aikensbest

I find the food on Princess to be much better than Hal. Also with more choices in the MDR. I guess if you like early closing of most venues, then I would choose Hal. As to the ships I much prefer the larger Princess ship..been on it twice..with so much more to do and although larger never seemed crowded to me. I found the dining room staff to be much better on Princess and all staff to be more friendly.

The best answer is Quit Drinking!!

I find this thread to be very very funny, for a number of reasons. First of all many of us had pursuits in life (motor homes, children,demanding jobs,seeing the USA,etc.) with no plans to ever cruise. Also the cost of a cruise and the travel to get to a port excluded many of us from cruising. I could go on and on, but the facts of life are that many do not have the time or frankly the inclination to cruise, until later in life. My wife and I have been retired now for many years. We find cruising and exploring other countries wonderful experiences. Can't afford more than one a year, but take one each year. Have enjoyed Alaska, Hawaii, Caribean, and other places many times. Oh, almost forgot...I am one of those "old folks". Soon to be 82 and proud of it. (If you want a totally old, sound asleep group of folks try HAL) We find the folks cruising on Princess overall to be a great group regardless of age.

I have the power to like it or not, and I don't. On formal nights, we ask to be seated with those respecting the dress code and always get a wonderful smile from the maitre'd.:)

good for you...I totally agree

One thing of importance that no one mentioned. On most cruise lines regardless of waiting time to get on the ship, you don't have your cabin ready and waiting for you. Therefore you have to lug your carryon bags all over the ship including to lunch. With Princess when you board your room is ready.

with all the venues to see the canal from the bow or aft of the ship, it makes little difference. If you stay on the ship you will from your stateroom see one side of the ship going and the other returning.

I agree... but my clock starts ticking the time I get on the plane to FLL !

 

As to the adult beverages... what is 'carry on for' ? :D

be careful as to adult beverages (carry on)

OK, but just for rough comparison, if aikensbest had bought the broad-based Vanguard Index 500 Fund 6 years ago instead of CCL, his money would have nearly tripled instead of having returned what his Carnival stock did, which I figure is something like 35 or 40% in total returns. Plus, most of that gain was dependent on his spending money to go cruising so he could get that 800 dollars in OBCs. And now that shareholder OBCs are non-refundable, future OBC returns either go to gratuities or have to be spent while onboard on overpriced excursions, pricey cocktails, or bingo cards to be worth anything at all. If he'd held onto the Vanguard Fund till today, he could have sold enough shares this afternoon (down 1.5% at closing compared to CCL's 5.5% loss) to get $7000 in non-play-money to spend on anything he wanted to anytime he wanted to…and still ended up with the same $3700 in the market he has now.

 

It's not that I regret buying CCL, but I'm certainly glad most of my investments, adjusted for risk, have done considerably better. I know that hindsight is 20/20, but comparatively speaking, maybe CCL was not the best way for aikensbest to have invested that cash?

I have other investments that have provided more and some that have provided less....however I am happy with the return on CCL considering I don't have to sell anything to get the benefits when I cruise, and the value remains.

"So what if we were loud and raucous every night. We spend each night laughing till our tummies hurt (really) and generally being so jovial that we were infectious. Most of the tables around us became louder and looked like they were having as much fun as we were. Laughter was breaking out all over the place. Yes one of our neighbors look like they were suffering being close to our loud and joyous table, and they looked grumpy and bent out of shape much of the time but I suspect this was how they were all of the time, independent of our proximity."

 

Perhaps I'm an old fuddy-duddy, but I think when your behavior is "loud and raucous every night" to the extent it is disturbing one of your neighbors, perhaps it's time to tone it down a bit. I think the behavior you describe was rude and inconsiderate.

I totally agree.

I purchased my 100 shares over 6 years ago at 34.18. Since then 8 cruises at $100 per cruise and the price still around $37 . I sure wouldn't worry about current price...buy when you are ready to spend the $3000. Any stock goes up and down but I think with all the cruising today it is still a darn good deal

Food is always subjective and as much ship to ship as cruise line to cruise line. I really would have to see your itinerary on the 2 cruises to believe the price is "1000's of dollars more" on Princess. Are you comparing same cabins, etc.?

Please, please help! I have looked and looked for hotels with free 14 day park and cruise options. I can find lots of 7 day parking. I want to choose a hotel with good, secure parking and is a nice place to spend the night before the cruise in December 2014. Any help from you all would be most appreciated. I will be driving from the North on I-95 so something easy to reach off of the interstate would be helpful. :)

LaQuinta in Hollywood, fl (actually in Ft. Lauderdale) will keep your vehicle for 14 days at no charge. They have a shuttle to the ship..not free, but inexpensive... The hotel is less than 1/2 mile off I95 and is well kept and clean. We have stayed there once or twice a year for our cruises.Also offers free full breakfast.

Nikon has fixed prices. At least for DSLR's and lenses. Check out Amazon, Adorama, B&H, etc. All the authorized dealers have the same prices. Not sure if this applies to the ships' stores or not.

True but many times from those you listed will also add extra things at no cost..(lens covers,cases, etc.) Actually much better prices than you will find on any of the islands especially Aruba

A business owner who is determined to make a profit on EVERY sale soon goes out of business because customers are turned off by that attitude. Many businesses use loss-leaders to build their customer base.

True, BUT a loss leader is usually a small part of the sale. Not the complete sale. I know. I spent 55 years in the retail business. You don't give the whole store away.

mwlillie - I have no idea if they make money or not. But I don't like them.

Even booking a b2b to make it 9 days does not help much. I do not like coming back to FLL in the middle of my cruise.:(

I totally agree. We love Princess, but this last year went to other lines for 2 cruises to escape taking a b2b.

Hello,

Has anybody done the Americas cup excursion on St Martin and if so can you provide contact information or link. Must this be booked only through Celebrity?

Thanks Jon P

Yes! well worth it.

This is unreal in the age of computers. We use anytime, but on our cruises with Princess folks are informed early on if fixed time dining is full, and they are on a waiting list.

DH is afraid I will become spoiled! He might be right! Never been on the Island before and looking forward to that also. Actually, looking forward to the entire cruise!

We have been in a mini on the Island Princess two times on the partial transit thru the Panama Canal. You will love the Mini...and the Island...The extra space in a mini is well worth the small difference in cost and the Caribe deck is a great choice.

I would suggest when going thru the canal don't spend all the time on you balcony. There are many great areas to watch the passage both near the front and the back of the ship. It is truly a great experience and I think the mini is the finishing touch.

I should add...you will be spoiled and want a mini on your next cruse. My first with Princess was in an inside (on the OLD Regal Princess), but after having a balcony on our next cruise, and then a mini..yep..spoiled ..and happy to be spoiled. 12 cruises on Princess so far and hope for many more.

Priorities. :) I'd rather spend $5 for a drink, get 250 free Internet minutes, save $100+ on unlimited laundry and save 10-20% on my cruise fare and get OBC and perks than get a free drink that I may or may not want.

Well Said Pam. We agree holheartedly!!

Been getting them for a couple of years, at least.

 

Get one about entertainment, Cruise Director and Captain Circle host, and one about Captain and Maitre 'd.

I have never seen this. Do they send it to you via email? I've been on 3 Princess cruises in the last two years and it's news to me.

We have cruised on ..and enjoyed...both lines Neither is way ahead of the other in customer service, food, entertainment, etc.

Being non smokers we enjoy the no smoking atmosphere in the casino on celebrity. However we definitely no not like Celebrity requesting payment for tours in advance of sailing, nor the request for prepayment of tips for anytime dining. Neither is necessary. We also miss the self service laundry on Princess when sailing Celebrity. I think the biggest negative we have with Celebrity, is if you get OBC, or specials offered you can only accept one. Not true with Princess. Princess also offers OBC for military service guaranteed and wonderful internet pkgs after a few cruises.

We have enjoyed the ships on both lines, and it still comes down to itinerary.

There are really no deals anytime.

not sure what you are saying. There are extra minutes if purchased before sailing, and you (as an Elite) get a whole lot of free minutes.

I consider those a deal

RCL also let's you make Anytime Dining and Specialty Dining reservations for the entire cruise in advance and online. On Princess you can't do that. I also find Princess' on board reservation policies vary by ship or sailing.

 

We enjoy our Princess cruises, and continue to sail with them. But, there are two areas I think they really need to improve...1) everything about Anytime Dining, and 2) get interactive TV's for account review, reservations and room service.

Princess newest ships have interactive tv for account review and other on board reservations. However if anyone at anytime prior to cruising could make dining room reservations before even getting on the ship( referring to anytime) it would mean having someone not even on the ship handling it. What a mess that could be

SEC is only carried by certain companies, paying a royalty. According to my list not available on any cruise line

I was just curious, does anyone know if you can get room service for breakfast the morning of debarkation?

not available that day