PtownGirlz-NH

To clarify, we were able to get off at two of five ports, but excursions we booked were canceled 

You can be judgemental and say what you want, but this is their business. They sent the cruise off without canceling and we missed 4 of 5 ports. Yes the weather was mostly good and we were lucky enough to have a balcony, but many were not. Just got word off $100 OBC as “good will” per person. Not enough as far as I’m concerned, since we paid more than 5k. Would have appreciated FFC to do FULL cruise itinerary again. We didn’t pay to be on floating hotel. We’ve cruised a dozen times on Princess and expected more. Communication on ship about cancellations at each port came very last minute after we lined up, got our numbers, waited in lines for temperature check, etc. Again, not what we paid for and it’s a business that will lose loyal customers if not treated right. 

I know princess is being lauded for their cancellation policy, but I for one booked this Panama Cruise canal as a bucket list dream vacation planned for years. So far we missed Jamaica, couldn’t Disembark in Panama to kayak the canal that we had planned for over a year. And our CostacRica rainforest and wildlife excursion got switched without asking us to a city tour which is not something we wanted, so we canceled that. Very disappointing. Though not their fault, They should compensate us to for such a lackluster cruise because we did not get what we paid for...If not I will concider not cruising with them again

May be speculation, but someone mentioned 4 people had a fever during screening for shore excursions at Gutan Lake. Hope nothing serious. We certainly want to be able to disembark tomorrow 🤞 

So, is the ship half full? Advised by crew 1700 pac

No waiting in lines?  Not at all
No chair hogs?  Not at all

Plenty of seats available in the theater? We went 20 minutes before  sand no issues with seats

Everyone doing the “washy washy” routine? Yes and somebody is at buffet wash station to make sure everyone uses soap and washes at lest 20 seconds in hot water before being allowed inside
Everyone using hand sanitizer stations? Is it being enforced by crew? See above. Main dining rooms and specialty restaurants have only sanitizer stations, but still enforced. Low turnout and no waiting for us.

Everyone covering up, and coughing into arm not in hand, when coughing? No one noticeably coughing, 2 people were wearing masks at fitness center. That’s it.

Everyone maintaing recommended social distancing? No one seams too worried. This ship just came from 58 day South America cruise, so not high risk at this point for crew or passengers except for those that boarded with us in Fort Lauderdale. They had health questionnaires and checked passports for affected areas.

We are sailing tomorrow, so I hope Princess re-visits thier policy and decides to give us OBC for not cancelling 😷

On 3/3/2020 at 4:21 PM, MJSailors said:

       I would like to read this review because I am interested in a British Isles Cruise.

However, I find the script font to be difficult to read.

Is there a way that you could change the font ?

I totally agree!  Or make it a smidge bigger?

Thank you for this information!  We leave on a Princess Panama cruise on the seventh, so I cancelled my beverage package on the princess website.  Then I re-booked the same package with the AMEX offer activated.  I instantly got an email telling me that I used my offer!

On 2/24/2020 at 3:47 PM, shellgirl61 said:

I save all the paperwork from the cruises. I scrapbook each trip. When I finish each book, I toss the remaining things that I do no use in the books.

 

I do too!  I scrapbook each year so the cruise is always included with the rest of the year 💙💙💙

We have been on both Jewel and oasis. We thought we would try a mega ship and we did not like it at all. there were too many people it wasn’t very personal there wasn’t enough used to the outside. We loved the jewel big enough but yet small enough to get personal attention and meet lots of other people. We will never go on A ship the size of the oasis again!!

Great review! I am curious about a really big ship but I’m not sure we would like it.

 

We’re doing the Regal Princess next year, so that will be a change.

We are also platinum with princess and tried royal. We went on the oasis and didn’t like it at all! We love a promenade deck that goes all the way around outside the ship. Oasis just was too big for us. Last April we tried the Jewel. Much smaller 2500 passengers. Loved it! :)

We didn’t care for the jogging track on the oasis. A lot of it was under cover with no view. We will no longer cruise on any ship that doesn’t have a promenade deck! Loved loved loved the jewel!

If I have dishes I find another room with dishes in front of their door, and then add my dishes to their pile.

The fitness instructors would not let me use the spin bikes except for class even though I had taken 2 classes with him, had an unlimited class pass and saw him a lot at the gym!! But I did do my FAVORITE work out on the cruise several times.... the STAIRS!!!! They are nice and padded and wide and the ship is cool. I went to the forward stairs and started at deck 3. I ran from deck 3 to 4 to 3 to 5 to 3 to 6 to 3 to 7 and so forth til I hit the top then went whole set a couple of times! AWESOME! I look forward to doing them every cruise!

I find this very interesting because the moment I started reading, where you said "if you are like me, you are more interested in the negatives than the positives", I thought why on earth would ANYONE be more interested in the negative parts of things than the wonderful, fun, crazy, zany, exciting and delightful parts of cruising on these ships!!!

Good luck to you sir in all that you do.

I bought the fitness package when I was on the Jewel in April, even though it was southern Caribbean port intensive. Here's why I will always buy the package from now on!

On the 2 sea days, I jogged on the promenade then did yoga, Pilates, and boot camp classes! I managed to do 2 spin classes as well. It was fun to meet other people who bought the package too sine we did all the classes we could together.

Next cruise we will try and book afternoon excursions so that I can take advantage of even more classes!!! It is TOTALLY worth it!!

I was originally booked on the Jewel out of SAN Juan in March. Flights from Canada were all cancelled so there was no way to get there unless we did flights connecting in the US. we weren’t interested in that so switched to the Oasis out of Port Canaveral. I suspect the lower pricing has to do with a lot of cancellations especially from Canadians.

You may be right! I heard about the Air Canada cancellations. Hope you enjoy the Oasis :cool:

I can't believe it but the D1 price went down ANOTHER $100 plus an added $100 OBC today; RCI calling it Green Monday sale plus the Senior Discount

Thanks!

I just checked and there are added discounts for seniors on all the rates for that sailing!

So was the Senior rate on the D1 category?

The rate was on ALL balcony categories. But I didn't check others such as inside/OV/suites, etc...

Thanks for posting! This may help some but my April 1/18 fare went sooo low around the Black Friday weekend even with the senior fare added it is hundreds more now....I will keep checking though.

I paid $1200CAN for a balcony guarantee for 2 plus a $100US OBC (including taxes, excluding gratuity)! Not sure I will see it that low!

That is a great rate! Enjoy your cruise :cool:

Since you got a good rate, please make sure you get off the ship quickly. I'll be outside waiting to get on.

We'll be sure to do that ;). Going to check out San Juan for the day and stay overnight after cruise and fly out on Monday...

We were just able to save another $130 of our already booked Cyber week BOGO rate today. RCI this week added Senior Rate combinable with BOGO to our Jewel of the Seas cruise on 4/22/18. Everyone 55+ should recheck their cruises around that time. TA said RCI typically will add this rate about a month before final payment due if ship is not fully booked. We now have D1 category corner AFT balcony 8168 for $1730 incl. taxes for 2! Can't wait to try Jewel. We were on Oasis last April, but too big for us and not enough views of the ocean to feel like we were on a ship :D

We were just able to save another $130 of our already booked Cyber week BOGO rate today. RCI this week added Senior Rate combinable with BOGO to our Jewel of the Seas cruise on 4/22/18. Everyone 55+ should recheck their cruises around that time. TA said RCI typically will add this rate about a month before final payment due if ship is not fully booked. We now have D1 category corner AFT balcony 8168 for $1730 incl. taxes for 2! Can't wait to try Jewel. We were on Oasis last April, but too big for us and not enough views of the ocean to feel like we were on a ship :D

I'm on the same cruise! I was in an E2 hump, but saw today that the pricing on D1 hump rooms dropped below what I had paid for the E2. A phone call later and I'm paying $50 less for an upgraded room plus $100 OBC. Woot! I'm happy!

Nice! :D