MandE-UK

Yup the aft pool was a smoking area. We couldn't even sit there so much smoke.

Yes it is totally disgusting and is not a nice place to be. Princess should restrict the smoking to one of the upper decks well out of the way.

The rules need either to be revised or strictly enforced, preferably the latter. All these threads on dress are getting ridiculous!!!

All the Princess ships I have sailed recently accepted men in slacks and long sleeve dress shirts on formal nights in the MDR. They did not require ties or jackets.

Not on the cruises I have been on recently.

Men have been turned away with no jackets.

I do not know about other cruise lines, but to most of us Brits the coffee on Princess tastes like recycled dish water! It is truly dreadful. We always buy a coffee card and also take instant coffee sachets with us. So, yes if not the worst coffee on the high seas it must be up there with the worst of them.

I just got this notice from Princess about next years Ocean Princess cruise from Capetown to Dover:

 

As you may know, there has been an epidemic of Ebola virus disease in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. As the safety and well- being of our guests and crew are our top priority, and in working closely with and following the guidance issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we have made the necessary decision to cancel our calls to Cotonou, Benin; Lome, Togo; Tema, Ghana; and Dakar, Senegal. Instead, Ocean Princess will now call to Luanda, Angola; Madeira (Funchal), Portugal; Malaga (for Grenada), Spain; and Lisbon, Portugal. In order to accommodate these changes, the call dates and times in Sao Tome, Mindelo, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Casablanca, and Ceuta have been amended. The revised itinerary displays in full at the end of this notification.

 

 

 

This is disappointing news, so many ports gone, for good reason but still a bummer for me who has not been to Africa except Morocco! I wonder if the price will be reduced?

We did this cruise last year and in my humble opinion without these ports it is hardly worth the effort!

We watched the second programme tonight and cannot understand how Princess / Carnival Group ever let this programme proceed. This is definitely not the Princess Line we know and love and someone somewhere should be losing their job for letting it go ahead. The only alternative is that they have managed to dumb down the standard of the Royal Princess (on which we have not yet sailed!) To that of a very very cheap holiday camp for geriatrics. Which I am sure it is not.

We are elite. After watching the programme we feel it did Princeess no favours what so ever! It will be interesting to see the next three programmes but if they are the same there will be even fewer British passengers cruising with Princess.

So true but sad. Same goes for Egypt for me.

Aw Pam, you know my feelings. If you time is up that's it. Why let it spoil an excellent cruise?I will go anywhere I want when I want. No terrorist or minor conflict is going to prevent me! But there again I did spend 20 years in the British Army.

For our October 2014 Black Sea cruise, Yalta and Odessa were dropped. They were replaced by Santorini and Kusadasi. Istanbul, Volos, Nessebar, and Constanta are still on the schedule.

It is a real shame. The main reason for anyone to do a Black Sea cruise was to visit Yalta, Odessa and Sevastapol (another port that has been pulled now!) I have long wanted to visit the Crimean War Battlefields so have decided no Black Sea cruise until it is resolved. The replacement ports are no real alternative!

We are flying to Beijing on the 3rd November for a stay in Beijing prior to flying down to Xian and then back to Beijing to join the Sapphire Princess. Can anyone help with the weight of baggage on the internal flights or are we able to leave our heavy cases in Beijing? We are flying to Beijing on Emirates which of course has 30kgs. Thanks

I think we are on the same flight and have the same 30kg luggage allowance. We have a very active roll call for this cruise which you may like to join. The pre-tour, cruise and flights are booked through a UK travel Agent.

As a Brit, I can only say that the USA Team played absolutely fantastically tonight. Well done to all concerned the effort was enormous!!!

I spoke to the guides in Togo Benin and Senegal and all of them said that slavery had been going on amongst the tribes themselves well before any white man became involved. Many of the local tribes were only too ready to cash in their goods once the opportunity was presented. One guide even offered the opinion that many of the people sent into slavery may have found better lives on the plantations. I was astounded to hear this from an African, but seeing how many of them still live he could have a point.

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The buffet is very nice, and you could easily eat there every night. I would urge you to at least try the dining room. It really is a different experience from the big ships. There is always room service, too.

On the recent Ocean Princess cruise from Cape Town to Dover first sitting for dinner in the MDR was at 1745hrs, which was difficult to make after a long day ashore! Certainly no time for pre-dinner cocktails! 1800 or 1830 would have been a lot better but that I suppose would put back second sitting from 2000hrs to 2015 or 2030.

One thing I have just thought of was that all our private tours (usually in 20 seater buses) were all air conditioned. Most of the ships tours appeared to be in non air conditioned 50 seat coaches. They were running around with the doors open. Also many complaints on board!

I bought wine aboard in Cape Town with no problems. There was no wine package available on board due to shortages. I paid US$15 corkage when I took the bottles down to the dinner table.

I organised a tour in Tema, Ghana. Our tour guide was Michael Orleans, of Ashanti Tours who were very professional. We had a really excellent day. In the morning we did a bit of a safari around a wild life preserve, saw baboons antelope and ostriches. It was quite green and pleasant for a change to the rest of dusty West Africa. We went to Accra for lunch (included )at a great restaurant near the airport. There was loads of choice and every one was happy. After lunch we did a tour around Accra the Nkrumah museum and memorial, a light house and old Ghana. We then went to a market for souvenirs etc .where the selling process was quite intent but fun if you could stand the pressure. They also stopped at a beach restaurant on the way back to the ship to enable those running down on supplies to resupply with more alcohol. We got back with plenty of time to spare. The cost was US$125 per person but included lunch and soft drinks. It was a really good comprehensive day. I had to pay a deposit up front. They asked for 50% of the total but settled for me paying in full for my wife and I.

One thing I would say is I would not advise anyone to attempt to walk off the ship and just take a taxi in any of the West African ports. They are too busy with containers and it is just not that sort of place anyway. Totally unsafe really. It isn't even the third world more fifth or sixth in places.

My wife will never ever forget her visit to the fetish market in Togo.

All in all it was a truly great and fascinating cruise with wonderful fellow passengers, but certainly not one for the faint-hearted!

I have just done a quick check on the poll as it currently stands and it would appear that 220 people dress in either a tux/ suit/ military / ethnic dress and thus follow and probably enjoy the formal night experience. Whilst 91 people wear sports jackets and ties or otherwise dress down or do not attend the MDR on formal nights. I would respectfully suggest this is still quite a portion of people in favour of the status quo!

Another option: shirt & tie but no jacket. He has never been challenged on 7, 10, or 14 day cruises. Didn't vote in the poll because this category was missing.

Time to call time on this poll! I think it shows that most people follow the guidelines and dress accordingly. Most of us finding it an enjoyable experience and a part of the cruise experience which we would miss if it was taken away or diluted further. If you do not wish to dress for formal nights you can always cruise on an NCL ship!

[LISI think you will find it has not changed a great deal!

I would say less than 10% of men wear a tux on any Princess cruise.

I would say this is incorrect, most men still wear a tux or at the very least a smart dark suit.

Hello

 

We fly to SF next week for our cruise to Hawaii. We have got our ESTA's, but wondered if immigration still insisted on UK passengers completing the old green form on the plane.

 

It is a few years since we last cruised out of America and, although we had valid ESTA's in place, they still insisted we completed the form, although didn't explain why.

 

Does anyone know if they have they finally stopped the duplication.

 

Searched the CC website but couldn't find a relatively recent thread.

 

Thanks

Hi,

we cruised twice out of Florida over November / December last year. Once from Miami and once from Fort Lauderdale we flew into Atlanta from Manchester and also direct from Manchester into Orlando. On both occasions and also every other time we have entered the USA we have had to fill in the green card (both sides!!!!) I don't know why they insist on demanding it when you have already paid and been accepted for an esta. But YES you still need to do the green card thing - even when disembarking from Princess at say La or San Francisco.

I get people can be quite sensitive about his, but on our our RC cruise in the Caribbean, we often wore shorts (with shoes) to the main dining room most nights and it was never a problem. It was with a nice t-shirt and such, after a shower after a long day, so we looked presentable, but it was still shorts.

 

We're on holiday, we're there to enjoy ourselves, I don't see why there should be so many restrictions as to clothing. But that's just me.

On our last two Princess cruises diners were turned away at the dining room for wearing shorts. They were politely asked to go away and put long trousers on. This is as it should be ie. in accordance with the rules. Yes an exception is made on first nights.

We just returned for the Star Princess Hawaii trip.

 

We are Elite members and have been cruising for many years.

 

I am disappointed in the failure of Princess staff to enforce the dress code in the dinning room for the evening meals.

 

It used to be that on formal nights men were not permitted in the dinning room without a tie. On this trip there were men in polo shirts on formal night.

 

The dress code at the door also states that you can not wear shorts and/or t-shirts to the dinner period. This was not enforced and has not been enforced for some years by Princess. There were both men and women at dinner in shorts and I observed several men each night in t-shirts.

 

The failure of Princess Head Waiters to enforce there own dress code diminishes the dinning experience, in my opinion. I feel that when the overall atmosphere is a bit more dressy the mode of the room and the feel is an enhanced dinning experience.

 

To show up in shorts make the event like a night at Denny's restuarant.

 

There are other dinning options on the ship if you don't want to dress properly for the evening.

 

When I asked the Head Waiter why he did not enforce the rule he said, "The guest say they are on vacation and will dress as they want". Then why have a dress code.

 

What about the majority of the persons in the room for the evening meal that did follow the dress code and approved of the enhanced atmosphere you gain with better dress attire.

 

Princess should enforce the policy on each and every ship period.

I agree with this post. The rules are only enforced spasmodically.

I suppose there is a logical answer to this. If you have a guarantee cabin which is unallocated until you arrive for check in, how do they know where to send your luggage? The self print labels will have no details on them. Luggage is normally taken away from you before you go to the check in desk.

Not sure if you are from the UK or not.

We are, and have cruised both Princess and P&O. We much prefer Princess. We find P&O are much too rigid and inflexible. Princess have a "If we can do it, you can have it" attitude whilst P&O have a "You must have what we tell you" attitude.

We find the staff much friendlier on Princess.

The facilities and ships are similar but there is a more British feel to P&O. The drinks on P&O are cheaper and they have tea/coffee making facilities in the cabins.

You will never know which you prefer unless you try as everyone has their own personal taste. Good luck if you choose Princess - we are off the Venice on the Emerald in June.

I would agree with this post. The staff on Princess are far more friendly and accommodating than P&O. We are now Elite on Princess and would not use P&O again unless it was a lot cheaper had a much better itinerary. It is down to personal choice though. We enjoy the more international fellow cruisers on Princess than the purely British passengers on P&O.

Yes, you will see a few others dressed this way. We normally pack a light weight sport jacket. You can avoid formal dress altogether by dining in one of the surcharge restaurants the Crown Grill or Sabatini's on formal nights, or dining in the buffet, grill, pizza or room service. For the surcharge restaurants make reservations early on as many choose formal nights to dine there.

I still fail to see the difference in weight and space between a sports jacket and trousers with shirt and tie and a tux. suit. The logic fails me!