WoodstockGirl

2 hours ago, tillys mom said:

We’ve done the British Isles cruise twice and loved it. I highly recommend that you go in August for the Tattoo in Edinburgh. I disagree with the comment to always book Princess excursion- we booked private tours for every port and had much better tours than the ones booked through Princess. We missed one port, but our tour cost was refunded to our credit card. One exception- if I was going to Paris I wouldn’t risk a private tour at  Le Harve. The private tours to Normandy are fine.

I agree with all that tillys mom says here.

Just to add my thoughts to what she's said: on every cruise we carefully consider whether we will take the Princess excursions or hire privately. We prefer private tours, but the possibility of being on a private tour and being left behind if we miss departure time weighs heavily on us. In Panama we were on an excursion where our bus broke down and we were delayed some 6+ hours getting back to ship.  It was a Princess excursion --- so they waited for us. Otherwise, they wouldn't have.  

In the UK we felt confidence in a) the commitment of the private tours to get us back to the ship in time (I always asked them how they'd make sure to do this), along with b) our own ability to train to the next port and catch up with the ship if we'd missed it (unless we were criss-crossing water). So, we almost always made our own arrangements for private tours. So glad we did!!  They were less expensive,  higher quality, very personalized, using small vans of maybe 8-12 people vs. Princess's big buses, and they often combined more destinations into one day that Princess would. 

I read a lot of the past diaries of people's BI cruises here on cruise critic and got many, many useful and valuable tips about each port, and recommendations for tour companies. 

I love British Isle Cruises. 

Yes. Cielo's. All the way aft. Sixth floor.

And it's like on the Regal where you have to know the "secret passage" way to get to it (that's a joke, in case someone is bothered by my saying that). 

I have another question about Future Cruise Deposits to piggy-back on the OP's question:

My husband and I each have two FCDs right now. So, altogether we have 4 on deposit.

I am anticipating booking a Fall 2020 cruise for my two daughters and me. Just us 3 girls. I will be making the booking for all 3 of us.  What does this mean for using the FCDs I have --- will I use mine for me, and I'll have to make separate, different amount, deposits for them???  Or can I use 3 of the 4 I have on deposit for the 3 of us, even though they were originally made for my husband?

So glad to get the chance to find this out now!

What reasons did your 4 friends give? 

As mentioned already, there is a promenade deck, on both starboard and port side, it just doesn't go all the way around the bow and stern. And there is some intrusion from the tenders and life rafts for a section.  But, as was also pointed out, it has nice little open areas with lounge chairs.

One thing I really like about the Sky is how it never feels crowded.  I don't know how they do it, but as we'd walk around the shops and public areas, we'd feel the crush of the crowds more on the smaller ships, with less people, than on the Sky.  MDR always felt spacious and uncrowded.

Yes, there is the World Market buffet, and also the Horizon Court buffet.  Two buffet sections, that are different - plus the Pastry shop with .... Pastries! All were rarely - if ever - crowded.

When looking at the diagrams of the Sky Princess where the obstructed balconies are located, pay very close attention to the little tiny drawings of the actual boats hanging on the sides. There are two different kinds, that is reflected in the details of the teeny drawings. One kind is a more significant obstacle than the other.  When I pick out an obstructed balcony I pick a room that looks out on the one that has the lower profile. ( I don't know the correct terms for these two different boats, but I think one kind are life rafts, and the other are tender boats. Whatever - there are two different kinds). 

We recently sailed on the Sky, in cabin E515. The obstruction was very easy to live with - a flat orange surface just beyond our balcony that came up to just beneath the top of our balcony rail. Just a few cabins down from us were the other kind of boats, and their obstruction was more significant because those boats have a higher, larger mass of area that comes up above the balconies to block the view.  Also watch out for the white mechanical 'thingees" that are between all the orange boats that hold the boats up and lower them down. Try to avoid them as they are also tall and obstructive. 

How many of the lower and higher profile orange boats even differs from port side to starboard on the Sky. Going by memory, one side has 2 or 3, and the other side has just one. Something like that - anyway, the two sides do not exactly match each other, so just pay attention to the details of the drawings and pick a cabin that is over the smaller, lower profile boat.

Use the deck diagrams for the Sky. The Regal is slightly different.

Pictures from E515 obstructed balcony on Sky Princess:

On 1/26/2020 at 1:47 PM, Justalone said:

New to cruising.

Why Fox but no CNN?

Also is it possible to attach a streaming device to the tv?

Live TV choices:

MSNBC

FOX

CNBC

BBC WORLD NEWS

Another one..... can't quite remember it .... ESPN?

We just returned from Western Caribbean on Princess Sky.  What an overall great experience it was!  I've come back with a couple of questions/points of discussion on which to get input from folks here.  

First, we were very impressed with the entertainment - the Princess singers and dancers, and all that goes into the stage productions, were outstanding. I'm wondering, though; since the Sky is the newest ship in the fleet does that mean they get to have higher level of entertainers? Like, the "A Team", or the "first string" singers and dancers? Is there some sort of ranking system of how the entertainers are spread among the ships? Or can one expect all the Princess ships to have the same top level of entertainment talent as we saw on the Sky?

Besides the Princess troupe, the bands and extra entertainers were excellent also.  As I'd already read here before our cruise, the band Static was terrific! 

Interesting, as the three times we've been sailing on Princess on a Sunday morning, there has been a Sunday morning church service.

2 hours ago, tonit964 said:

This is from the Princess website:

 

We respect our guests' religious beliefs and invite them to practice on their own or with their fellow guests. Guests who wish to lead religious services may volunteer by contacting the Guest Services desk or a member of the Cruise Staff. In some cases, our shipboard staff will lead services. However, Princess Cruises does not place clergy on board our vessels.

Clergy traveling as Guests onboard our vessels are welcome to conduct services while sailing. They should leave their name, cabin number, and services offered at the Guest Services Desk and they will be contacted by a member of the Cruise Director's Staff. Approval of services will be made based on schedule suitability, appropriate onboard supplies, etc. Please bring your Letter of Celebret or Letter of Good Standing with you to provide to the onboard staff.

Please note that during Passover, there will be a Seder service (including Passover meal) held onboard. For Hanukkah, services are available and will be guest-led with wine, Challah bread, prayers and an electric Menorah (no candles or live flames) provided by Princess. Supplies are present and available for anyone who wants to lead the service at 5:30 PM on Friday evenings.

If you would like to bring on your own Menorah, you may. However, since candles are prohibited onboard all Princess ships, it must be electric (no live flame).

We are in embryo stage for all things “Medallion”. We’ve downloaded Ocean Ready app onto our phones and done some things with it, but our medallions haven’t arrived yet.

I have a rather simple question .... based on something I think I read earlier.

Is it true that on the Medallion ships (Sky) you don’t get the daily Patter in paper form .... that you read it on your device through the app?

If this is so - (this is the heart of my question) - can I / should I download one of the apps onto my iPad if I don’t want to read the Patter on my phone?  Because I don’t want to read it on my phone. 

Is the app able to be downloaded onto two different devices for one person w/o running into any kind of technical problems? 

It’s been awhile since we’ve been onboard Princess on a Sunday morning.  Does anyone here know what time the Sunday morning (Protestant) service is usually held? 

We will be at sea on the Princess Sky on Jan. 19th; the day of two significant NFL championship playoff games.  Does anyone know if we can expect them to be broadcast on the ship somewhere?.... anywhere?

On 8/22/2019 at 10:16 PM, CPT Trips said:

Entertainment on a small ship (<50 to 100 pax)depends on the talents of the nautical crew and the hotel staff, the video library, and the ports you are in overnight or late. I've been surprised about how musically talented the crews are.

 

We don't do small ships for what most view as the "cruising lifestyle," specialty dining, entertainment options, casinos, and a lot of menu choices.  

 

It's all about the itinerary.

 

On these small ship cruises - like this itinerary you posted and the others mentioned on this thread - is English always the primary spoken language while onboard? 

When in port cities, as you walk around on your own, is English commonly spoken or is there a language barrier (since I speak only English).

26 minutes ago, prim8keeper said:

 

The European sailings for 2021 have not been released yet which is why you can't find them. They should be released on or around November 26.

Very good to know!

Thanks!

I am new to Celebrity Cruises; we usually cruise on Princess. However, we are looking at different itineraries for Med Cruises that include Dubrovnik as a port, and are considering other cruise lines besides Princess. 

When I go to the Celebrity page and try to see "2021" options from the drop down menu under "Departure Dates" at the top, it will only show me "2020" when I've also picked Europe as my destination.  But, 2021 shows up if I want to choose other destinations besides Europe. Is this normal for Celebrity to not post the European cruises at this point in time?  It doesn't seem that far off to me. And other destinations are showing for 2021.  Am I doing something wrong using their website? Is there a trick for getting to see the European 2021 sailings now?

2 hours ago, skynight said:

Smiths for airports. We took them. They provided excellent service in a private sedan at a reasonable cost. You can price out the service on their website, or contact them for a quote. 

This is my recommendation, also.

Very personal and dedicated to giving good customer service.

bookings@smithsforairports.com

10 hours ago, clo said:

But as cruisemom42 said there's Italian food and there's Italian-American food.  What YOUR favorite cuisine?

 

Here's an informative article.

 

https://www.mashed.com/30509/eat-spaghetti-like-true-italian/

I loved this article! Thanks for posting.

Did British Isle tour in Aug/Sept 2017.  We typically book a balcony room.  In this instance we decided to book an ocean view instead, since we were spending extra days in London beforehand, and wanted to conserve finances where we could.  We hoped we wouldn't regret it.  As it turned out, we didn't miss the balcony at all.  We were away on excursions most days, and hardly spent any time in our room whilst we were on the ship. The weather was delightful for our entire cruise... but we still didn't miss having a balcony.

On 9/2/2019 at 6:56 PM, cheezenip said:

 

The buffets on Grand class ships (as well as Coral/Island) have really fallen behind the main stream competitors since the bean counters at Princess HQ have cut the food budget many years ago. It's a big reason why I don't sail on as many Princess cruises as in the past. I've complained about the food on the surveys and we know how that goes. Vote with your wallet and keep complaining to Princess. Maybe in 5 years they may get the message but I doubt it as long as the cost cutting mentality continues.

What are the alternative lines you cruise that have better better buffet offerings?

I've been recently looking at cruise itineraries to New England/Canada for next year, Oct 2020.  Normally a Princess cruiser, this time I've been looking at and comparing all cruise lines, departing from all ports, as we have some unusual factors coming to bear on our wanting to do this itinerary.   

In going through a pretend booking on one of the Princess cruise itineraries to see the total price at the end, I was SHOCKED to see it was a deep, deep price cut from any other itinerary I'd seen thus far.  Like - almost half!  But - AH HA!......  I had accidentally clicked on an Oct 2019 sail date, not 2020. 

So, then my mind started to run with this discovery.....  I remembered reading postings here about people purposefully waiting until after Final Payment Due dates to book with at discount prices. This inspired me, and now I'm wondering/thinking "Why not plan to do this (book after final payment date) for this cruise next year?"  We could plan for it in our own personal schedules, but wait until the last month beforehand to make our actual reservation with the cruise line.  

Those here who have experience doing this - purposefully waiting until after final payment due dates to book their cruise - what things should I know? Tips? Warnings? I know the availability of well located rooms will be an issue (and in that case, which would be better - choose my own, or "guarantee room"?); but, are there other things it would be good to know beforehand, too?  

We have been eyeing the 11-Day Grand Mediterranean, but for 2021, not 2020. When I look at this itinerary in the "3 for Free" deal, only the Oct. 3, 2020 sail date shows as available.  Does that mean it's too early to see 2021 sailings in this 3 for free?  Should I figure that the 2021 sailing promos will come  up eventually?

Sorry - I'm late to this party..... is it known when this promo ends?

On 9/25/2019 at 6:44 AM, minniem said:

Hi , my husband and I are cruising to these islands in Dec on Regal.  Len has some stomach issues that make it difficult  to know when or if he will be able to leave the ship. Because of this we usually do not do ship excursions and just get off when we can  and look for something to do.  Anyone have any advice on how to get around these islands and things to do.  We have been to these islands before but did not get off the ship.  Thanks for any ideas you can share.

Jan

A little gem of a place we enjoy visiting, and maybe a bit outside-the-box of typical destinations, is the little sand floor Hebrew synagogue in Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas).  It is very charming, and they have a very nice little gift shop.  We aren't Jewish, but it's like how you'd visit a cathedral even if you aren't Catholic. They are welcoming to all; you usually can just walk in and look around. They give little talks about the history of St Thomas and the islands to the small groups of visitors that come through. But, it is an active synagogue, so official "things" might be going on (in which case, it could be closed to visitors). I truly love their gift shop. 

It is on one of the steep hills above the heart of town, maybe 2? 3? blocks up. We usually taxi into town, and then walk up to it. It is a challenging walk up for us, and in the warm Caribbean sun, but we do it. You could have the taxi take you straight there from the ship, and then you can walk down to town. 

This link is their own website.  You can also read about it on TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor gives high marks (No. 1 place to visit on St Thomas!) and has more varied info about it. 

https://synagogue.vi/

I typically cruise on Princess, but I am looking at a fall New England/Canada cruise out of Baltimore in 2020 (Oct 1-10).  Intend to book an Ocean View room for three - mom and two (adult) daughters. So - it's an "expanded" OV room (can't remember the exact term, but sleeps up to 4)

What helpful tips - (or warnings) - can you tell me about cruising with RCL?  Or about this particular itinerary? Excursions, etc?

What (and when) are their best discounts and sales that come around I might be on the lookout for? I haven't booked yet, but have kind of gone through doing a "mock" booking.

Are deposits refundable up to a certain day beforehand?

The ship - Grandeur of the Seas?  I see that there has been a recent propulsion problem. Figure that will be resolved by this time next year (one can hope)

The room...?  Anything about the amenities or the bathroom that would be helpful to know for 3 ladies traveling together for 9 days?

Tips on MDR dining, or the buffet?

Entertainment?

The Spa?

I don't know what I don't know, so whatever you can tell me to save my having to learn through trial and error would be helpful and VERY appreciated! 

Thanks!

On 5/22/2019 at 12:35 PM, jasbo49 said:

Yes. Usually they sail on Carnivore.

Hilarious!

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Revert back to how cruising was 20 years ago! I loved Princess then!

How was cruising 20 years ago?