cruiseyj

are they the small bottles or large ones attached to the wall? thanks

thanks for sharing

Just insert your card as normal and it will print out a receipt and the cashier will then verify your signature with the one on your card. Depends where you are shopping. In shops or touristy places they are used to this, in other places just say it's an overseas card if they say anything. Sometimes the cashier may be surprised or apologise thinking they keyed something in wrong when the receipt starts to print and says "accepted with signature" on the card terminal.  Aussies can't use a pin but the machines can still accept signatures...

10 hours ago, 39august said:

Just off the lovely Reflection. There was no problem at all carrying drinks out of the Elite cocktail "hour". Also Elite and above had unlimited free drinks in any bar on their seapass cards during that time with same drinks as on the lounge menu. Out server in the lounge said this was begun about 2 cruises before outs. Blu service was fantastic. Filet was not served on the first night as so many have stated on these boards. First night I had the sea bream which was wonderful, but m,y husband's strip steak was pretty much inedible. Stay away from the neat loaf, terrible! All other food was good to excellent in Blu. Lobster was served on the second Chic night and I had two! Got a 20% discount on day 3 for Tuscan asking for a "deal" just about 4 hours before dining and got the time we wanted. Could have had 50% off the first night, but we don't like to do specialties on the first night. Best show I saw was the acrobatic one, don't remember the name. The classical duo was very, very good. House band just OK. Very interesting "Beyond the Podium" presentations and several of them over the 11 days on board. The ship is, as expected, lovely. So glad she is not being"revolutionized" until 2023. Loved the port of Bonaire. So clean and pretty. We will tour the island next time around. Didn't get to do our much anticipated tour of Cartagena as my husband was not feeling well that day. 

thanks! so no more 3 drink limit/tickets during elite hour in other bars?

on solstice this month there were three coupons loaded on the card for any bar (apart from dining venues) during the elite cocktail hours or you could go to the sky lounge where they had a small section roped off and the servers didn't ask for the card so it was unlimited technically... (you show the card to get into this roped area).

On 1/6/2019 at 11:59 PM, Adventures ahead said:

We are Canadian and going on our first Down Under cruises, three in 2020. We booked in Canada with Canadian dollars on a promotion that included daily tips, regardless of destination... Caribbean, Europe, where ever. The tips will be charged each day, then reversed by Princess.

 

I read somewhere that the same cruises would cost more $ (buried in the price) if booked by an Australian in Australia so the 'tips included' is still a perk for us. Therefore, had the tips not already been covered, we shouldn't remove them (never have).  So, the charge will be going on an coming off our account for us, but not (separately) charged in the first place for Australians. Interesting.  In the end, I wouldn't want the crew to lose out.

Correct. If an Australian books via an American travel agent in USD, tips will show up on the daily charges. If they book in AUD with an Aussie based agent, the cruise fare price is a little bit more expensive to include the tips so that it evens out in the end...   On Celebrity there is a chart that shows the exact breakdown of where the tip goes down to the cent, and is for the servers, etc on that ship, not shared fleetwide as another poster said Princess does. Not sure about other lines.  I always leave the gratuity in place if booking overseas and also give a few more $ at the end to anyone I feel deserves it. Even if it isn't our culture here it seems to be part of general cruise culture. 

has anyone been on both lines who have kids? thoughts?

thanks!

It also depends where you are, and where you are eating. In a 5 * hotel with a lot of international clientele I would tip the porter personally.  In Sydney if eating in a nice restaurant most Sydney-siders do tip about 10%. In a cafe you don't have to tip, but if you had good service or go there a lot you can leave a couple dollars or round up the bill.  Minimum wage is very high here so most servers earn a living wage.  Cabs you can round up if paying cash if you want but they don't expect it (for instance If they get out and help with bags vs just driving). if you use a credit card they just tap it in a cab.

Aussies don't tip in hair salons, nail salons, massage places, porters who call a cab in a hotel, hotel maid etc.

Have seen some Americans tip tour guides who do take it with a smile, but the Aussies on the tour don't tip

4 hours ago, sleepless said:

I have a question about the Library on the Solstice class ships.  The Library is on decks 10 and 11.  Is there a staircase within the Library to get from one deck to the other while in the Library, or is it necessary to leave the Library and use the aft stairs/elevator to get from one deck of the library to the other?  I was on the Solstice a few years ago, and do not remember seeing a staircase in the Library.  I will be on the Equinox in June of 2019.  Thanks.

 

Just off solstice and there are only books on deck 10 now. the shelves on deck 11 are empty. Also not as many books as previously as so many people read on e-readers and don't leave books on board anymore

18 hours ago, Simple_Travels4578 said:

 

Hi. We just got off the Caribbean Princess for a Christmas/New Year's cruise. So of course there will be more kids on that kind of cruise than a transatlantic in the middle of January, for example.

 

A few years ago, we were attempting to book a cruise on Princess with our child and we were unable. Apparently there are safety rules for the maximum number of kids in certain age groups that can be on board. So there is a limit. But it's probably pretty big.

 

On sea days, there wasn't a cap on kids going to kid's club. But there might be a cap on port day programming. You have to sign them up for that the night before, and there is a limit. There are also limits on certain special activities such as Junior Chef, where they are taken into the Galley and taught how to decorate cakes. (And your kid's creation will be served to you in the MDR that night!)

 

Frankly, most of the kids on this cruise were well behaved and we didn't have any problems. But that's really luck of the draw. It only takes a few to ruin it. It's hard to generalize and say "Yes, it will be fine" or "No, it will be awful".

 

 

there was a limit on the number of kids when we were on golden last October. You had to run up there right when it opened and sign your child up. After a certain number they didn't allow any more in. If you missed out you got priority for the next kids club session, but it was disappointing to miss out when the kids were excited.

I asked onboard last week and they said they don't really have promos for the transpacific and transatlantic crossings. They may offer a tiny discount or a bit of OBC but they never offer the perks as everyone is on the ship for multiple days and will drink they dry... 😉

On 1/1/2019 at 11:20 AM, BNBR said:

You should definitely try celebrity. It's a clearly more refined experience than Royal. Whether you prefer that or not will only come from experiencing it.  I find Celebrity maybe a little too relaxed for my taste. I may not ride the flow riders, but sometimes grabbing a drink and watching others fall off is fun!

 

Celebrity has better food. I love royal, they have good food, but X is a clear step up. Some other things are nice like no checking out towels, real scooped ice cream, etc.  Just little things that make it clear it's an upmarket line. 

 

Celebrity fills a niche and is different than Royal, as it should be.  Give it a shot, based on what you are saying, you may prefer it. 

Do you have to check out towels on Royal? They don't have them around the pool? thanks

I was wondering as well. When it says unlimited internet for 2 does this mean two devices (each person) or is it unlimited wifi with one log in?

thanks

Does the classic package include the bottled water they sell by the gangway when you are getting off the ship?

 

YES it does. They don't usually have Evian down at the gangway, but whatever the other bottled water brand is (it is regional depending on where the ship re-supplied their water!). But the classic includes this

classic packages (alcoholic and non alcoholic) includes "regular" bottled water (whatever brand they have) and you can get club soda either from the machine or a can/bottle (again, whatever brand the ship has based on region generally). Premium includes Evian and Perrier/Pellegrino and the smoothies. The smoothies and fresh blended juices are avail from the aqua spa cafe during opening hours (breakfast and lunch)-- not at all bars/restaurants. Both classic and premium packages include specialty coffees and teas (cappicino, latte, espresso, Iglu blended coffee drinks). Smoothies are $6.00 USD if you pay as you go.

How would you compare-- Princess vs Celebrity vs NCL

We find the food better on Celebrity (breakfast and the buffet in particular). Dinner we find comparable.

We had trouble getting theatre seats on the last Princess ship we were on, which I don't know is normal for Princess or not, but never had that issue on Celebrity.

Live music was better on the last Princess cruise we did

Thank you. We left $10 in cash in Tuscan, but wondered if it was enough. Now I feel I'm in good company.

Since technically the gratuity has been covered in the specialty dining fee, I'm sure anything left (especially in cash) is appreciated by the crew :).

We also remember the names of those who are fabulous and mention them by name and ship location in the mid cruise comment card or end of cruise survey. They appreciate this as well as positive feedback from customers goes toward promotions and pay increases for them.

Does Celebrity offer bottled water pre-purchased and delivered to your cabin? Princess offers this and it was so convenient. I have looked at all the offerings and only see water as part of a drink package.

you can purchase water bottles if not on a drinks package at any bar and then bring them to your room. There are a couple bottles in the room which if you do drink you will be charged for as part of the mini bar.

With 2 adults and 2 kids in a cabin, how many drink packages would be required? Everyone would need to get one? Adults only?

If you have selected a drinks package as an included perk when booking, both adults would need to select the drinks package (ie same perk).

If paying for a package you can both get one or one get one, or one get alcoholic and one non alcoholic etc. Obviously there is no sharing so if all four of you want sodas with dinner you need 4 packages. There is no requirement for all members of a cabin to have purchased packages.

Also, I think Concierge may get slightly superior toiletries and linens? Though this does seen a little hit or miss.

they claim the linen/towels are are superior but we just had the same threadbare tiny towels. . . but there is a pillow menu. And you get shower gel which we didn't have in normal veranda. Not exactly worth booking for...

good start..now they can move on to removing the library and the other wasted spaces above/below that like the game area...put in more pay restaurants on each of those levels....

Well on Solstice during the holidays there were hardly any books at all and a sign saying it was being revamped... didn't see any sign of that or anything changing. Probably getting rid of it as one less thing to keep clean :rolleyes:

No great loss to me. Frankly the entire lawn club needs to be rethought. It's a real waste of space. Maybe they could do an apmed up version of cabanas for rent. I would gladly pay a premium for a little more comfortable and spacious seating with premium service.

The Solstice has the cabana's that can be rented. I didn't see one person actually rent one on my last cruise (and I was up on the lawn a lot)...

I realize this thread is a few months old, but it popped up when I searched for info on babysitting. Thank you so much for posting, this is extremely helpful!

 

Do you (or anyone else) happen to remember what services are available for toddlers in the Fun Factory? I understand there won't be a time where we can leave our daughter there alone (she'll be 15 months when we sail), but are there parent/child play times scheduled?

yes they post hours on a flyer at the door of the fun factory (and you can take a flyer with you). The hours for playing differ depending on port or sea days, but generally we would go for a play in the afternoon. There are toys and you put them in a bucket when finished so they can wash them. mostly plastic stuff, a wooden kitchen, books, etc. sometimes other toddlers with parents would be there and sometimes we were alone

On a south Pacific cruise 3 years ago we found Noumea Duty Free to be the best. Fiji has been devastated so not sure what condition some of the shops would be in, so I would be inclined to check out the Duty Free shopping at Noumea.

What do people tend to stock up on? Is it just alcohol or gifts too?

We only got some obc based on number of nights booked. Fare and perks exactly the same as booking on land...