Genessa

3 hours ago, boontj2003 said:

You will be charged 5% if you charge your room. I would bring cash to avoid that!

Thanks so very much! 

will definitely be bringing cash! 

Hi everyone , 

seasoned cruiser, but first time on Celebrity. I tried searching for a while but can’t find the info I am looking for 

can I charge casino money to my room - slots or table games, as a room charge, or should I just bring gambling cash with me?

thanks, 

Aggie 

4 hours ago, like2cruise said:

We are traveling with another couple and would like to book a table for 4 at Crown Grill  We are linked so I can select and book for all 4 of us.  Is there a way to have each couple pay for their cover charges with 2 different credit cards online?  It doesn't appear that way as when I go to add another credit card...it looks like my onboard charges and everything will default to the new credit card so I wanted to  check.  Has anyone called Princess...and they were able to spit payments?  Just wondering...Princess online chat is not working and I was trying to avoid hold times if not needed.  Thanks!!

You should be able to have it straightened out on board 

55 minutes ago, Veranda View II said:

I have seen on another thread that I am able to use my OBC in the casino. I have also seen that you cannot take any OBC home with you. If you were lucky enough to win big how would you be able to bring the money you won home with you?  

my experience,

If you have $200 in onboard credit and go into the casino and charge $100 to your room and play with it and win, you will upload those winnings to your card or get chips that you turn in 

you will now still have $100 in OBC but when you go to cash in winnings if you are lucky, you will get them in cash 

if you upload the whole $200 at once and win, you still get to keep all your winnings, provided a single win doesn’t go over the taxable limit 

not sure what happens with table games, but if you hit a slot jackpot over (it was $1200, but not sure what it will be) a set amount you will have to fill out a tax form there. 
not sure if they will take out the taxes or not, do used to be lucky, I am not 

if you are playing slots and your credit in the machine is getting up there, load it onto your card and then keep playing if you want 

I would choose Crown Grill over Sabatini's, but I have so many reasonably priced delicious Italian restaurants at home that that influences me.

If you do go to Crown Grill, a must have - drool worthy even just thinking about it - is the Black and Blue Onion Soup.  

4 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

That's always the answer, if you ask. So, don't ask. Just go to deck 6 & check (IIRC it's usually 6). If that's not it, walk down a flight to 5.

I've been on many Princess cruises.  I ask.  This was the first time I was ever told that there was no MDR open.  I have no reason to believe that they were lying to me.   

5 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

What time did you board? There is usually one MDR open from 12 PM until 1:30 PM.

We boarded around 12:15.  I know there is usually one open, not advertised, which was why I asked.

I ws on the Caribbean, March 6th cruise.  I asked as we got on board what dining room was open for lunch - the answer was none.  But you could go to the International Cafe, get pizza or burgers/tacos, etc at the grill in addition to the buffet.

Thanks so much for the recommendation to go to Beach LImerz!  It was great!

Gail answered my emails very quickly and thoroughly.  She arranged for a taxi to pick us up and we decided what time to return to the port.

We did the pay as you go, $25 pp, which made life so easy.

Loved the beach and water, and every one was so friendly and welcoming.  It ended up raining, but we played Yahtzee in the bar with drinks while it rained, then went back in the water.

On 10/31/2019 at 8:01 AM, Saphira7 said:

Because, of this post a group of us are booking this for January, and we are excited!! None of us have been to Antigua before. Would y’all recommend allowing some time to walk around and see the downtown/port area before heading over to the beach? Or should we just have Gail arrange pickup for us right when they open?

Hi!

we were there about two weeks ago.  Still recovering, lol, so late posting.  We had Gail arrange for our pick up and it worked out wonderfully.  You can have them bring you back to the ship early for shopping - that's what we did, but we wanted to maximize our beach time.  

fins would be very helpful.

I am still new at this, but I don't really understand GTY cabins. In my limited experience, the "let us choose for you" option is the same price as the "I want to choose my cabin" option -- so why select GTY? :confused:

 

Also, is there an explanatory list someplace of the differences within a cabin category? I mean, i have figured out that IB is better than IF, but what does it all really mean? especially when we agree that location is subjective.

 

TIA

I've been confused reading some of the posts because of the reference to "let us choose for you", "I want to choose" and "guarantee". I've picked the let us choose a couple of times just to see what Princess would suggest. So I just went through to do a test run to see if it is still the same. "Let us choose for you" and guarantee are two separate things. If you pick the let us choose for you, they actually suggest a specific room for the price quoted, or you can pick your own specific room for either the price quoted or higher, depending on the location.

I believe guarantee is when you tell them you want a specific category cabin and they are not showing any current availability for that category. But I think they have empty rooms at a higher category and they're hedging their bets that they can fill them with passengers paying higher amounts. If they can't, they will then upgrade people and get more people to pay the cheaper amount for the lower categories.

My in laws tried to get a balcony cabin once, but none were available. So they booked a guarantee for a cheaper price than dh & I and friends of us were paying. They ended up with a good balcony cabin, but didn't find out their cabin number until day of sailing. I booked a guarantee for an inside with a friend and we ended up getting upgraded to a window room, don't remember when we found out our cabin. And on my most recent cruise we booked an inside and were upgraded to a balcony a couple of weeks before sailing.

enjoyed your comparison!

As you said, a lot of it is "your mileage may vary"

I'm an elite Princess cruiser and prefer the laid back pace of Princess, but have cruised twice on Carnival and going on a third soon. Also did a recent cruise on Norwegian.

I liked the taste of the food better on Carnival, find Princess somewhat bland, but I like the service much better on Princess and greatly prefer the lay out of the buffet on Princess to either Carnival or Norwegian. People do tend to jam up at the first section of Princess' buffet, but since I know I don't want anything from there, I skip it.

for me, the entertainment on both Carnival and Norwegian was better than Princess', and there was definitely a more fun, livelier, and correspondingly louder vibe on both Carnival and Norwegian than on Princess. So if I was going with a group, I'd say Carnival or Norwegian, but if it's a small group, gimme Princess.

That's a good one. Guess they think all cruise ships look alike and just pulled a stock photo.

agreed! and they thought 'cos the identification was off no one would no the difference, lol

I previously wrote that me and my wife were arriving in St. Thomas on Carnival Sunshine July 24th. and wish to go to a beach close to the port of Charlotte Amalie and not have to take a taxi 20 miles and spend 40 or 50 dollars round trip to go to the beach,all of the responses have not responded to what I asked information on please read my original post and if you can give me the information I asked for regarding beach and amenities including calm waters loungers or clam shells and food and drinks, I would appreciate it also I was wondering how far emerald beach was as I heard it was a nice beach and had all I was looking for, not for nothing but it seems as if most of the people responding to my posts do not read the entire post and just respond to what they think Im asking, thanks to those people who have responded

I've been to Megan's Bay, Coki Beach, and Sapphire Beach. transport is by open safari vans easily available at the port. They seem to like to go to megan's bay more, but will take you where you want. transport for all three was around $7-$9 pp each way, so you're going to be spending about $40 for both of you. If you get there early, Megan's bay has picnic tables under trees that you can claim. Or you can rent chairs - not sure on prices of chairs - we bargained a group rate, but spent most of our time in water so we shared chairs.

water at all three of those beaches is pretty calm - they've all been calm every time I was there.

Megan's is gorgeous - very long, shallow. you can rent different water things that are people powered, including snorkel gear. Good water for lounging in. didn't go into the shop, not sure what's there. Bathrooms are decent beach bathrooms, water to rinse off in. think they have showers, too, didn't use them. Fee to get on beach, something like $3???

Coki beach has the most sea life of any I've seen. My favorite for snorkeling. You can rent gear. There's a dive shop and an aquarium near. beach is more crowded, I think because it's much smaller. You can rent chairs, there's a bathroom, food of some sort.

My favorite for a cruise excursion has been Sapphire, but I haven't been in several years. Great snorkeling, uncrowded on one side - fish, turtles. Nice white sand beach. It's in front of a hotel. There's a nice stand for food/drinks. You can rent chairs and I found the chair rental people there most helpful. There were some shade trees in one corner. Bathrooms were clean.

As for how long any will take, if taxi is going straight to Megan's bay, it's usually about 20 minutes. If people are getting off at Coki, or Sapphire or taking ferry to St. John they go a different way and it takes about 30 minutes. Usually the return trip you should count on a minimum of an hour - afternoons I've found more traffic but I'd leave beach at least two hours before sail away.

I shop and research the cruise I want to go on, check out prices from Princess (using my cc number) and then I contact a travel agent (agency) that dh & I have been using since 2002.

both an on-line and brick and mortar place they provide excellent service and always give me a number that is substantially discounted from Princess' price. and on board credit. and provide me with a detailed invoice that shows what is their credit, what is my credit from FCC or from specials that are going on.

they don't typically contact me when prices drop but will make changes if they do for no fee. no cancellation fees, no change fee.

apparently people think it's too good to be true, I've met people on board who tell me they will stick to booking directly with Princess. I am not and never will be a sales person, but if someone is talking/complaining about what they paid, service they did or didn't get, I'll suggest the agency I use.

I don't look at it as giving over control of my reservation to anyone. I make all the decisions, including the one to save myself extra money for excursions or my bar bill, lol.

we were on the same cruise, too! I'm a huge fan of Princess and this was my first cruise on Norwegian. I was hoping to have a good time, but was not expecting much else based on close friends' experiences on Norwegian. Took this particular cruise to travel with other friends who love Norwegian.

Wow! What a fantastic cruise it was! Hands down, the best food I've had on a cruise ship and I've been on something like 20 cruises. For me, the shrimp were what did it. Great quality decent sized "white" shrimp, unlike the tiger shrimp I've had on every other cruise. And the bay scallops, amazing and cooked perfectly.

We ate in the buffet, O'Sheehan's, Savor, Taste, the Manhattan, the specialty Brazilian one, and the supper club.

the only time we ever had to wait at all for dinner was when we went to the speciality restaurant (and had reservations for 9:30 or something like that).

Shows were all great, my least fav was the comedy shows. When I found out we had to make reservations for the shows I thought we'd have trouble finding seats together, but our group of 8 was always able to sit together even without getting there super early. My fav shows were the Brat Pack and the a cappella group.

and the parties! Loved Glow Night and the 80's up at Spice!

Silas Cook was an excellent cruise director. I've always been amazed when people ask, who's the cruise director? Silas' energy and friendliness added to our enjoyment of the cruise. He was at almost every activity we attended and really interacted with the passengers. When I think of the number of passengers on the ship it boggles my mind to think that he remembered people from one day to the next. And his assistants were also great.

The "washy washy" people in the buffet kind of freaked most of us out and one of the kids we were with invented a nightmare about them (he told a story about someone who had a nightmare where the washy washy people were chasing them).

embarkation was pretty typical, but disembarkation was a dream.

the ropes course with the zip lines was fun, but we only went on it the day we were in Nassau. We also hit the slides that day - the drop slide was awesome and the float one was fun. we went on and on and on again.

so, my only problems:

The pool was super cold to me - I'm used to Princess' heated fresh water pools - and the pool area was often crowded although most of the time the pool was pretty empty. Also hard for someone who is short (like I am) to stay in too long with the water so deep. Hot tubs by the pool were too crowded most days, but the day we were in Nassau we went in both.

My friends and I don't like too much sun and we never had a problem getting chairs in the shade, but if you wanted them in the sun, good luck. we did see attendants removing towels after they first placed stickers on the chairs and no one went back to them.

and the noise! All the public areas were super loud. I missed the quiet of Princess' adult pools. And at meals, it was difficult to have dinner conversation - felt like we were at a wedding and sitting too close to the band in most of the venues.

The Escape was great though, and while I still love Princess, I'm now a Norwegian fan and think it would be a great cruise line for multi-generational vacations.

I had to chuckle about less children on Princess. That is true for most Princess cruises I have been on, except for recent California Coastal I was on. There were over 700 kids on it. Apparently, it was still Spring Break somewhere.

 

 

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wow! I'll stay away from California Coastals. lol.

Good Morning, All! :D

My husband and I have been loyal Carnival passengers for the past 10 years. After our last cruise this past week, we are beginning to consider trying another cruise line for various reasons. Could you please explain to me the difference between a Princess experience v. a Carnival experience? I'm not necessarily looking for which one is better, etc., just wanting to know what the differences between the two lines are because I have a feeling there are many. Thanks in advance!

I love Princess and my s-i-l loves Carnival. So I cruised last summer with them on Carnival - first time on C in over 20 years.

Most of my comparisons boil down to Princess being "quieter" than Carnival.

Some of the areas I found this:

decor (Carnival bolder colors, Princess more relaxing)

evenings (people still out and about at 2 AM on Carnival...not so much on Princess)

mornings (here, Princess is "louder" than Carnival - at least until about 10 AM) on Carnival you could pretty much sit anywhere is you get up before 9, Princess you need to be up and out by 7 to snag a prime pool spot

breakfast buffet - Carnival's didn't start to get crowded until around 9:30-10, Princess gets crowded around 8-8:30 (except on port days, then it's around 7)

dinners - Princess has one night (last night I think always) when they have the baked Alaska parade and the waiters/assistant waiters get involved in entertaining. The Carnival cruise I was on the waiters performed almost every single night! Princess the assistant waiter takes drink orders,and not much pushing of shots. Carnival there was a "shot guy" who came around every night.

food - there's a lot of back and forth, but honestly, very similar good quality on both lines.

adult pools - I love the adult pools on Princess - quiet and relaxing. The adult pool on Carnival was packed and loud.

less children on Princess.

all that - I'm sailing Carnival again with s-i-l this summer, and even trying Norwegian soon ;).

You have pretty much missed our peak cruise season anyway.

 

It runs Oct to April.

thanks! I'm not planning for this year, or even next year, lol.

I was thinking maybe mid March or April of 2018, but after your posts, I'm now going to plan on October,November of 2018.

this will be a super expensive and long vacation and aside from not having time until after I retire, I'll need to start scrimping to save money for it.

I used to live in Australia and also visited New Zealand a few times.

 

Because New Zealand is further south than Australia is, the best time to visit one country won't be the best time to visit the other. But, if I had to choose one 4-6 week time period for your visit (and that's the minimum amount of time you should devote to a trip to both of these countries), I would choose mid-October to mid-November with the trip commencing in Far North Queensland (theGreat Barrier Reef area) and continuing southward through Australia before continuing on to New Zealand. This itinerary will avoid the heat of summer in Australia and the summer school holidays in both countries while giving you pretty good weather in New Zealand.

thanks so much! I've been planning this trip of a lifetime in my head, but just adding to the list of must see/must do things and not taking it because I know that we need a minimum of a month. And just don't have that much vacation time ;). October-November it is!

Well being in the Southern Hemisphere our seasons are opposite, so Spring and Summer are from Sept-Feb. But the thing to remember for Australia is that only the southern states have 4 seasons, the northern 3rd of the country is tropical climate so they have Wet/Dry season, with Summer months being the wet season with chances of Cyclones (Hurricaines). It's pretty weather similar to Florida in Summer. So for visiting the Great Barrier Reef for example, June to August is the best time, but it cold and wet down south then. If you're wanting to visit all over, you will find the shoulder seasons the best balance, personally I love October. If you're doing this over a couple of months, follow the weather, the first half of the year travel south to north, second half of the year to north to south.

 

If you're wanting to do a cruise back to Hawaii, they leave around late April, and they return in October. In the winter months there is only the local cruise lines of P&O, Carnival Australia and Princess Australia. During the cruise season you have RCI and Celebrity here also.

awesome info! thank you so much!

If you want to do summer type items, then you should go in December or January, as those are the summer months. Going in March or April won't matter too much in most of Australia, but it will in Tasmania and New Zealand.

thanks! well, don't like waiting, but gives me more time to save up money ;)

I've wanted to visit New Zealand and Australia for as long as I can remember. Hopefully I'm retiring early March 2018 which will give me the time to visit and see some of what I want to see.

I'm thinking of flying to NZ, doing a land tour of both islands, then taking a cruise to Australia (or flying to Australia, doing a cruise), followed by a land tour of Australia, with a stop in Tasmania somewhere, and either flying home or possibly cruising to Hawaii and flying back to US from there(if available).

I just spent some time looking through all these great posts - and adding to the lists of places I want to see and things I want to do - but didn't see anyone asking if there was a best time to visit.

I'm sure that, like most places, the weather can be variable, but should I try to make my visit from say mid-March into mid-April, or wait until the end of 2018 or January of 2019? Or have I made a muddle of my seasons altogether?

Definitely want to do spring/summer things - walking/day hiking, snorkeling/diving, and touristy landscape sightseeing.

thanks for any help!

I've had mostly good experiences in Anytime Dining. Went with my granddaughter to Alaska and as others stated, got to the dining room shortly after it opened and never had to wait for a table for two.

Had anytime dining on Baltic Cruise and we never had to wait no matter what time we showed up.

Recently did anytime with a friend in Caribbean. We did have to wait 10-15 minutes a couple of nights. We went at different times and always asked to share a table.

I still prefer Traditional though ;)