Linsifer

On 3/10/2015 at 6:36 PM, Coral said:

It is a small village. I don't remember that there was a lot to do in Zihuantenejo. I never ventured to Ixtapa - the tours there were cancelled due to lack of interest.

 

The people were very friendly and enjoyed having tourists there. It really is a sleepy fishing village. I doubt the port was cancelled due to any violence. My guess is that it was cancelled as there are not a lot of activities to keep 3000 passengers happy. We were on a smaller ship (Sun Princess - 70,000 tonns).

 

Maybe they stopped because they stopped going that far South. That makes sense.

We were there on the Sun Princess in 2004 and later on the Golden Princess in 2007.  I really enjoyed the little village with the cobblestone streets.  We ate at a good restaurant right on the little main walking street.  Also took a small boat over to Playa Las Gatas Beach. Nice area with clear, smooth water.  I sure wish Princess would bring it back.  In 2004 Acapulco was nice.  We saw the cliff divers.  In 2007 we didn’t very far from the ship when we were in Acapulco.  There had been some cartel violence and we just didn’t feel as comfortable.  

On 6/25/2023 at 8:56 AM, KKB said:

One of the best things of our Princess AK cruise was the naturalist (heard RCCL doesn't do this? Sailing Quantum to AK in Sept so I can do a true comparison then)

 

Also--different salmon EVERY night. It was fresh, they had different varieties & interesting preparation. I was in HEAVEN.

And they usually being Husky puppies on board when you’re in one port.  

On 6/21/2023 at 4:11 PM, RedJessi said:

I literally just got back from an Alaskan Cruise on Sapphire Princes just a few days ago. Please keep in mind that I have not cruised RCI since 2016, and I only have experience on Oasis class ships - so it's like comparing apples and orangutans. 

We chose Princess for Alaska because we wanted to do land and sea - so we had several nights at the Princess Lodge just outside Denali National Park ahead of our cruise.This was BEAUTIFUL and convenient if you have any interest in hiking in Denali. Plus, as others have mentioned, Princess is one of the cruise lines allowed in Glacier Bay National Park (only 2 ships per day and there are strict size restrictions) - and Glacier Bay was on our MUST - DO list. Further, the excursions through PCL were 100% what we wanted to do. That said, there were some things PCL truly excelled at. The biggie was that our connecting flights were cancelled, leaving us stranded in Newark for 2 days. Luckily, we had given ourselves an extra day in Anchorage in case of this, but one extra day does not cover 2 lost days and we weren't going to land in Anchorage until several hours after our transport to Denali left. Princess were the heroes, as they coordinated rooms for us at Captain Cook's in Anchorage and got us on a train to Denali that only put us about 24 hours behind our original schedule and I swear I truly believe we were given prime seating on the train with the best tour guide and it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip! Additionally, we had a mini suite room onboard and it was definitely the best cabin we have ever had - Spacious with a beautiful balcony, which you 100% want for an Alaskan cruise if you can at all swing it. 

On the downside....it was, hands down, the worst quality food and slowest service we have ever experienced on any cruise, ever. Entree's NEVER came out together. There were 12 of us and we were split into 2 tables of 6, and 2-3 meals would be delivered....and a few minutes later, another 2....than the final meals would show up a few minutes after that. Every single night someone was delivered an incorrect plate, or didn't get something they had ordered - and it wasn't that we were being extra picky or asking for things off the menu - we absolutely were not. It was things like, a ceaser salad was ordered, and French onion soup was delivered or someone ordered 2 starters, but only got one (or got one and then got the second when everyone else was getting entrees). Further, it didn't matter what you said when they asked 'how would you like that cooked?' - at least as far as we could tell. Almost uniformly, steaks were ordered medium rare. But we saw everything from well done to practically raw brought out in response to this. And dinner never took less than 2.5 hours. Twice we left before even getting to think about dessert or after dinner drinks because we were either bored senseless sitting there or because we had other things to do. And heaven help you if you wanted wine WITH your meal. You may as well ask for the moon. For the first time ever, my family opted to eat dinners more than once in the (lackluster) buffet because we just did not have the energy to deal with the MDR. Very disappointing as dinners together in the MDR was one of our favorite things on DCL. Lastly, veggies were bland (mint pea puree tasted neither like mint or peas), desserts (when we actually got to order them) were sickly sweet, and it was, hands down, the worst salmon I have ever eaten, anywhere. Which, when you are in Alaska.....I mean, the salmon should be gold star. 

In short, while I don't regret cruising Alaska with Princess.....I don't think I would ever cruise Princess for any other destination. 

My goodness, your MDR experience doesn’t sound like ANYthing we’ve experienced on our six Princess sailings.  I know things can vary from ship to ship or crew to crew, but it really sounds like you got the short end of the stick!  It’s too bad it’s steered you away from future cruises with Princess.  Again, we’ve always had wonderful dining on the Princess ships we’ve sailed. 

On 6/17/2023 at 7:33 AM, happy2bee said:

My son and his wife want to do a family cruise to Alaska next summer on Princess.  I've never been on a Princess ship.  Anyone know how they compare?

 

We really enjoy Princess, even more so because we can drive to the closest port of San Francisco.  And compared to RCI, Princess really knows how to offer up a comfortable mattress.  So comfy.  My last three RCI cruises the mattresses were ROCK hard. They couldn’t put enough extra padding on my side of the bed to make it feel soft enough.  That said, for a family I’m sure a Royal Caribbean ship will have plenty of fun activities for all age groups.  They tend to have all the super slides and rock climbing walls as well as other water activities.  As for Alaska sailings, Princess owns Alaska!  They really know how do it right.  Since it’s not really a warm weather itinerary, I don’t think many of those outdoor water activities would be beneficial, anyway.  They still have plenty of indoor fun for the kids at their kids clubs.  To me, Alaska IS the fun!  If I had to choose a cruise line to Alaska my preference is Princess.  In fact. We had a 10 day sailing out of San Francisco booked during COVID but had to cancel.  One of these days we’ll book it again!  Next up is an RCI sailing to Canada/NE and then back to Princess for the British Isles. Awww….a soft and comfy mattress once again! 🙂

Lol.  It is!  Oh well. It’s the same cabin.  If anyone has stayed in it, feel free to comment! 

On 3/5/2016 at 7:06 AM, brl said:

I am trying to find out if 10606 has a larger balcony, as it is on the back of the hump. I am looking to switch to that room becuase of the possiblity of the larger balcony. Do you have any help you can give me on this. I know the view is more limited, but I would trade that for a larger balcony. Thanks in advance.

 

Did you end up switching to 10606?  I have it on hold right now because that balcony did look a little larger.  What did you mean by “I know the view is more limited?”  If you stayed in that cabin, did you like it?  Should I go ahead and book it? Also, I notice it’s not right in the middle—a bit more mid-forward.  Is that a problem for movement?  I always try to get as close to directly midship as I can.  Thanks!  I hope you’ll see this post since the thread is 7 years old! 🙂

5 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

My Doc said at your age it's to be expected and gave me the Diuretic.  But I can't go far from a restroom 🤣

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. 🤦🏻‍♀️

15 minutes ago, nini said:

Sorry, but this really does not sound like a great way to spend your time in England; at an airport hotel? I suggest you go to the British Isles board.

Thank you for your suggestion!  Since this cruise isn’t going to happen for almost two years, I’m sure we’ll find the perfect hotel before then.:)  For the stay AFTER the cruise I didn’t mean we would be staying close to the airport as we would BEFORE in order to get our transfer to the terminal.  Again, we’ve got time to plan this adventure!  We still have a cruise to Canada/NE next year to plan.

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

If you have booked RT transfers, they are for the day of embarkation and the day of disembarkation unless you have also booked Princess hotel reservations.

 

If you want to stay in Southampton pre-cruise, then cancel the arrival transfer and make other plans to get to Southampton. If you want to keep your pre-cruise transfer, then book a hotel near the airport and return to the airport on embarkation day morning to take the Princess transfer.

 

Post cruise Princess can transfer you to either the airport itself and then it is up to you to get to an airport area hotel or to downtown London at a bus station from which you could find you own way to a London hotel.

Thank you. I now know how it works.  We’ll arrive a couple days early and stay at a hotel near the airport instead.  Then get back to the airport to catch the transfer to Southampton terminal the day of our cruise.  That’s what others here have done, it turns out.  And after our cruise, we’ll do the same in reverse.  Transfer to Heathrow and get to the hotel on our own (maybe one with a shuttle) back to the airport two or three days later. 

On 8/17/2015 at 4:59 AM, R**T said:

We did this at London Heathrow. We spent one night at an airport hotel and the next morning returned to catch the Princess transfer to Southampton. We told Princess that we were arriving the morning of the cruise.

When you told Princess you were arriving the morning OF the cruise, do you mean flying IN the same day although you flew in the day before and stayed a night at a nearby hotel?  Or just told them you were arriving at the airport that morning in time for the transfer? In other words, if you’re on the list and are there to be picked up the day of the cruise, they don’t care WHEN your plane actually arrived?  Thanks!

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

Yes. You can do that.

 

I thought you were going to go to Southampton the day before and that would not work.

Yes, that was my original question, but a couple others here replied with the protocol.  And my TA emailed me this morning explaining how the transfers work.  Thanks again, Coral!  

4 hours ago, nini said:

I really do not see how you would have roundtrip transfers for $128.00 (for two). Our transfers with Princess from Southampton to LHR are $118.00

We paid Quay West Cars 140.00 English Pounds for a transfer from LHR to our Southampton Hotel the day before the cruise.

We took a cab from our Southampton hotel to the port for about 10.00 English pounds.

I suggest you get details from your TA as this really does not make sense.

 

My TA said the transfers are $128 round trip per person.  Sorry for not clarifying. 

5 hours ago, Coral said:

Transfers to Southampton (from Heathrow) are the day of the cruise only. There are 3rd party transfers that will provide transportation to Southampton from Heathrow. National Express is one of them.

Thank you.  I was told here by a couple people that if we’re on the transfer list and we arrive the day before, we can book a hotel room near the airport and make our way back to Heathrow to catch the transfer the day of the cruise.  That’s what we’ll do.  Our TA added the transfers to our booking.  We have a good while to make plans, thank goodness. 🙂

11 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We’ve done that in New York a couple of times.  We just stayed at a hotel with free shuttle service, made it back to the airport and took the transfers to the pier.  
So many times, they sell the transfers to you right at the pier if you haven’t booked them previously. 

11 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We’ve done that in New York a couple of times.  We just stayed at a hotel with free shuttle service, made it back to the airport and took the transfers to the pier.  
So many times, they sell the transfers to you right at the pier if you haven’t booked them previously. 

Thank you!  I know it’s not until 2025, so we have awhile to plan!  Since traveling overseas or really ANYWHERE is new to me, I like to get my ducks all lined up in advance.  Then when it comes time to book the hotel(s) etc I’ll be familiar with the process.  My TA added the transfers to the booking. 

3 hours ago, cavecreekguy said:

I have the Princess transfer booked from Heathrow to Southampton in a couple weeks. I'm arriving the day before and staying at the airport hotel. My Princess travel summary shows that I purchased the transfer, so I'll be on their list. There are very specific instructions on where to meet both for passengers arriving on flights on embarkation day, as well as for folks that "plan to be in London prior to embarkation day and wish to return to the airport for your transfer to the pier." This option appears to be common so I don't see any need to give fake flight information.

 

If you purchase the Princess transfer, check your travel summary for confirmation and instructions.

Thank you!  So it looks like we should stay in a hotel near the airport the night before and make our way back to Heathrow to meet up with the Princess transfer rep. who will take us to Southampton terminal the day of embarkation.  I had hoped to stay closer to the port, but as long as Princess gets us to the terminal in time, that will work, too.  I imagine it works the same way going back.  We will be transferred to Heathrow from the terminal.  We can book a hotel close to the airport and spend one night (or more) there before flying home. And then take a cab to Heathrow.  
 

Does this all sound like it will work? 

On 8/17/2015 at 4:59 AM, R**T said:

We did this at London Heathrow. We spent one night at an airport hotel and the next morning returned to catch the Princess transfer to Southampton. We told Princess that we were arriving the morning of the cruise.

I’m wondering if we could take the Princess transfer from Heathrow the day we fly in to our hotel in Southampton close to the terminal and then take a taxi or Uber or maybe even hotel shuttle to the terminal the next morning.  And after debarking, take the transfer to a hotel near Heathrow to spend a night or two before finding our way to Heathrow when we’re ready to fly home. 

On 6/21/2018 at 11:09 PM, caribill said:

 

No. if you have a return transfer is must be used the day you disembark the ship.

 

If you are touring after the cruise, there is no reason for you to purchase the return xfer. If you did purchase it, cancel it.

My TA just added RT transfers to our cruise invoice for $128.  When we arrive at Heathrow the day before sailing, can we have the transfer company drop us off at a hotel in Southampton near the terminal?  And find our way to the terminal the next morning.  And at debarkation can we be transported to a hotel close to Heathrow if we plan to spend the night before our flight home?  Or I suppose we could stay a few more days and find our way to the airport either way.  Just want to make sure Princess will transport us to a hotel.  

15 hours ago, Ashland said:

Sorry you had a bad experience at San Pedro. It's our home port (45 min drive) and we sail as often out of it as we can. Perhaps it makes a difference as we use the suite check in line and it couldn't be easier. Our most recent cruises were January 2022, October 2022 and January 2023. Have to skip January of 2024 but we're booked again for February 2025. 

 

So glad RCI has returned to our coast and hoping they'll stay. And I certainly agree the iSkate Reach For The Stars is the best ice show fleetwide.

Embarkation was a cinch for us, as well.  And we’re Gold.  Disembarking for self-assist was a bit chaotic, though. That was more the ship’s problem though.  Once we got off the ship, it was easy peasy in the terminal. 

21 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

Entertainment:

 

This is where Royal positively sparkles.

 

Go see iSkate on the first night and at least 1 or 2 more times. They had 2 shows on Night 1, 2 shows on Night 4, and 1 show on the afternoon of Day 7. We missed the first seating on Night 1 because of dinner, but made it to the 9:15 seating. We skipped it on Night 4 because dinner was running late and the later seating wouldn't get out until 11 pm - but we had a very early shore excursion (and were also losing an hour of sleep anyway due to a time change), so we decided to just go see it on the last afternoon instead.

 

SO good. It really is a fantastic production! (We were originally supposed to sail on Harmony last fall because my daughter's coach was taking a hiatus from the rink to skate in the Harmony of the Seas shows, but we had to cancel our cruise because the hurricane made it impossible for us to get to Port Canaveral - Delta canceled our flight and couldn't reschedule us in time. Royal gave us Future Cruise Credit, but we wouldn't be able to use it before Jaclyn's skating contract ended, so we decided to just go on a ship closer to home instead of flying.) Her coach told us that Navigator's iSkate is her favorite show of the entire fleet, so we knew it would be good. But it really did blow us away. And we're a skating family, so we watch competitions and skating shows all the time!

 

As for the Royal Theatre, our favorite production show was Showgirl. I watched it twice (due to a miscommunication, my daughter didn't end up going with us to the 8 pm, so I insisted she come with me at 10:15) because it was that good. On the whole, the men are stronger dancers than the women, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison because a portion of the time the women are reduced to just walking in a straight line with showgirl feathers on her head/back. The can-can number was amazing!

 

I also really liked Ballroom Fever, especially Nastya and Dima (the professional ballroom couple from Ukraine). I'd taken a master class with them many years ago, back when I competed on the collegiate level, so it was fun to see them perform again. Take their cha-cha class! It was at 11 am on the Cabo day, before we got to port.

 

I also enjoyed Oh What a Night (the Franke Valli tribute show), which was flown in from Vegas the morning before (met the ship in Puerto Vallarta). But my dad thought it needed less "humor" and more songs. I heard that same complaint from several other people.

 

The main comedian Angelo Tsoukalis was funny, but the "physical comedy" unicycle guy was kinda meh.

I agree with you regarding the entertainment!  Loved Nastya and Dima.  And everything else you mentioned.  They can keep the unicycle rider.  Wasn’t funny at all in my opinion.  And I agree with your dad, the Frankie Valle group could have left out the “humor” and just add more songs.  I was disappointed they left out Ragdoll.  My husband liked the ice skating show the best of all. He’s not much of a song and dance guy, but,loved the ice skating. 

22 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

I'm going to do this in sections.

__________________________________

 

Embarkation/disembarkation:

 

Port of Los Angeles - San Pedro has to be the worst cruise terminal I've ever sailed out of in the US. The entire process was just so chaotic compared to other terminals I've been to. Probably the smoothest I've ever experienced was Port of Long Beach (Carnival), but have also enjoyed the process in Seattle, Port Canaveral, and Miami. Houston was okay, but still better than San Pedro.

 

We had the 10:30-11 check-in time, and our entry to the terminal kept being blocked by people trying to enter early for their 1 pm check-in. We literally stood for 20 minutes at the curb trying to flag down a porter while people who just arrived would get one immediately. Porter after porter kept skipping us.

 

My mom was in a scooter, so we did get taken out of the long lines inside the terminal once we got to the front to be able to enter the building, but even getting to the entrance of the terminal was a process with rude people who kept trying to enter 2 hours early.

 

But once we got on the ship, it was much better. We skipped the safety briefing until closer to sail time and headed straight for the Windjammer because our hotel didn't include breakfast.

I like San Francisco terminal.  But it’s on Princess and a lot closer drive for us. San Pedro Terminal was okay for us, though.  Embarking and once disembarked it was fine. We self-assisted OFF the Navigator, which should have been seamless.  It wasn’t.  But that was the ship’s problem.  Long line and mixed in with passengers who had assisted luggage help.  The gal supervising our line had no idea what was happening.  Seemed overwhelmed.  Last time we disembarked off a Princess ship, we carried our own luggage off and it went t quickly and smoothly.  That was the point, I felt.  Oh well, maybe it was a fluke getting off the Navigator. 

21 hours ago, JaynBNA said:

I'm on this cruise in late September and am looking forward to your review. Did the same route on NCL Bliss in 2019.  

How was the Bliss?  My daughter, son-in-law, 4 year old son and his family are sailing her to Alaska in August out of Seattle.  First cruise for my son-in-law and grandson. 

On 5/15/2023 at 11:08 PM, Ashland said:

Any idea what they'll be doing? She looked great the last time we were on her.

The captain said just minor things like some carpet replacement, etc. Sure wish they’d add all new COMFORTABLE mattresses like Princess.  I was NOT a fan of those hard beds last week!  Even the extra padding they provided wasn’t the greatest (says my hips). 

On 5/15/2023 at 6:17 PM, smokeybandit said:

The timing would be right for a drydock since that last happened early 2019.

The Captain told us she will be in Singapore for a dry dock—not anything extreme—mostly changing carpets, drapes, etc. 

On 5/15/2023 at 5:24 PM, imola said:

Hello.  Does anyone know why the Navigator is not showing being able to book for March of 2024?  Is it maybe dry-dock?  I wouldn't ask if I knew how to find on my own.  TIA

The Captain told us last week that she will be dry docked in Singapore. At least I THINK that’s what he said.  He has a Swedish accent and I didn’t always hear him. 

On 2/8/2023 at 11:18 AM, PG_Cruiser said:

I've been told that the CD on Jewel is "Icey", and that she's very pretty and Russian.

Do we know her?

EDIT:  

Found her!!!  Aysy (Aysylu) Sadrislamova

 

She was just on the Navigator of the Seas 5/19-5/26.  I liked her.  Raised in America and lives in some other country with her boyfriend.