catskier

I was on the same cruise. It was a full ship. At times did feel crowded. Sea day. Chairs were already “saved” at 8 am when walking to breakfast. 
Location: a balcony forward cabin, plenty of space. we could not get our hair drier to fit in the bathroom plug. Used the office space, same as poster. 
Agreed, MDR uninspired. Not bad, but if it was a restaurant I had to drive to and pay, would not go back. 
 Except pool side and martini bar, always quick to get a beverage. Loved the El bacco? To sit in the evening and listen to the music.

Buffet: plenty choices, but I was underwhelmed . Nothing I loved. Did not go hungry, but…Good news I did not put on a pound once home. We did walk every day even clocked in 7 miles on a sea day. Helps when you have the most forward cabin.  I had the premium beverage package and was surprised to find out the gelato was not included. 
Over all friendly staff, plenty to do. The one big complaint every day they had some common areas  closed off for private party. How is that allowed? Sky bar area at sail away,, sipping drinks watching us pass Miami, asked to leave. As well as another afternoon, I saw the closed sign while walking by. It was closed for a private Super Bowl party. They did have lots of TVs on for viewing, even the big theater. They even had a little buffet for snacks during the game and a bar set up, so you did not need to walk far. Nice touch.  Could not stay up late enough for silent disco, but loved the couple of 10 o’clock sing along’s. My favorite Abba. We were off the ship by 7:45am walk off. Once out of terminal turned right to walk to cabs- was father then I thought it would be. We were stopped by a large Mercedes mini van who said would take us for $11 each. They do take other passengers but we were last ones on, off we went to airport.

I would wait to upgrade if you can. They may offer sale on this. I upgraded instead of about $14 pp per day, got for 10. For you longer cruise that can really add up.

2 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

We are dinks ages between 42 and 53 and we have zero desire to sail on Virgin. Their rooms are horribly designed, ship outer decks are so unappealing, prices are sky high (even when considering the inclusions), itineraries in the Caribbean are timed poorly (who wants to embark mid-week?). 
 

VV could make some tweaks and we might consider them, but for now we’ll stick with Celebrity. 

I prefer mid week departures. The only reason I am doing a short Celebrity in Feb is for that reason. Ist time cruising with them. Regardless of reviews. I will have a great time. I love the dinks. Currently I’m a sink then, single income, no kid

Thank you for the heads up. I went ahead and booked. Almost pays for itself with a martini, or tropical drink. I am glad I went to CC for some evening reading! 

2 hours ago, KKB said:

Who is Michael? Do you mean DuVaul?

No, the naturalist on board. 

I sailed this cruise. I had a wonderful time, we had a premium balcony off the aft. I loved. Yes the bathroom very tight in the shower. I thought the same thing about a larger person. 
buffet was crazy, the lay out. I do not think they had the same offerings on both sides. But there was way too many offerings.

I liked the medallion. I was able to prebook dinner reservations ahead of time on the days I wanted to. 

I ordered a couple drinks on the deck on the last sea day. With the app, worked great. Beautiful day, watched whales. 
 It was odd you could not get through on deck 5&6, but we quickly got the hang of it and always got off on 7. 
 I did like Michael as well, he was kind of quirky, but grew on you. I found they did a fine job of keeping you entertained by day. 
 I never had a problem finding something I really liked to eat at the MDR. We seemed to just end up at the buffet every am.
I had no problem with the wine. We had the regular drink package, and we were able to drink Decoy every day. I find nothing wrong with decoy. I buy that at home. It’s about 19.00 a bottle at home. Elvis at Princess live did a fine job making sure we always had it. I have sailed Princess, Royal and NCL, Seabourn as well. I really enjoyed Princess. 

Funny, I asked when at guest services, they said around 3000. I had a lovely time, I thought staff was perfect. They did great job trying to keep us entertained at all those sea days. And serve us drinks to enjoy. Saw many whales on way back to Vancouver.

I just got off the Discovery yesterday. I was a bit worried going on this trip with Princess, based on the many bad reviews there were. I found nothing to outwardly to complain about.  Yes the internet was terrible. But we are in the middle of the ocean. The staff remembered us and always said hi, even knew what drink we were to have before we ordered it. I saw the comedian. He was funny. Saw rock opera, did not enjoy. Too loud and I did not enjoy the songs. But I frequent major concerts, etc. I did enjoy the enrichment programs and the talk with the captain. The 

main dining room staff, worked so hard. They remembered us even after day one. They even requested us to be at there section each time. They were happy to do a small order of some pasta, and mix up our meal as we would like it.  Kaduk from Bali was funny. He also encouraged my friend to not have just one desert, she could try both.  I only ordered a drink from the app twice, while I was in the hot tub and while I was whale watching while sailing, it worked like a champ. MHO. I found it just as easy to walk up to a bar to get something. For someone to  grab some cake for you and deliver to your room, I would think it would take a long time to get. I never needed to be found, or cared about being found. So that did not appeal to me, or did I need to use it. 
The cruise staff did a great job with the trivia’s and mid day things in the Princess live We found them to be so funny, and went to multiple skits. We had plenty of drawers, hangers in the room. The only thing that was odd to me, was our patio was always wet in the am, we had an aft balcony on deck 14, 2 below the wake pool. I should have asked why. I did not smell smoke from the top where they allowed smoking, and only minimal soot. 

main dining room staff, were just as good, remembered us even after day one. They even requested us to be at there section each time. They were happy to do a small order of some pasta. 

Thank you for your review. I look forward to my trip in September. A question 
about boarding. I am confused why there would be long lines. You can sign up to your desired arrival time. If you fill out all the information on the app you move from the blue lane to the green lane. Does that not happen? Everyone shows up whenever? Did you go early or late? Looks like they may have switched our Skagway for Stika. 

I’m am sailing in September. Looks like I will not go hungry. Better buy bigger pants!

On 5/13/2022 at 7:42 PM, Eaglecw said:

There’s a FREE shuttle bus that runs from Berth #4 over to the Creek street area and up to the Totem Heritage Center, but not out to Totem Bright state park. Here are a couple of links that might be of some interest.

 

https://tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/ketchikan-02-26-2014.pdf 

 

https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/en/Getting-Around-Ketchikan/Ketchikan-Maps 

 

Love Tom’s port guide. Used him in Monte Carlo, and Spain, he really know his stuff. I already have his Alaska guides saved. 

I am going in September and have done some research. This is a great site for Skagway.

https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/skagwayak/Skagway_Trail_Map_0e2f1c2b-292e-4f0c-a37f-94a92d994ed1.pdf

Ketchikan 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5413489.pdf

Thank you for the detailed review. I will be on the Sky February 3rd

I Just returned from my Rhapsody of the Seas trip. I had an ocean view room,( do not know what class on the 3rd floor,) I bid on a balcony for $200 more PP and won. RC set the bidding: the highest you could bid was $200pp. I found out the night before we left. It was an awesome room, We were upgraded to the aft of the ship, level 7. I could not be happier. When I looked at the costs of the balcony rooms when 1st booking, they were almost double in cost. I do not know how the choose who gets the upgrade, it has to be a lottery system. The ship was full. 

We were onboard but I didn't see us in the photos. We were in a Penthouse Spa Suite on the aft port corner. Thank you for sharing the link to the pictures. It was truly a glorious day there with bright sunshine and warm temperature. In fact for most of our port calls in Norway we had spectacular weather.

I love those spa suites. Were were in one last year: Monte Carlo- Lisbon. Spoiled forever. We had a middle one, but still great views. Loved the ship.

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We stayed in the spa penthouse suite. I can't imagine a better location. The very rear of the boat. So you see both the star & port side of the sights, no noise as you are above the spa. We woke up every morning to the view of the ports. In fact we had room service, the day we docked in Ibiza, the server even commented, "wow what a view" it is like your private area of the boat. I should not say, I want to keep this a secret.

I did feel a ton of motion though. But it was so worth it.

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Yes 2 per room, and last time I traveled (April/May) there was a back up. I tried three times on a 7 day. Always full. I asked another who was in the room what the etiquette was. There were clothes in the drier that were dry just sitting there. The person said take them out, and place your cloths in. That's why there are baskets in the room. So I did. It's rude to let your cloths sit. I understand you might need 10 minutes or so, but this was 1/2 hour +.

Be kind. Watch your time to all using . This is a great perk to have these for us to use.

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Sadly you are correct. As a single person, I am so well aware of this.

What's shocking about a $20 difference pp? For a ships tour with its inherent benefits that seems reasonable.

I was shocked that you can do a private tour for the same price as a mass market tour on the ship. I thought the price would be less from the ship.

I agree with other poster, the cost was high. Years ago on the triplets, I found them to be reasonable. This time on the Quest not so much. Depends on the trip, We did 2 ship tours, one because it sounded like fun (jeep tour around Ibizia to the hidden coves and beaches) And Gibraltar, as we still had Ship credit.

One was about $140pp the other about $80.00. We were in Malaga. Alhambra was a must on my list. I booked a private tour with a well posted company on the Spain blogs. I paid roughly $600 for the both us. Which I thought was high, but It was all day, long drive, etc. When Seabourn announced their excursions & prices I was shocked to find out they wanted almost $320pp. So do your research. Don't be afraid to do things on your own, and if you want the security of a boat tour, do it, They are small groups, I have never had a bad one & have sailed on 3 cruises with them.

On the Quest April- May it had been 4 years since sailing on SB. It Was as perfect as ever. The staff by the pool and grill ( where I spent most of my time,) did not know my name, but always knew what I like to drink, and I was never was allowed an emptied one. ( which they also knew I liked) They had great parties, so much food. We had a spa penthouse & our steward went above and beyond making sure our room was perfect and had different lotions and waters, drinks, and flowers. Maybe as I live very simple, this luxury feels like heaven. We had a wonderful time, if not even better then back in the twin days. We would ask for an item not served on the menu in the MDR and they always said not likely, they will have to check, and it always showed up. We preferred the casual nature of the colonnade however and ate there more often. Also preferred The outside seating where they provide blankets for the chilly nights. I can not imagine being treated better overall.

Back from Monte-Carlo to Lisbon, 1st ones on board out of dry dock.

When we did dine at the grill for lunch. The Napa burger was always available, I had it one day & was underwhelmed, a few days later my friend gave it a try & again, nothing special, Can get a better burger down the street.

We had the TK menu at the Colonnade. Which was rib night. I am attaching a picture of the salad, I guess there was a shortage of beets that day. Ribs good, served with baked beans, (I am not a big fan of, find them always to sugary) these were not overdone with sugar, but too much for my liking. The one thing I found odd, the staff uniforms. They are in jeans, I get it laid back, etc, but us, as guest are not permitted jeans on board after a certain hour. Our servers are casual, but we can not be?

I saw the Tiffany box, did not know what was in there, thanks for reveling the secret. 300 days, how lucky

I boarded in Monte Carlo last month, new carpeting and beds. Smelled all fresh and new too. The patio furniture looked nice, not sure if new.

The soaps and lotions are all Molton Brown, very nice. If you do not want to take part in formal night, you can eat at the patio, or room service is always nice once a trip. Your going to be spoiled with this trip, you'll will never want to go on another line. I'm just back from our 3rd. There was a couple there celebrating 300 days sailing!