shepp

14 hours ago, villauk said:

Thank you for posting this, Coral. A little off topic, but does Diamond offer traditional American fare onboard whilst deployed in this region? .

 This has been discussed in another recent thread. There's the addition of a little-used sushi bar, more Asian foods including some lovely ramen, but plenty of the stuff you'd find at such all-American eateries as the Olive Garden,  Benihana, and Panda Express.

And since you're a Brit, you might be gratified to find baked beans for brekky, though the classic English dish of tikka masala is nowhere to be found.

No, seriously, you can still get plenty of the Usual Stuff. But why not try something new?

What princessfanboy said. We did 17 days on the Diamond around Japan in 2015 and liked it so much we're booked for 18 more next year.

There were not only Westerners and Japanese onboard, but a lot of Chinese. It was all a pleasantly cross-cultural experience. One thing to remember is that relatively few Japanese speak English. Since there were a goodly number of Asian-Americans onboard, it was always guesswork as to which strangers would understand me and who wouldn't.

During the makeover for Japan, the Diamond was given a sushi bar and an onsen, a Japanese bath. Since better of both could be easily found onshore for less money, I'm not sure who onboard indulged (except maybe Westerners shy about a full-blown clothes-off onsen). I do know the sushi bar was empty whenever I walked by.

On the Grand this month we didn't get the notification card in the cabin (which we had in the past), but we did get the 25 bucks. It was listed on our onboard credit tally, somewhat confusingly, as a "gift credit." I had to check at the purser's desk to be sure that's what it was.

1 hour ago, 4cats4me said:

 It is just not that big of a deal .... raw steak, which nobody seems to partake in,.... and some smelly cheeses on certain nights.   You really wouldn’t be missing much. LOL

Funny, the steak tartare and the Stilton in Port sauce are two of my favorite onboard edibles. One man's cheese...

Thanks for your help!

Hi Prihsendam old-timers. I'm looking at booking a Vista Suite on promenade deck (AB/BC). They look desirable, with larger verandahs than usual for the ship. Does that translate to a smaller actual non-verandah cabin interior, though? And are the verandahs at lest partially covered? Thanks!

On 10/7/2018 at 8:48 AM, Bigmike911 said:

You will find no problem being gay in Texas.

Mebbe, mebbe not.

"Champions of LGBT rights have already named the 2017 Texas legislative session 'The Session of Oppression.' This year, Texas lawmakers proposed more anti-gay and anti-trans bills than ever before. In a year when 130 anti-LGBT bills were pitched nationwide, Texas led the nation in such legislation." HPPR.org 6/28/17

11 hours ago, Mimi34711 said:

I know we can do to alternate venues but it is fun to eat in the dining rooms on these special nights. 6 weeks.  

So what makes it a "special night?" Just the lobster tail?

Or maybe the fact that most people dress up nicely for it? If that's some of its specialness to you, why not contribute to that instead of enjoying other people's outfits while dressing down yourselves?

We were docked at Smith Cove the other day. Because we had senior discount cards, we decided to take the bus to the Space Needle. We hiked ten or fifteen minutes from the pier to the bus stop on the Magnolia Bridge, going up stairs and through an unlocked gate. On the way back, we took an Uber that dropped us off right at the terminal. So when it was time to go back downtown for an evening tour we decided to use Uber, thinking it would be easier. But when we left the terminal, we saw a sign pointingpast the taxi stand, toward a pick-up point for rideshares. And then another, And another. And then...nothing. No designated pick-up point, just a sign to some parking lot. Somewhat frantically, we decided to head up to the bridge again, and that worked. We got picked up by Uber at that same bus stop, and would have saved a lot of money by starting out earlier and taking the bus.

After the walking tour, we went a couple blocks over to a bus stop, caught an 8:00 bus, and asked to be let off at the bridge. But when we tried to go down the stairs, the gate was locked. There was a big sign on the upstairs side of the gate - which we stupidly hadn't checked out when climbing the stairs - that the gate was locked after 5:30. We tried walking down the off-ramp to the pier, but a gate we'd have to go through was locked as well. Finally we backtracked all the way to the other end of the bridge, made our way through a deserted industrial area, crossed a bunch of railroad tracks, and finally made it onboard 40 minutes after we got off the bus and less than a half-hour before all-aboard.

So beware.The taxi companies make it inconvenient to catch a rideshare from the pier, and coming back via public transportation is pretty much a nightmare. It's almost like it's been made intentionally difficult not to spring for the cruise line's overpriced shuttle or an expensive cab.

I'm glad it has a Skywalker's.

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for an offer. Out of my 23 Princess cruises, I got two complementary upgrades (one great, the other meh), one upsell offer (which I took), and one move-over offer (which I turned down).

Not overwhelmingly good odds. I always figure I'll get precisely what I booked, though open to the occasional pleasant surprise.

On the phone with them and they said they would give a whopping $15 obc for the inconvenience if we would move to a different date! What a deal.

Fifteen bucks does indeed sound cheesy. But I'm not sure that many of us think that having to change travel plans 20 months in advance would entitle us to even that much.

I've been keeping somewhat of a list so I know which ones to avoid watching at home. I'm sure there are many more I've missed.

Call me crazy, but if there's a film I really want to see, I'd rather watch it at home on my HD flatscreen with its good sound system then on a funky screen with multiple missing pixels and muddy sound competing with loud drunks and the sucking of the pool pump. Films in the Princess Theater are usually better, but the formatting is often wrong and they sometimes look like bootleg DVDs from China.

Just by coincidence, I received an e-mail from TA a couple hours ago offering an outside-to-verandah upsell on the Prinsendam's November Amazon sailing. I wouldn't describe it as a "cheap" upsell exactly - though less than what a new verandah booking would be, it's an additional 55% over our initial fare. I called HAL anyway to find out the details, but their system is down.

My TA gives me approximately 8% off every published fare, plus OBCs if she has a group booking. No booking or cancellation fees and excellent service. I know others report even higher discounts, but I'm satisfied with what I have.

And no, OBCs and discounts aren't always the same. On my upcoming 7-day cruise I have, with FDC, shareholder, Princess sale, and TA group OBCs, and free gratuities to boot, more than enough non-refundable OBCs. We usually are independent travelers, but I'm booking Princess shore excursions just to burn it off. Of course, depending on drinking and gambling habits YMMV, but I'm always happy to save money out front (which I did, too) rather than getting use-it-or-lose it OBC.

Is this true? A adult only pool on the Coral? Thanks, Bobbi

I've sailed the Coral multiple times, most recently this year. Never saw the indoor (Lotus) pool designated adults only.

Why wouldn't you book directly with a TA and save yourself the hassle?

Point of clarification: I've never done a waitlist, but it's my impression that if you clear a waitlist, you get charged whatever Princess lists as the current fare, not what it was when you waitlisted, right? And how would that work with promos? Would "new booking promos only" apply?

Guarantee - you pay the lowest rate for the type of cabin you want. you take what they assign you. i always book a guarantee and have always got a category upgrade. or, pay for exactly what you want

I have never seen a discount for booking a guarantee (or "let Princess decide") rather than an available cabin in the same category, not on Princess. And there's absolutely no way of telling whether booking a guarantee makes it more or less likely you'll get an upgrade. (The best free upgrades I've ever gotten haven't been on guarantees, whereas the guarantees have resulted in minor upgrades at best.)

The only real benefit I can see from booking a guarantee is if the only available cabins in the category you want are awful and you want to gamble on something better, or if no cabins in that category are bookable but it's on guarantee, in which case you're on the ship for no more than you're willing to pay.

I book a bunch of obstructed ocean views and always choose the best view available. Why would I want princess to put me smack dab against a tender unless that's all that's left?

I'm not showing that one available on my cards yet. ☹️ Was the offer on the AMEX Site?

It's not offered on all cards (not on Delta Amex, for instance) and if you haven't been offered it yet, you ain't gettin' it. Have you checked under "Amex Offers and Benefits" on your home page?

My reply is probably what you don't want to read. But if this your first time in non Hawaiian ports I would recommend this cruise with reservations (unless you are not interested in the ports.). If this is your first trip to the South Pacific I truly believe you need to spend more time than a couple of hours in these ports especially Tahiti.

That's true for every port I've ever been to (with the exception of Korsakov). But better eight sea days than one trans-Pacific flight. I'm booked on the r/t the end of next March and thoroughly looking forward to being bored to death.

WoW!! Brilliant responses and I thank you for them!

I didn't know all of the aforementioned venues would be open ON embarkation day! Especially the MDR for lunch. What a friggin' treat!!

Please note, though, that every time we've eaten embarkation lunch there the headwaiter has been strict about the 1:30 deadline. Arrive a bit later and you won't be seated, so if you don't have priority boarding try to get onboard ASAP.

It might be Shepp. It’s doing the southbound route a couple of days earlier so it’s possible. I don’t really know anything about the coral though and not many recent vids of island on YouTube either

To echo Thrak: The Coral is the same size and design as the Island, but instead of the added aft cabins she has lovely ship-wide aft protected viewing areas on Baja and Caribe. There's also a full promenade and because the ship is relatively narrow it's easier to get from one side of the promenade deck to the other. Has the best passenger/space ratio in the fleet, though compared to the Royal, it's "cozy" rather than "impressive." Still, I like cozy.

While the Royal is a lovely ship, it's more inward-focused (and therefore revenue producing). Though I haven't sailed the Island since her disfiguring (and revenue producing) remodel, it still should have a nice number of forward and upper deck viewing areas and retains most of the promenade. Anyway, to get the full scope of scenery, I'd choose an outside viewpoint on an upper deck rather than the somewhat constricted promenade. Too bad the Coral isn't an option, but it's not.

The Caribbean is basically the the bargain basement of cruising (with the possible exception of Mexican booze cruises). Competition is fierce, so much so that Princess didn't sail to the Caribbean at all during (I believe) summer of 2018, figuring they could make better profits elsewhere.

Asia, on the other hand, is a newish and growing market and Western cruise lines don't sail there nearly as often. NCL, for example, lists 102 Caribbean cruises and only 10 Asian ones. Princess is, AFAIK, the only line that regularly sells Japan-only cruises (with just a day in Korea or Taiwan). And the sailings often play host to numerous Japanese and Chinese groups. So if you, as we do, want to go on a Japan-intensive cruise, it's no surprise they're relatively high priced.