaper a few weeks later. We took the suite later in September.
Princess Medallion
We missed the roll out of the Medallion by a few weeks on the Regal and missed on the Ruby by a little while as well. One day we will get to try it.
Fly2Fun
I didn’t want to spend the money to get a hotel in Seattle at the beginning of the cruise and a room in Vancouver at the end. I booked fly2fun to arrive the morning of the cruise and leave the day we departed, even though I don’t think it is a good idea to fly cross country on the day the cruise begins. Well they kept changing the arrival time making it later and later so I changed the flight to come in the day before, unfortunately the only flight back left near midnight so we had a lot of time at Vancouver airport at the end of the trip.
Day 0 Tampa to Seattle
So we’re off.
Lunch at the Hard Rock at Tampa Airport
Flight to Charlotte unfortunately we had storms and were delayed in Charlotte for a few hours, we landed around 10 and had some difficulty getting to the nearby hotel. We made it and settled in for dinner around 1:30 am our time.
And a few pictures of the Marriott near the Seattle airport.
