Hokkaidocruiser

How many NCL cruises/days did you do in 2016?

We did a total of 7 cruises in 2016:

5 went to Princess but only 2 (for a total of 23 days) went to NCL.

Our way of voting with our wallet against FDR's misguided ways.

Although we still have 4 CruiseNext certificates waiting to burn.

Merry Christmas.

Is mazatlan safe then?

 

 

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much, Much, MUCH safer than many US cities!!!

I only do last minute cruises also and still use my TA. She discounts the same percentage if it is a large cruise or a smaller cruise.

 

Though you are right - when it is a cheap cruise. For example - I was looking at a Panama Canal trip recently that was pretty cheap and 2/3 of the far was taxes and other non-commissionable fees so there was very little of cruise fare to discount. Though - I still value her expertise and realize if something doesn't go right, she works for me (and not the cruise line) and will go to bat for me. And I still save by using her. I still value the benefits/services a Travel Agent provides to their clients. I am using a real travel agent and not an order taker (and still save).

 

Also - on those last minute prices, sometimes TA have access to flash prices that Princess does not offer direct. These are different than the targeting emails that are sent to individuals (which TAs still have access to).

When we were looking at the 28-day Crown cruise, our travel agent told us she could discount Princess's last-minute deal of $1999 (for an inside cabin) by an additional $300 AND put us up in a balcony cabin!!!

We immediately jumped on that offer.

Oh, by the way......Princess's last-minute deal of $1999 for an inside did NOT include port charges/taxes/fees....our $1700 balcony price did!

ALL of our cruises are last-minute affairs where the agent might not have much by way of profit to discount the price.

So for us it is a mixed bag.

Although I must say, sometimes it is mind-boggling the kind of deals travel agents can get you. Last month we spent 28 days in a beautiful balcony, prime location, on board the Crown Princess cruising to Hawaii and the South Pacific which set us back $1700 each, port charges/taxes/fees included.

Just this Tuesday we returned from a 15-day Hawaii cruise on board the Star in a balcony which cost us $800 each, port charges/taxes/fees included. No travel agent perks at those prices but in all honesty, we were not expecting any, given the low prices we paid.

Beautiful battleship, sister ship to the Missouri.

578 days. I'm bad at math.

I agree.

How many Princess cruises/days did you take in 2016?

We did 5:

2 on the Ruby

2 on the Crown

1 on the Star

67 days total

:-)

If you can read this, it is already too late!

I have an odd question.

 

If I go down to passenger services, would they print out a name card for me with a male name?

 

I know it seems odd, but I am traveling solo and don't want to advertise that I am alone so I will either pull my name card out or I wonder if the passenger services would print me out a new card with a male name on it so it will look like there are two people in the cabin.

 

I may be paranoid, but better paranoid and safe.

Just when I thought I had read it all on CC! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Who are these passengers who sneak out of their cabins in the middle of the night to go prowl thru the darkened alleyways of cruiseships reading the passengers name cards and checking if they are solo female cruisers? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Just remove the card when you arrive. No passenger but you will know who lies there. Just remember which one it is.:)

rofl.....lmao...lol :D:D:D

For those who have stayed at doubletree pre cruise in san pedro...how good is the happy hour?

Will be there on Friday...woohoo!

Does not belong here, it has NOTHING at all to do with Princess.

Reported to mods for removal.

While on Lido deck of the Crown Princess in Papeete, Tahiti on 11/8/16, a white drone zoomed right past us. We were on the port side.

I tried to see where it went but could not see it.

Absolutely worthless....

I would NOT say so.

The one Princess gives THROUGH travel agents is different than the one that Princess gives out to every passenger in their cabins.

The travel agent coupon book includes a free bottle of wine with purchase of dinner at a specialty restaurtant such as Sabatini's, Crown Grill etc.

It also includes a Buy One Get One Free glass of house wine and Buy One Get One Free Cocktails. Also a coupon for an extra 10% off from the onboard shops/boutiques, NO minimum purchase. This extra 10% off CAN be combined with the Elite 10% off and with other onboard promotions. Also a coupon for a Buy One Get One Free Photo from the photo gallery. It also includes other %/$ off coupons from the SPA if that is your thing. Also, some may find useful a Buy One Get One Free Slot or Poker Tournament entry.

Unlike the regular Princess coupon/booklet, to get these discounts, you MUST present the travel agent coupon/booklet.

I have one of the travel agent coupon books in my hand from my cruise ended last week.

I wouldn't call it exactly worthless.

this bottle of wine you get... what if you are a teetotaler or you don't like wine... they should give you the option of what you can have to drink... that would be a great pert.

You can always ask for NON-ALCOHOLIC (referred to as alcohol removed) wine. Since we do not drink alcohol, we always do that. They have 2 white and 2 red selections.

One of them that we particularly like is called St. Regis. It is white.

We wondered where she went. Talked to her twice and she wasn't rude, but also not terribly friendly.

There is so much to this but let me just say that by the time we reached Kauai (day 4 or 5 of the cruise), plans were already in place to replace her. I am sure you noticed that the last 10 days or so of the cruise, a uniformed female ship officer was filling in as Captain's Circle Host.

We just got back from the South Pacific cruise which included Hawaii. Internet was poor

We were on that sailing and I was actually surprised at how good the internet connection/speed was throughout the 28-day sailing.

We managed to use skype and facetime every other day or so to keep in touch with family with absolutely NO issues at all.

Never lost our connection, not even once.

Out of our 20 Princess cruises, I would say this was the "best" internet connection/speed we have ever experienced.

We used our own laptop and tablets and between us had 1000 free internet minutes on this sailing.

We just spent 43 days on the Crown. Hawaii (15 days) and Tahiti (28 days). Some thoughts about our adventure.

Hallways – blue/pink runners are still here. Lets you know with a glance if you're on the port or starboard side.

 

MDR – the great butter controversy lives on. No butter on the tables at dinner (only lunch and breakfast). The waiter brings butter around and asks how many you want. Also, haven't seen anything labeled margarine in the buffet...butter only. But the butter doesn't taste like the butter I use at home...very mild butter flavor (not worth the calories IMHO).

The rolls are warm at lunch and cold at dinner. I want warm rolls!!

MDR food was for the most part good to very good. Desserts, as always, hard to decide which one to pick. Sorbets are a delicious way to end the meal.

 

Fettuccine Alfredo – no more Parmesan basket (at least not on this ship). Just a slice of Parmesan on top of the fettuccine. And the slice of cheese was dry and hard.

 

Brian and Rowena were the Hawaiian ambassadors. Rowena did the destination lectures (she wasn't very well prepared). Two other lecturers with some interesting topics. Brian plays a great guitar/banjo thingy. Very strange...the ukulele lessons didn't start until on the way back from Hawaii. Or I wasn't paying enough attention to the Patter.

 

We always get a gift card for wine from our TA which we've exchanged in the past for $20 OBC (we don't drink wine). Pax services refused to allow it. The rep stated it had been allowed in the past, but corporate says that's not what it's for, so no more. At least, not on this ship. Going in December on the Star & will try again.

 

Crown Grill – no “surf n' turf” (at least on this ship). You can have lobster and steak, just not at the same time (2 separate courses).

 

Our stewards were amazing. Glenn on Aloha deck in the 500s and Sayan on Baja deck in the 700s. If you have either of these gentlemen you won't be disappointed.

 

Chef's Table – OMG!! Whether you've done this before or not...do it on this ship! The executive chef is Manlio Cuzzolin. He is amazing! Several people who did this with us said they'd done the CT many times and this was the best one ever. Run...do not walk to sign up.

Note: one of our CC members asked the Maitre D' to do a table for us (we had 10 signed up). The MD (Jean-Francois Ferat) scheduled a second table. You may be able to talk him into doing that for you, too.

 

Captain Circle hostess told us there were 880 Elites on the Tahiti leg. There was a separate lounge for Elites to wait in for tendering. This could have been a problem for those with early AM tours on the tender ports. The lines for both tender lounges started at 6:30.

 

No fruit bowls!! Used to get a card in the cabin asking if we want a fruit bowl. No more (at least not on this ship).

 

There was no crew talent show on the first leg (Hawaii - 15 days). There was one on the Tahiti leg.

 

Of interest – In San Pedro, when we disembarked from the Hawaii leg of our cruise, since we were “in transit” we were the last group off the ship. Someone in Border Control decided not to use the usual computers on the desks on the upper level. Instead EVERYONE was sent downstairs to get their luggage and get in line. No computers. Four or five agents. All of you luggage dragging with you. (I'll bet the porters were upset) It took at least an hour for us to work our way through the line. Be prepared if they try that one again. When we came back for our final disembarkation, they were using the computers upstairs again. Off in a flash.

 

Final thoughts: Enjoyed Hawaii...this was the 4th and 5th time we've gone to Hawaii on a ship. Tahiti was our first and probably our only visit. We were disappointed with the Samoas. We went to $2 Beach in Pago Pago - once was definitely enough. Apia was underwhelming - took a taxi tour and saw all we wanted to see in the first 15 minutes. Bora Bora was beautiful - did a wonderful snorkel tour with CC friends (the highlight of the trip). Moorea was nice, although we didn't do much. On Tahiti we had a tour scheduled with Adventure Eagle Tours. He was supposed to show up at 8 AM, we waited until 8:45, then left and walked around Papeete instead. It was less expensive, but a disappointment.

 

And, as always, these were MY impressions and thoughts...YMMV.

By the 4th day of the 28-day sailing, Tiffany Chou, the Captain's Circle Host had already garnered 93 complaints at the Passenger Services Desk about her attitude towards passengers.

She told one of our trivia buddies "I have already resigned so that I do not have to face passengers like you".

This comment was communicated to management ashore and onboard and she ended up being let off the ship in Papeete, Tahiti.