philv

Thank you 1emerald1.

Sailing on the Caribbean Princess March 17. Does anyone know if Pellegrino or Perrier mineral water is available in the MDR?

Havensight and Crown Bay.

On 12/20/2023 at 12:35 AM, Thrak said:

 

I am seriously saddened by the fact that most people these days simply don't read books. I feel sorry for those who were never encouraged to develop a love of reading. It is, simply put, one of the greatest pleasures in life.

So true. I’m not a fan of e-books and like a good old fashion hardcover book for a cruise. 📚 A pain to pack but so great to find a place to settle on the ship and while away the hours reading. 😌

35 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 Other times she sticks it in her small bag with her tatting. (She likes to keep busy and tatting is small and easy to carry around.)

Just curious. What is tatting?

We stayed there pre-cruise and loved it. We took taxi from airport, Uber to cruise port, easy peasy. Besides the wonderful Margaritaville experience there is the fantastic Hollywood Beach vibe. Great experience pre-cruise with wonderful beach, broadwalk with great restaurants, bars, people watching, night scene. Go down a couple of days early to get a full day. Margaritaville has great amenities, three pools, free bikes. The water taxi stops right across the street (details available online), great way to tour Ft Lauderdale and see all the crazy boats and homes. You will not be disappointed.

7 hours ago, Midwest Sunseeker said:

How much was the Taxi and what area is your hotel in?

We took a taxi down to the Marriott on Hollywood Beach. I don’t remember the exact amount but it wasn’t an eye popper. It’s just so much easier and I’ve never had a cabbie try anything funny like not switching on the meter. They’ve all been very professional.

We are on the March 17 sailing also. My brother and wife are on this sailing. They watched sail away from promenade in rain but shot a great video of pilot jumping on pilot boat after sail away. He mentioned medical emergency, ship went back to port and re-docked at 2:30am and sailed away again. Hopefully you have good weather in San Juan. We are looking forward to that stop. Love El Morro.

There is really no place to go outside Princess area. It’s really just a beach day opportunity not an island exploration opportunity. Not near any towns. We’ve always enjoyed it for what it is. Beautiful beach and beautiful water. That’s what we are there for.

Yep. Plenty of chairs near clamshells. You can drag a chair right up next to clamshell as far as I’ve seen.

We have always just grabbed a taxi at the taxi stand. I find it to be least amount of brain damage. Easy, reliable, cheap.

I’m sorry but I just don’t understand the concerns expressed in this thread at all. One of the pleasures of cruising is having a fresh and neat cabin to come back to everyday. I can’t imagine living amongst the detritus that inevitably builds up over a seven day cruise (or longer!). I’ve always enjoyed the attention the steward gives our cabin and never had concerns over security or sanitation. Try and enjoy your cruise! 😎🚢

From passage contract:
 

• Guests are also prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages on board that are packaged in bottles. A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought on board on embarkation day, only if carried on in Guests’ hand luggage (not in checked luggage). A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person.  Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding.

We always purchase future cruise deposits while on ship. We have done 13 cruises on Princess and will hopefully do many more. You get a locked amount for deposit on future cruise and some future cruise credit, free money as mentioned. Fully refundable so a win/win in my estimation. We booked future cruise once while on board but didn’t see any difference in price. It seemed like fun at the time but you surrender a lot of time for planning and consideration. Get the FCD and you have plenty of time for planning next cruise.

On 1/26/2024 at 10:58 AM, travl2day said:

Thanks so much philv,

We are traveling with 6 or maybe 8 people so we were kind of thinking a car might be a better option and give us the flexibility to change beaches when we wanted to . Did you stay at Trunk Bay all day or experience other beaches? Do you remember the taxi company name? I may be able to shoot them an email to ask if they have any mini vans or large SUV's  

Thanks again!

Trudy

Hi Trudy, We did not go to Trunk Bay. Taxi stopped at Trunk Bay and other beaches on the way to Maho Bay which was our destination. From what we heard Trunk Bay is very popular and sometimes they limit entry. The taxi was one of the many pickup truck style taxis that line up at ferry to scoop up arrivals. They put a dozen people in the back so a taxi may handle your group. Taxi stopped at many popular beach locations along the way to Maho Bay. Check out a map. There was 4 of us traveling together and we had no problem with transit.

Last February we were in St Thomas docked at Havensight from 10 am to 10 pm. We went to Maho beach on St John. Took taxi to Red Hook and ferry then taxi to Maho beach and back. Plenty of time on this itinerary but not sure I’d do it on shorter itinerary.

We were in St Thomas last February from 10 am to 10 pm docked at Havensight. We went to Maho Bay on St John. Did taxi to Red Hook and ferry, taxi to Maho Bay and back. Easy peasy. You can purchase ferry tickets online and avoid ticket lines. Taxi stops at Trunk Bay and other beaches along way. One of the most beautiful places I have been. Good snorkeling from beach. Food and drink trucks and one sketchy bathroom. It’s a bit of an adventure but we really enjoyed. Plenty of time on this itinerary.

On 1/19/2024 at 9:46 AM, Jeepsterchick said:

Good Day Philv,

Can you tell me how much the taxi was to Maho Beach?

Thank you!

 

I do not remember specifically. Pickup truck style taxi, $10 or $15 pp. Fun ride. Stopped at Trunk Bay and other beaches along way.

We stayed at Waikiki Holiday Inn Express prior to NCL cruise in 2022. Good price for area, very adequate hotel, within walking distance of everything, excellent free breakfast. We did Diamond Head by public bus from hotel and hung out on Waikiki beach afterward. This year we are staying at Royal Hawaiian pre NCL cruise. Much more expensive but we were really taken with the place after having lunch there last time. Incredible vibe.

We usually cruise in February or March. Always enjoy Princess Cay. Nice beach day and we are all about the beach in Caribbean. 🏖

I downloaded the Stockperks app last week. On Thursday I used the app and requested stock ownership benefit and logged on to my Schwab account. I then received an email that Stockperks received my submission for OBC benefit and I would get notice of benefit or request for more info within 5 business days. Today I received email notice of benefit. I checked Princess.com account and benefit was listed in credits section of payment. It really was easy if you follow the steps they want you to follow. I understand people’s reluctance to supply login to their stock account but there are workarounds that have been discussed and I speculate that eventually you will have to do it this way. I received notice from Schwab that third party access had been granted to my account. I checked the security center referenced in Schwab message and it identified third party access granted to Stockperks. It also gave me the option to remove if I desired. In my case I have very little in my Schwab account and am not concerned with hacking.

Holiday inn express in Waikiki is a good price for Waikiki area and very adequate. Easy taxi ride from airport. Within walking distance of everything around there and has a fantastic free breakfast. We did Diamond Head and Waikiki beach on our day before cruise. Ubered to cruise port morning of cruise, easy peasy. 

We did similar tour on NCL in 2022. Vastly disappointing. The so called Japanese garden is just a city park and really underwhelming. Ditto for banyan trees. If you lived in Hilo you should have a better idea of where to go than this tour. Save your money or spend it elsewhere.

27 minutes ago, nazpaz said:

Anti-gravity emitters.  In an emergency they can be powered on to lift the ship out of the water.  They use a great deal of power, so they aren't used except in extreme circumstances.  

 

Although at night, when everyone is asleep, the captain will take her up just for the fun of it. 

👍🤣

I don't see a problem providing same credit card info used for booking for Shoreside info. It's not used unless you choose to use it and is as secure as the credit card you have already provided. I just like to be totally in the green lane and breeze through waving my Medallion! 😎