Superfragger

I have what may be a stupid question.... I have never snorkeled and was wondering if I'm able to wear my glasses under the mask without it leaking!

I have -3.75 vision in both eyes and found that with the magnifying effect of the mask and the water itself, my vision was okay.

You can actually view your luggage being placed on the conveyer and being loaded on to the ship.

That sounds awesome. My biggest fear when boarding at Port Everglades is leaving our luggage with the porters, so actually being able to see it go on the conveyor like at the airport is a huge plus.

Hi everyone. Quick question about the Southampton cruise port. Is boarding in a secure port area like we see in the US, in example Port Everglades?

Just curious if I'm better off carrying on my own luggage or if the porters in port are trustworthy. From experience travelling in Europe, there are a lot of scammers.

Welcome to the boards!

Forward and aft staterooms can be a bit rocky for the novice cruiser. If this is your first cruise I would suggest that you get a mid-ship mini-suite. Those cabins are about as big as a European-sized hotel room.

As far as balconies go, opinions are varied. We never spend much time on them so we typically don't get them anymore because the additional per day cost is really not justifiable at all for us. So if the only reason you're getting those more expensive deluxe staterooms is for he additionnal balcony space, I would probably revise my priorities and save a couple of bucks there.

There are definitely last minute deals to be had but we've found that booking a year or so in advance will get you the best fares and also the best deposit and cancellation policies (without taking additionnal insurance). From our observations, last minute deals aren't necessarily much cheaper but may include some extras such as free specialty restaurants or some onboard credit.

If you live near a cruise port, the Standby Program is definitely worth looking into as we believe that's where the real deal is.

I fail to see how towel fluff factor is a tipping point of a cruise experience.

I keep hearing about this ship being in bad shape. We were on this ship in July 2017 for 21 days. I don't know what people are talking about. The only thing we saw was some of the furniture was a little worn and in some of the public restrooms some of the toilets were out of order. We were on the Regal over New Years 2018 and I can say the same thing about it. Almost every public restroom I went in on the Regal one or more toilets were not in use. I also saw furniture that needed replacing. In our cabin on the Regal one of the drawers on my nightstand would not close all the way. Even on a newer ship things will not be perfect. We will be on the Crown again on the Transatlantic in November 2018. I can't wait. The Crown will be going into dry dock in April so some of the things that need updating will happen then.

I was on the Crown in november I found that this is very subjective and depends a whole lot on what your overall expectations are. An older ship is definitely not going to be mint but I do agree that for a line that positions itself as being "premium," it is totally legitimate to expect a little bit more attention to detail.

My wife and I definitely didn't find that the ship was in "bad shape," as it was overall clean and well maintained. But we agreed that they could make some effort to fix the various dings, scratches, water-stained ceilings and slightly cruddy-looking shower grout.

For us though, we don't define our cruise experience on having the ship looking like we are the first people ever onboard; but on reading some reviews, people seem to expect the ship to look like it's never been used.

This depends greatly on what the situation is, as in why you're cancelling. Here is a good example of third-party products available here in Canada: https://www.travellersinsurance.ca/content/delux-trip-cancelation

They will also be painting on the seawitch decal, apparently.

Wish I had been there. I would have enjoyed telling them, in French, that I preferred to speak French only to people who speak French properly.

 

I wouldn't have really meant it, but the Québécois have a very distinct accent, as well as some notable grammatical differences to classical French but it would have let them know what I really thought about their comment.

Classical French? Apparently, Québécois is held to be the most authentic and true to old French.

I would take the Princess transfer. They will they be responsible if you miss the ship.

Ditto. We always book the Princess transfer to the ship even though it's typically double the price of private arrangements. At least you're dwindling down the variables, especially if you're boarding in a port you're not familiar with.

They really used to push the Limoncello. Don't know if I would call it their signature but every time I see it, I think of Princess cruises. :D

They still do. They walk about with platters of it everywhere from the main dining rooms to the buffet. Someone must have gotten a real good deal on a bulk purchase because they're still pushing it hard.

Would the price on Celebrity include a drink package? Even if it didn't, I'd pick Celebrity over Princess. Unless you pick wisely, you'll get a balcony made for a smurf on Princess.

 

EDIT...reread..you're looking at an interior. See what the price difference would be for an oceanview where you can get drinks included.

I'm curious as to why people are really critical of balconies. On our recent cruise we had one as an upgrade and didn't even really spend much time on it; most people don't seem to either.

All meals are available in the MDR, but not all are open for breakfast and lunch, but at least one will

Thanks! So you can opt for table-service dining at every meal, if I understand correctly?

Hi everyone.

I'll be cruising for the very first time on Nov 26th, on the Crown Princess. Most of my questions have been answered scrolling through these forums or on the Princess website, but I can't for the life of me find any info on how meals work.

Can all meals be eaten' in the main dining room? Or are breakfast and lunch in the buffet only, and then supper in the main dining rooms if you want?