SKCruiser007

12 hours ago, Worn out mailman said:

Hi Princess cruise lovers. 

 

My 2012 Southern Caribbean sailing on Caribbean Princess was canceled due to engine problems. Shortly thereafter, I learned that Princess would no longer sail from San Juan (my preferred departure port), so, I was disappointed, and remained so for 12 years, until 3 weeks ago. 

 

It was then that I read an article on my electronic drug (my cell phone) which stated that Princess would finally resume sailing from San Juan!! Hooray!! Not only that, but the sailings are on a ship which I've always wanted to sail (Grand, without the Riviera deck which causes all those ships to be slightly overcrowded). I waited the two weeks until the stated date that the sailings would become available. On that date, I checked Princess' website all day, and at around 5 pm E.S.T. Voilà, there the sailings were.

 

Without wasting a moment, I purchased my sailing for March 2026. That purchase trumped my Brother's knee replacement as the most important thing that happened in my world that day. 

 

So, now, I'm dying to chat about it. Thing is, other than Princess.com nobody seems aware of these sailings. There's no roll call yet (indeed, there's an existing roll call for my date for a Southern Pacific sailing). The sailing isn't showing availability on any of the travel sites. When I finally do see my sailing sold elsewhere, I'll know it's real and I'm not just dreaming.

 

So, I figure I'll boast here and see if any fellow cruisers say hello. 🙂

Hello! I was on Caribbean Princess out of San Juan the very week the engine went down in 2012. We were stranded in St. Maarten for a night, then returned to San Juan for the rest of the week...the ship was our hotel. The compensation package was fair. Our travel mates, to this day say that was the best vacation ever! 

I was so excited when I heard that Princess is sailing from San Juan again that I started checking at least twice a day until the sailings showed up for sale. I booked our favorite mini suite on Emerald deck. We can't wait for January 2026.

We'll do our best not to break the ship just before you're supposed to sail from San Juan again.

If you have transfers already paid for with NCL, you should try to cancel them today, if it's not already too late. Transfers have to be cancelled at least 21 days before the embarkation date, I believe.

I describe Princess as sophisticated casual. Celebrity is edgy and "hip."

I think the "cool kids" sail on Celebrity. Going on a Princess cruise, to me, is like going to our lake cabin - it's comfortable, I know where everything is, and I'm surrounded by people who share interests with me. 

I just prefer Princess, and I think the fares are a good value. We have taken the Plus or Premier package almost every time since the restart. We usually have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and another cocktail before the show. That's enough for us to see value in the packages. We like the casual meals at Vines and Alfredo's.

I agree with all the above regarding hotels, but if flying into LAX, getting an Uber is a little tricky. You need to go to the Uber waiting lot. Don't reserve an Uber in advance as you don't really know when your plane is going to arrive and how long it will take you to get to the Uber lot. 

This week, I booked flights for a cruise out of San Pedro. I ended up with arrival in Long Beach; the flights were less costly than LAX and the transportation to the Crown Plaza will be much less.

On 2/28/2024 at 6:37 PM, FitchburgWIFamily said:

A very quick review of our Breakaway Cruise out of New Orleans

 

First, a little about us.  My husband (62) and I (60) cruise about 2 times a year.  We are pretty loyal to NCL, but have also sailed on a few other lines.  We sailed with my niece (28) and her husband (31) and her best friend (28) and her husband (32).  We all wanted to sail out of New Orleans during Mardi Gras so we could experience a little partying before we got on the boat to party. 

 

All of us arrived in New Orleans on Friday so we could enjoy some of the city.  We enjoyed beignets at Café du Monde, hurricanes at Pat Obrien, a tour of the Sazarac House, and an excellent dinner at Vyoone’s.  That Friday, we caught a small parade in the French Quarter during the day and quite a bit of some of the larger parades (Cleo and a few others) that night.  We had no problem finding a place to stand and watch the parades when we wanted to.  We went to a few places for a few more drinks after dinner before we headed back to our hotel.  Friday was a win win.  

 

Saturday, we got up for breakfast…but only one other of the younger set was feeling up to breakfast.  We went to Maspero’s for breakfast which was OK but a bit spendy.  We were staying at the Blake Hotel, which is right on the parade route, and had bought access to their balcony for the parades on Saturday.  Because of weather, they moved the parades to earlier and removed one from the line up.  We watched some of the parades in the drizzle, but honestly…it wasn’t as much fun during the day on the balcony as it was the night before just walking along the routes stopping when we wanted.  Plus the cold drizzle was less than optimal.  I have to confess I judged the people who moved the parades around, because it rained throughout the day. 

 

That evening after all the parades, we went to Mother’s for dinner.  It rained on us pretty heavily on the way there.  While we were there, the skies opened up and let loose a torrent of rain like I have never seen before.  Water was spurting up out of the man hole covers on our walk back to our hotel.  We had a hard time seeing because you couldn’t look up into the rain.  We made it back to the hotel and got alerts on our phone that there were severe storm warnings (duh) and flash flood warnings (duh again).

 

Sunday, boarding day, was sunny and gorgeous.  I spent a good chunk of time in our room that morning before we headed out ironing our wet clothes trying to get them dry enough to pack up.  When we checked out I apologized to the front desk but told them they probably wanted to put a dehumidifier in our room because the whole room smelled like damp clothes.  One of my travelling companions shoes got so wet they didn’t dry out for 4 days. 

 

We didn’t want to get to the port too early because we didn’t want to fight a lot of crowds.  We got there around 12:30 or 1:00 and it was still pretty chaotic to get through security.  After security there was another queue to get to the check in.  They moved some ropes and a sign to let us get out of the line and head over to the Platinum check in since they had open windows.  About 45 minutes after we left our bags with the porter, we were in Savor (or Taste?) ordering our first cocktail.

 

After a leisurely lunch, I went to try to make dining reservations.  Because our rooms came with 2 specialty dinners and our Latitudes status came with 2 specialty dinners, we had planned on eating 2 specialty meals as a group and 2 on our own.  I wanted Oceans but there were no spots available during the week at all.  So I picked the Brazilian and Cagney’s for the 6 of us, and La Cucina and Le Bistro for my husband and my solo dinners.  

 

We enjoyed some time on the waterfront having a few cocktails and waiting for sailaway and our rooms to be ready.   The ship felt crowded but it was a jovial group and our spirits were high.  The Disney ship in port with us left just before we did, and I was a little envious of their ship horn game.  

 

I just realized I promised this would be quick and it is very much not quick.  Sorry.  I still want to talk about our cabin, and the cruise itself.  If you make it all the way to the bottom you’ll see an anecdote that might get me in trouble with one of my fellow members if she reads it.  (That’s a tease)

 

We had originally booked inside cabins, but as fares went down, we all upgraded to balconies.  I didn’t pick out room location on the upgrade, and we ended up on deck 14 forward.  Very very forward.   Room was fine, but I have vowed to be more careful to always book a bed by the balcony instead of bed by the closet room.  It was a bit hard for us to access the closet because it is tight between the bed and the closet. 

As we  have sailed on this class of ship before, I brought a few things that made our cabin work better for us.  A few storage cubes from Dollar Tree give us some place to stuff things that don’t stack well on shelves, as the storage is big on shelves and small on drawers.  I bring a few magnetic hooks so we have a place to hang our sun hats, dailies, and other misc.  I bring a few battery tea lights to use as nightlights.  I bring my own shampoo and conditioner and a small bar of soap because I am not a big fan of the stuff in the dispensers in the shower. 

 

Back to the cruise:  They warned us seas would be choppy that night and the next day.  They were not wrong.  It’s not just that seas were choppy, the winds were strong, it rained, and virtually all out door spaces on the ship were closed on our first at sea day..  So all of us were inside…getting in each other’s way.  All of us except for the poor passengers too sea sick to leave their rooms.  I had signed us up for the Latitudes behind the scenes tour that morning, and that was the highlight of that day.   If you are Platinum or above, make sure you take advantage of this.  Sign up the first day on board at the CruiseNext desk.  I also got my Saphire pin from the CruiseNext desk, since this was my first sailing at the Saphire level.

 

I can’t blame NCL for the weather, but I will say I was disappointed in the options available for activities during the first at sea day.   If you exclude the activities that charge additional or are a thinly veiled sales pitch masquerading as an activity there was not much to do.   I do think this is something NCL could improve on with not a lot of effort:   On other cruises I learned how to fold napkins and make towel animals.  I decorated cupcakes and watched a performance by the kids in the kids club in the main theatre.  I participated in an an elevator race and did a scavenger hunt. 

The other place the Breakaway was lacking was in entertainment.  I know they lost Six, but they really didn’t fill it in with anything.   I did attend Burn the Floor and loved it, but there wasn’t much offered beyond that.  We were just on the NCL Sky and I thought the “lounge” entertainers were excellent.  They got the crowds going: dancing along to a latin band, singing along with a guitarist and a piano player.  On the Breakaway, they just don’t have the same venues to listen to musicians.   I missed that.

 

Somethings that we always love about cruising we did love on this ship.  I love breakfast in Savor or Taste.  We love the dueling pianos.  I loved how different staff learned my name and remembered my order.  I have no idea how the waiter in the Atrium , the bar tender at the bar between Savor and Taste and the hostess at the 24 hour restaurant called me by name before they saw my card, or call me by name when I just walked by.  It makes me feel so special.  I love to fill out vacation hero cards at the end of my trip to call out the different staff that stood out.   

 

But there are some things I didn’t like as much on this ship on this sailing as I did on others.   I think a lot of might have been due to weather, missed ports and rearranged ports, but the whole experience felt a little….flat.   Instead of trying to prioritize the things I wanted to do, I desperately searched the daily for something I was willing to do.  I watched TV more on this cruise than any other cruise I have been on.  The Breakaway does not have enough places to sit around and hang out … especially if the weather is bad.  Slightly bigger ships have the Brew House or an Observation Lounge.  Older ships have the Spinnaker and the Pinnacle.   Maybe the Breakaway and the Getaway are just not right sized for me.

 

Anyway…enough about the ship, a little bit more about the cruise.  This is our 3^rd time on this itinerary, so there wasn’t a lot of new for us.  Plus our stops were all mixed up, we missed Cozumel the first time, but then when we had to miss Costa Maya, they put Cozumel back in. 

 

In Cozumel I rented a cabana for all of us at Chankanaab.  It was an easy cab ride from the port and a wonderful place to spend a very relaxing day.  Prices were not too high for drinks and snacks.  The park shows some signs of storm damage, but was still nice to walk through.   The snorkeling would have been wonderful if not for the slightly choppy seas.  Still worth doing though. 

 

We didn’t even get off the boat on Harvest Caye, we just lolled around on the boat where the drinks and food was included.  The younger group all did and had a cocktail or two before heading back onto the boat.

 

In Roatan, we used the NCL excursion to go to Maya Key.  We  have been before.   Snorkeling is excellent, and the island never got crowded or loud.  We walked around and took in the different animals and sights, ate a pretty big lunch and enjoyed our day off the boat.

 

Back on the boat:  we  loved our dinners in the specialty restaurants.  I did feel the emphasis on what the Latitudes meal comes with is a little offputting.  It seems like the dining package meal comes with a few more options, but the Latitude meal is limited to a soup OR salad, a single side, etc.  But it isn’t like I need a lot more food than that, so I am not too upset.   We also enjoyed Savor and Taste for many meals.  I love the smaller size of those restaurants and the friendly staff.  We even went up to the cafeteria for a few meals.  We ate at the American Diner a few times, too.  Now that it is free, it is a hot ticket.  We had to wait in line to get a pager, and then wait for the pager to go off to get a table.  Since it is close to Spice H2O it really wasn’t a hardship to wait for a table, and we liked the food enough to make us do it more than once.   Just plan ahead, because it will be 20 to 40 minutes before your table is ready.  My husband says I should mention that the $7 milk shake looks good…but isn’t.  
 

On this cruise, for whatever reason, we never made it to the Manhattan, which we normally enjoy.  Other people have left scathing reviews about NCL’s food.  We had a couple of misses (some of the meats in the Brazilian were a bit overdone and some of the food on the buffet looks better than it tastes) but overall we all enjoyed our food.  We found the bar staff to be outstanding, and never felt like we had to wait too long for a drink.  This was a crowded cruise, but we didn’t find wait times to be excessive at all.

 

We did have a funny (well…I thought it was funny) thing happen.   If you are reading this and you were involved, please feel free to state your side.  It was about 5 or 5:30, and the 6 of us were sitting in one of the lounge areas on the waterfront playing a game.  The game didn’t involve vulgarities, but it did involve people trying to make guesses about a word someone was describing.  We were playing, drinking and laughing when a woman from a proximate sofa got up and came over to ask  us to stop playing the game because it was making it hard for her to nap.  On the sofa.  On the Waterfront.   Outside.  I was a little taken aback, and all the younger people with me looked at me to see how I was going to respond.  I straightened up my spine and said “No…we can’t play this game without calling out the answers.”  She asked us if we could move to our cabin to play our game.   The six of us.  In a cabin.   I said “No..but you could go to your cabin to take your nap.”   Our waiter was bringing us a round as she was there, and she asked him if he could ask us to leave, and he said “No.” too.   She went back to her sofa and started packing up her stuff mumbling about how she had never, and how she was offended the staff didn’t stick up for her.  It was a very dramatic packing up, taking a good 10 minutes while she audibly complained about us and the staff the whole time.

 

Our last at sea day was much better weather, and a lot of fun was had by all.  A lot.  Maybe a little too much fun.  But we made it up the next morning and managed to get off the boat with almost no waiting (a lot of walking but no waiting), and had our luggage, cleared customs and walked back to our car and underway before 9:00am.

 

My next cruise is on the Bliss…I am excited to see if I have the same “meh” feelings about the entertainment options on board.  If I do..I might need to think about only sailing the smaller ships or looking to a different line.

 

Sorry my brief review was so long….

 

 

Thanks for your review! I was on the same cruise and it brought back happy memories, even including being rained on so hard in N.O. that I've never been so soaked in my life. I was in a group of fourteen. Some had an OK time, several spent time in their cabins with sea sickness. Five of us bought passes for the Thermal Spa area and it seems to me that was a game changer in our level of satisfaction. It was a great place to be on those bad weather days. This cruise was ridiculously inexpensive and we certainly received our money's worth. Definitely looking forward to doing it at Mardi Gras time again.

2 hours ago, CruiseMob said:

Oh I just found the following on my reservation. I don't know what the relaxation areas are but it sounds like steam and sauna are included with Thermal Suite extra.

 

We encourage you to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled treatment to begin your Lotus Spa experience by unwinding in our relaxation area, Thermal Suite*, steam room and/or dry sauna (on select vessels).

*Thermal Suite - separate fee applies

On the Royal Class ships I've been on, the saunas are in the Enclave. My guess is they are not then available for a free visit with a spa treatment.

19 minutes ago, tulok said:

True but the OP title stated Thermal Suites Price Increase, so I wanted to include that Emerald prices did not increase. Maybe ships that have Enclave have had an increase just to distinguish from the title.

Agreed. Title states thermal spa and OP is referring to the Enclave. Anyway, just glad that I booked Enclave a couple of weeks ago for my 18 day cruise on Majestic Princess in December. A while back, I missed the couple's pricing for Izumi on Diamond Princess by a few weeks. I always book the Enclave early now.

1 hour ago, tulok said:

Just checked Emerald in June and the price did not go up. YET

Emerald Princess doesn't have an Enclave. The thermal suite there should just be heated loungers and saunas.

Just now, ggTexasGal said:

Flow water cartons are only included in the upgraded beverage package.

Or, certainly Latitudes levels receive one or two bottles each.

Thanks for your quick reply!

Did you purchase the Flow water boxes before the cruise or were they part of your beverage package?

3 minutes ago, mgoblue01 said:

My question piggybacks on this - if I add Plus when I board, I too wondered if it charges to my folio (assuming it does) but my 12 year old is my second passenger in my room. Will he also be charged the $60/day rate even though he would only be getting the Zero Alcohol Package? We are sailing on a 10 day Enchanted cruise in March and this does not seem like a great deal since I don’t drink much. Thanks all! 

Yes, a child will be charged the full price of Princess Plus even if just receiving the zero alcohol beverage package.

I know someone who won an upgrade to Elite status for the rest of the cruise; another friend won a shore excursion credit 

When the Enclave is available on a ship, my husband and I always book it for the entire cruise and ahead of time. It's usually about $20 per day with a full cruise pass. We both love the pool and my husband enjoys the saunas. We're not Sanctuary-type people, but do splurge on the Enclave. I may miss a day on a long cruise, but my husband will rarely miss a day in the pool and saunas.

10 minutes ago, DavidsNana said:

Has anyone ever tried to do the Ultimate Balcony Dinner with more than two people in the newer ships that have the small balconies?  If so, how is it done?  Would love to do this but we have 3 people on the Enchanted in April and that balcony is pretty small.

I'm very interested in this, too. How do you arrange for three people for the UBD?

Don't forget to look at your itinerary map and deck plan for the ship to schedule the dinner on a day that your cabin will be on the sunset side. 

11 minutes ago, 57eric said:

Is there any advantage to booking the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast or Dinner before boarding?  Can I select the dates, or are they chosen by Princess?

Do you have a travel agent? If yes, she can request a date for the Ultimate Balcony Dinner when she books it for you. However, you'll still want to call room service first thing when you board to confirm the details of your dinner. They will ask you several questions of your preferences. 

If you're not using a travel agent, I would book the dinner and then contact the Princess chat line to see if they can insert a date on the reservation.

9 hours ago, 57eric said:

Thanks, but not sure how to find the Sommelier.

You could ask the bartender at Vines how to find the Sommelier onboard.

Is your cruise on Sky Princess or a Royal Class ship with the Enclave? If yes, there would be no question for me where to spend a few extra hundred dollars.

9 hours ago, 57eric said:

OK, I've done my homework now and see that UBD is $55 per person and the winemaker dinner is $140 (with multiple reports that as recently as last year it was $40).  Can anyone chime in on the other two?

The Chef's Table is either $135 or $115 per person. The Super Tuscan lunch was $100+ per person, too. (I forget.) The best thing to do, I think, is talk to the Sommelier when you board the ship and ask him the options and prices for your ship.

On the Ruby in November, we attended the Chef's Table (with the standardized menu,) Caymus Winemaker Dinner, Super Tuscan lunch, and did the Ultimate Balcony dinner. (Was doing, umm, "research.") 

I would rate the from best to worst: Ultimate Balcony Dinner, Super Tuscan Lunch, Chef's Table, and last was Caymus Winemaker Dinner.

I did like that now the Chef's Table did not have an overwhelming amount of food. We could eat it all, and enjoy the dessert. Especially on ships that have the Lumiere, I would recommend Chef's Table, even at the higher price. 

1 hour ago, Lewis_62 said:

Sorry i meant Chefs table looking for a nice dinner but want to know if its worth it 

The Chef'sTable dinner on Sky Princess is in the neighborhood of $115 per person with wine, $100 without wine. It's a pretty fabulous meal and surrounded by a crystal Lumiere curtain. The first experience probably will blow you out of the water. Sign up by calling the dine line when you board. There is usually a waiting list.

I have done this twice. We have an upcoming cruise with Puerto Rico on the itinerary. If I can find a ship's tour that is available, will do it again as we are traveling with friends who have not been to Puerto Rico.

5 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks.

If the current booking has promo OBC attached, and if your bid is accepted, do you get to keep the OBC ?

EG: Do you keep the same booking reference, or is it a whole new booking ?

When winning a bid, you keep the same reservation number and any OBC attached to the original reservation.

6 hours ago, MelbTone said:

Bid 30th Oct on a 22 Jan 7-night GP cruise - balcony (BB) to deluxe balcony (B4). I bid A$82 (x2, solo), min was A$55. Got acceptance today. Interesting location, right on aft corner, so might be a bit of movement, right next to a full suite. Also bid on mini suite and mini suite Club, obviously not accepted.

If you are going to be in a B4, corner aft, you have a great balcony. Congrats!

Avoid March, which is Spring Break time, and try a 10 day cruise to help avoid children on the cruise. Enchanted Princess will be prettier and easier to navigate for your dad.