Island wannabe

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

So what was the reason to book in advance since you could have just reserved what you wanted once on board?

So we could pre-pay in Canadian Dollars.   We got a great rate and by the time we sailed the exchange rate moved against us so it would have cost more to pay onboard in USD

4 hours ago, sawtooth said:

We are booked on a 14 day sailing, Jan 4 on the Sky Princess.

When trying to make advance dining reservations at the specialty restaurants, regardless of the day or restaurant chosen I am only offered times choices of 

5:30, 7:30 or 9:30.

Is this standard?  We'd actually prefer a time like 6:30 or 7.

Has anyone else experienced this?

We will be on the same 14 days - so excited.    On our last cruise I booked online for the days I thought would be formal nights.  When we boarded we went to the Crown Grill and we checked with the Maitre’D for the exact nights and changed accordingly on the spot and even changed the times. 

59 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

Just noticed that a Princess ships will be stopping at Genoa, Italy tomorrow and in the future on their 7-day Mediterranean cruises (which I believe are new this year) and possibly other itineraries.  We enjoyed our stop there on an X ship in 2014.  Assuming they dock where are X ship docked, there's a gelato shop across the street and to the left <g>.  I did the Hop On-Hop Off bus which had a stop at the terminal and had a nice overview of the city (from one stop it's a short walk to where Christopher Columbus was born).

We have stopped twice at Genoa while on the Crown and Emerald in 2015 and 2018, so not new since At least then.   We had great days, once going to Cinque Terre and once to Santa Margherita and Portofino.   It is also popular for tours to  Milan.    A wonderful port.

Charles I have been a long time reader and fan of your blogs.  I never responded but always read every word you wrote and was always struck by how your love of Judy came through in your posts. Like so many,  I cried for you when I read of the tragic news and found it hard to believe.  Your videos have shown what a zest for life Judy had.   You were so lucky to have found and loved each other.   I wish you peace. 

I am desperately trying to remember the name of the Head Waiter in the Crown Grill on the Crown.   We sailed on the Crown in August and someone who sailed it recently posted his name in a blog and now I can’t seem to find it.   Someone we know is sailin on the Crown this Saturday and we want to give him the HW’s name because he was just excellent.

Yes I have ordered one before and it was delicious.

We were there in August and had a very long port day.   We did DIY and took a train to Santa Margarita and then took the long walk to Portofino.  Had lunch there then took the ferry back to Santa Margarita and eventually the train back to Genoa.   Very beautiful area. Other than an expensive lunch it was a very inexpensive day and easy to do.

We have had mixed results with AT.  Generally it works well if you can call in the morning and reserve a table.  If not it is a bit of a crap shoot.   I know several years ago on the Caribbean Princess the maitre D’ would not allow tables for 2 to be booked in AT.   You were required to show up and wait with a pager.  That trip dining in the dining room was a cluster. Yes sharing a table would be faster but we prefer tables for 2 for our own reasons.  Now this past summer on the Crown we had no problem reserving a table for 2.  If we showed up without a reservation waits ranged from no wait to about 30 mins.  That’s why we are actually happy about the new TD time of 7:15 pm and have requested it for our next cruise on the Sky.   As I said, very mixed AT results over the years for us.

I guess I am one of the few that are really happy with the change, at least the 7:15 pm TD time.  For years we have used AT dining because 8:15 was too late and earlier was much to early.  We love to eat around 7:30 pm so for us it’s quite perfect.   I agree that the new early times are a bit ridiculous but I’m sure much research and stats must have gone in to these decisions.  Would love to know what the research showed

Years ago they used to have a different flavor each night. The mango was amazing. However why is it served cold out of the fridge? The inside should be warm. Two cruises ago I thought it was just an error but when it happened a few weeks ago on the crown I figured that’s how they serve it. Now no longer my favourite :(

Yes-there will be a pin left in your cabin with a Platinum card(at least that's how they did it when we became Platinum). There will also be details about the benefits you can now get on your next cruise. Enjoy!

Trish

This did not happen to us this year when we finished a cruise and then Became platinum. In fact I have never received a note or a pin when changing levels. And despite our status reflected correctly in our online profile, when I printed our boarding paper some 4 months later for our next cruise, it did not reflect priority boarding status. A quick call corrected that as the system needed to be refreshed to reflect our new status. But all this to say there are how things are supposed to be and then various examples of what they are. Definitely take proactive steps to ensure your status is updated to ensure the newest benefits and enjoy.

The passed couple of years, I have been addicted to green goddess salad dressing on Regal Princess. Is it just me? Or does any one else love it too. It took me a while to try it. But once I ate it, there was no turning back!

 

So, do you like it? If not what is your favorite salad dressing on Princess?

I love it too so was glad to see it on the Regal earlier this year. Hoping it is on the Crown too as we board next week :D

The entrance is on deck 17 although you could go through the Spa, out to the pool and then up the stairs. I'm sure someone else can answer the booking question.

Thank you RickEk. Do you happen to know if the elevator actually goes to the 17th deck? I thought it ended on the 16th, but I don't think I really paid too much attention to that before.

I'm hoping to snag a couple of spots for our four sea days on our upcoming 2 week Med cruise. Therefore I intend to go directly to the Sanctuary upon boarding the ship to try and book. I have only been in the Regal sanctuary which has its own entrance, but is the entrance on the Crown through the Lotus Spa on the 16th deck? Or do they have their own entrance on the 17th deck? I don't know if the sanctuary is in high demand in the Med like it is in the Caribbean so I don't want to waste time wandering around.

Also, since the Med itinerary is sold in 7 day segments, do you have to book each week at the beginning of each week, or theoretically could I reserve for both weeks at the same time?

Thanks

Food tours of Rome. Did it last may and am doing it again in November in Rome then the next night in Naples. Absolutely loved it

 

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I second this. We used Food Tours of Rome several years ago and will do so again in September. We do the night tour and have referred others to the same one.

No recent experience, but they've been running these shared van tours on the same format for years.

Last I heard was last year or this year at £25, and there won't be any massive increase.

 

The marshals at the rank by the cruise terminal put van-loads together, usually 8 or 10 - so there's no need for you to put a group together, though if you meet like-mindeds during your cruise you can go ashore mob-handed and be sure that you'll not be stuck with unsuitable sharers, though that's no big deal.

St Michael's Cave is the first proper stop. It opens at 9am, so the first vans will probably leave closer to 8.30.

At the end of the tour take up the driver's offer to drop you at Casemates Square, at the bottom of Main Street. Lots of outdoor cafes in the Square tho they're tourist traps so the quality of food won't be special. Try a pub or two further up Main Street, like the Angry Friar.

Duty-free prices are extremely variable and window-pricing scams common - so shop around before you buy, & mentally tally-up what you think the total should be if you buy several items in one purchase. Same with dual £ / € pricing. And if you use plastic, decline any offer to convert to the currency of your card cos that'll be at a horrible exchange rate. Get charged as priced and in whichever of £ or € gives you best value, and let your card issuer convert to your home currency.

And Gib is a dumping ground for last-year's electronics. If there's a phone, camera, whatever that you intend to buy, go armed with exact model number, home prices etc.

 

At $78, ship's tour will be over-priced (aren't they all :rolleyes:), but might be more extensive & include stuff at sea-level like the 100-ton gun and Europa Point. So it might not be as big a rip-off as the figures suggest.

 

JB :)

Thank you JB for sharing your knowledge

Just trying to fill in our last bit of the budget before we leave for our Med cruise in a few weeks. While in Gibraltar (7 am to 5 pm), we intend to get off the ship around 8 am or so and line up at the dock in the hopes that we could join a mini bus/taxi to do a tour up the rock to see the apes and see St. Michaels Cave. Last I could find on CC from 2018 was that the vans are filled with about 6 people for GBP 150 total (GBP 25 pp).

Just wondering if anyone has done this same plan this year and if my prices are correct and that the tour would inlcude the apes and the cave. At the pier, is there someone who puts together the groups into the taxis? Or do we need to find others to join us ourselves? We aren't looking for a full day tour, just enough to see these highlights and then stop in town for a few pints and shopping for British goods. Thanks for any input.

;)

there is

 

see all 36 smiles...keep scrolling down...(y):beer-mug:

Love it!!

Not taking the bait. Its just a rationalization to avoid paying the service charge/gratuities.

Like (wish there was a thumbs up emojii here to add!!)

Okay, just learned something else. When you go to purchase OBC online it says "can by used by anyone". Turns out that doesn't apply for pre-paying shore excursions. Be sure to buy enough OBC for each person separately that you have enough to pay for all the excursions you want to buy. So you have to be able access both your own and your "significant other's" accounts to buy the OBC. You can still pay for both with the same credit card and use the same email for confirmation.

 

Make sense? :):)

We called Princess directly and my husband bought 1200 obc and it was all applied to his account and at the same time had the rep book a tour for both of us. She just took the funds out of his obc. I agree though likely not possible online

Trying to figure out when formal nights will be on my 14 dayCrown itinerary (also sold as 7 daysegments) as I would like pre-book and pre-pay for specialty dining thosenights. I get that we can do it onboard but we like to pre-arrange and pre-payfor as much as possible (especially since I can prepay in Canadian Dollars atan excellent exchange rate). Here is the itinerary:

Week 1

Sat Aug 18Athens –boarding dept 7pm

Sun Aug 19 –Santorini – dept 7 pm

Mon Aug 20 –Sea Day – I assume 1st formalnight will be this night

Tues Aug 21 –Kotor – dept 3 pm

Wed Aug 22 –Messina dept 8 pm

Thurs Aug 23– Naples dept 7 pm

Fri Aug 24 –AtSea – no formal as last night of thissegment

Week 2

Sat Aug 25 –Barcelona (embarkation and disembarkation point so no formal night here) – dept10 pm

Sun Aug 26 –At Sea – I assume formal night #3

Mon Aug 27 – Gilraltar – dep 5 pm

Tues Aug 28 –at Sea

Wed Aug 29 –Marseille – dept 5 pm

Thurs Aug 30– Genoa – dept 9 pm

Fri Aug 31 –Livorno – dept 7 pm

Sat Sept 1 –disembark

Interestinglymy personalizer states there will be 3 formal nights. However given this summer the Crown is mostlydoing 7 day segments, or multiples thereof, shouldn’t it be 4 – (2 each week).

Formal nights #1 and #3 are easy to figure out. I figure Aug20 being a sea day would be #1, perhaps Aug 23 would be #2 even though wedepart Naples at 7 pm?? And then Aug 26would be #3 as it is another sea day. Would they likely have another formal night two days later during thenext sea day, or three days later since we leave Marseille early at 5 pm?

I would love to hear from anyone who has completed these sailings this year, or some really good educated guesses!!:D

Just checked mine for our August cruise and it doesn't have any of that language :confused:

I have called multiple times since early this morning and am put on auto hold until I eventually hang up after 15 minutes or so. Get message about all representatives are busy and to continue to hold. Using the 1-800-774-6237. I have never experienced this with Princess before.

If you enjoy walking it is an easy walk along the water from S.Margharita to Portofino. You can then spend time there and take the ferry back. We did this as our tour from Genoa.

I was contemplating this. Do you remember how long the walk took?

There are two bits of good news for the direction challenged at the Santa Margherita Ligure station. First, you can only leave the tracks in one direction, toward the station itself. If your train arrives on the outer track you may not actually walk through the station as the underpass comes out at the end of the building.

 

The second bit of good news is that the station is on a dead end street, so if you turn the wrong way you won't get very far.

 

Exit the station, or come up from the underpass and walk alongside the station to the street and turn right. Walk past the end of the station to where the parking spaces end, then cross the street and walk along the wall for a few feet. Pretty soon you'll come to a break in the wall with a set of stairs, go down them. There's a sign pointing to the stairs that says "mare" (sea).

 

The steps will take you through a park and you'll come out onto Via Stazione, turn left here. It's a very narrow little street and unfortunately it's not included on google maps street view but you'll only be on it for a few steps.

 

Via Stazione dead ends at the waterfront, here you turn right and follow along the waterfront to the port.

 

The entire walk is less than half a mile.

Thank you so much for this detail Euro Cruiser. Always a wealth of knowledge. I feel much better now and super excited to visit this part of Italy.:)