omc329

Entertainment.

Because of conflicts with dining times, we only hit the theater twice. We are not late night folks, so if we didn't get the early show, we didn't go. No problem though, as music and dancing were abundant.

We saw a comedian one night which dh enjoyed and Elements, still a great show. Note on Elements for those who have not seen it, sit back a ways as some of the show is above the seating in the theater and performers entering from sides and back during the performance.

Music options were plentiful. Ds, who was miserable with Princess music offerings, had the time of his life, dancing to the wee hours. I personally loved the latin music evening. :D

We were agreed that NCL does evening music, entertainment and nightlife well. Thing is, sea days seemed slow and boring. On Princess, we were NEVER bored on a sea day. Was trying to put my finger on it, but all I could come up with was Princess had a WONDERFUL adult serenity area with SHADED whirlpools and pools without the crowds, pop choir for me, INTERESTING lectures for all of us, afternoon movies, etc. Nothing struck us as interesting in the NCL dailies for the afternoon sea days. Even the cruise staff afternoon production on the last sea day was missing?? Some trips, that has been a real highlight.

So, ds, (30's), prefers a strong night life on NCL, while we preferred busy days and earlier evenings on Princess. Why can't we get both again????

Ports.

Cozumel we have done many times. Due to the overcrowding poolside on the ship, ds asked if we could make it a ship day. We used the whirlpools, but with no shade, were quickly baking.(They took off the canopies????) We found a corner of the pool to hide in. Dh, complained the pool temps were too cold, but ds and I quickly adjusted after the initial shock. Shuffleboard was closed during that port. Another disappointment. Ds and hubby had a nice looonnng chat on the balcony that day though. A quiet and relaxing, though somewhat slow day.

Costa Maya

It was a long walk to the port from where they parked the ship. They also made it confusing if you were leaving the port area. If you are, leave where the cruise tours are. Do NOT go into the port area past that point. You will be walking forever trying to get out. They blocked off the earlier exits and drag you out and around. I blame that long, awful walk for dragging dh into Afib, (heart condition). *sigh* (Thank goodness for the free internet so we could contact his doctor!)

We did Maya Chan this day. They warned us at port about sea grass and gave us the option not to go. We went anyway. Not a huge deal, though I missed the nicer, clean beach. Sea grass is very spungie to walk on. Not bad, but not sand either. The other thing of note, different from previous days at Maya Chan, they have added a waiver form. I wouldn't mind it, but they expected me to lie, confirming dh was able to kayak and snorkel although he would not be participating in those activities. That form needs some rewording, that IF you are going to use those things.... It was a nice day with kayaks, drinks and sun.

Roatan

We were going to walk into town, shop and drink. I was sorely disappointed. The town has gone downhill big time. NO cruisers. Shops shut down. The drink place we used last time was just depressing and the drinks not as good either. We headed back into the port area, paid a bit more, and had a great party atmosphere and great drinks. I felt bad for not spending more in the town. It was terribly depressing there. I was on vacation though, and the port area left us in a great mood. *shrug*

Harvest Caye

We did the mangrove tour. Nice boat ride. Pretty birds. No manatees. Relaxing, not exciting, ok. Afterwards we checked out the island. If you are not hung up on spending money, I thought the place was nice and would be happy to return. Best drinks of the cruise were here!!! Ds and I were VERY happy when we reboarded. :D

Almost done, but have more things to do about the house. I'll be back.......

My, what a lot of comments and questions! Sorry, but life is busy after a trip. Let me see what I can do here, though some have already been answered.

We didn't eat lunch in the main dining rooms, but I'm 'fairly' certain they are closed on port days. If you can tolerate it, Osheehans is open.

On booking specialties, I was on exactly at 90 days. They only opened 7pm and 9pm. I checked multiple times and no other times opened on the net that I could see. How they had all the earlier options booked in as much as they were as I boarded??? Suites??? No idea.

On the cove balcony. I did not take picts. I believe you may find some on cruise deck plans. For Norway, I wouldn't hesitate to book the cove just for wind protection. Going down to Osheehans, follow the carpet fish. The fish break once and a while, and there are a few turns, but keep your eyes on the fish and you'll be fine.

One more note on value. Ds and I had looked forward to buying a couple of mojito flights. We had them on the getaway with Bong serving. It was such a great time!

Firstly, hours at the mojito bar were limited. Could've dealt with that, but the PRICE!!!!! Our $15 flights jumped 33% to $20!!! BUT, IF you had the package it would only cost.....$15 with discount. THPppppttttt. And IF I had the package, why wouldn't I just order full size ones instead?????? One at a time granted, but it is a 7 day cruise.

Sigh, no mojito flights for us. :(

Ds ordered one mixed drink and was disgusted with the lack of alcohol. Koolaid. I only purchased beer and wine on board. We had some great drinks in Harvest Caye though! :)

Let me submit this and move on with the review.

This was a trip of highs and lows. The short of it is that we'll be taking a break from NCL for a while, mostly because they are no longer a good overall value for us.

On booking: Booking is always easy enough, but the deals are now for those who drink. Dh can't, so I would be stuck with a $200 tip fee for one. My onboard bill was a total of $76.

So, we did free wi-fi, (didn't want, but came in handy anyway), and the dining package. We didn't really want the dining package, already being plat, but I figured the tip fee equated to a trip to Teppenyaki that we might've done anyway. Fully aware of the problems with booking the specialties, I was online at exactly 90 days to book. The only thing they opened up was 7pm and 9pm, both too late for us. I took heart though, that I could adjust when we got on ship to better times..... HAH!

Fast forward to boarding day. We are amongst the first onboard with Plat boarding first group. I race to get those reservations changed. It took well over half an hour. Sorry, but we can get you in at 8:45. Sorry but there is nothing until 9pm. Shuffle, shuffle, move, move, and we finally ended up with something we could live with. Heaven help those who came after! The boards were lit up in red every night.

Next stop is to get the latitudes party info. They actually posted it in the daily later anyway. That was nice. What wasn't is that they put in in the dinner hour, at 6pm, against one of the reservations I had fought so dearly for. Growl!

It was a rough start to the cruise.

We ate at O'sheehans, since our cabin was on that floor. It was slow, but we didn't really care as we were simply awaiting our cabin. It didn't open until 2PM. *shrug* Later than in the past, but not horrid.

We booked a cove balcony for this one. We LOVED it! The only drawback was the echo chamber effect. Everything seemed louder. We could even listen to the ocean from inside with the door shut. Never been able to do that before. It was rather nice. :) Dh loved the privacy!!! We both enjoyed that you could usually find a corner of shade most anytime of day. The minus would only be for the slow or disabled, rather far to the far dining rooms, a problem for us as the cruise progressed.

Breaking down the rest of the cruise into various items.

Food: Ok, not great, mostly not awful. O'sheehans is not what it was when it first started. Long past is the day of the pot pies. Now you get processed mashed potatoes and bad sloppy joe, probably the same bad stuff they put on the chili dog with the stale bun. Bleh.

Teppenyaki and Bistro were both great as always. Cagney's and Cucina were ok. Not really wowed. The main dining rooms were meh. Didn't go hungry, wasn't wowed.

Service: Sometimes on, sometimes not. Seemed like most were trying, but something was lacking. Overworked? Fresh out of drydock? I wasn't impressed, but neither would I complain, (aside from one very bad time at O'sheehans where dh got so mad he went up to the cafeteria and brought food back to eat while we waited...he was TEED!!!).

I have much more to say, but need to go to work, so will finish another day.

Thanks for the review. We are trying Carnival again for the first time in years and this review helped a lot in expectations. Appreciate you taking the time to post. :)

Sis & son had e736 on the other side for our Panama cruise.

Pluses: fantastic view! Balcony was larger than a standard, but not as large as the other ones in that aft area.

Minuses: It was very loud with engine noise when outside on the balcony. Ds said that ONE night only, there was some noise coming from the lounge below. Not enough to bother him though. The wrap around can allow folks to peer around, but generally speaking, no one on the aft area to do so anyway.

For what it is worth, we decided for the Panama, that 736 balcony couldn't be beat. However, for most cruises we would prefer the balcony we chose, e631. Large, quiet, right by the elevators making for shorter walks for dh. It came with a nice table, two chairs and footstools. We had breakfast on it many of the mornings, sending dh down to the international cafe while I was in the shower. Sweet way to start the day!

I would choose that balcony again in a heartbeat!

I was just checking back. Wow. A lot of thoughts and opinions. I gave ds a general rundown, and he isn't thrilled with the idea of giving Princess a second chance. He's also giving up on the 10 day type cruise for now. I think dh and I will be back to Princess in the future, after we retire, to give them a second chance. For now, I guess we keep dancing around different lines until we settle in somewhere.

As for elevator music, what I meant is pretty close to that. Anytime they passed the half century mark, it was still waltz level on beat. I saw one band playing to a COMPLETELY empty house at one point. The music was at a crawl.

The late night dj was taking requests several nights, one of those the night that ended up running so late due to the number of requests. For the record, ds is not a night owl, it was just the only time they would bring the music up in beat and decade.

They DID listen eventually, it just took half the cruise to get them there. When even my sis, who loves dancing to Latin music, was complaining about dragging the beat, it was definitely on the slow side.

At any rate, I may be back without ds in the future, but our next cruise will not be Princess. *shrug* Thanks for the feedback.

And now I'm discouraged again. *sigh*

Carnival - Too much of a party, not enough quality service

NCL - Used to be our favorite line. Quality down, nickel and dime factor up. Del Rio stinks!!!!

RCL - Haven't tried yet, but they seem awfully expensive for the same types of cruises. I'm toying with the idea, but not really excited with the idea.

Princess- Loved them if it weren't so old feeling......I was hoping it was just the Panama.....

Holland America - I won't even consider trying, I already know that it is the really old crowd.

It doesn't help that we would all like a 10 day cruise either. Ds has enough vacation time now that he can do them, and he REALLY liked the longer cruise. Between decompressing from work and gearing up to go back, 7 days just doesn't quite cut it anymore.

I feel lost. Surely there are cruise lines that have quality and still want a younger demographic. I had hoped Princess was that line.

I don't think he would like Carnival. We did our first two cruises on them years ago. Not his or our style. Believe it or not, although he loves to dance, he's not a drinker/partier style guy.

I'm confused. Who changed the music? Did you talk to the cruise director about changing all the music on the ship? Are you talking about one specific venue? If you are looking for hip hop and rap, I'm afraid Princess is not your line.

Wanting something more modern than 40's to 60's does not necessarily indicate hip hop and rap, neither of which I care for as a 'general' rule. Nor does asking for more modern pop style music in ONE venue seem to be an unreasonable request. My folks, (who have passed on), would have LOVED the music! It was not ONLY us complaining. The first few days, everything was elevator music. Even Latin music that my sis normally enjoys dancing to, (10 years older than myself), dragged according to her.

Yes, I talked to the cd on the first sea day. I thought it was fixed when the 'wild bunch party' was packed with folks. Then it dropped back down to elevator music. It was a constant struggle the first half of the cruise. I'm not that young!! And poor 30 son....

Yes, we want lively! Not hip hop, not rap, but into something more recent than the 50's and 60's. They did have a disco party, but I left thoroughly disappointed with how it was held. I'm used to dancing all through a cruise, day and evening, (NOT late night). It was a struggle the first half of this one.

And yes, I would like to see a younger demographic for ds. The under 40 set was thin on this cruise. I'm not looking to take over a cruise and cause a panic in the silver set, I just want to know if all Princess cruises are this bad, both on demographic and music.

It sounds as if there might be hope, based on the other posts, though we are NOT looking for the spring break crowd. I love my son, but not enough to endure that! *L*

We just got back from a Coral Panama cruise. Fantastic cruise, but I have a question about future bookings with Princess.

I understand the Panama to be an older crowd, but we spent half the cruise trying to get them out of elevator music and up to the half century mark on music options. Eventually, half way through the cruise, we succeeded with some livlier 50's and 60's in the evenings. My 30 son that travels with us, FINALLY, after many complaints, got dancing music after 11PM by a dj. I understand from staff the place shut down past closing as requests continued coming in until 3AM one night. We weren't the only ones looking for a more active dance venue on the ship.

That said, the question is about future bookings. I REALLY liked Princess, except that it is very important that my son have a good time. We ALL really like the 10 days, and are sold on the idea of the longer cruise. I'm very concerned that could mean lots more 'silver' and more fighting for decent dance opportunities from me and my son.

I was thinking maybe West coast cruises 'might' have a livelier bunch than cruises out of FL???? Is there any hope for us, or is Princess just not the line for us? Outside of this one issue, we all really LOVED the cruise. Thoughts?

It is funny, I was just thinking about a seat cane a bit ago. *L*

I think there were many ideas, it is now about timing. 3pm sounds soooooo late! Then again, so does 2pm. *sigh* So much for my traditional sit down lunch where I normally begin my cruise. I'm going to miss my aaaaaaahhhh moment. :(

I still would like to know about the convention center. That would be my preferred solution. Oh well.

Everglade port is not endearing me towards them. Not a great start to a new port and cruise line, regardless of the necessity of it all. I'm still wondering about all the other passengers. Sis was clueless. Never received an email or anything. I wonder how many folks are there at 11 or 12 from lack of info.

At any rate, thanks for the input.

Why don't you request a wheelchair from princess?

Because I would feel silly when I'm going up and down stairs and walking all over. Walking isn't an issue, only standing. Sounds stupid, but it is what it is.

We experienced delayed boarding of a Princess ship in Port Everglades once. The delay was due to an extreme sanitizing of the ship after a norovirus outbreak on the previous cruise. Princess had all the passengers waiting to board wait in the convention center building adjacent to the ship terminal. There were chairs for everyone and restrooms. If, in your case, Princess will not allow boarding to begin until 2:00 p.m., they may have you wait in the convention center if no other activities are scheduled there that day.

THAT would be fantastic. I wonder whom I would contact to find out if that is an option. I doubt the general Princess number would provided much real information.

I think I will give the hotel a call, but the line issue could still REALLY bite me. I'd rather sit on concrete for a couple of hours than stand for a couple of hours.

Quality Inn Hollywood. No preferred status. I can ask about staying late, and will, but not counting on it. Moreover, will I be better off getting there early and sitting on concrete or waiting until lines are wrapped around and I'm basically standing forever. Standing WILL hurt.

I know how to time normal boarding times, but this drill thing isn't normal. Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but I'm picturing HUGE lines.

Is outside covered or open to the elements? Will they leave us standing out in the open for hours or is their an indoor waiting pen? I understand drills must be run, but what are we to do with a 2pm boarding time coming from a hotel???

Yes, new to princess and Ft Lauderdale both.

I've received notice that our ship is running drills and not to arrive before 2pm at the port. I read somewhere on cc that Ft Lauderdale lines up outside? We cannot stay at our hotel until 2pm, and the hotel shuttles likely don't run that late. Now, we can pay for a cab if our back is against the wall, however, we STILL have to check out of the hotel before 2pm.

So the questions are as follows. Will they process us into the building even though the ship is not ready for boarding? I don't care about the wait at the port, I'm going to have to wait somewhere anyway. I DO care about standing. I have had a recent varicose procedure that has left me in pain anytime I stand for any period of time. I was prepared to stand in lines, but NOT for hours. Also, if the line is outside, what about inclement weather? I'll sit on the concrete if necessary, but rain???

Anyone ever done a late embarkation like this? Experience with line backups with everyone arriving at one time?

I've never gone out of Ft Lauderdale or had a late embarkation. What to do? Thoughts?

If this is the way Princess intends to play their game, I don't know how many future cruises I'll be taking with them. I tend to book cruises years in advance. Life happens and things change in that amount of time. With non-refundable deposits, I can't book that way. I was looking to purchase one of those future deposits on our first cruise.....maybe not now.....*sigh*

Unless one is a last minute traveler, cruising is turning into less and less of a value. Great for retirees, but not those who need to plan.

My biggest issue with NCL is trust. I have no faith the product I book is the product I will receive. Things change on a dime.

That said, they have also raised prices to the point where other lines can often match and BEAT the overall value I get on NCL for similar cruises.

I have not totally given up on NCL. I USED to love their product. I'm wishy washy now. I will not be purchasing any more fcc's for the moment. I DO plan on purchasing a Princess one while I'm in the Panama on them, provided I am happy with their product.

With prices so close between various lines, I am now looking around. Change can be a good thing. I'm not writing ANY line off at the moment. It is time to look around and experience some variety. Perhaps Del Rio has done me a favor. At the least, in a few years, I'll have a better idea as to whether NCL is still a value to me.

I always liked getting my nightly chocolate. Sometimes I eat one, and other times I pop it in the luggage for the long trip home. I never buy candy at home, and it is a real sweet treat for me. :)

As can be seen by my signature, I am already looking for a new cruise line. The H2O issue does not directly impact me, but it is the continued streaming of changes, (post booking to boot), in an ongoing effort to drain more and more of my $$$ that has me upset with NCL. I do NOT TRUST NCL anymore. I want a line I can have a little more faith in the delivered product from time of booking.

I continue to monitor these boards, as the most reliable means, (note: lack of trust in NCL to notify me in a prompt manner), of knowing what new changes NCL has in store for us on our spring cruise. I will also continue searching around for better values in the industry for any further bookings until such a time as I am convinced NCL is done with their continual degrading of their product.

I use wickaways, wash them in the shower while I am showering, wring them out in the shower and after I have dried off from the shower, I wring them out again in towels to remove remaining liquid. They are usually dry within 15 minutes and ready for the next workout.

I also have found prices on NCL to have jumped too far. Unless you are a big drinker, it just isn't worth it anymore. Our Panama trip with Princess, (balcony), is very close in base price to what we would have paid on NCL, but with free gratuities and around $800 in obc to spend whichever way I choose, Princess was a MUCH better value!

I'm glad to read from the poster that said shirt and tie is fine on formal night though. The Princess boards have some old hats in there that would have one believing a suit jacket is imperative. Sorry, but my 30+ son doesn't even own one!

I've been an NCL die hard for years, but a time comes when things shift and better values are found. Time to branch out.

We booked our next cruise with Princess. We found their pricing for the Panama, on a balcony, very similar to NCL. The BIG difference was instead of being stuck paying for packages we didn't want, (ie auto gratuities on packages), we have free gratuities for the 10 days, plus around $800 in obc, which pays the bulk of our excursions with $ to spare. It is a no brainer for me. I was ready for a change anyway.

We've been cruising NCL since 2010. I was afraid, going on my first NCL cruise, that I would hate it based on reviews but jumped aboard and gave it a try. Loved it! Been sailing NCL ever since.

Jump ahead to the new regime. Higher prices. Inconsistencies in product delivery vs product at time of purchase. Lower quality, imo, in the food quality and services. Stewards and restaurant staff overworked. Crew seems less happy. Lots of little stuff that have tarnished my love of NCL. Our next cruise is on Princess. We are ready to expand our horizons and see what else is out there.

I'm not writing NCL entirely off yet. For one thing, ds has a fcc left and we'll be doing one last cruise before it expires. I would like to give the new regime a chance to settle down and stop changing things every other week before we dive back in.

As for superships vs smaller ships. Superships would be fine if they could clean up the smoke issues. They have great entertainment and lots to do, though the Escape could have used a LOT more music in non-smoky areas during various times of the day. Until the smoke issue is resolved, I prefer the smaller ships.