prg2101

We are just off the Regal and had a Full Suite. The Canapes were delivered every night and was a nice variety of goodies that were tasty. They are always delivered around 5pm

You may not be aware, but every drink ordered on Princess automatically has a 15% tip added.

The 15% gets split between a whole lot of people....the particular bartender that makes your drink does not automatically just get the "tip" just cause you ordered it. Im just placing my opinion that you get a little extra if you personally give them a little something from time to time

We were also on this cruise and had a great time also...great review but I do have to chime in on the bar service because I noticed something at all the bars on the ship.....People have really gone away from tipping the bartenders and that really bothered me. Bring a small stack of ones on a cruise people and take care of these guys....they deserve it and for some reason cruisers, "especially on this sailing that I saw" think that they deserve service RIGHT NOW, and dont tip AT ALL.......very sad to watch people demanding drinks and then walking away without a thank you or just a small tip. I tipped and never waited for a drink in any bar all week!! Just a thought:rolleyes:

Hi. Does anyone know if the Dolphin deck aft balcony is the same size as the Baja deck aft balcony?

Thank you in advance for your help :)

Yes they are the same. just remember the decks tower down on an angle so the peeps above

can see you.....Unless your on Marina deck below the Lido deck:cool:

We also were on this cruise and the weather couldnt have been better. We ran into some folks in the elavator on the 2nd day that were on a B2B from the week before and apparently the weather

and seas were really bad for the previous week. I was wondering why when we got to the port around 1130 on the first day that there was SOOOO many people still getting off the ship. Like the OP, we were able to get off the shuttle, check in, and had a drink in hand on the pool deck by 1215.....KUDOS to Princess and the Regal staff for how they get new cruisers on board on Embarkation Day....Was one of the fastest for us!!!:D:D

It woke me up from a dead sleep but does anyone know the details as to why we stopped in Nassau in the middle of the night? I know it was passengers getting off but why? What happened?

Thanks for all the responses guys. We are down here at Port Everglades now, staying at hotel before boarding tomorrow. Will see what ship tours are available once we board tomorrow.....Thanks again for all the advice!

John and Mayra

We leave saturday for our cruise on the Regal and have heard a lot of bad things about the Montego Bay Port....I thought Margaritaville was close to the port and that was all my wife and I wanted to do......who has been to this Jamaica port and what should we plan for?

Thanks

John

A suite passenger can order from room service anything on the MDR breakfast, lunch, or dinner menu during the times that the MDR is open. Your room steward will deliver the dining room menus to your room if you ask.

 

This works only during the hours when the MDR is open. When the MDR is closed, then suites can only order from the same room service menu as everyone else.

This isnt entirely true. You can hand write whatever you want for the most part on the

breakfast card that you put out and they will deliver it to your cabin. I have gotten western

omelettes, french toast, pancakes, over easy eggs....etc all items that arent on the card.

It looks like your cabins were below the Crown Grill on Fiesta deck (#6). I don't remember how late they're opened. You were above Deck 4, which I think is where the crew quarters are. The floor down there is metal.

 

We have often stayed on Plaza deck in outside cabins and have not had any noise problems except twice: the pilot enters right below where we were staying in April (P329). Ordinarily that wouldn't be a middle-of-the-night problem. But on the April 2016 TA, we had an unexpectedly late departure from FLL (about 4:00 am) and the sound of the pilot boat bumping against our ship was enough to wake me up. Later on that cruise we had an unscheduled overnight in Hamburg and around 11 pm there was so much noise from the ship taking on potable water outside our cabin that we called Pax Services. They offered 2 solutions: ear plugs or moving to a vacant cabin.

 

It always pays to check a prospective cabin's location, including what's above and below. On our next cruise I picked a cabin below the Piano Lounge, but it's a HAL ship and I'm assuming it'll be quiet by the time we retire, around 11.

Perhaps a few extra bills and not "row down with the others"......just a thought:cool:

We have always found it worth it. Plus its less signing for a drink every single time you get one...sometimes they just look at your card and thats it. And to be able to get coffee, soda, water, alcohol......thats even better. Its just nice to not have to worry about whats being put on my credit card after 6 days when we prepurchase it all in one shot

The highlight for today was the Ultimate Ship Tour from 0815hrs until just before noon. Others have written volumes about this tour so I won't go into incredible detail. But I will say that it was a fascinating and engrossing look at what goes on behind the scenes to keep us all pampered. I'll just share a few facts and tidbits that jumped out at me during the tour:

 

The Princess Theatre seats 956 people which sounds like a lot until you realise that there are well over 5000 passengers onboard. So really, less than 20% of the passengers can actually get a seat for any one show.

 

The bakery in the galley bakes over 8000 dinner rolls each day in addition to the rest of the breads and buns and rolls that they bake.

 

In the produce department, they will prep over 4000 kgs of fruits and vegetables each day.

 

The guy butchering the full chickens in the butcher shop, on average, takes less than 30 seconds per chicken. I know this because I timed him. And they do about 500 of them a day.

 

The engine control room has their own espresso machine tucked off in one corner. Classy. I don't know if the crew has to have available punches on a coffee card to use it, though.

 

As you would expect, the bridge has the best views on the ship.

 

Commodore Romano is a very personable and approachable ship commander and it was an absolute pleasure to meet him. But you might not want to sail on any ship that he is in command of on the first of April. He apparently likes to prank the passengers. If he ever announces that you all need to duck or that there are ships towing an iceberg off to starboard, I'm not saying that it won't be true. But be skeptical and check the date first.

 

All told, we visited backstage at the Princess Theatre, the medical centre, the galley and portions of their stores and prep areas, the photo lab, the print shop, the engine control room, the laundry deck, the mooring deck, and finally, the bridge -- along with a bunch of crew-only passageways and elevators along the way.

 

A big thank you to our tour guide Fernando and all of the various crew members who took time out of their busy schedules to show us a little bit of what they do.

 

I know that every time someone posts a review of the ship tour, debate is sparked over whether or not the US$150/person fee is worth it. For me, the answer is a resounding "Yes" (and I haven't factored in the swag that we received -- three 8x10 photos, a photo frame, a plush robe, an apron, and a pad of customised stationary).

 

Once that wrapped up, it was off to Alfredo's for lunch with dessert being another sundae from the gelato parlor in my ongoing quest to determine which is the best flavour. Today's contender: the Brownie Blast. It was good but the Oreo Sundae is still leading the race. Next up: the Fluffernutter!

 

Post lunch, it was off to Princess Live for part 5 of Gordon's 4-part series on bushcraft. This bonus lecture was just the tying up of a few loose ends and giving passengers a chance to ask more questions. Sadly, Gordon was out of coconut husk so no fires. Oh well. Next week.

 

The pool area on the Lido deck feels particularly crowded this afternoon on this last sea day as everyone tries to cram in one more solid day of hardcore vacationing before they have to pack up and leave the ship in the morning. I'm so glad that I'm staying on for another week but I know that I'll be in the same state at this time next week.

 

So this past week, I experimented with going to the dining room at various times in an effort to gauge how the new Club Class dining might be affecting Anytime Dining wait times. As far as I could tell, it had pretty much zero effect. If I showed up between 1730 and 1815hrs, I pretty much walked in and was seated immediately. If I showed up between 1815hrs and 1930hrs, I was pretty much assured to get a pager and would end up waiting anywhere from 10 to 20 mins. After 1930hrs or so, wait times dropped pretty much to zero again. In all of my past cruises, it's been this same pattern so I don't think that carving out a small section for Club Class dining has had much negative impact.

 

Next week, I'm on a different mission: try out breakfasts and lunches in the MDR instead of the buffet and also sit with others for dinner instead of dining alone. Should be an adventure.

 

For those of you asking for the rest of the Patters, I'll post them when we get to Ft. Lauderdale and I've got cell/Wi-Fi service.

I didnt think the Regal could hold 5000 people....I thought it was like 3800??:confused:

I sailed on the Star Princess last week in a Vista suite and never again. I will only go with the Penthouse suites from now on. The Vista faces the aft wake which makes a noisy and dirty balcony. The closet space is poorly designed so you can't properly use all the space. the door to the closet prevents you from using the space behind it. The bathroom has less counter space then a mini suite which is my usual choice cabin. The cabin felt much smaller then the square footage of a mini because of the layout. The wet bar is totally misplaced and takes up the minimal granite counter space in the sitting area. That is my experience but others may like it, not me.

Your comparing the vista suite on the older Star Princess to what? I dont think this is a fair comparison to either the Grand or Carribean Princess aft suites or the Royal Class aft suites at all...they are not all the same at all:rolleyes:

Oh wow!! This blows my mind!! I understand it might take a little longer, but it's not my problem, and I shouldn't be asked to order something else simply because it takes longer to make the drink I like!! Honestly, I'd rather hear "Sorry, we can't make that right now." than for them to suggest I should order something more convenient for them.

My wife and I both ordered Miami Vice a few times on this same cruise and never had any trouble getting it or did they offer us something else so Im not sure how that worked. We got them both at the pool bar and the Atrium bar:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Thanks for posting your semi live report.

 

How was your first sea day on the BA?

 

If you get a chance can you find out when they are closing the Uptown Grill. I heard June 1st and now I am hearing end of June with one of the sailings having construction done while sailing. Interested to know what week they are doing construction and when there will be no more Uptown Grill.

 

Also if you happen to walk through the Liquor store can you see if they are selling Sheridan's. I heard that is no longer available.

 

Thank you! Enjoy your cruise!

We were on the Breakaway on the May 8th sailing and never saw the Uptown Grill open at all. Really wanted to try one of those burgers I heard about:(

Would you happen to have any pictures of the cabin and balcony? We're staying in that room on our cruise in September. Also, I've read that some people were bothered by the noise from the parties at H2O; did you have any issues? TIA

I will post some pics for you. No issues at ALL with the noise from spice, it is actually 2 floors up(garden cafe in between). We did find a youtube video of our cabin right before we left if you would like to check it out. Just type in Norwegian Breakaway aft cabin 14872 on the youtube search and you will find it! ;)

Missed meeting you at the M&G and seeing your cabin at the cabin crawl. I was in 9916 I think your room was a different configuration than mine. (My room had the living and bathroom facing the balcony)

 

Since we had the butler bring us breakfast daily I swear we must have seen him at least 3 times daily.

 

And I agree about the walk vs the room & balcony. Room and balcony size will always win. After ALL the food I ate I welcomed the walk. lol

Yes I did miss the meet and Greet. Sorry, my wife had a spa thing booked that took 2 hours and didnt know it would take that long. I felt weird showing up to the meet and greet alone. I will post some pics of the cabin for our setup was backwards from yours. Our bedroom had the other entrance to the balcony instead of the windows in the bathroom that you probably had.:)

My DW and I just returned last week from our Mothers Day vacation on the Breakaway. This was our first time on the BA and first time in the Haven so just wanted to shed some light on things I have heard on these boards.

1. The Haven is as great as everyone says, we had aft penthouse 14872 and it is a good ways away from the Haven but size of cabin and HUGE balcony make up for it in my opinion. We did however only see our bulter 2-3 times throughout the week but we were just fine with that.

2. All the blah blah blah about the pool bars being 4-5 people deep, bartenders being rude, waiting forever for drinks. etc.....well, we saw absolutey none of this activity on this voyage. The capt even told us we were sailing at near full capacity. Brought a pack of 50 single dollars to use as tips and didnt even use them all. By the second day, 3 different bars all over the ship all knew my name and what we both liked to drink.. so I didnt see any of the crazy bar problems I have heard so much about.

3. We did have the 4 day dining package and we used them all in different restaurants and they were all wonderful. No issues at all with them either. We did make all our reservations before boarding.

4. Priority embarkation and disembarkation.....we did hear some people snicker that we were boarding before anyone else and also getting off in a special line that the conceirge escorted us to and here is my response to that. You get what you pay for!!!! enough said about that

Any questions anyone may have about the breakaway or bermuda please feel free to ask. Thanks and YES!! I would book the BA again!:D:D

Hello all, Back from Bermuda, all the things i thought would go wrong. Didnt! Great Ship, not busy or crowded, as some may say,.....I have pics and can answer any question :p

Uptown Grill was still there last week....as of May 15

I'm in NY right now in a hotel down by battery park for our breakaway sailing tomorrow and saw the Gem creep down the Hudson...there was a lot of traffic on the Hudson earlier because of the Americas Cup and I think that is why the ship needed the tugs...at no point did it appear that the ship was powerless:)

We are in one of the aft penthouse suites on the breakaway on sunday so I will be sure to post a review and pics when I return of our adventure in the Haven. :D:D

So much of the interior of the ba doesn't work. No space to sit and read indoors comfortably

 

Bar venues are next to the casino and too smokey and the same for waterfront

 

The one saving grace on the ba is the buffet with the nice seating

 

But it says something when at 9 or 10 pm you see groups/families etc just sitting at the tables there and talking because they have no where else to sit

 

This is not a bad thing but all I'm saying is that indoor space on this huge ship is almost nonexistent to have to rely on the buffet seating when not eating

 

On the gem you have spinnaker and bliss to sit in to relax during off hours and you have those 2 venues to enjoy great music etc later on

 

Bliss on the ba is ugly. Not so on the gem

 

Spinnaker does not exist on the ba

Another subjective comment...I have sailed the Gem twice and have seen older people sitting in the Garden Café late at night sipping on coffee and chatting...Nothing to do with them not wanting to "be in the bliss or spinnaker, they just want to be in a quiet area"...so the same happens on the breakaway? I think youll see this on every ship :rolleyes:

Absolutely not. The poster was inflating the drink prices. A beer will run you around $6. Most mixed drinks will be around $9 or $10.

 

 

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Thanks Capt. Obvious......Im well aware:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I think your $7 per drink is about half of the actual cost of $14.00- so it would still only take 6 or 7 drinks/person/day to break even.

Does it cost 14.00 for a beer? Holy Cow:eek::eek::eek::eek: