chamima

1 hour ago, SailorJack said:

 

We did go to Papeete!  One of the criticisms I get is that my reviews are too long.  I normally try to keep them at 12 typewritten pages, but on this 32 day cruise I actually had 15 pages so I had to edit it. As it was, even after editing I had 13 pages....so Papeete would up on the cutting room floor.😅.

 

That is not to denigrate Papeete  - it is a great place to visit.  I just ran out of Space.

 

Jack

There are some of us who have been reading your reviews for years and NOTHING would be too long!!!

I just thought nothing funny happened in Papeete but with your outlook I'm not sure that would have been possible.

Anyone else vote for seeing the "cutting room floor"?

26 minutes ago, vegasdriven said:

I am kind of surprised at not getting any other responses about this. It has always been much talked about on this site as to the great advantage of using a good TA. 
Maybe things change, but one thing that I like is being able to use email for communicating. That way I have things in writing, and can go back if I need to review. 
 

My TA has always been right on it in replying with answers to my questions. I just received one yesterday that I can send her a list of preferred flights, and we can look at the best ones out of YVR or SFO. 

We have a great  TA who has gotten us hard to find cabins and intervened with the cruise lines getting things done that I never could on my own.

But when it comes to which flight, on which airline and which connection through which airport at what specific time of day works for us - she just doesn't know all of my individual quirks that affect my choice. In this case I'm more comfortable hearing all of my own choices and being able to evaluate myself. I like to be able to evaluate all of the possibilities myself.  I kind of liken it to choosing which cruise we want to take - as good as she is, the cruise that looks perfect to her may not, for many reasons, be the best one for us. I choose the cruise and she does her best to get it and the best available cabin for us.

23 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

I'm curious about this, too, as we are on and didn't think that there were any daybeds, lounge beds, or Retreat Bar on the Retreat Deck?

Are you currently on the Eclipse?

Is there a Retreat Sun Deck? (If there are no lounge beds then what would constitute a "sun deck"?)

1 hour ago, vegasdriven said:

I am approaching the 210 day mark for booking flights, and will be deviating.I will be sending a list to my TA, and I am wondering if I should include acceptable dates (we are flexible within 3 or 4 days), and different departure cities- for instance Vancouver, Seattle, or San Fran.

 

We would fly into whichever city we needed to on our own. The reason for this is for instance there is a flight from YVR to Seattle, and then to Dubai, and on to JNB, but the connection time in Seattle is way too short for my comfort.

Can I ask why you aren't calling air deviations directly yourself?

Your TA will have to interpret your wishes and by calling directly you would hear ALL choices so as to make the best decision for yourself without a middle man.

2 hours ago, Cloudyrain said:

That is really disappointing if that's the case: lots of people with dairy allergies also have soya allergies. And rice milk... 🤢

 

I am going to take my own oat milk I think.

It's possible that's just a disclaimer.

If you have an upcoming cruise what you might do is find a couple of active "Live From ...." threads and ask on there for the poster to find out. It's a simple thing - he or she can just ask any waiter if it's available.

34 minutes ago, rbtan said:

Any good chef can make a vegan cake. You just use Almond flour & preferably a good EVO.

Yes, but the "chefs" on cruises are cooking/baking for thousands of people. Not sure they have the freedom or impetus to make something for the tens that might be vegan.

I think they're very careful about life threatening allergies but this isn't that - and my husband is a vegan for his health so we'd be thrilled to have more choices but don't expect them on large cruiselines.

It doesn't always work that way.

My husband and myself have been on B2B cruises where our OBC and expenditures have combined on one cruise and then kept separate on the next.

However, a trip to Guest Services should fix the situation.

Looks interesting!

What space changed to this new restaurant?

6 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

@dides did you happen to notice if the menus change or is it just that one menu? I’m not vegan, but I am dairy free and I’m hoping that the vegan menus give me more choices. I want dessert 😂

There were 7 vegan menus last fall on the Sapphire. The only dessert I remember was sorbet ( or fruit) . But vegan also means no eggs so you may have more options.

Sorry!

***

19 minutes ago, TheShag said:

I am prepping for my '210 day' phone call with RSSC Air. Is it fair/safe to assume that no Delta flights are to be considered [I seem to remember a while back that they no longer sold tickets to RSSC]? Thanks experts!

Just got a Delta flight earlier this week.

(See my post above about the nonstop Delta outbound flight being a smaller upgrade than a one stop with a different airline.)

However for my return flight the Delta alternative was significantly more expensive than a very similar flight on a different airline. (But it was available if I wanted to pay the extra)

15 minutes ago, gwhitti said:

Yes echoing the above question. Did they skip Tahiti?

We have been on this RT LA South Pacific cruise 3 times. Twice for 28 days on the Emerald and on the 32 day Sapphire. We obviously love this cruise and are looking forward to going again in 2025. We would rather sail for 8 days back to LA than fly any time. People being so different is what makes the world great. 

We had friends on the cruise. No, they didn't skip Papeete but Sailor Jack didn't have his usual hilarious comments on it.

We've done this cruise 4 times (3 on the Emerald and once on the Sapphire, which is now my favorite Princess ship - as long as they get their propulsion issues fixed). We're signed up for 2 more! We would also rather sail for 8 days than fly!!! Sea days are the BEST.

12 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

Good read --  

 

As far as some people bringing on their own toilet paper - well I would normally laugh at that situation.  But Princess has the only toilet paper I have ever seen that actually crinkles when you scrunch it up.  I love cruising - but that toilet paper...

I hope that toilet paper got confiscated.

Princess warns you that regular toilet paper will clog their system and cause problems for everyone in nearby cabins.

Great review Sailor Jack.

We had friends on your cruise and i certainly got a different perspective from what they said.🤣

What happened to Papeete?

I'm so excited!!!!!!

Another Sailor Jack review and on my favorite cruise on my favorite ship!!!

Had to comment but I haven't read the review yet - so back to reading.

On 5/9/2024 at 7:19 AM, chamima said:

 

@puppyluv1 - I know your post is old so I hope you're still watching this thread.

Are you saying that when you checked the available flights for your cruise the one you wanted showed as $2500 pp more for a nonstop than a flight with a connection but when Regent booked you on that same flight the upcharge was only $500?

(I'm getting ready to call deviations and want to have an idea of what to expect)

Thanks!

46 minutes ago, puppyluv1 said:

Yes, that’s correct. 

Thanks.

I ended up calling deviations.My situation was like yours but the difference was around $3500pp more for the nonstop. My upcharge was $600. I grabbed it.

But I did ask about my preferred one stop flight and that would have been $900pp more.(???Go figure???)

So, lesson learned, it's always good to ask

This is our first Regent cruise.

It was my impression that we got transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruiseport included with our cruise (we are in a Horizon Suite so the one night pre cruise hotel is included).

We took an air deviation to get a more convenient flight but it's still the same day as the non deviated flight would have been.

Is the transportation still included?

15 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

And do check your flight on the airline page(s) in case there is a schedule,  equipment change and/or they changed your seats.

 

Glad it worked out for you.  

Thanks @Lonedaddy - Unfortunately need to do that on ALL flights - no matter how they're booked.

We just flew to St. Thomas (which I booked myself only about 4 months in advance) and that flight schedule must have changed 5 or 6 times between booking and actual flight.

I want to thank everyone on here and especially @papaflamingo who coached me on how to book flights with Regent Air.

I called this morning and was able to book our flights. Outbound non stop DTW-Rome , my  first choice , which was $7000 more than the one stop flights when booking with the airlines, was only  $600/pp extra.

(Interestingly, my second choice, which was a one stop, was $900/pp extra).

Flight home wasn't on my list of choices but works fine, other than the tiny puddle jumper from Montreal to DTW. The time and length of flight were the same as my original choices.

However, I was so excited to get that non stop that I didn't check my itinerary carefully enough before I confirmed. On second check I realized that the agent had booked us on the wrong day! 😨

So a second phone call to Regent Air was needed to fix things but the second agent was even nicer and added our frequent flier numbers and got us our preferred seats.

So, again, thank you to everyone on here for your wonderful advice.

And now I'll add my own - check, check ,double check and triple check before you send that confirmation back!

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

Thank you!! I'm boarding 9/23/24. 

 

Yeah .... with all the rav impressions I'm waiting on booking more than 1 until I see for myself before leaving Royal Class ships. 

 

======////=======

 

Hoping it lives up to our expectations and the angst posted is just PCL adjustment pains. Not too happy about needing a ticket for performances but we shall see how that plays our

@Ombud - We were looking forward to meeting you but sorry to say it'll have to be sometime in the future. I was really looking forward to all of those long days in the Sanctuary on the TA because we had a suite booked. But the fact that there was no shade ended that dream and there were just too many other concerns I had after reading reviews on here.

As I said above we do have a short cruise booked on her (over New Year's) and so will try to reserve judgement until after that but those 8 sea days in the crossing searching for shade just took the "bloom off the rose" as they say.

2 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Princess dropped the ball with not having all of their ducks in a row regarding various aspects of the ship and also not having their staff fully trained on the new Class of ship.  By the time the Star comes out, tweaks that have to be made will be done and hopefully many of the staff will switch over from the Sun and be helpful in training new staff that are not used to the Sphere Class size ships.

Over the years we've become friendly with some of the crew and we stay in touch and watch their families grow up and keep up with which ship they move to.

I wondered if something was up when no one we knew volunteered to sail on the Sun. Even the couple of people who ALWAYS seemed to be on the newest ships as the opening crews.

Now I'm kind of thinking maybe they knew something we, as passengers , didn't.

We'll still try her for a short cruise but have canceled the very long B2B2Bs we had booked.

2 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

Well at least there’s a Beyond Burger for vegetarians. Celebrity has them in Blu but I never had to fall back on that option since the Blu menu always had good entrees. 

It doesn't say Beyond Burger. It says plant based burger.

Unless something has changed Princess has the absolute worst plant based burgers we've eaten anywhere!!!! (And Celebrity used to have some of the best but they've downgraded - still not as bad as Princess, though.)

12 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

It will DEFINITELY matter. That adds 50% more seating for people who want to enjoy the MDR menu and allows those who choose to do so to dine in shorts and T-shirts or be as casual as they want. I’m not being facetious but just THINK how much this board would change if every Princess ship offered an MDR with the full MDR menu that was truly “come as you are”. There would never be another thread or post asking if such-and-such attire is allowed in the MDR. Or if there is, the simple answer would always be: “Yes. On Deck 8.”  I truly hope that this experiment becomes permanent. I don’t think too many Princess cruisers pay what they pay just so that they can eat scrambled eggs or hamburgers for dinner. Some, yes. But not a whole dining room’s worth. 

Good point but you missed the word "sometimes".

If passengers don't know what menu will be offered each night they will still be going to deck 6 or 7 first.

I think a good solution might be to have the MDR menu for dinner every night with the diner menu for breakfast and lunch but I'm sure there's a problem with that, that I haven't thought of.

10 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 Yes there’s Deck 8 but I would think the menu would get old. I’m not suggesting anyone is going to starve…it’s still a cruise ship….but nobody likes meals to be a chore.  I do have one Star booking for next year, so I’m willing to keep an open mind. I just hope I’m wrong with these concerns. 

I don't know if it will matter but current cruisers are reporting that at dinner the MDR menu is being used sometimes and they ALWAYS have at least one new item every day.

Deck 8 doesn't appeal to me at all but it might to some.

2 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I have definitely seen YouTube videos that show a salad station where all of the component parts are separated allowing the guest to tell the server what they want. Looked sort of like the toppings station at a Subway sandwich franchise. Not sure if that was in the Eatery or outside on Deck 9 near the

pizza station, or at the Deck 17 food stations. 

I think you've hit on a main problem that the Sun has . Which of the 3 or 4 different venues does one need to go to? I get it that with a large passenger load Princess is trying to distribute the load across the ship but the way it's been implemented just leaves a lot of people confused.

On 4/29/2024 at 2:59 PM, alyssamma said:

The good: cabin is simply amazing. We have an inside (only other time had a cabin class lower than balcony was a couple of times in MSC Yacht Club). I was worried because the dimensions are small, but this is one of the best cabins I've ever been in. Shower and bathroom are (cruise) spacious, lots of closet and other storage space, a zillion hangers, and really nice touches. For example, when you get up from bed a small night light comes on under the nightstand and in the bathroom.

 

The look of the ship is stunning. Nice colors, very pretty.

 

Staff is mostly very nice and friendly.

 

The few shows I have seen were good. Not the best, but I'd say a solid B+

 

The average: Food is hit or miss. Nothing has been bad, but tends towards average instead of great.

 

Cruise director. Eh. A little annoying to me, but ymmv. Regardless, I'd say she's in the middle of CDs I've experienced.

 

The bad: the layout is simply the worst I've ever seen. It's so bad I could never sail this ship again. Princess Live, where they have comedy and enrichment shows is completely open, so not only do you hear the crowds walking by, but you also very clearly hear whatever is going on in the central atrium part of the ship. Which leads to...

 

The Piazza. Great to look at, but three levels with limited chairs means every show they have there requires people to stand. There are about 3x as many people standing as sitting.

 

Lastly, I hate that they funnel you through the shops or casino to get to the important parts of the ship.

 

 

 

K - is this you?

Hope you guys are great!

Boy do you guys get around!

How does this ship compare to the Sapphire? Sounds like not so great.

We are signed up to take our grandkids for New Years (that we booked when we realized we weren't doing the SE Asia cruise). I have a feeling it'll be a one and done on this class of ship.

If we do same day air deviation do we lose the "free" transportation from the airport and the one night's hotel? (Haven't been to Europe in about 50 years so I really appreciate not having to arrange this)

****