cat-tav

We just spent two weeks on the Crown in the Baltics, disembarked a week ago. It was a lovely ship with good food and excellent service. It is an older ship, but has been well maintained and looks beautiful. The entertainment was good and the staff friendly and cheerful. The only problem we had was that they made us pack up and get off at the end of the cruise!

Therefore, can we buy Roubles in the US? I'm thinking Euros may be the best way to go.

I just bought rubles today at a currency exchange service in Houston.

Stop the press! This is exactly the type of thing I am looking for. How do we find out the name of the tour operator that these 2 cruise lines used? I would still book an organized tour for the first day, but I would love this type of independence for part of the second day.

Excellent work you sleuths you!

We're going to St. Petersburg on the Crown Princess in July. We have booked a Princess tour called "Hermitage Museum and St. Petersburg On Your Own". It includes a 2 hour guided tour of the Hermitage, followed by 3 hours free time on Nevsky Prospekt. Notes on the excursion say that this part is non-guided and does not include lunch or any entrance fees. The cost is $99.95 per person. The other day that we're in Russia we're taking the Princess sponsored "Moscow in a Day" tour--high speed train to Moscow, time in Red Square, the Kremlin, etc., train back to SP. Breakfast and dinner served on the train. This one includes 105 minutes free time in Red Square. We're also "do it on our own" kind of travelers, so we were really happy to find these two tours.

1. Alfredo's on every ship

2. Fully walkaround promenade deck on every ship

3. No shower curtains! Glass doors, please!

I agree with the straws--run each chain through a straw, fasten it, and then wrap the straws in tissue and put with your other jewelry. Looks ugly, but prevents tangles!

Whew.....so glad this thread showed up, not having butter on the table when I arrive was keeping me up at night!

I love this answer! :hearteyes:

Which month is best for seeing whales?

I've only been to Alaska once and it was on Princess. It was our first cruise and the TA that I talked to said that the absolute best lines for Alaska are Princess and Holland America, primarily because they are the only ones with access to Glacier Bay. We chose Princess because it seemed a better fit for us than Holland America. We LOVED it! Glacier Bay was absolutely amazing. The captain rotated the ship 360 degrees so wherever you were standing, you got a spectacular view. They set up a buffet on the deck that included lots of assorted seafood and a tasty reindeer chili, among other things. I've sailed on both Princess and Celebrity and did not find a lot of difference between the two, but for Alaska, I'd choose Princess in order to get to see Glacier Bay.

Why all the weird, "fussy" food?? Why not just some really good, well done (not olive garden or carraba's) traditional Italian dishes? I love a really well done, basil pesto on home-made fettuccini or a nice cheese tortellini in a veal and mushroom sauce. I guess I just don't get a mint-specked tortelloni with roasted lamb and a sauce I can't pronounce.

 

I'm sure I'll get flamed for not being adventurous, but I really just don't get the need for food that seems to be trying too hard. Just give me a really well-executed dish with a few simple but delicious ingredients and I'm happy.

I agree with you 100%!

We're booked in C616 on the Crown in July. I'm glad to hear it was quieter and I hope it stays that way!

You purchase future cruise deposits for $100 per each while on a cruise. When you book a cruise, your travel agent applies the FCC as the deposit. You receive onboard credit depending on the length of cruise and type of cabin booked.

 

We received a refund for an unused one in December. But we knew it we were going to purchase additional ones on our Caribbean Princess cruise that month and did not try to extend it.

Thanks! It seems like there's no downside to buying them so I think I'll probably be doing that on our next cruise. :p

I am unsure of exactly how future cruise deposits work and what the advantages are. Help, somebody?

For the Moscow tour you will require a Russian visa obtained in advance. For tours in St. Petersburg your tour ticket is your visa.

We decided to stick with the Princess tour due to cost. Surprisingly, in this case the Princess tour is cheaper than the private one, probably because it takes the train both ways rather than flying one way. Anyway, no visa problems--Princess takes care of it!

It's only 2 days forget sleeping you can sleep when you get home. Have a great time!! :D

Tony

Exactly!! :ship:(y)

Our first cruise was on the Coral to Alaska. We booked an unobstructed window cabin and about a week before the cruise we got an email saying we had been upgraded free to a balcony. It's the only upgrade we've ever received. I've always figured it was an excellent business move on Princess' part because it totally spoiled us. We've never booked anything other than a balcony or a mini-suite since!

I'm sailing to the Baltic next July on the Ruby's sister ship the Crown in C616. This will be my first time to have one of Caribe's big balconies and I'm really looking forward to it. Glad to get confirmation that the cabin choice was a good one!

This private one day to Moscow tour is more expensive but you fly (80 minutes) from St. Petersburg and take the train back. The train both ways is pretty exhausting.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductDetail?product=7351P2&d=1869896&aidSuffix=xsell&partner=Viator

I looked this up because I liked the idea of flying one way to allow more time in Moscow. If the price difference wasn't too much, it'd probably be worth it. For the date we'll be there the Princess price is $550 per person. The Trip Advisor price is $925 each! Nearly double is way more than I'm willing to pay. :( Maybe I can spend some of the price difference on Putin calendars and fake Faberge eggs from the GUM department store! :o

I once overheard a fellow passenger asking, in all seriousness, if the crew left the ship by helicopter to go home every night and back in the morning. Someone who was better able than I to keep a straight face assured them that they did indeed leave and that the helipad was on the top deck. A couple of nights later, I happened to run across this gullible couple again and heard them talking about how they still hadn't been able to locate the helipad.

I've never (so far as I know) been on a trip with a big group, but I was once on a 2 week cruise that included two Amish couples. The men wore long beards and hats and all four people wore traditional Amish style clothing--very modest, dark colors, jackets on the men and white aprons on the women. I couldn't help but wonder if they refused to turn on the lights in their cabins! I am assuming that they were actually Mennonites, who dress similarly but are a bit more modern.

We're booked on the July 8 Baltic cruise. I decided to split up the days and take advantage of the Princess excursion to Moscow. It's pricey, but worth it to us--when else we ever get a chance to do it? We leave very early in the morning, take a high speed train to Moscow, walk around in the Kremlin, see St. Basil's Cathedral, walk through GUM department store, etc., then return late on the train. I'm sure we'll be exhausted, but I don't want to waste a day in a place I'll probably never get to visit again, so the second day I reserved the Hermitage Museum & St. Petersburg On Your Own tour that will get us off the ship and into town. While the private tour companies may be cheaper than Princess, as far as I could find none of them had the trip to Moscow without a 3 day stay in Russia. Also, none of them had an affordable one day tour for our second day in Russia. So we're opting to do the Princess tours. I kind of wish the next day was a sea day so we could rest a little, but we'll survive!

We're booked on the Crown to the Baltics in July and I have no worries. We have taken several Princess cruises, although this will be our first time on the Crown. Every one of them has been a wonderful experience, with kind and concerned and helpful crew. As stated in other answers, the "hard sell" is usually the first day to try and sell drink or photo packages, but all you have to do is say no. Kind of like walking through the perfume section of a big department store--smile, say "no thank you", and keep moving. Focus on creating beautiful memories of your honeymoon and you'll soon find yourself planning cruise #2!

What exactly is club class? and how does cc dining work--different dining room?

Never mind--I just Googled it. It's premium bedding, an extra-plush robe, a few more amenities, and a reserved area of the dining room with expedited seating. None of those things are important to us. We enjoy dining with and meeting different people every night and I'm looking forward to my first bonus-sized Caribe balcony, so I'll stick with the reservation I've got! The only thing that I really prefer about a mini-suite is having a tub/shower combo rather than the overly friendly phone-booth sized shower, but I can deal with it. I'd rather have the big balcony which I can spend a lot of time on than a shower that I use for maybe half an hour a day!

When looking at deck plans on the Princess website, I was asked whether I was sailing before or after April 8, 2017. Is the Crown going to dry dock or being updated in any way? Taking a quick scan of both options didn't cause any changes to pop out at me. I was hoping that an Alfredo's was being added, but didn't see any sign of that.

Any chance there's an Alfredo's on the Crown? I'll be on her in July and would love to eat at Alfredo's. I really enjoyed it on the Grand a couple of years ago. It's excellent pizza! I've never been a fan of the Lido deck pizza--tastes kind of like frozen pizza to me.

I've never gotten sick on or just after a cruise, but I did break my ankle on the last port day of our cruise to Norway! I thought it was sprained since it was extremely swollen (like a baseball under my skin!) and very painful. I taped it with an ACE bandage, wore flip-flops and elevated/iced it as much as possible. Just kept going. A month later, when it was still very painful, I finally went to the doctor, had it X-rayed, and found out it was broken. A month in a surgical boot and I was fine. I never travel without an ACE bandage!