escentialssoycandles

10-Dec MON St Thomas 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

11-Dec TUE Antigua 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

12-Dec WED St Lucia 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

13-Dec THU Barbados 7:00 AM 4:00 PM

14-Dec FRI St Kitts 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

We are sailing on Princess for the first time for our honeymoon in Dec. on the Crown. Dec 7-16 so not holiday season quite yet. I usually book my own tours off ship - but realize that the demographic may be a little different on Princess and during off peak season.

Are the water/adventure excursions like being held captive and claustrophobic like a herd of animals or are they worth it?

We are booked on the 7th Dec 2018 Crown sailing, is that the one you're looking at? We're both 32 so going by the comments we might be the youngest on the ship lol! Byt we don't mind, we aren't party animals.

Yes that is the same cruise! I did book it! Would love to meet up :-)

Any guesses on my itinerary?

7-Dec FRI Ft Laud --- 4:00 PM

8-Dec SAT Princess Cay 9:00 AM 4:00 PM

9-Dec SUN SEA

10-Dec MON St Thomas 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

11-Dec TUE Antigua 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

12-Dec WED St Lucia 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

13-Dec THU Barbados 7:00 AM 4:00 PM

14-Dec FRI St Kitts 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

15-Dec SAT SEA

16-Dec SUN SEA

17-Dec MON Ft Laud 7:00 AM

Hello all! I have booked our honeymoon cruise for Dec 7 2018 which also happens to be my birthday. We will be 43 at sailing and second marriage for both of us so we want this trip to be full of adventure. It is our first Princess cruise.

A few questions:

• Online I could not make Crown Grill reservations for embarkation night - is it not open?
  
• I know there are two formal nights - do we know which nights? I don't want to book specialty restaurants on those nights
  
• I have searched high and low for MDR menu's to no avail. - can anyone point me in the right direction
  
• Is Chef's Table worth it? We loved it on our Carnival sailings and wondering if we should splurge. $95 a person is a little high and from what I am reading is not as lengthy as Carnival? Any insight?
  

We cruise for ports and food so those two are my slight obsessions. I appreciate your feedback!

I am thinking about this ship for our honeymoon this year in December. Did you love it? I cruise for ports and then food so your feedback on the food would be greatly appreciated.

Since you mention that port selection is your first priority: when are you planning this cruise for? Both St Maarten and Dominica are still only bombed-out shells of their former selves since last summer's three major hurricanes. In fact Princess has yet to resume calling at Dominica though there are future cruises with it penciled in. Does that Celebrity itinerary include an overnight at any of the ports? Again if it does at St Maarten or even St Thomas there may be little to see after dark with all the infrastructure damage.

 

While 12 days is always better than 10, a Caribbean cruise with a private island call (Princess Cays) trumps one without in my book.

December 2018 is our cruise dates. We will both be 43 at sailing.

Hi everyone. I am a long time cruiser but looking to do something different for my honeymoon. I have never sailed Princess or Celebrity but have on their sister lines Carnival and RCI. I have been trying to read up on both, but I am overwhelmed.

I cruise for 1)ports 2)food and usually in an upper deck Interior. We usually hang out wherever there is live music on the ship. Not much for shows as we are usually exhausted after long days in port.

I have the following options available.

Crown Princess - 10 night to Princess Cay, St Thomas, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados & St Kitts

Celebrity Silhouette - 12 night to St Thomas, St Maarten, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica & St Kitts

Which would you pick?

You have asked the same question here on CC on multiple threads. On the previous one that you started everybody that answered you were quite positive about Summit. So why are you using the term "nightmare stories" here on this thread? Both Summit and Silhouette are great ships. I have sailed both. Enjoy your honeymoon.

I started reading reviews after my original posts. I apologize for my "nightmare stories" comment and retract that comment, as actually I was confused with another ship I was considering on a different line. Cruising is subjective. I just got off the 2 night Classica having thought that I would have encountered a bunch of issues and was pleasantly surprised.

I want my honeymoon to be perfect so hence multiple inquiries in different areas as I had not considered sailing out of a home port because I did not think they did the itineraries I wanted to go on.

Nightmare stories?? Please tell me where you are reading these?

We have been on the Summit 4 out of the last 5 years and couldn't be happier sailing her! Her crew is one of the best at sea

 

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Just go the CC reviews for starters. Now again everything is subjective but I cruise for what is included and add specialty dining a few nights on my previous cruises.

People are saying the food at MDR is cold and bland. They felt they were not up to X standards etc.

I know the ship is older. I read they charge for a comedy show. I read they nickel and dime you.

I don't have any super high expectations when I cruise and always have a great time but food is one of my points of focus.

I am planning our honeymoon and new to Celebrity. Our NCL Dawn Honeymoon cruise itinerary changed and now is going to ABC islands which we did last year and not as many Southern islands which is my goal.

Trying to choose between 7 night Summit out of San Juan or 12 night Silhouette out of Ft. Lauderdale

With flights and a couple days in San Juan the price ends up being about the same.

We are budget cruisers and cruise in the highest category inside (unless I get a killer deal on Balcony) and splurge on specialty restaurants. We cruise primarily for ports and exploring those ports which is where we spend our money and are rarely ever hanging out on the ship except sea days. In the evenings we are usually socializing and maybe get a few shows in if comedy or theatrical. Early to bed and early to rise.

Summit 7 nights- St Croix, St Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Barbados

Silhouette 12 nights- St. Thomas, St Maarten, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica & St Kitts

That being said, I know opinions are subjective but am hearing nightmare stories about Summit. I don't want to fly and be disappointed.

What would you pick?

Priority on this cruise would be 1) Ports 2)Food 3)Included amenities

We have an onboard spending budget of $1000 to include drinks and specialty restaurants

No!

care to elaborate?

Our Honeymoon cruise on NCL Dawn has just been changed to an itinerary I do not care for. I already have airfare to San Juan and am wondering if the Summit is Honeymoon worthy?

I know nothing about Celebrity. Future hubby and I will be 43 at sailing. We love to cruise for ports, amenities and food.

Cucina del Capitano: The Brasato Al Barolo (braised short ribs) were the best meal I have had on any cruise line on my Sunshine cruise last year. Everytime I have short ribs, I crave those and have found nothing like that meal.

Do you like sea days? With Fascination you can get zero or one sea days. I would rather be out exploring during the day but others prefer sea days. What sort of activity do you prefer?

 

I also like the older and smaller ships, but that's also a personal preference. If you happen to like sea days, you may be happier with more "things to do" aboard a newer ship.

I usually cruise for ports and spend all of my time out on the various stops. I do not mind sea days but I cruise to socialize, relax and explore. This is our honeymoon - we are getting married during our Conquest cruise on Grand Turk with 50 guests, which was chosen specifically for the ports.

I want to be able to do Chef's Table, specialty restaurants and just enjoy the free time. (We have a blended 6 kids)

I really wanted to Caribbean islands but now that it seems like a waste - thinking I want to cruise for the ship and amenities.

I had the NCL Dawn 10 day Southern out of San Juan booked for our honeymoon cruise this coming December.

My primary reason for booking was all of the smaller islands I have not been to. They changed itinerary today to ABC islands which I did last year and now I am not as thrilled.

I am thinking I want to go on a newer Carnival ship and do not mind flying to the port if it is worth it. At this point I cannot find the itinerary I want, so I think I will cruise more for the ship. I have an OV on my current cruise but looking at OV-Balcony on Carnival as I can get more for my money.

1. Fascination is doing a similar itinerary out of San Juan but I am debating the ship since it is much older. It would be $1200 cheaper than my current cruise. Cruising to St Maarten, St Kitts, St Thomas, St Lucia and Barbados. I have not been to 3 of those ports.
   
2. Horizon out of Miami is new and I would love a Cove Balcony. It is almost $1500 cheaper than my San Juan cruise. Cruising to Ocho Rios, Cozumel and Grand Cayman - been to these several times
   
3. Magic out of Miami Cove Balcony is $1400 cheaper and cruising to Grand Cayman, Mahogany Bay, Cozumel and Belize
   

Which would you choose?

Been looking at this cruise...airfare to PR is the killer...IMHO...unless I'm missing a deal...from the ATL.

Wait until about July when Southwest releases its fares. You can get Jet Blue or Southwest from Orlando for about $250 RT, so I cannot imagine it is that much more from Atlanta.

I received the change this morning from my TA.

This was/is my honeymoon cruise. I do not want to go back to Aruba. I picked this particular itinerary so I could go to ports I have not been to before. I now have to decide if flying to PR is worth it and what to do. Decisions decisions but at least they gave us enough notice.

Nice! That will be a great addition to their honeymoon.

I was a loyal Royal and have been cruising with several lines based on price and itinerary. I generally cruise with these things in mind: Itinerary, Great Food, ability to enjoy the ocean without having to be in a balcony. As a mom of 6 kids, when I cruise, I want the most bang for my buck.

Sailed Getway twice (once with kids and once without) and Thanksgiving weeks both times. It is my favorite ship across all lines that I have been on.

I LOVE the Waterfront. There are loungers and chairs everywhere and you can enjoy the view of the ocean. It never felt crowded to me there.

There is also a great area on deck 18 that is loungers and chairs. It seldom was crowded.

I also like the area on Deck 16 which is now Margaritaville and Spice H20.

The staff on that ship is amazing.

If you like cocktails, you can have drinks at the bar at Cagneys and it is usually quiet. Mojito Bar on the Waterfront was the winning choice for me most of the cruise.

How much difference in price is the balcony?

Don't forget that for balcony and above no taxes/fees whereas interior you will need to pay those.

 

As for me, I was able to upgrade from an Interior with only 1 perk to a balcony with 2 perks for $217 per person thanks to the no taxes and fees. I found that to be a very reasonable upgrade charge. .

But it may be different for your sailing.

It is $447 difference from the interior to the balcony and yes we also get the additional perk and chose SDP. We usually do 3 specialty dining nights so if we paid for that separately it would be $165.

I guess when I look at it that way, we are only paying $282 more for a balcony. Decisions decisions.

Normally I sail Interior and splurge on whatever I want. This ship though....although we only have 1 sea day.

Having sailed Getaway twice with SDP on both, we went to all of the specialties.

I would say for a special dinner I would go in this order. Le Bistro is the coziest but it also depends if you like French Cuisine.

Cagneys

Le Bistro

Ocean Blue

Moderno

Tappenyaki

La Cucina

I have been to Roatan once before and did Little French Key about 6 months ago. It was great but don’t think I want to do it again. Trying to decide what to do this time in just a few weeks. Wanting to keep it low key and relax and don’t want to spend 45 mins on a bus trying to get somewhere!

 

Is carnival’s beach worth a stop?? As of now, all of the excursions are sold out for the beach except for one and it’s $75 per person!! That seems crazy expensive! Do they have a free option if you just show up and walk around for awhile or sit on the beach? Do they have food and drinks available? Is it crazy crowded with thousands of people? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Thanks

We did the beach at the port but it got really crowded very fast, so we went inside to use wifi and have drinks. It was ok. I wanted to do Little French Key and did not, so I will do that next time in port there. The new resort option looks great.

I have the Epic booked out of San Juan next year. I have only sailed her once Thanksgiving 2012 in an interior and did not love the fact that we could not see the ocean except on the pool deck and the one sided running deck.

I have booked a Balcony for this next trip......but I think I may want to book an Interior and chance getting the Posh Pass and/or Spa Passes instead. We only have one sea day and generally stay out at the ports the entire time.

I may be naive but I am thinking San Juan cruises are not as crazy packed as Florida cruises and we are going on a non holiday week in December.

Thoughts?

There is a Publix, CVS and Walgreens 4 miles from the port.