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Been considering booking the 56 day Sydney to Dover portion.  I expected some changes, but this is completely different.  Lots more sea days, but some new places for us as well!

We are a family of 5 and travel like this all the time.  Have your reservations linked then it's easy to book table reservations.  Also once you are on board  go have them give you medallion access to everyone (they only do it to your roommates unless you have them change it) that way you can track where everyone is with the medallion (this is super useful!)

Yes it still exists, if you google or search the boards (look up princess or ccl stockholder benefits) you will find the information.  If you email the information they post your credits right away (mine have always been within 24 hours)

I scan my most recent statement showing my shares of CCL and attach it to an email along with my name, reservation number, ship name and sail dates.  My credits are usually posted within 24 hours.

Love IN N Out and Culver's.  Thought Whataburger was a salt lick topped with over processed American cheese product!

I think most cruise lines have complaints about websites and customer service.  We sailed on MSC a few years ago and it made me appreciate how good we have it at Princess!  (Even trying to call them now vs calling MSC then!)

Whatever you do, check to make sure your loaded USB works before you leave the ship (I bought one and watched them load it, but it would not work on my computer). Make sure you check the individual accounts of everyone in your party for pictures (last cruise I forgot to check my kids accounts, thinking they would be linked to mine, the photos weren't, so I missed a few).  Lastly check and make sure you have them downloaded on your app before you get off the ship.

Caribbean Princess has the motion lights

On the Caribbean in December they used a mix of the old style and the new style menus.  Old menus still have the same old always available listed.  New menus are 2 pages, but the first page is usually art and description of whatever theme is going on.  The new menus no longer list the always available choices and have dessert on the menu instead of having a separate menu.  Under pasta choices we had one that changed every night and Mama's Meat Lasagna (none of us tried it).  On the dessert portion they still offer the Princess love boat dream (it's red now, and my girls did not enjoy the change), there was also always a creme Brule and at least one cheesecake, but the flavors would change occasionally.  Also they have added create your own sundae as a permanent dessert (guess they figured out all the adults ordering the volcano off the kids menu!).

We were told that the always available menu was still in place and that you could still order any of those options but they just weren't listed on the new menus.

We were on Caribbean Princess on the holiday sailing 12/18-28.  Menus were a mix of old styles and new styles.  On our 10 day we only had 2 desserts that I recognized from the chocolate journeys.  The Hazlenut bar was not not listed or marked as anything special.  The coconut mousse one appeared on an older style menu and had a small black heart with the seawitch logo in it next to it, but was not otherwise marked as anything special.  The days that had the newer style menus usually did not show the always available choices (although you could always order them) but had the dessert menu printed after the entrees so there was not a separate dessert menu.  Many of the desserts were new, there were more colorful dome desserts that reminded me of the Norman Love desserts.  Actually the new dessert choices were better then they used to be (although I missed my burnt rhubarb napoleon with that nectarine ice cream!)

On Caribbean Princess Island is on deck 5, Coral is midship deck 6 (and where lunch is served on sea days).  Palm is the aft dinning room that shares with club class.  On our Christmas cruise we had our my way table in the island, and had lunch in the coral.. Never tried Palm, but we noticed a lot of vibrations on this ship (more so then any of the other grand class ships we've ever been on.  Not sure if there was something going on to cause it on that particular cruise or if it's something about the Caribbean Princess, but either way I was glad not to be further aft because of the vibrations!)

Shouldn't be a problem.  We bring a fold up wagon (the ones that are made a lot like the folding chairs).  They fold flat and fit under a bed

Really depends on where you are.  Japan and Israel are both places that can take quite a bit longer to be cleared by customs.  Most tie up at the dock ports are usually less then 1/2 hour after arrival.  Tender ports vary greatly, I try to plan around a 2 hour cushion to get to shore.

Yes excursions will be told where to meet (theater, Vista lounge, explorer's lounge etc.)  Excursions go together in a tender (excursions get priority, but they take you as a group)

Didn't see a paper menu anywhere.  Menu is on the stateroom TV.  Maybe someone onboard can take pictures or answer a more specific question?

On 12/30/2022 at 9:25 PM, HBCcruiser said:

That was you?! I’m so glad she was not hurt. I would have freaked. I hope you got compensated WELL! 

Really great point! I did not think of that but it makes sense. 
 

I am glad you had a great cruise. 😀🥂

Yep that was us!  Those beds are way heavier then they look.  Really happy it didn't happen in the middle of the night as it would have come down right in my head and my daughter would have been on top, scary to think about what that outcome would have been!

Stuffed huskies on Caribbean Princess this year.  In the past my kids have gotten stuffed bears and stuffed owls

On 12/29/2022 at 12:35 PM, HBCcruiser said:

Final reflections:

 

1. The CB staff are amazing. Some of the best. 

2. Princess needs to up their game regarding providing decent WiFi.

 

3. I prefer the Grand over the CB. She moves a lot and is noisy - staff said it was due to the stabilizers. I also think it is due to Skywalkers. The Grand removed it due to stability issues. Some of the hallways were hot and stuffy. The air conditioning carried depending upon your location. Also, the S4 balconies are much wider on the Grand. I don’t think I’d sail the CB again. 

 

4. I was disappointed that no compensation (even $25 OBC) was given due to missing 2 ports. On other lines we received some compensation or substituted ports when one had to be cancelled. I still can’t figure out why we had to miss Jamaica. We did not seem far away from it when the call to cancel was made. I understand things happen beyond our control when cruising, I can’t help but compare past experiences with other cruise lines.

 

5. Is the Premium Package worth it? I am debating this. Princess Prizes was a bust on this cruise and the photos were ok. We took a lot of great photos by ourselves. Had we not been in a group it would not have been worth it for us. They ran out of Silverado and La Crema halfway though the cruise which was disappointing. Luckily, I brought on my own wine. I think paying the up-charge might have been a cheaper way to go in this case. 

 

6. They kept charging us for items that were included in our package, or that we did not purchase. I think we had to go to Guest Services on a daily basis to fix our account. The lines at guest services were always long. Princess needs to change this.

 

7. The food was good to great and the shows outstanding. Do not miss the production shows. 

 

It was a fun cruise and again, the staff made it that way. THe excursions were good to great. We were not thrilled with the condition of the ferry that took us through the old locks. It was overcrowded and uncomfortable. The company should have a nicer boat with a cash bar  - think Catalina Express. They would make a ton of money. Also, it was a super long day - 10 hours vs the 6 advertised. This is not Princess’s fault. 

 

 

 

We actually agreed with most of your conclusions.  Crew was wonderful, especially handling disappointed passengers and having to work harder with the extra sea days.  We also felt that the ship vibrated more then we have ever noticed on any other ship.  Not sure if it may have contributed to the bunk falling on my daughter.  We were just really happy she wasn't hurt and that it didn't happen in the middle of the night as the bed would have come down on my head and she would have been on top (crew was shocked by this, said no one had ever seen this happen).  We had independent tours booked at all ports (no problems with refunds, and we actually were refunded and notified in Cayman before the ships tours.  Cayman Coast Guard had closed Stingray City).  Food was hit or miss for us.  There were some really good things, and some that were not as good as Princess pre-pandemic.  We did feel that things were a little on the salty side and that there seemed to be several repeats or very similar meals usually a few days in a row.  That said, no one went hungry!  Did miss some of our old favorites, but it was nice to try new things as well.  

  The miss in Jamaica was hard to understand as we felt the Coast Guard should have waited until we were docked in Jamaica and taken the refugees off while the rest of us enjoyed our port day.  We understand that this was the USCG and not Princess deciding this.  We were happy that the raft people were all safe.  Overall, we probably would go on the Caribbean Princess again, but it would probably be my last choice in the Princess fleet (we also like the Grand better!)

On 12/6/2022 at 7:02 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

Are you wanting mini suites to connect or concerned about the door?  If you want connecting, why don't you look into a family suite?  May be comparable to 2 minis.  

Family suites are more of a mini suite and inside that share a sitting area

Is Jacksonville a possibility for you?  Really depends on where you are coming from,  if you are thinking about taking a few days and sight seeing I would chose Savannah.  From there it's about a 7 hour drive to Ft Lauderdale.

On 11/28/2022 at 4:17 PM, trvlwrld said:

2 day private tours are extremely difficult on this itinerary because the ship moves to a different port while you are off the boat (overland tour).  

Not really, Israel is a fairly small country and many of the private tour companies will accommodate the two different port stops.  Back when we did it our ship was scheduled to port in Ashdod one day then Haifa the next.  It wasn't a problem for the private tour company.  This was back in 2010 when there was the problem with the Turkish ship, which happened to change our schedule at the last minute (the day before we were directed to port at Haifa for both nights).  Our tour company (Avi Tours) was monitoring our ship because of these issues and made the changes even as I was contacting them.  Everything went smoothly, just a little longer drive to Jerusalem.

Costco does not forward the emails from Princess, this is nothing new with them.  Just understand this is the drawback to use their services to book your cruise

On 11/23/2022 at 11:49 PM, Thrak said:

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Tonight I made Walnut Pie. (It's like Pecan Pie but uses Walnuts because they are a major local crop.) I've been taking Walnut Pie to Thanksgiving with my wife's family forever. (We've been married for 50 years.) If I showed up without the pie I might get lynched. BTW: It's an awesome pie. 😁)

I make a walnut pie also, but I also swap maple syrup for the Karo syrup!

In 2010 we had two nights in Israel (Azumara cruise)  we booked our own tours with AVI Tours and they were phenomenal.  We were a family of 8 with one member in a wheelchair and we saw far more (for far less) then the ships tours.  The biggest problem with Israel on a cruise is that there is so much to see and do you can't do but a tiny fraction in 2 days.  With a small private group you can Taylor it to your groups interests more.  People of different faiths might want something themed more towards that, or someone who would rather delve into the history vs modern day might want a custom tour.  Too large a group gets really hard to do it all and Israel is a really special experience!

Our first Princess cruise was the San Francisco to Hawaii cruise.  It was the perfect storm of a great deal, my kids finally being old enough to leave with grandma and our anniversary.  Having finally gotten to where the twins were sleeping through the night and my oldest was in school, my hopes for this long sea day heavy cruise was catch up on the seeming years of missing sleep and the ability to eat a hot meal and have adult time with my husband.  I planned to read a book and laze around, and not much else, sounded like heaven!  Nope, there were so many fun and interesting events (that cruise we had an amazing violinist and the route 66 lecturer who is wonderful).  Was not the lazy, restful crossing I had envisioned, but it was so much fun (so many great activities available it was hard to choose).  We have since done this sailing twice more (with the kids) and would do it again if there weren't so many other places I want to go.  Everyone always talks about ELUA but the other Hawaiian ambassador teams do a great job too!