jaspersmommy

A couple of days ago, I booked D736 (a vista suite) on the Grand Princess for a Pacific Coastal in April 2015. We've never sailed Princess before, so I'm really looking forward to trying it out.

I noticed on the suite perks list it said a one-time bar set-up is included. Can anyone tell me what's included in that?

Thank you.

Thanks everyone. I did lots of reading today, I think I will like Princess too after sailing only Celebrity now for a few years. From everything I've read, they seem very similar in many ways.

I went ahead and booked today. I'm really excited to go... I love the west coast.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Princess does the same thing as Celebrity & from this link you can download their Cruise Answer Book with lots of info about a Princess cruise.

 

https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/brochureRequest.page

Astro - many thanks for the link. The Cruise Answer Book is exactly what I need.

Thanks to all for your suggestions, I appreciate it. So far, you Princess folks are very friendly and helpful!

I haven't yet cruised Princess and will likely book a Pacific Coastal cruise this coming week. The particular cruise is a 10-day round-trip from Vancouver in April/15 on the Grand Princess. I'm looking at a mini-suite (although still considering a vista suite too).

Since I don't know Princess ships at all, I need help with cabin selection. I saw some photos that look like some of the mini-suite balconies on the Grand Princess may not be covered. I would really prefer a covered balcony.

I'm sure there are existing threads discussing the best locations, but the search function isn't working. Can anyone please give me some advice for a good mini-suite location on the Grand Princess?

Thanks so much.

Wow... thanks everyone for all your input. I didn't think I'd get any responses, so I really appreciate it.

I do want a suite and I see that some of the ones in which I'm interested are already gone. In view of everyone's comments, I think I'll book now. I'm totally unfamiliar with Princess, but I'm certainly hoping that I can lock in any price decreases that may happen down the road (before final payment date) as I can with Celebrity.

It's oddly scary booking with a new cruise line when you don't know their rules/procedures!

Thanks all for your help.:)

I've been thinking about booking a Pacific Coastal cruise for about 5 years now and have never gotten around it. I have been sailing Celebrity, and of course, now that I've decided to do a spring 2015 Pacific Coastal cruise, it appears that Celebrity won't be doing any more of them after 2014!

I've looked at Princess itineraries and there is a 10-day Pacific Coastal cruise in April 2015 that I'm interested in. I feel pretty safe that I will enjoy Princess and am willing to give it a try.

I was surprised at the prices for this cruise - they seemed high. I've been reading that the Pacific Coastal cruises are not a really big draw, so I'm hoping that the price will come down a little as the sailing date gets closer. I know nobody can predict what will happen, but if anyone has taken a Pacific Coastal cruise recently, could share your experience of whether the prices held, or did they come down or go up?

Thanks so much!

I am thinking of doing another Alaska cruise in 2015 and want to be ready to book my cabin as soon as the 2015 itineraries are released next month.

The last time we went to Alaska on Millennium, we originally booked 6145 but ended up upgrading to a Celebrity Suite after fares dropped - so I never did actually see the suite. I believe that 6145 and 6146 are larger than standard S1s and are decorated a little nicer. I realize that they adjoin the Penthouse suites and share the same butler, but having the best butler is not really something that matters to me a whole lot.

I've seen several threads indicating that 6131 and 6132 are also highly desirable. Can anyone tell me what is different about 6131 and 6132? From the deck plans, it looks as though they have larger, angled balconies. Is that the only advantage to 6131/2? Are those cabins standard size, or are they also larger than the standard S1?

From what I recall, there was no covering over the 6145/6 balconies on Millie, and I would be concerned about a lack of privacy. For those of you who are familiar with all of these suites, which would you prefer - 6145/6 or 6131/2?

Many thanks!

Thank you KK and RuthC for the replies.

Ruth... from the looks of the 14-day itinerary, I suspect I would like it as much as you do. Thank you for the information, it's much appreciated!

We haven't sailed with HAL before, but are considering giving it a try in 2015. I am particularly interested in Alaska and Pacific Coastal sailings. Can anyone tell me when HAL is likely to release those 2015 itineraries?

We've cruised to Alaska with Celebrity in the past and would like to go back. Celebrity has been a good fit for us, but from everything I've read, the HAL experience seems somewhat similar. We like a quieter ship with few children (sorry, no offense intended) so we think HAL would also likely be a good fit for us. I'm intrigued by HAL's 14-nighter that stops at Kodiak Island. If anyone has any feedback on that particular itinerary, I would really appreciate your input. The only thing that concerns me with HAL is smoking being allowed on balconies - but for an Alaska sailing, I'm less concerned as I don't expect to spend much time on the balcony.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide! :)

BEWARE of Celebrity Cruises! We booked a trip early in the year. When I go online to manage our reservation (make a payment, reserve an excursion, look at our statement, anything.) a message appears saying the site is down for maintenance. It has been this way for at least two months. We've been promised several times that the problem would be corrected soon. Whenever I call the company, I am... told that it will be working soon. They've acknowledged the problem has been this way for two months.

 

How can a company run their business this way? I certainly hope their ship will be in better shape when we take the cruise.

 

I'd like to hear celebrity management explain this.

 

Anyone else having the "celebrity experience" online?

Really? "Beware Celebrity Cruises" because you aren't happy with the website? I agree the website is a disgrace and is in dire need of replacement, but that seems a little over the top.

There is nothing important that I require from the website that can't be accomplished on the phone if needed. I can find other websites easily with itineraries, costs and cabin availability. So, the crappy Celebrity website doesn't really affect me, and I personally haven't had any problems managing my (few) reservations.

The most important thing for me is what I'm purchasing with my money and the Celebrity onboard experience is excellent. I can't imagine warning others off a cruise line because of your displeasure with its website.:cool:

I too would be a bit disappointed if I had been that close to the next level, only to have it delayed a little longer. Waiting one additional cruise for Elite status isn't that big a deal. For the life of me though, I really can't see becoming that upset over something like Captains Club status - especially to the point of considering a lawsuit. I can't imagine what grounds there would even be for a lawsuit, especially when there is no fee to join.

I agree with a previous poster that if the OP had sent a polite letter or email describing the position he is in, along with details of any cruises already booked (if there are any) would have made a nice business case for X to make an exception.

And by the way, I'm not Elite either.

Maybe dirty grout isn't too big a deal to some people, but why should anyone have to accept it? Celebrity charges top dollar to sail with them. People should be able to expect clean cabins in good repair. If Celebrity doesn't want to fix them, perhaps they should assign further cabin classes for those in less than stellar shape, and charge less for them.

If it's more than dirt, and there is "active" mold present, it's a health hazard. Under no circumstances should active mold be allowed to accumulate in any cabin.

If I were to step into my cabin and see a bathroom like that, I'd raise the roof until something was done about it.

Of course, all this assumes that when you hear the captain, you can actually understand him! Even people without accents are sometimes hard to understand over a PA system, but when the speaker is heavily accented, it's even more difficult. On our recent cruise, I really struggled to understand the captain.

Perhaps if they show the announcements on the TV, they could add subtitles.:)

Stateroom: 2146

Ship: Eclipse

Deck: 12

Class: S1

Area: Starboard aft corner

Bed Near: Balcony

Quiet?: Most of the time cabin was quiet. You could occasionally hear chairs scraping from Oceanview bar area above. However, it was never at night and never affected our sleep. It tended to happen late morning and again around dinnertime but was not a problem.

Balcony view: Starboard and aft view due to wraparound balcony. Large overhang above this cabin kept it shaded most of the time (but not all). Totally private, nobody can look into your balcony.

Balcony size: Very large. Comfortably sits at least 3 people and a large table.

Wind a problem?: No

Soot a problem?: Not at all

Problems/Comments: No problems whatsoever. Wouldn't hesitate to book this cabin again. Excellent choice.

As I mentioned in another thread, we're about to book the Exotic Southern Caribbean in November and it's coming down to a couple of items that will sway us one way or the other.

 

We were upgraded from S1 to RS on the last cruise and the RS came with Elite perks. The most valuable to us were the laundry coupons and we're trying to budget for laundry expenses to avoid bringing a ton of luggage. Neither of us is patient enough to do the sink wash on our own, but splurging on the room may cut a helicopter tour, which I really want to do.

 

Will the Sky Suites come with the coupons, or is that for the higher-end suites (CS, RS, PS)?

 

Posted via Tapatalk 2 quite possibly while I'm on the john with my DROID DNA

Sky Suites will not come with coupons unless you are actually elite. If you are not elite, you will sometimes get coupons if you have a suite. However, it is for Celebrity Suites and higher if it happens at all.

Oh, please tell me it is so! This is exactly the route we take and I've always understood that the service is only available for travel ending in the U.S. We are booked for another Celebrity next February - would love to use this service....

Pariciah... FLL-IAH-YEG with United is exactly the flight I too have booked for April 20 after our 14-day Eclipse sailing. My elderly father will also be cruising with us and he lives near Toronto. It would make me really, really happy if we could get him luggage valet service knowing he is flying home alone afterward. It would be one less thing to worry about. If I am able to use the service, I will post something on the Celebrity forum once I return.

Any Canadians out there that have used the luggage valet service? I've read several times on CC that it is only available for American destinations. However, a colleague of mine just returned from a Royal Caribbean cruise out of FLL, and Royal Caribbean also offered the luggage valet service for Canadian destinations (this particular person flew United out of FLL after debarking, had a stopover in Houston and then onto Edmonton... she never saw her bags until Edmonton). If RCI can do it for Canadians, why not X?

I remember a few years ago someone posted that he had left a large sum of cash in his safe. He said he came back to the cabin later and the cash was all gone. He reported the theft to Celebrity. He was very angry in his post because Celebrity refused to do anything about it. There was no way he could prove the cash had actually been in the safe. He swore the safe was locked and that his cabin was locked, so felt that a crew member must have been responsible for the theft.

The lesson that I took away from that was to never leave anything in the safe that isn't insured or that I can't afford to lose. I do leave a few semi-valuable things in there, but nothing that I can't afford to replace.

Here is a link to a spreadsheet prepared by a regular poster, Librarylady, regarding S-class ships. The spreadsheet includes feedback for many of the S-class cabins, directly from people who have stated in them:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AtHczoNeooladEEyVmQwWmJhaGItbFZPUFNudTFZcEE&pli=1

"Expert" review? I guess "expert" is in the eye of the beholder. If you have the dual role of "engeneer" and travel professional, I'm surprised at the amount of time you have on your hands (do I smell something?) As a previous poster mentioned, why don't you provide some links to some of your other expert reviews on other ships/lines. That may lend some credibility to this mission of yours.

Shame on you for trying to pass yourself off as an expert just because you have a few photos. At the very least, you should take a step back and draw the line at providing advice to newcomers like you're some sort of authority. I've yet to see you refer anyone to the sticky on this board with feedback from people who have stayed in the S-class staterooms. People that have actually stayed in those cabins have far more qualified comments than any you can make. I feel bad for the newcomers who are worrying now about their choices based on the nonsense you're feeding them.

And with that, I too am exiting this thread. I tried to stay with it because I enjoyed the photos, but your personal bias and constant agenda have turned me off completely.

Enjoy!

Habits and mentality.

People most likely expect cruise vacation diaries on these boards.

They don't expect expert reviews here.

 

This is not my vacation diary (OMG, I had chicken soup on Day 2).

This is a review of the ship.

Why do I spend so much time?

Why do people write books, perform research?

I am an engeneer and a travel professional.

This is my field.

That's why I spend time writing about ships.

This is a research.

It's not intended to please this board regulars.

It's for everyone who is interested in cruise ships and cruise line business.

And of course it's for those who is going to take a cruise on Celebrity S-Class ships.

 

Happy cruising!

Cruisetrail,

This has the makings of an excellent thread. The photos that you have provided could have been such an excellent resource for people... if it were done differently, it would have made a great sticky to which people could refer when they were thinking of sailing S-class. All the photos and information in one place were nearly gold.

What I can't understand is why you are putting so much time and effort into bashing an entire class of cruise ships, and to a large extent - a cruise line. If I cruised and didn't like a ship (or a class of ships), I would post a review, and maybe start a new thread stating why I didn't like it (and yes, maybe include photos). But I really can't imagine the time and effort that it has taken you to put this thread together. You must have spent hours and hours on it. I just can't comprehend why anyone would go to these lengths and expend the effort that you obviously have, to try to influence what other people do. Thousands and thousands of people sail Celebrity and S-class and love it. Others don't love it. To each his own, but why is it so important to you to do whatever you can to make others see things your way? Why not just vote with your wallet and not sail Celebrity anymore?

For the record, I am not a Celebrity loyalist, so it doesn't bother me when I see threads where people say that they enjoy other lines more. I like Celebrity but am definitely open to other lines when the circumstances warrant it. I think your thread would have had much more credibility if you were to just post the photos and the facts, and leave your opinions out. I notice that a great number of the regulars on this board don't appear in this thread anymore. I don't think it's because they dislike seeing Celebrity bashed... it's likely because it's lost all credibility and has become Cruise Critic's version of the National Enquirier.

I would: a) get your Mom an inside cabin, or b) upgrade to a suite if you all want to be in one cabin (if you can afford it). A sky suite, even though it's not a true suite, would still be much better than a regular balcony cabin as far as having more room. However, you'll still have the problem of one bathroom only.

I've slept on a sofabed on Millie. It was awful.