travellover3

Electric coffee brewers not allowed on any Princess ship.

Comments in red.

Is this new...not allowing electric coffee brewers? I have always (last cruise in April 2015) brought a 4 cup Cuisinart stainless brewer with auto shut off, and it has never been disallowed.

We have used Princess transfers a few times, and they have been very convenient, except for one. We booked an overnight hotel/transfer package at LAX for our Panama Canal cruise from San Pedro. We had to go to a desk in the hotel lobby early in the morning for our bus assignment and were required to put our luggage out at 8am and vacate the room by noon. We sat in the lobby until 3:30pm for our transfer. We arrived at San Pedro just in time for muster. Only good part of this is that we met a very nice couple with whom we are still in contact (2009) and enjoyed their company throughout the cruise.

I still think I like the convenience of a cruise line transfer, if the port is a distance from the airport.

Helen & Jerry,

Glad you got such good service. We will be on the Star starting July 23. I am not sure who was your captain, but we will have Stafano Rivera. We sailed with him a few times on the Tahitian/Ocean Princess.

Capt. Rivera is great. Been on 2 cruises with him on the Star. He is very present on deck and comfortable and friendly with passengers. Have a great time!

I plan to try the specialty restaurants on my upcoming cruise. Have not done this before. Is tipping required or expected in addition to the restaurant charge? If so, how much?

You can only sign up once on the ship.

 

You do not actually make a reservation. You ask to be put on the list and hopefully you will make the cut.

 

Also, you will not know the date of the event until you are notified that you have been selected.

 

You ask to get on the list by calling the DINE line or speaking to the Maitre 'd in the dining room.

How many Chef's Table evenings are there on the 15 day Hawaii cruise, and do they have them only when at sea or also on a port day? We are going to try to book it this time, as this cruise celebrates our 50th anniversary!

On our 2009 Baltics cruise we did the Vigeland sculpture park and the museum island (Viking, Kon-Tiki, Maritime Museum) on our own. If anyone is going to Oslo it is very easy to do with public transportation as long as you don't have mobility issues (since you are walking from one museum to another on the island).

We contemplated doing it on our own, but the time seemed so short, and it was a Sunday, so we were afraid of connections on public transportation. However...if given the chance again, I do it your way!

I usually take Princess excursions, because I am paranoid about not getting back in time. Of course, any reputable private company that wants to have cruise ship business, must make sure they allow necessary time. That being said, all private tours are not a lot less in cost. I have found most of the Princess excursions to be very well done, and I tend to look at the quality of the tour for its value. As long as I am satisfied with that, whatever the cost is value as well.

The most outstanding Princess excursion (and the most costly), was the 2 day and evening tour in St. Petersburg. Both days were full and with a very knowledgeable and patient guide. It took a whole day of rest after that, but both my companion and I were more than satisfied with our choice. Highly recommend it.

The worst was on the same trip, though a lot of it had to do with the allotted time in Oslo. We really were excited about the Wiegeland Sculpture Park and the Viking Ship Museum. We were only allotted 20 min. at the Park, and after a short tour of the museum (little time to pause at the exhibits), there wasn't even time given to visit the gift shop to buy a postcard. The longer portion of the tour was spent at the ski jump, which wasn't of much interest to us.

I notice now that the stop in Oslo is longer, and I hope that excursion time has been expanded. It has potential of being great!

Many, many thanks

This will be my 7th cruise on Princess, but it is the first that my DH will have a CPAP machine with him. I have never noticed if there are any outlets on or near the night stands. Or do I need to bring an extension to plug in at the desk?

We were in the Preferred boarding line up to go into the building to get our cruise cards & had been standing in line for about 1 hour or so.

A man came up to the front of the line with his whole party (wife plus 4 or 5 others) and wanted to cut into the front of the line

due to his foot being in a boot. He had words with the guy manning the line because he wanted his whole party to cut into the front of the line.

No dice, but he did let this man & his wife through.

Have no issues when someone has a physical handicap & needs special attention, but here comes the kicker ---

saw the same guy 2 days later running to catch the elevator & absolutely no boot on his foot or problem moving quickly.

 

Guess he either had a miraculous recovery on the ship;) or he was scamming the system to go to the front of the line without having to wait his turn:(

 

My husband has a pet peeve about people cutting in line, but the guy got out of the elevator before he could say something to him (maybe a good thing!).

 

We're at Elite level with Princess and I lurk on cruise critic, but rarely comment or post, but wanted to see if anyone had ever witnessed anything like this.

 

We had a wonderful cruise on the Regal Princess. I'm planning to post our impressions soon. Happy cruising:)

I have a couple of thise boots if you ever want to borrow one. Woukd do everything in my poeer not to take one with me on a trip!

Yes!!! Panama Canal from San Francisco!

We went in January at the suggestion of my next door neighbor who is Panamanian. Weather was perfect...no rain and temps in the mid 70s. The Coral was great! An entire day pasing through the locks. We plan to go again in an couple of years and it wil be the Coral, again! Enjoy the experience, it is phenomenal.

Thanks so much. I think I'll do the same as you!

We just sailed on the Grand earlier this month. Was scheduled for the harbor tour in Long Beach but the tour was canceled and we were notified in our cabin when we boarded. So we visited the Queen Mary right next door instead. Admission is FREE with your cruise card.

 

Did a harbor tour in San Diego and saw all the Navy ships.

 

Rode the Trolley in Santa Barbara.

 

There is a link to pictures in my signature

We will be on the Coastal cruise on the Star this April and would like to visit the Queen Mary on our own. Was the free admission a courtesy to anyone on a Carnival owned cruise ship in dock on that day? I thought of ordering tickets online, but if they are free by showing your cruise card, I won't order them.

Thanks for the help.

It is not difficult, as English is spoken quite prevalently. Cabs are available, and if you are around the Sultanhamet area, there are trolley cars. I didn't feel insecure at all on my own.

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Sorry for the misspelling-Lavelle's. And, yes, I did mean the waterfront park across from the downtown district. The food at any of the Princess Lodges is OK, not great. Sometimes one chooses for convenience

Sorry...that is floral plantings!

We stayed in the Fairbanks Riverside Lodge in Aug 2008, and it was very nice. Has a park-like river walk and floral pantings. I believe the shuttle into town was free. We ate at Lovell's in town, a very decently priced restaurant with outstanding local halibut. There is not much activity in the evening in town, but as it stayed light well up to 10:00, we enjoyed strolling the park area in town, also along the river; before we took the shuttle back to the Lodge.

I guess I will enjoy your St. P video in retrospect... If I love it this time, I could return? The video will be a huge, but loving project. Happy future sailing.

Phyllis

Cornishpastyman1:

I leave for the Baltics next week, and just looked at several of your videos! I LOVE them and love the musical accompaniements. Thanks for the extra excitement they bring to my actually getting there. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

Phyllis

Thanks Al Frescoe and Floridafolks for the answer about the 24hr transport ticket. To be safe, I'll make sure to have enough cash. Thanks, too for the warning about disembarking ASAP. I agree that CC readers are so fortunate to know so many generous people, who share experiences. It has made all of my cruises much better than I could have imagined. I especially thank those natives of ports of call (on this thread, Al Frescoe and Ultima Thule) who give so much time to help visitors enjoy the best experiences in their hometowns. It involves a lot of time and patience!

Phyllis

Concerning the purchase of the 24hr card at the pier 167 kiosk...can you pay with a credit card or is it cash (SEK) only?

Want to reserve as much time as possible for walking around Stockholm-Gamla Stan and parks. How long is the walk from the pier S167 to Gamla Stad, is it fairly flat (not taking the route you mention above)? Can one just walk along the Stadsgarden dock area? Is there any public transportation from the piers S160/165/167 to Gamla Stan?

Thanks for all the great information you've given.

Al,

 

I, for one, really appreciate your honest opinion on the Ice Bar. I too was looking into doing it, because I thought it would be something unique to do. However, I do not want to have to revolve my entire day in Stockholm around it, as there are far too many other sights I want to see. So I think your comments have helped me make up my mind that I will not be bothering with it, at least not this time.

 

floridafolks, I don't know if you're going to Copenhagen, but if so, there is an ice bar there as well (affiliated with the Ice Hotel). Cruise lines don't seem to go there as much, and you can make reservations early for that one. It might be a good alternative to the one in Stockholm.

 

Tami

Ditto for me...so many things to see, so little time!