jbobst

The lunch menu is limited but the buffet area just seems like such a mad house on embarkation.

With the buffet being so busy on embarkation, you would think that the "buffet directors" would actually encourage people to go to the dining room as an option. That has never made sense to me why they lie to people about lunch only being in the buffet. Why not try and spread people out to other venues? There must be a reason. Maybe because they think they can sell more soda packages or something like that if the people are up at the buffet. Or, maybe the bar revenues are better if everyone is at the buffet.

This is a very interesting thread. We have about given up on anytime dining ourselves. As someone already mentioned, the names are totally misleading. Traditional should be called fixed or set dining, and anytime is really just variable dining between early and late (or something like that). Why is dinner such a problem where as breakfast and lunch are really not an issue? On a sea day, there are just as many people eating breakfast and lunch. And, only one dining room is even open for those meals on a sea day. Dinners in the dining room just take so long and are so dragged out. Service so often is very slow and it's no wonder the tables can't be turned around for the next set of passengers. I think if I was Princess management, I would try a small dining room venue where the meal options are under an hour or less. Where they don't stand on so much formality and just bring your food promptly even if everyone is not finished with the first appetizer yet. Obviously many of you like the long dinners and they need to keep those for the majority, but it would be nice to have an "express" dinner option. Kind of like the 10 items or less checkout lines at grocery stores. Maybe even have a section of buffet partitioned off for sit down service, but with a quick table turn over (just an idea). Then again, if they just saw what was successful with other cruise lines and implemented those things (like checking your cruise card to make sure this is where you are supposed to eat), then maybe anytime would work better.

Personally, I've pretty much given up on regular dining rooms on Princess for dinner. If we ate late, it would never be a problem, but my wife is an early to bed and an early dinner person. So our options are now either the specialty restaurants, buffet, or maybe one late dinner in the dining room depending on how our day unfolds. That seems to work for us, and just takes the stress of the crowds and long wait for the early dining times.

And it seems like even when we book a cruise months and months in advance, early traditional isn't even available as an option.

Ha, the power shuffler! Those are loud!

I've read before where people complain about people playing cards in the buffet or the Piazza. I have to say that my wife and I play cards frequently in both places. We like those two areas because of the quick availability of a drink (water/lemonade/coffee/tea) and snack options. I also like those areas because I feel like we are around the action of ship (people watching, etc.). The quiet places during the day (like skywalkers or club fusion) are just too quiet for me. I like the music in the background in the Piazza or Buffet. However, I really want to be sensitive to other guests. I have to agree that really the only time we are in the Piazza playing cards is during the mid/late morning hours, or late in the evening well after the dinner crowds. Sometimes in the late afternoon too, but once the early dinner people show up we vacate the tables. And when we do play in the buffet, we always try and get a table way in the back away from everything. We are still close to drink stations and a short walk from the buffet, but we are aware of people needing tables to eat. Very rarely have we played at a table during peak hours, and never when tables are at a premium. I still would like to utilize those areas on our upcoming cruise, but I'll try and be extra sensitive to location and time of day. If anyone else has ideas or complaints for card players, I'd love to hear them so I can try and be more sensitive.

Thanks!

The only ships with window suites are Grand, Golden, and Caribbean. Ruby does not have them.

Never Never Never...be the last person to clear customs...Customs have a field day with you.

What does that mean exactly? On every cruise, someone is bound to be the last person to leave. Can't be avoided really, but what does customs do to that person?

I would be interested to know as well. The only experience we've had with the Thermal suite was on the Crown Princess last year. I was a little disappointed with it on the Crown because in the steam and sauna rooms, the little shower head things were mostly broken and non functional. And then the two "snail" showers (think they were the tropical rain showers) were both broken the whole week, despite letting the spa staff know and inquiring about it every other day.

Hopefully the Caribbean Princess Thermal suite is in better working order.

I believe we can trade in the alcohol in our suite for two coffee cards...can anyone confirm this? I assume we just ask our room steward once on the ship or is there a way to request this prior to the cruise?

The cruise lines frown upon tipping the entertainers...they are not "service" personnel. If you give them a tip, they will slip it in their pocket, I'm sure. Appropriate? Who knows?

Where else would they put a tip besides in their pocket??? I must be missing something. If you got a tip, where would you put it? Maybe under a hat, or in their bra? (Assuming it was a woman)

Edit: just re-read your post cb at sea. Sorry to be confused. I think you simply meant they would just accept the tip if given one.

We had two mini suites next to each other a few cruises back on the Sapphire and we simply asked the room steward to please open the door and he gladly did it. Don't think it took permission from the captain!?!

Why?? Because dirty and worn carpets are gross and not very pleasant. I can't speak for nasa1974, but having clean, updated and attractive surroundings while on vacation makes the experience all that much better. I don't think people are saying its a deal breaker, but it is nice when the ship isn't worn and dirty.

I agree these are first world problems, but the OP paid quite a bit of money for their cruise and I believe entitled to their opinion and complaints. We may not all see things the same way, but Princess advertising is hardly ever the product you actually get. I appreciate reading the opinions and think it is part of the way we consumers have for recourse to a bad experience. Obviously the post cruise survey and communication to Princess is the first line of recourse, but I am glad to have cruise critic to read critiques both pro and con.

Definitely get insurance. If ANYTHING goes wrong you will wish you had insurance.

We are closing in on being Elite and have bought insurance for all of our cruises (except for one last minute 3 day that cost us $99pp). We have used it once. Our luggage fell into the harbor during loading and we would have been out of pocket for >$600 if we hadn't had insurance.

Pricess wouldn't cover your luggage being dropped in the water??? Did you drop it in the harbor or were they loading it on the ship?

I am a pasta fan. I learned a few cruises ago that you can order a spaghetti entree (or appetizer), with meatballs if you like but I don't care for the meatballs that much. Princess does their pasta perfectly al dente and I really like their red sauce. Very light and nice flavor. I usually start my appetizer with an entree size fettuccine and then have a spaghetti for my main meal.

Yeah, a little pasta/carb overload, but it's my favorite meal. The last cruise I think I ordered this 5 out of 7 nights!

This post should have been in the "home ports" forum I think. Can the moderators move this please?

Looking at taking a southbound cruise that ends in Vancouver and need information on transportation options from Vancouver to Seattle or Bellingham. Looks like Amtrack is available, but they are costly. What sort of buses or shuttle options are there? How does the border crossing work and what is the best way from getting from the Cruise terminal in Vancouver to the train/shuttle pickup?

There isn't a lot of information (that I can find at least) on the Amsterdam and we are considering it for an Alaskan cruise this summer. I did read one review that the ship seems worn, but I won't read too much into one person's comment about that. However, if a bunch of people say the same thing, maybe we might think about a different ship. It seems like most information on the forum here is about the Nieuw Amsterdam, not the older one.

We find that we cruise mostly for the ship and the ship is really an important factor for us (I know most people say that for Alaska, the ship is very secondary, but that isn't the case for us). I was just hoping for any recent information or reviews people might have on the ship in general.

Thanks!

By the way, is it just me or is the search feature in the HAL forum kind of useless? If you search for the name of a ship, all I get is page after page of the same thread about this "Future cruise listing update..." It's posted week after week and it makes searching for ship name kind of useless. Is there a way to exclude these posts in the search?

It does show the basic prices, but I am looking for port fees and taxes as well (in a quick way).

It's been awhile since I've been on the HAL board, so my apologies if this has been asked before, but I am trying to price various cruise lines to Alaska for this coming season. All the other cruise lines I am looking at give you a total price well before you have enter all the passenger information. On HAL's site, the only way (it appears) to see the out the door price is to fill out ALL the passenger/contact information, and it is a real pain. Am I doing something wrong or is there a way to do quick mock bookings to see the total price?

Thanks for all the help so far. By the way, my wife and I did do Alaska last year on the Grand Princess for the first time, so this will be our second Alaska cruise (but the first for our friends who are going with us).

While NCL may not be my ideal cruise line (like if someone asked me what my preference was), I have to say I really like trying other lines, and since we've only been on an NCL ship once before (and it was about 9 years ago), I am actually excited to try it again. Likewise, Carnival is probably my least favorite cruise line, but I've had a great time on all my Carnival cruises and love to see the differences between ships and lines. I know NCL may not be my ideal cruise line, but I like to keep up with all the different cruise lines as much as possible. I am looking at NCL and HAL for this trip primarily because I've only cruised each of those lines once before and it's been a while.

Sponge Bob does not mindlessly roam the ship harassing passengers. I've been on Jewel three times and I've got to say I've never seen the thing. I believe they keep him chained up in the kid's club areas, and they might let him loose in the performance venues for production events aimed at children from time to time.

 

Additionally, I have never seen a group of prepubescent marauders stalking prey in the elevators or terrorizing grandma in the hot tub.

 

I agree with the poster above, though. You will not be happy on NCL. With all due respect, your original post reads like you are going to run around the ship looking for things to upset you. Maybe look into HAL.

triptolemus, loved your post! I envision Sponge Bob mindlessly roaming the ship at all hours...hahaha! Then security "chaining" him back up in the kiddie area. Too funny!

I don't really envision that, and it's really not that big of a deal at all for us. I was just trying to understand NCL cruising, the vibe, the atmosphere, etc.

If you notice my signature, you'll see we tried quite a few different cruise lines, and that is one part of cruising I really like...the difference in cruise lines. While I do have my preferences, I am ready to jump ship from Princess for a short time at least and get back to some other cruise lines for awhile. Normally, I would just go ahead and do NCL for this trip, but we are bringing some new to cruising people with us, and they are a pretty conservative group, but I did have some question for me as well (like pools and such).

I know you don't know me, but I never run around a ship looking for things to upset me. I really like trying new ships and we have a great time regardless. I just like to know the differences. And, we been on a few cruises where kids were a little out of hand. One time there were about three kids "camped out" in one of the glass elevators on a Carnival ship. They were sitting down cross legged in the elevator in their pajamas just hanging out there for quite a while...going up and down. They weren't misbehaving, and it didn't bother me, but they took up quite a bit of room in the elevator for a couple of hours. Bottom line is, who can ever tell what children will do on any cruise line. However, there are general assumptions one can make about the various cruise lines and the type of passengers they generally attract. Just trying to get the demographics of NCL.

I am looking at doing Alaska this year on either the Pearl or Jewel, or possibly a HAL ship. I figured I'd start here and ask some questions about the Pearl/Jewel first.

We've done quite a few cruises over the past 11 years, but have only done one NCL cruise (the Star back in 2006). I've been reading some posts about the Jewel and Pearl, and have looked at the Deck plans a little. It seems like the biggest difference in the two ships is that the Pearl has the Bowling alley and the Jewel has a better Spa area. I am sure there a ton more differences, but here are some basic questions maybe you all could help answer.

My family and I typically prefer the Princess type of cruises. In other words, not a party atmosphere, not many announcements or sales pitches all day and night, a little more elegant and subdued, etc. Is NCL kind of the opposite of that or would an Alaska cruise on NCL be a good choice for elegant and subdued?

I don't mean to sound boring or like a party pooper, but one thing I dislike on some cruise lines are the "character's" walking around the ship (like the Carnival funnel head guy, Pirates in the dining room posing with you for photos while you eat dinner, etc.). I think I read where the Jewel or Pearl has Sponge Bob/Nickelodeon type characters around the ship. Since that isn't my favorite sort of thing, would the Pearl be a better choice? (and why would NCL do this on one ship and not the other???)

Swimming pools and hot tubs are important to us on a cruise...I think all the pools on NCL are saltwater, right? (we prefer fresh, but most cruise lines don't have fresh water pools except Princess and some larger RCCL ships). Are there ample hot tubs on the Jewel/Pearl, or are they pretty full of people typically? Are the pools heated at all in Alaska?

I remember on the Star that many restaurants were extra charge...I assume this is still the case? The main dining room on the Star back in 2006 had really slow and bad service (but service everywhere else was fine)...are the complimentary restaurants good these days or do people recommend sticking to the extra fee restaurants?

Are the spa areas free to use or is there an extra cost (like steam rooms/sauna's, the spa whirlpools, thermal suites, etc.)? I don't mean spa services...I know those cost extra, but I just mean access to the spa facilities.

Are there typically a ton of kids on board NCL ships? We are bringing our two teenagers with us, but for some reason they don't usually participate in the kids activities. I am not asking about the kids for their sake, but I've noticed on our past Carnival cruises, there tend to be more kids onboard...often roaming around in packs, hanging out in elevators, taking over hot tubs etc. I don't mind kids, but would probably rather have less kids on the ship, rather than more. But as long as I know what to expect, it probably doesn't matter too much. We are looking at the last weekend in May, so I know there might be slightly less kids on those cruises compared to July or mid/late June.

And finally, for those of you who have sailed on both the Pearl and Jewel, what are your opinions of those ships in general? What do you like better?

Thanks for the any advice!

In the past....

 

Alaska? You did ask about Alaska. I have not seen deals like that.

Yep, seen deals like that (and heard others on this forum talk about them) the last few season. I didn't really pay much attention to Alaska prior to about 3 years ago. I believe I read where people found last minute deals around $199 in the past (for an interior on a 7 day). I saw NCL offering $249 last year and Princess and HAL offering $299 last year. These are all interior prices of course.

I also have a co-worker who vacations in Seattle every summer and he always see's ad's for around $200-$300 for 7 nighters.

If there aren't any last minute deals, we'll probably just not go this year. We got our main cruise planned for November, but if there are good deals to be had like the last couple of years, we thought we take advantage of an Alaskan cruise.

By the way, when you say you see the ships sold out typically, do you mean the sailings scheduled for this coming season or just in the past? The last couple of years I've seen plenty of offers for $249-$299 for a 7 day cruise. I've heard reports on Cruise critic of people getting them even cheaper than that. I have no doubt that by the time the ship sails, they are pretty full, but the past couple of years have had some great offers available.

I've tried to monitor the "last minute" deals that Princess (and Holland and NCL) have had the past couple of years, but I forgot to check when the fares are usually offered. I know the Alaska cruising season starts in early May, but we are hoping for a good last minute deal in early June (assuming there are any this year). For those that have booked these deals in previous years, how early do you typically see the low fares come out? I am hoping to have at least 2 weeks (or more) notice, but I realize last minute could really mean last minute!

With Princess (and HAL) having so many ships in Alaska, the past few years have had some very good deals. Hoping to grab one of those this year, but maybe with the economy being better, the ships might be filled to capacity.