IECalCruiser

Princess partially reintroduced the “wedding cake” balcony design on the Majestic and the Sky. The Dolphin deck Premium Deluxe Balcony cabins forward and aft have significantly larger balconies like the Caribe deck balconies on the Grand class ships. Those balconies are significantly larger than the mini suite balconies which may be only 4’ deep.

 

 

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...We've cruised on Princess before but not on Emerald and never to the Mediterranean. Looking for suggestions on excursions and and tips you can give us for the Emerald...Thanks to all in advance!

We did a day tour of Barcelona and Montserrat with Barcelona Day Tours and thought it was a very good tour.

 

We also did the Gotico Tapas Walking Tour with The Barcelona Taste. We stopped at four places; cheese tasting, two stops for tapas and the last stop for dessert. Each stop included wine to go with the food. All of the stops were very good and we also had a guided tour of the old town as we walked from venue to venue. An excellent tour!

 

There are numerous Flamenco show options in Barcelona but we did the dinner and show at Tablao Flamenco Cordobes and enjoyed both the extensive buffet dinner and the show.

 

I had a lot of Hilton points so we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Rome Claridge. It is conveniently located at a light rail line stop and just a block away is Taverna Rossini with some of the best Italian food we have ever had. The buffet breakfast was a good way to start the day. One morning we walked from the hotel through the Villa Borghese, past the Trevi Fountain, and to the Pantheon. A very good choice if you are a Hilton Honors member with sufficient points.

 

If you are disembarking in Rome you might consider the Princess debark tour that includes the Vatican. The tour and guide were excellent and we were dropped off with our luggage at our hotel after the tour. Definitely not the cheapest but worth considering.

 

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A few years ago was scheduled to embark in Venice on November 20. Ship had been diverted to Trieste after waiting off Venice a full day for the winds to subside so they could dock. Leaving Trieste a day late it was 30F/-1C and sleeting at sailaway.

 

 

 

Weather was actually ok at the Adriatic ports but when the ship turned west to enter the Med it was seriously rocking and rolling. The dining room was a sea of green faces hurriedly rushing out.

As I posted above, we also had some rocking and rolling on the Pacific in November. It is the sirocco winds that peak in March and in November. It is probably best to sail in September or early October if you plan to sail in the fall.

 

We new the risks of cruising the Med in November but that cruise had the itinerary we wanted and a very good price. Even with the roughness on the westward crossing of the Adriatic, rain in Kotor and cloudiness in Venice, the cruise was wonderful.

Anyone travel the Med in November or December?

We sailed from Venice to Rome in November of 2016. We experienced high winds and rough seas for two days in the Adriatic that forced the cancellation of one port day. The Pacific was really rocking! That is a potential issue sailing at that time. Also, the Acqua Alta flooding in Venice starts about then. Fortunately we were not there during peak water levels of high and low tide and were not affected. The weather was a little cool and we needed jackets at times and we had rain in Kotor. That being said, we had a wonderful cruise and the Pacific was the only ship in port all but one day. There were no crowds and most days were sunny, short sleeve weather.

 

 

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I have three unused cards. One is a paper card that doesn't have any date on it, another is the same card that has the first date of our sailing but not an expiration date and the third is an older card that was in color blue and gold which doesn't have any date on it. Can these cards still be used?

The punches should be good until August 31, 2019.

 

 

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They are two of my favorites. The Coral has better viewing opportunities with I believe two public accessible decks all the way forward and three all the way aft. You can see activity on both sides of the ship. We did Alaska in 2010 on the Coral and spent over a half hour viewing whales on both sides of the ship when departing Glacier Bay. We did Alaska in 2012 on the Golden in a Window Suite and spent a lot of time looking out the windows or outside on the forward Promenade deck portion on Emerald deck. The Coral’s Universe Lounge has a unique three section rotating stage. They both have Sabatini’s but the Coral has the New Orleans inspired Bayou Cafe and Steakhouse while the Golden has the Crown Grill. Don’t know if this is true now but at least a couple of years ago a three piece group played music around 8:00 in the Bayou Steakhouse on the Coral and Island, sometimes with a singer. We have booked dinner on both ships starting around 7:45 to 8:00 to be able to enjoy the music. I like the smaller, more intimate Wheelhouse Bar on the Golden. The Coral has a Thermal Suite but not the Golden. Do enjoy spending time on sea days in Skywalkers with very good viewing opportunities. The Coral doesn’t have a Skywalkers. They both have an International Cafe but the Coral’s is slightly smaller and adjacent to the Casino. As someone else said, the Coral doesn’t have a Vines so no tapas or sushi when ordering a glass of wine. Once again, don’t know if they are still offered but several years ago the bar at La Patisserie used to offer some wine flights like Vines on the Golden. The Coral’s Library has some very comfortable chairs facing the Ocean. The seating on the covered pool (Lotus Pool) on the Coral is like the Promenade deck chairs and loungers on other ships and the lower level windows are lined with dozens of comfortable loungers facing the ocean. We have sailed on the Golden for 42 days and the Coral/Island before the Island was butchered during her last drydock for 35 days and you can’t really go wrong with either. You follow the same route in and out of ports so you see both sides. I really don’t believe it makes any difference which side of the ship you have your cabin.

 

 

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...That being said, DH & I are curious. What extra service do they provide that merits extra tipping, in addition to their salary & the gratuities already in place.

 

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On one cruise a couple of years ago with many elite on board the laundry turnaround was posted as three days. In actuality, if laundry was in by 9:00am it would be back the next day and if not it took another day. Our steward told us if we had our laundry out in the hall by 8:00am he would make sure to get it there before 9:00. We always got our laundry back the next day. Typically we mention to our steward that we will leave the “make up the room” card out when we leave for breakfast and they make sure it is done by the time we get back. They are doing their job but going a bit beyond to make our cruise a little more convenient. They get an additional tip at the end of the cruise.

 

 

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It’s a 7 night cruise.

 

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That was a good price for a 7 day cruise. Our first upsell was in 2013 for an 11 day cruise and was $299/person for the first two passengers and the third (we were traveling with DD) was free. In 2015 the offer which we didn’t accept was $299/person for a 4 day coastal cruise. In 2016 the cost for an 11 day cruise was $1,299/person plus $299/person for DD as third passenger.

 

 

 

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It seems to me that this is an opportunity to enhance Princess at Sea. Just make the menus available there. They are standard for each cruise for the most part. Minimally, put the daily lunch and dinner menus there. I would imagine it would save the wait staff some time.

During the Wake Show on the Regal In 2014 on of the kitchen staff would have a short segment describing that evening’s entree items with examples. I really liked that. I do agree that with Princess@Sea they should provide menus for the cruise there.

 

 

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Name of the menu is not of much use anymore. Many of the evenings the name is now "Princess Dinner" although the items on the menu change.

You are correct. I believe that the only remaining “named” dinners are the Welcome and Gala dinners which are typically on formal nights, the Chef’s dinner, and Italian night.

 

 

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There will probably be soufflés in the MDR 2 nights with a milky chocolate-hazelnut soufflé on embarkation night. There may also be a Grand Marnier soufflé for embarkation lunch in the MDR but you need to be there between noon and 1:30 and they might close the doors a little early.

 

 

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A standard U.S. twin bed is 38”x75” and an XL twin is 38”x80”. If the twins are U.S. twins then placed together they would be 76” wide. A U.S. queen is 60”x80”and a king is 76”x80”. I will need to measure the exact size when we board the Golden in a little over three weeks.

 

 

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Off on Sapphire Princess soon and just had an e-mail about Pribcess@sea. Am I reading it correctly that you can connect to this and check your onboard account and daily activities etc without charge? Also if the onboard activities are online do you still get a paper copy in your cabin the night before?

You can also create a custom calendar of your activities for the day that you can share with your travel partners.

 

 

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We live in Southern California and a few years ago were pricing a Mexico cruise out of San Pedro. When I signed in the price increased $200/person from $599 to $799. I checked with friends in Prescott, AZ, Dayton, Ohio, and Suburban, DC. They all saw the lower price when they signed in. Two were TA’s and when they checked the price for me with my CC number the price increased $200/person. We didn’t book that cruise.

 

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The actual terms were not that the punches never expired but rather that unused punches on the cruise you purchased the card could be used on your next cruise.

 

Princess does need to come out with new packages that vary by the length of cruise as 15 specialty coffees for a typical 7 day cruise may be hard to use up for many.

 

 

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Our adult DD has sailed with us twice as the third person in our cabin. She did not have any FCD’s but on both cruises she did not need to pay a deposit as the third person. DW and I used our FCD’s.

 

 

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thanks everyone for your input yes we are doing 28 day south pacific on emerald. so it appears they make a real effort to not repeat (but do on occasion) kudos to princess! how about SHARE? HAVE read alot of good and bad

We ate at Share on the Ruby last November and thought that it was better overall quality than the Crown Grill and some of the best food we have had on Princess. We thought each of the courses we had were very good. They were running a special for $29 rather than $39 at the time. Now that they have permanently reduced the price to $29 I believe it is a better choice unless you are strictly a meat and potatoes person. No problem with that but if you want interesting options than I would say go to SHARE. A few years ago we were on the Golden and had filet in the MDR, the Crown Grill and the Chef’s Table. In order of quality on that cruise, the filet in the MDR was the best followed by the Chef’s Table and coming in last was the Crown Grill. Go figure. That is certainly not the case every time but I don’t find the Crown Grill steaks all that special.

 

 

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2 Elites (over 21..;p) in a suite for a 7 day cruise - how many mini-bar setups will be delivered?:confused:

You will be entitled to one per cabin for being Elite and one per cabin for being in a suite. They might only deliver one to you to start with. You could keep both or exchange one for 2 coffee packages or other options such as a bottle of wine up to I believe $40 or eight 1.5 liter bottles of water.

 

 

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We booked a guarantee room 1a category inside (on sapphire) and our room has now been assigned. Turns out to be one with a red dot on the deck plan - so I'm guessing this will sleep 4. Since there's only 2 of us I hoped this might mean more room. But now I'm reading about bunk beds I'm beginning to wonder. Previously I've been in rooms where extra beds drop down from the ceiling, so what make Sapphires bunk bed rooms any worse ? Are the extra beds 'permanent fixtures' ?

Unfortunately, yes. There is no difference in the size of cabins that sleep 2, 3, or 4. However, do a trial booking and see if there are any Cat IA cabins that only sleep 2 people available. If so, a call to Princess should let you change cabins.

 

 

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Well, that's the end of my trip. I hope you enjoyed reading it and got some ideas or tips from it like I have from reading so much prior to my Alaskan adventure. Please feel free to ask me anything! I have a great day.

You gave some nice information about the Golden in post #6. Do you have any final thoughts about the Golden?

 

 

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Check to make sure your inside cabin has no bunks against the wall. Last time we had an inside it had the 2 extra beds above and was so tight that we banged our heads on them every time we got up! That was on the Regal or Royal, I'm not sure which.

If you look a the deck plans, choose the option for 4 guests. The white cabins will not have wall mounted bunk beds and are the cabins to choose.

 

 

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Not sure about the Coral, but the Island did have a grill station in the buffet for dinner. Salmon, chicken and a steak were available. You placed your order and then it would be delivered to your table. You would be responsible for getting all your own sides though.

Interesting. I haven’t seen this.

 

 

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...And, I know we can enjoy wonderful views of Alaska from the buffet. But, I have seen some recent Coral Princess dinner menus and I would like to try many of the items listed.

 

So, would any of the MDR dinner items also be available in the buffet? Also, do they have a grill station in the buffet on the Coral where you can request grilled steaks, salmon, etc?

 

Thanks in advance for any input!

No grill stations on Princess but there will be a carving station each night and that might be something also on the MDR menu. I have seen Beef Wellington for instance. There often are some of the entrees but they might be prepared slightly differently. There may also be a soup from the MDR menu but typically no appetizers and few if any of the desserts. On an Alaskan cruise a few years ago the shipped received fresh halibut when in port at Ketchikan and it was served that night only in the buffet.

 

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Hello. I've sailed Princess before however this is my first balcony cabin and it is located at my favorite place on a ship- facing aft.

 

I'm wondering if a Caribe Aft balcony cabin has any shade or is it directly underneath the deck above? I really intend to use the balcony to its fullest however if it is in direct sunlight at times where the ship provides no shade from the sun then I'll need to move. I suppose my next question is which Aft Decks do have some shade from the deck overhead? Thanks!

I believe you are sailing on the Royal. Marina and Riviera deck aft balconies are 9’x9’ and fully uncovered; Aloha, Caribe, and Emerald deck aft balconies are 5’x9’ and fully uncovered; and Baja and Dolphin deck aft balconies at 9’x9’ with the first 5’ covered.

 

 

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As others have posted, the Royal class ships have fresh brewed coffee, hot chocolate, and a good selection of tea bags and hot water in the Horizon Court. Unless you want the specialty coffees such as espresso, lattes and the sort, I doubt you will need a Coffee Package. The price is the same onboard so I would suggest you try the coffee first. The coffee on the Royal class ships is not the made from syrup coffee that gets all the complaints on the older ships.

 

 

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