drvalo

If you have your Ship tags on your luggage, you should be able to leave your luggage with the porters and do whatever, as long as porters are accepting luggage. Some of that depends on your check in time or when check in starts for you and/or others. If check in for the cruise does not start until 4:00 in the afternoon, for example, there may not be porters there in the morning. Cabins are usually not ready for you to drop luggage for an hour or two after boarding begins. So, "dropping your luggage on the ship" would probably not be possible. Dropping your luggage with porters might be. If you have a carry on with necessary items, you would need to keep that with you during your "time in port". However, "All aboard" can be a totally different time than when your ship leaves the port. There are all sorts of activities, including muster, that happen, before you set sail. Never, and I mean never, wait until the last minute to board a ship, either in the home port or any port. They may have pulled up the gangway. The ship will not wait for you. 

There is no observation lounge or Spinnaker with a view to the front of the ship. There used to be one on the Dawn and sister ship, Star, but they removed them and turned the space into balcony-less suites. There is no good aft outdoor eating area such as the Great Outdoors you find on other ships. Yes, you can eat by the pool, but there is lots of noise and no nice view. For me, those two short-comings make my cruises on the Dawn less enjoyable than other ships, but I still cruise and have a nice time. 

Also, you just have to own it at some point. You do not have to "hold" it. Buy it, Sell it, rebuy it, don't. Whatever. As long as you own it at some point after you make the reservation, you can get the benefit. 

I found them almost every day recently on the Carnival Paradise. Made me long for the good old days on NCL.  

I got a far forward deck 12 inside on the Epic. Once it was assigned and the prices dropped after final payment, we paid to upgrade to a gty balcony. It was not the BX gty, but like a BC or BD, as they were sold out. We got an aft-ish near the elevators with a covered balcony on deck 9. I think it was less than $100 total to upgrade. Also, because we paid for the upgrade we got the comps that went with the higher level cabin (this as opposed to making a bid).

I agree. This also has changed over the years. I remember in our 1991 cruise they had three types of nights. Formal, semi formal, and smart casual. Everyone dressed accordingly.

 

Honestly, I dislike how casual everyone is nowadays. I think I belonged in the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s. Lol.

 

I belong to a local club that requires all women to wear cocktail dresses and men in full suits. You’re not allowed to enter without appropriate attire. I love that place.

Because of the length of the cruise, many of the cruisers were older and REALLY DRESSED. That said, we did try to clean up when we ate in the MDR on non-formal nights and I was surprised by the degree of casual-ness of some of the other diners. We often eat in the more formal MDR on NCL, so people do tend to dress a bit better there. To me all of the Princess MDR seemed more like the more formal NCL one. Prior to the cruise, I thought we might be the Clampetts cruising on Princess, but clearly that role is held by others, LOL. All that said, we have never starved on a cruise!

Very helpful, thank you. How is the price comparison between the two- generally speaking.

Princess seems to be a bit more expensive in terms of fares. Optional on board expenses seem pretty comparable.

We took this cruise because we could fly to LA and cruise to HI as opposed to the POA cruise around the islands. We enjoy sea days and really hate longish flights, so it worked for us.

But you can often find bargains on both lines, we haven't seen any lately though. :(

Last February we boarded the Princess Star for the 15-day cruise to Hawaii. Prior to this cruise, we had 11 cruises on NCL. We had a pretty good cruise with nice weather both for the crossings and in the islands. Before we cruised on Princess I looked for posts comparing NCL and Princess. I found a few, but most were somewhat older. Rather that provide a review of the cruise, I would like to share a few differences that I found between the two. I realize this is one cruise compared to 11, but there were some real differences even though both lines are very much alike in many ways.

Pre-cruise:

1. I found the Princess website much harder to manage than NCL's even with all of the common problems; starting with finding a cruise. A least one request I had made on the personalizer was not available once on board. NCL, I think, wins here.
   
2. We also bought some CCL stock some months before the cruise. Because of the length of the cruise, we got $250 USD of OBC as share-holder's credit. The process to get this was quick and easy, with no questions asked.

   Princess definitely wins here.

   
   

3. Together with the OBC from booking, what we got from our TA, and this shareholder's credit, all of our excursions were covered, as were one steak dinner, a few soft drinks, and a coffee card, plus we got a few dollars back. Because gratuities were also part of our package, we had no additional expenses on the ship other than what we additionally tipped our steward. The one issue with the OBC pre-cruise was that the OBC is awarded per person rather than per cabin. Since the share-holder's credit was awarded to just one of us, making the reservations for the excursions was more problematic. Again, this is a personalizer issue. I was able to call and have one of us charged for two reservations, but it just made it harder than it needed to be especially because the accounts are combined once on board. On the other hand, NCL does not let you use your OBC to reserve excursions or make reservations until you are on oboard. So, even though there was a glitch, being able to use OBC pre-cruise makes Princess a win.
   

Our cabin: OV deck 5 Piazza

1. We booked our cabin over a year in advance. We had our pick of cabins. The ship had been in drydock a couple of months before we boarded and our cabin, unfortunately, was impacted. About 8 inches was taken up for some conduit. In other words, the room was shrunk. Eight inches is actually a lot in such a small space. In order to have the beds together, one side had to be pushed up against the wall. I complained. Someone from Guest Services came down to see what I was talking about and her words were, "This is a very uncomfortable room." The solution was to move the side table into our closet area so there was some space on either side of the bed for us to slip out sideways. They also offered a meal at the Crown Grill. The one NCL cruise when we had significant issues with our cabin, they apologized and moved us to a better cabin. I am not sure what else Princess could have done, but we did not get what was advertised. NCL wins here for the solution.
   
2. Otherwise, the cabin was OK, if a little bit worn-looking. Both lines have recently upgraded beds. We found the beds on both comfortable. There was enough storage, although I would have liked to have doors on the closet on the Princess. Generally, this is a tie.
   
3. The bathrooms, however are different. Most of the NCL ships have much larger showers. The Princess star shower is much like the one on the NCL Sun, where you soap up and spin around to clean yourself. NCL also has a detachable shower head. I missed that. You also get more and better towels on NCL. NCL wins for showers.
   
4. On the other hand, the bathrooms felt more spacious on Princess, especially the toilet. Too many of the NCL ships, especially the jewel-class ones, have the toilets enclosed with those, for a better description, patio doors. The space is too narrow and too short. Princess wins here for comfort.
   

Food (always subjective):

1. We ate at the buffet, in the ATD MDR, the Horizon Court buffet, the Crown Grill, the Outdoor Grill and the Pizzeria, the Ice cream bar, and the International Café. With the exceptions of the Crown Grill (compared to Cagney's) and the Ice Cream bar soft serve ice cream, we found the food on almost every NCL cruise much better than that on the Star Princess. NCL wins over all.
   

2. On Princess, we had

   
   Anytime Dining (ATD) . NCL Freestyle definitely wins here. .
   

3. The Crown Grill is really a jewel. We ate there twice. The steaks were delicious. The sides were also good. I really liked that salt flavored with Applewood smoke. It actually made the steak taste better. Who knew? Steak restaurant is a Princess win.
   
4. The soft serve ice cream was also creamier and more custard-like than that on NCL. It was not self serve however, and no hand scooped ice cream was available at the ice cream shop. Ice cream is a tie
   
5. The buffet was simply horrible. small, and designed poorly. I had heard people talk about cruise ship buffet food that was inedible, but never believed them until I ate on the Star Princess. The pasta, especially, was just terrible. The food also repeated day after day. There was no carton milk or chocolate milk (DH missed his chocolate milk). Some nights the buffet offered special menus, such as the German food night. That was actually much better but not as good as NCL German night. On formal night there was salmon and shrimp which was nice. A positive thing about Princess was that they servers brought your drinks to the table (as well as your omelet if you ordered one for breakfast). That was nice. NCL has those flavored waters that Princess does not have, however. Buffet is a NCL win by a big margin.
   
6. The MDR room was OK. This is probably where our taste might be different than others. One thing NCL still has is a steak on the always available menu. Princess only has a hamburger. There was no night when we thought we really want to eat here tonight on Princess. We did eat there just to change things up some, and the food we had was good, but our table mates sent dishes back. Breakfast in the MDR was better than the buffet. For us, NCL wins for MDR for us, but it could be a tie for others.
   
7. The International Café was right around the corner from our cabin, so we stopped there often. Also because I got a coffee card, I would stop and get a drink in the evening to take back to our cabin. Much of the food could be found on the buffet, but there was a chicken pineapple salad that was just delicious. There was also a good breakfast yogurt parfait. Still, OSheehan's, the 24-hr restaurant on NCL, is better in our opinion. NCL wins for 24 hr. restaurant.
   
8. Desserts are really a weakness on NCL. Gelatin should not be in cake icing. Princess was a bit better, but really they were not all that special, although a number of the chocolate desserts were good. The cookies are great on both lines. Princess wins for desserts but just barely.
   
9. We don't drink alcohol, so I cannot comment on drinks or bar service, although we did order a few soft drinks and the service was fine. Princess does allow you to bring on your own soft drinks for your cabin, however, and we did. Princess definitely wins here.
   
10. We had never cruised when there was a formal night, so we were a bit unsure what to expect. We did not bring any formalwear. We were not alone. We ate in the buffet for every formal night so as not to impact the dining experience of those who did dress, and we were not alone. The buffet was packed!!! So for dress up or not, NCL wins, although for those who love formal night, I am sure you disagree.
    
11. I want to say something about the coffee card. NCL doesn't have anything like it as far as I know. I liked having it, mostly because I could get brewed coffee at no additional charge right around the corner from our cabin. The $35+ cost for a 15-day cruise was not unreasonable although I think fresh brewed coffee should be included as part of everyone's fare. I would not say it would be a good value for a shorter cruise, however. I can't imagine drinking that much coffee to make it feel worthwhile and, because they expire now, even though I might not use up all the punches on a shorter cruise (I don't need that much sugar), it is unlikely that I would use them on another cruise. I don't cruise often enough.
    

Ship activities and entertainment

1. NCL goes all out for CC meet and greets. Not so on Princess. Not a single officer showed up, even though the events coordinator has said to the group's organizer that some might. In fact, we rarely saw the captain for the whole two weeks. I have no idea who the hotel director was. NCL definitely wins here.
   
2. One thing that Princess really did/does right is the on board enrichment. I think Hawaii may be a bit different both because of the number of sea days, but also because of Eula (the Hawaiian ambassadors). There were numerous presentations about the history of Hawaii given by someone who reminded me of a college history professor; lots of information if a bit dry. There was also a naturalist who talked about animals we might encounter. His enthusiasm was contagious. And Tiki Dave gave port talks which included a wealth of useful information, such as where to go, what to see, and how to get there. There was also a women giving talks about Hollywood. I didn't attend any nor did I watch them on the TV, however. I have never been on an NCL cruise that included this many experts sharing this much information. I felt like a was really prepared for each port. NCL mostly has the shopping guide giving the port talks and they have tended to focus on where to buy your diamonds. Princess had that guy, but his talks were advertised for what they were. Princess definitely wins here.
   
3. Participation enrichment activities included things like lei making, hula lessons and ukulele lessons. I learned to play the ukulele. Again, Princess wins here.
   
4. Cruise staff activities such as trivia, golf, pool games, dance lessons and such were similar on each line. We won a few prizes but we brought them back to the last trivia and gave them away. This is a tie.
   
5. The nightly entertainment was similar on both lines. Some we liked and some we didn't. Entertainment is a tie.
   
6. Related to the nightly entertainment is the theatre experience. While there seemed excessive numbers of steps to get to the theatre, the seat rows had handrails. We have never had handrails on NCL, so this was a huge safety plus. Princess wins for handrails in the theatre.
   
7. We watched a few movies in the theatre and in our cabin. We did not take advantage of MUTS as it was usually too cold, but there were often movies showing during the day. These were usually older ones. I don't cruise to see movies, but Princess wins on movies.
   

Did we enjoy our Star Princess cruise? Absolutely. In fact we bought a Future cruise credit. The on board experience was very similar. There are aspects we liked much better and NCL and aspects we liked better on Princess. So between the two, we would choose based on price and itinerary rather than what's on the ship.

We will be sailing on the Jade for the first time on 12/7. Are there any "secrets" to getting around and enjoying the ship? Also, do the lounges have live music and dancing? Thanks!!!!

The best secret to getting around is if you are on a cabin deck and get turned around, look down. The fish on the carpet are swimming towards to front//forward of the ship.

The Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield Park, NJ, has a great park, stay, cruise package. We parked for 10 days for our Canadian cruise in October. It's about 30 minutes or so away from the port. They provide limo transportation to and from the port included in the price. We thought it was a great savings compared to staying some place else and paying for port parking. The hotel is nice and in a safe area.

Right now NCL has an offer of all 5 free at sea if you book an Oceanview room or higher. Does anyone know how often they do this? I'm too late for this one.

Thanks

I believe it is the only time they have ever done this.

Hi Did you book with the hotel ?Do you have their number.Was wondering if they have handicap transportation for 2 scooters.Thanks for any help

Yes, to handicap transportation. One of the couples who stayed in the hotel when we did had some sort of van pick them up. It may have even had a lift although I am not sure.

We stayed there for our 10-day Canadian cruise in October. For a longer cruise it is definitely cheaper than staying some place else and parking at the dock. The price of the hotel package is the same regardless of how long you park/cruise. They gave us each a bottle of water at check in. There was coffee, tea and water in the lobby all the time. And the breakfast was a pretty good buffet. Our driver showed up at the designated time and the trip to the dock was a little bit less than 30 minutes. There were several couples going to the port at the same time and we each had our own limo. Yes, it was easy and very stress-free.

Upon return, we did the easy walk-off sometime after 7:30 and we were in our car ready to head home by 9:30. For the ride back to the hotel, I called the service number the first driver provided. After I spoke with the service rep, the driver contacted me several times after that to provide updates.

I want to bring a fan that plugs in but had read that they weren't allowing them. We are always hot too. On our last cruise, our room was so warm even with the AC turned down all the way. We slept uncovered most of the night, I need the air circulation. lol

It's not on the list of prohibited items. I think if it is smallish, there should be no problem to bringing it with you. It doesn't heat. I know that on the Jade last month there were lots of announcements about not leaving items plugged in when you were out of your cabin; mostly that seemed to be about charging electronics. We were able to leave our clock plugged in without any issue, however. So, I think if you just unplug it when you are out, you should be fine.

A couple of weeks ago on the Jade we both ordered the $20.00 8 oz. filet and the waiter said we both would get one side. We did not expect a side as our voucher said 1 app/salad/soup, 1 entrée $20 or less, and 1 dessert each. Anything more than that would mean an additional charge. This seems to vary from ship to ship, but perhaps on the Jade the inclusion of a side is interpreted as $20.00 and less. Nevertheless, there is an online FAQ that says we get a side and the voucher and the information on the Latitudes levels page do not seem to include them. No wonder there is confusion and MAYHEM! It is sad to have a naked steak on a plate with no sides though. I hope they clarify this with everyone soon! We did consider dropping by the buffet to pick up some sides to have with our steak. :) But also we were seated by the path from the grill to the waiters' door to Moderno's. I also considered asking a waiter for a slice of pineapple. :) Fortunately we did not starve aboard the Jade. :D

There are all kinds of noises that you will not be used to... ship creakings due to wind and waves to people talking in the hallways to water running somewhere to doors slamming and so on. We have a combination white noise machine and clock. Some have argued with me about how the clock will not keep good time because of the kind of electrical current, but we have never had that issue. We always know the time, the light of the clock provides a little bit of non-intrusive light so we can make it to the bathroom in the otherwise utter darkness, and the white noise drowns out any noise distractions. It's fairly small and totally worth it. If you need a fan, I would say, "bring it"! We put our phones away!!!!

I was just on the Jade and wrote a review. Did you read it? I am happy to answer specific questions.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2558791

Actually, they will not allow you to take any food from O'Sheehan's. I assume that also means drinks. Best to get it at the buffet.

We were on the cruise before you and your review is spot on! So many people had upper respiratory problems and or the flu! We never once heard the captain give any announcements and the cruise director was okay ....his assistant was better! I thought the food in the buffet was good but the main dining room food was just okay. We ate every meal in the specialty restaurants except two. Out of our party of 6 - three got the flu ( we got shots but not enough time elapsed for them to be effective. Anyway, great review and spot on!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks!

Sorry to hear so many in your group got sick. This was the first cruise in years that either I or my husband stayed well.

If handsome Rob was the assistant, I agree, he was better. We also enjoyed Kristianna from Latvia. :)

The MDR food was really meh, I agree, although I did enjoy the two salmon dinners; one hot and one a cold salad. Both were just delicious.

Could you give some more information on your ports, and any shore excursions you took? We are considering this cruise out of NY, or the Dawn out of Boston, so appreciate any advice. Many thanks for your review.

As any cruise to Canada will probably be a year away or so, I am not sure how much help my tour information will be, but I am happy to share.

The Views of Halifax was very informative. We had a great guide. We spent about a third of the time at the Titanic cemetery, but she had lots of info and stories.

The Countryside of Quebec took us to the island and a sugar shack with samples of maple taffy, the Montmorency falls for coffee/tea and pastry, and some other sights with lots about the history and culture. Again, a great guide.

The island tour and Anne of Green Gables took us around PEI and we visited the house that the book is based on. Again, a wonderful guide.

Finally, the Heart of the Island tour took us to the Scottish Highland Village. Spectacular views and a good bit about the history of and current life on the island and Alexander Graham Bell. Again, we had a wonderful guide.

One of the cruises I have planned was re-routed due to the hurricanes. It is getting close to the cruise and one port has no excursions listed, two ports have only one listed and the last one has 28 listed. I am sure I can find something to use my $50 per port credit on for the last port but the others especially the one with no excursions listed it will be not possible. I really am not going to be too upset if that perk is not usable(a lot of the time it goes unused anyway) but was just curious as to how the cruiseline handles things like this. Thanks.

They may just not be posted yet. I realize it is close, but, perhaps, there will be some listed when you get on the ship as well. My experience is that there have always been more excursions listed on the ship than were listed online. Excursions are a big money-maker for NCL. They will have some.

Unless something has changed, you have to call if you have the credit. It won’t be applied until after you take the excursion so they just reserve your spot and payment and credit are sorted out in your onboard account.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Just off the Jade and used the credits. It is just as Sanger727 said. Some of the credits did not show up for a day or two after the excursion, but by the end of the cruise everything was there. So, call the excursion desk to prebook and you will not be charged until you are on your cruise. Also, if you are a latitudes member and get a discount on excursions, you also have to go to the excursion desk on the ship to have that applied. It does not happen automatically even if it shows up on your MyNCL and edocs.

We just returned from a 10-day cruise out of NYC to some of the Canadian Maritimes and Quebec City. We chose this cruise specifically because of the itinerary; which did not disappoint. These were all new ports for us. The Canadian government is requiring ships to cruise at slower speeds to protect the Right whales, so our times in port were greatly reduced, however. On the other hand, we experienced extraordinary weather on this cruise. Whereas typically the weather should have been in the 40s with some rain; we had bright sun and temps in the upper 50s and 60s in the afternoon. It was raining when we arrived in Halifax, but the rain stopped before the first stop on our tour and later on our final day at sea we were really rocking and rolling as we cruised through a storm.Otherwise the weather was near perfect for fall and, with warmer weather, the fall colors were spectacular. In addition to Halifax, we visited Quebec City, Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, and Sydney on Cape Breton Island. We booked all of our excursions through NCL, which worked out well. We had such brief amounts of time in each port that that made the visits stress free and all of our tour guides were excellent. We feel like we got the most out of our short time in each port.

Pre-cruise we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in RidgefieldPark, NJ. They had a good park, stay, cruise package with breakfast and limo transportation to and from the port included. This worked very well and was very economical for NYC. The hotel was nice and the area was safe. We made it to the port in 26 minutes on a Monday morning and our return trip was equally as quick. We waited about 30 or 40 minutes from the time I called the service until they picked us up across the street from the port. We did easy walk off, but not right at 7:30. We were on the road home by 9:30 AM. If you plan to drive to the port of New York and stay the night before, I can recommend this option.

The Port of New York was surprisingly efficient for embarkation and disembarkation. We were dropped off around 10:30 AM, left ourbags with the porters, filled our customs forms and were ushered to the Platinum line. There we were given a yellow group 1 boarding ticket and waited a bit to check in. There was also a separate waiting area for Platinum and higher. We were seated for lunch in the Grand Pacific a little after noon. It could have been sooner, but the restaurant did not open until noon. Disembarkation was the fastest we ever experienced. We exited using the easy walk off soon after we were cleared. The most waiting involved being stopped so the forklifts could pass with the tagged luggage. The other slow-up was because people disembarked before Paquito began calling the “colors” and then they just stood blocking the line when they could see their luggage but could not get to it. Why can’t people follow directions?

The Jade looked beautiful. We had cruised her in January/February on the last NCL cruise before her dry dock. We also stayed in the cabin right next door to the one we were in on the cruise. Both are sideways inside cabins on deck 9. The cabin was mostly the same, but with updated décor. The square table is gone and there is a new TV console including additional electrical outlets (these did not work for us) with a usb port and a much larger TV. We lost a bit of storage and surface area to put things, but it is much easier to move around the bed. Nice additions were the usb ports on the lights by the bed. We brought our multi-outlet extension cord, but never needed to use it. The one change that I absolutely hate was that all of the desk chairs have been removed from the inside and balcony cabins and replaced with low stools. Our wonderful steward was able to bring me one of the old chairs however, so if you, too, miss the chair, ask. The Medusa lounge is now Bliss and looks great. All the orange is gone. Throughout the ship, most of the Hawaiian décor is gone with the exception of some of the art work on the cabin decks and the Grand Pacific. That does seem appropriate, however, as it is still called the Grand Pacific. The Kamehameha statue is gone, however. Another chair issue was the chairs in La Cucina. They were cheap plastic, wobbly, and uncomfortable. We only used the hour of free internet we received as a Platinum benefit, but it worked well enough for what we needed once we were able to get connected. It took a couple of calls to the internet guy to make that happen, but he also combined our two 30 minute benefits so we only needed the one login. That was helpful.

Life on the Jade was challenging at times. This was an unusual cruise as the average age was 67. I saw five children. There were many scooters, walkers, chairs, and canes and the inside spaces were always crowded as it was too cold to spend much time outside. Especially crowded were the trivias and other cruise director staff activities. The early shows were just packed; the later ones not so much. Many, many passengers wanted to eat at 5:30PM. The first sea day we witnessed a near riot when all the early restaurant reservations were gone. I had made a reservation for Cagney’s before boarding and that was there, but there were many people whose reservations were not there. Stefan, the Food and Beverage Manager, took names and promised a phone call to help make arrangements. We never got the call. A couple of days later we walked by the reservations desk and were able to make a reservation for Moderno at an ok time, but still we never got that call. That was just poor service on NCL’s part. I typically give the benefit of the doubt and have always experienced the officers trying to make things as right as they could, so this was surprising to me. I did notice that after the first day, all of the restaurants except for the buffet opened at 5:00 instead of the more typical 5:30. Perhaps this was the way he satisfied those who desired to eat early. I did not hear many complaints after that first sea day. There were also a couple of Noro scares. One of the first early days, there was no self-serve in the buffet. It happened again the last few days of the cruise. One of our excursions was a bit delayed when two passengers did not show up. Later it was determined they had been confined to their cabin. The last sea day there were many dishes left in the cabin hallways. I am not sure if that was because people were forced confined to the cabins or they confined themselves because of motion sickness. There were many sick people because of the rocking and rolling.

There were a number of other service problems we experienced this cruise. First we did not automatically receive the Latitudes discount for our excursions even though we had booked them before we boarded and the discounts were on our MyNCL. Additionally, no one understood what the codes for the On Board Credit meant. What was listed on our account was not the same as what was listed on MyNCL and what was on our edocs. It took a couple of days to determine if we received what we should have received. One of the midship elevators was out of service for most of the cruise and we had an odd water leak in our bathroom.The plumbers did find the problem which was not in our cabin at all and it was repaired. While not really a service problem, but certainly something unusual, the captain was nearly absent on this cruise. He seldom made any announcements and I never saw him around the ship. He did not attend the CC Meet and Greet (that was the first time that ever happened for any M&G I ever attended). I am not sure if he attended the Latitudes reception. I did not see him and he did not speak. Again, I have never cruised when that has happened. I did see him at the crew appreciation part of the Elements show. He was standing at theatre exit on deck 6 as we left but he did not smile or otherwise acknowledge the passengers. He did conduct a Q&A in the atrium one day, but the first thing he said was "no complaints". Again, it was just odd. He did not seem to be enjoying his job.

We ate at the Grand Pacific, Alizar, O’Sheehan’s, Moderno, Cagney’s, and the buffet. The most egregious offense with all of the meals was that for the first week of the cruise there was no butter. There was something masquerading as butter (Butter Delight with 25% less fat), but it was not butter. The last few days of the cruise the butter pats in the little foil packs returned. With the exception of O’Sheehan’s all the food was pretty good for what it was. O’Sheehan’s was a disappointment. I had the beef fajitas one night and, while they tasted ok, this was the first time I ever had anything to eat on NCL that was truly inedible. It was impossible to chew. Breakfast there was just ok. I missed the cold quick bar of fruit and pastry we enjoyed at O’Sheehan’s on the Pearl. The Buffet was much improved since we ate there on our last Jade cruise. In January the options seemed like mostly rice and casseroles, but this time there were many fresh vegetables and better meats. We enjoyed the Mexican night and the German lunch, especially. They also had one of the good coffee bean grinding coffee machines at the beverage station at the back of the buffet and around the corner at the beverage station next to the buffet bar.You can see the beans in the canisters at the top of those machines. Additionally, LaCucina is opened for buffet seating for breakfast and lunch. We always found a quiet table there with a great view. At Alizar we experienced extremely slow service one night. For example it took 40 minutes from the time we received our dessert menus until we received our desserts. This was at a time when there was a line waiting to get in. For other dinners there, the service was at a more reasonable pace. The service at Moderno was also very slow. The Cagney’s service was excellent and our steaks were very good. We used our Latitudes voucher there and the waiter did include one side comped. Desserts continue to be just terrible. The raspberry crème brulee at Cagney's did not seem worth the calories. Didn’t they use to have a more traditional one? I am not sure why NCL has to make so many desserts with a gelatin covering. It is just nasty. There was certainly good food to eat, but if NCL just stopped covering so many desserts with gelatin, all would be so much better.

The entertainment was good. We especially enjoyed Nadeen, the hypnotist. We went to her early and late shows, as well as attended her four workshops. She is just a genuinely kind person. The magician and the acrobats were very good. The ventriloquist was also good. We did not attend Blazing Boots or the Beatles tribute, but we heard both were good. There were the usual midevening game shows. We usually enjoy the various cruise director staff activities on past cruises as they have used signature slips and each person got credit for participation as well as winning. These could be traded in for various better prizes at the end of the cruise. There was no more signature slips and generally the prizes for the winners were drink cozies, key chains, and decks of cards. We left what we won in our cabin when we left the ship. We watched several movies in our cabin – not somethingwe usually do. The larger TV makes that so much better! I do wish they would post showing times somewhere. The schedule is on the entertainment scroll channel, but it is fleeting and you have to watch the scroll for a long time to see it. We watched bits and pieces of “A dog’s purpose” until I think we saw the whole movie. We also watched “The Fate of the Furious”, “Wonder Woman”, and “Guardians of the Galaxy”.

In sum, the ports were wonderful. Service on NCL has suffered recently, but the dry dock made some good and useful upgrades. We enjoyed the food (with the exception of the desserts) and the on board entertainment. And one final note: We still miss being able to bring our own beverages. This has really diminished our cruise enjoyment, but we will likely

cruise again.

Much depends on the time of year. We took the PC cruise on the Pearl (similar to the Jade) for 11 days right before Christmas a couple of years ago and there was always action, although oddly the game shows were not well attended, but the parties were very popular. There was a wide range of ages. I suppose everyone was resting up to dance.

On the Jade last January for 12 days and about the same time as yours is planned, it was a very gray group and, although we fall into that category (barely), we mostly hung around with younger folks and there were many, primarily because we tend to participate in the cruise director staff planned activities. But it did seem that many of the younger PX were from other countries, e.g., Canada, Great Britain, etc. Winter vacations seem to be a big deal in those countries. That said, those younger PX did seem to have an excellent time.

Will there be as much to do as when you were on the Escape? Maybe not. Do they close the bars at 9:00? Absolutely not. The dance band and the DJ play until there are no more dancers, I think.

I would not worry about it. You will have a good time if you make it a good time with good friends, good drinks, good food, some music, and warm days.

Although we have not cruise yet, our 3 for free, shareholder, and TA OBC showed up on our accounts and we spent it already on all our excursions and we still have money left over for a nice meal and some drinks. We have only ever cruised NCL before and with them it did seem that you didn't always get everything. For example, they would not award the shareholder OBC if you had promotional OBC. They would offer a dinner at a specialty and a bottle of wine instead of the shareholder OBC. Princess seems not to do that. Well done, Princess!

We also follow the CCL stock prices and buy and sell it all the time (Since mid summer, we have earned enough to almost pay for half the cruise). Being new to Princess, I did call the shareholder desk number and asked if we should wait until 90 days out and when we needed to own it. The representative said we had to own it "anytime" and not to wait to send in our statement. As with the others, it was posted almost immediately after we sent it in. Again, well done, Princess!