h-sar

Just received my invoice from my TA for the short Millenium cruise. She was able to book us an interior for $680, all tolled, which is $100 less than advertised. And we just got our first dump of snow at home, and it was a significant dump, so feeling even better about booking this for January! So excited for our first warm winter holiday since Covid reared its ugly head. Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. Looking forward to my first Celebrity cruise, short thought it is.

Bit the bullet and emailed our TA to book the cruise. The cost per night is about the same as what we’d pay for a hotel in Fort L, and the cruise will include all our meals and entertainment. 
 

2 hours ago, Team Stag said:

While typically shorter cruises can be a more lively atmosphere, I would be surprised if this one is "over the top" booze crouse.

 

Typically your heavier partiers are younger in general.  Jan 3-5 is would be the absolutely worst time for younger people to take a cruise.  You are literally using 3 days of vacation the first of the year after you most likely have just finished a Christmas / NY type break.  If you have kids, they are starting classes again so you aren't pulling them out of school.

 

Could I be wrong - absolutely.  I have been before.  Many times - ask my other half.  But from my vantage point; IDK if its going to be as bad as say a 3 day cruise that starts on Thurs or Friday and ends on Sunday / Monday.

Yes, absolutely correct about the younger people not wanting or being able to take those days off. I hadn’t thought about that even though both our kids will be leaving Ft L when we get off Princess on the 3rd to head back to work. In fact, they had to get permission to take off the 3rd.

Definitely, sticking around Fort L also has benefits. Either way, we will be 4 days less in -30 C weather in my hometown, so it’s a win-win 😁. 

23 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

The shorter the cruise the more likely to be a "Party Cruise".      Especially with the dates I would expect there to be a larger than normal younger  collage age passenger load.  

 

Personally I would find a nice hotel in FLL area and relax.   While I've never been on one I would expect a 3 day cruise to be very limited.   Day one by the time you transfer get checked in an have a bite rooms will probably be available for use at 1-1:30 and maybe 2-3 for Luggage.     My experience is the first night on any length cruise  to be difficult for the restaurant staff as both the staff and passenger get used to things.    If you do it I would recommend Specialty Dining for first night.    You will arrive early next morning and will spend the day in port then set sail for home.    Since only a 3 day cruise you will have to pack up and leave suitcases out and be out of your room by 7:30-8:00.   Ugh.  

 

If you do choose to go, come back and let us know your experience as opposed to my no-experience perception.

 Thank you for your thoughts. I will definitely report back if we do it. It’s three nights, Jan 3-6, so there’s one sea day and one port day. 

 

Hello, everyone. I am a long time Princess cruiser, fond of the Royal class and newer ships, and will be taking a New Year’s cruise on Princess this December. We will have a few extra days in Fort Lauderdale after the cruise and I’m looking at adding on a three night Millennium cruise as the price is really good for two people right now, almost the same as what the hotel alone would cost in Fort Lauderdale at that time. I’ve never sailed Celebrity before. Will this short, three night to Nassau, cruise be more of a booze cruise? Sets sale on January 3. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. If you have sailed this ship and Princess, your comparisons would be greatly appreciated as well. Thank you! PS…the price is $780 Cdn for two people, interior cabin. We are in our mid 50’s. 

That is the peak time for kids on board. You’re hitting it at exactly the right time 👌🏽. We’ve done about a dozen Princess cruises at that time, starting when our kids were 8/9 and into their 20’s, with 4 or 5 cruises being on the Regal. Your child will have a blast.

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

Thanks!   I am from a very culinary limited area here!

While Princess usually has a decent amount of Indian offerings in the buffet, like most buffet items, they’re not the best rendition of the item. If you speak with your head waiter the night before, let them know you’re interested in trying some Indian dishes the next night. They will bring out whatever the kitchen has decided upon for that evening and will usually not take special requests (we’ve had a lot of experience with this and only on one cruise could we order specific dishes). This will give you a chance to try out some dishes while still being able to order off the regular menu if it’s not quite your cup of tea. My only problem with this has been that they’ll bring platters of these items to feed the whole table and I really have to specify that I only want a serving for one. From conversations with the head waiters, they make a certain amount of Indian each evening as there’s usually enough demand for it - should say this was true of multiple times on the Regal and once on the Sky preCovid. 
 

For those of you who are really interested in trying out truly authentic Indian cuisine, make friends with an Indian on your block. We love to feed people 😁 and homestyle Indian cooking is nothing like what’s offered in restaurants (eg. butter chicken is considered wedding event food. Can’t remember the last time I actually made it). And, if you’re lucky, that neighbor will be having a wedding in the family - and don’t ever turn down that invitation! 😃

14 hours ago, Coral said:

That is fine. I think I started cruising frequently in 1997 or 1998.

 

When I was on a ship in December - they said they are not even doing sectional cooking in Club Class and gave me a reason why which I no longer remember. Heck, I even liked sectional cooking for certain dishes that they did before COVID. I think Bananas Fosters, Cherries Jubilee and pasta all'arrabbiata.

Has anyone lately seen the pasta all’arrabiata being prepared by the head waiter? PreCovid, it was one of my favorite things.

18 hours ago, caribill said:

What I would like to see added back to the dinner is what has been removed.

o Desserts that are no longer there such as the unique ice cream flavors and creme brulee

o A beef entree every evening

o etc.

I saw some YouTube videos from different Princess ships from the past couple of months where both crème brûlée and ice cream (not sure how varied the flavors were) were on the menu.

14 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

The Indian food on board is as good as you can get at an L.A. specialty restaurant. Figures, some of the kitchen staff is from India. Should be an onboard specialty restaurant for this.  

Princess should bring back their Spicy Cheese Twist bread. Recipe is online though. 

As a certified Indian 😁, I can attest that Princess’ Indian food is authentic and done extremely well (the only thing I find lacking is the level of spice,  and their rendition of chapati/roti/naan leaves a lot to be desired - not sure why as you only need a couple of simple ingredients). It’s even better when the actual head chef is Indian, as was the case on the Regal for us, preCovid. 

My all time favorite Princess dessert, a Norman Love creation. Sadly, has been missing the past few cruises. Let me know when you last saw it and on which ship. 

6 hours ago, bielikov said:

We did book the room for 4 during the kids sail free promotion. We will be sailing with older teenagers and expect to be a little cramped. Great idea about scouting out nearby public bathroom. It just so happens there is one quite close. 

Not to worry. It may be cramped at times, but will work out just fine. We did it a few times, even up to when the kids were about 17 and 19 - in a deluxe balcony and even an inside. We all came through it unscathed and with some great memories. Yup, would’ve been nice to have been able to afford two cabins each time we cruised, but, honestly, I wouldn’t go back and trade those memories for any amount of extra space, especially now that the kids are 23/25 and off on their own.  No other vacation comes close to bringing us as close together (figuratively and literally) as those ones did.
 

If your kids are like most teens, mom and dad will be ready and out of the cabin well before they get up. Getting ready for dinner is where you might have to juggle things, but maybe kids stay out on deck or on balcony while you two get ready a bit early, then you go for a pre dinner drink or stroll and they get ready. It will be just fine. The ones who are horrified at the thought of 4 in a cabin generally come from a life of suburbia and haven’t seen how 80% of the world actually (happily) exists 😁.

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

It has also been suggested to investigate the showers in the gym/spa area.  EM

When our kids were younger, we often did 4 to a cabin. It was very helpful that DH liked early AM workouts and then would use the gym showers (which were much bigger than the cabin ones) and bathroom up there to get ready for the day. And the price was right 😄.
Once I discovered the bliss of the Enclave and started getting week long passes, I would go for an early morning hydro pool visit and then would get ready down there. And those showers are even bigger than the ones in the gym! Going as soon as the Enclave opened meant I usually had the place to myself. 

Asked TA to book E403. Will keep my eyes open for one of the larger balconies a few cabins up from there. The huuuuge balconies toward the front, at the same price, were really tempting, but the big metal half wall would have been ok for a Caribbean cruise with a couple of sea days, but not with 9. Thank you for all your advice and input, everyone! Can always count on CC friends to come though.

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

My question is, why are you only looking at cabins on the starboard side, or is that all that is available?  That time of year, sailing east to west, the sun will be on the port side…EM

Good catch 😄.

My best friend, who will be joining me as DH will be working, can’t handle the sun - I was lucky to be born with a natural tan 😁so can handle it; she has Scottish/Irish blood and burns within seconds, and she would be the one who would really use the balcony well.

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

Effective 9/6/22 free upgrades will become rare, or even nonexistent with their new Bidding for Upgrades program after already becoming less likely with paid upsells.

 

 
I was quite sad to see this as also thought that some of the upsell and upgrades will no longer be offered.

6 minutes ago, EDDY0827 said:

Check YouTube.

Youtube is generally my first go-to for this kind of info, so did go there first. However, people filmed from a standing position and I really wanted the sitting down perspective/experience.

9 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

This link is to the free portion of the site: Cruise Deck Plan Database and Pictures (cruisedeckplans.com)

 

Go there and follow the path to the ship you want. There's a row of tabbed links near the top of the page, and one those is Ostr-View. That's where you want to be.

Thank you!

16 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

Hi,

We have sailed in Emerald 429,433, 437 many times.  These are mid ship by the lifts.  We love these cabin.  Very good view with larger balcony.

Was hoping for one of those, but all unavailable. 403 was the only one left and its larger size is pretty negligible compared to the ones you mentioned.

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd go with the E403.  Or, can you get one slightly more aft?  The 403 is slightly larger than normal balcony.

Unfortunately, the mid aft available ones seem to all have lifeboats in front of them.

Transatlantic on Regal from Southampton, early Oct, 2023. Yes, finally thinking ahead to my retirement gift to myself!! 
Have the opportunity to book M101, L103, E110, or E403.  The first 3 have the metal partial  ‘walls’ and I assume a shorter female like myself would not be able to see any water if sitting down? Also worried about wind in the two forward facing cabins. E403 is the typical very narrow balcony, but the obstruction of some equipment (not a lifeboat) is on the left part of balcony only and doesn’t prevent one from seeing the water. There are multiple sea days and the thought of having all that space for two people on the first three balconies seems ideal, but if I can’t see the water unless I stand, is there any point? We would be doing a lot of reading on the balcony.

For those with first hand experience with the categories of cabins above, what are your thoughts? PS…budget precludes unobstr cabins, so please don’t suggest that.
 

Thank you 

There used to be a poster who had compiled many pictures of Royal class obstructed balconies. I had the link to his pics years ago, but have lost it. Does anyone still have it? Thank you.

Taken them on 4 different Princess ships and no issues. Just a note of warning, if also doing a European land portion, most straighteners will end up being fried if you use them with the converters or adapters. The straightener needs to be dual voltage to begin with. Speaking from personal experience. 

On 8/8/2022 at 10:38 AM, CineGraphic said:

If there are no plate covers, disposable shower caps are a cheap, easy way to cover your food as you walk around.

 

 

Great idea. Most dollar stores will have these in a pack of 10 for a buck. Will add to my list as they’re useful for a number of other things. Ironically, one thing I’ve never used them for is in the shower 😁.
 

In the past, I’ve just thrown a napkin over my plate of food. Less weight than putting another plate over it. 

Given the number of people who have posted over the years about pre-ordered items never making it to their cabin in a timely fashion, I would be hesitant to go that route. Going to their cabin and surprising them would be the easiest thing to pre-arrange, like the suggestion above about a pretend gift delivery at a certain time.