DonRobertoSanJuan

Does Ketchikan have any rental car agencies, other than at the airport? What would be an interesting (scenic) drive for a half day (morning) in the area? We had booked a crab fishing tour, but DW has second thoughts...:rolleyes:

Thanks everyone. It sure makes me feel better that I am not the only one having problems with inconsiderate passengers on planes. I was starting to feel lonely already. As for taking children on (long) flights, parents seem to forget that THEY are responsible for their children and must keep them from bothering other passengers. The kids are not the problem, the parents are.

I read someone's post about their pet peeve when flying and I thought it might be nice to hear other people's frustrations :eek:

Here are mine: 1 bathroom use, Why do so many people run to the bathrooms as soon as the plane has taken off and keep on going and going and going. Don't they know there are bathrooms at the airport that are much more comfortable and mostly cleaner as well. We always make sure to go just before boarding and seldom need to use that tiny, filthy bathroom on the plane.

2. Parents with young children who let them get out of control and bother other passengers by either screaming or pushing the seats in front of them, or worse...as on my last flight, parents who change their babies diapers in the cabin, instead of the bathroom. Disgusting.:(

3. People who feel that they need to drag all their luggage into the cabin, using all overhead space and holding up the boarding process and de-planing.:mad:

I have seen it with Royal and Celebrity, but does Princess put up a big sale with lower prices after final payment date, when they have a lot of cabins available?

When you ask this question on the Princess board you will usually get folks with a bias towards Princess. Ask the same question on the HAL board you will get a HAL bias :). We are Elite with Princess and 4 Star Mariners with HAL so we obviously enjoy both lines. However, if you are planning on booking a balcony cabin and are not smokers we would strongly recommend any Princess ship over HAL. The reason is simple. HAL is one of the last mass market cruise lines that allows smoking of both cigarettes and cigars on passenger balconies (HAL calls them verandahs).

 

As to smoking "in cabins" HAL (and Princess) do not allow any smoking in cabins. And HAL has pretty much eliminated most indoor smoking except in the casino.

 

Hank

Well. I got 19 replies on the Princess board vs 7 on HAL...so Princess seems more alive:rolleyes: The bias on HAL was 4 somewhat in favor of HAL, 2 without bias and 1 leaving HAL for Princess. Thanks to all.

We are looking at Coral Princess with some cabins being right in the elevator area Would there be noise issues with that location on deck 11?

We are looking to book an Alaska North bound and see similar itineraries for HAL and Princess. Which one would you choose? Also, Princess has 4 ships doing this itinerary, The Star, Grand, Coral and Pacific. Would there be much difference in ship / service quality between these?

We are looking to book an Alaska North bound cruise and see pretty much the same itineraries for HAL and Princess. Which one would you choose? With HAL we have the choice between the Oosterdam and the Zaandam. Is there any difference between them? Appreciate any suggestions.

I have searched many posts, but could not find any about formal nights. We have enjoyed formal nights on Celebrity (very nice) and Royal Caribbean (not so nice). How formal are formal nights on Princess? Do most people dress up? Is the dress code being enforced for MDR dining?

Booking flights can be hit and miss on the price, but not offering a non stop flight when there are several available (for much less) sounds like they are not trying to get you the best options.

I have checked EZAir several times, both for flights to Fort Lauderdale and London. In the case of FLL, they did not even show a non stop flight from San Juan, and their 1 stop flight on JetBlue was double the price of the NON STOP flights I found on JetBlue's website. The same for flights to London, they show very few airline options and prices at least as high and higher than on the airline websites. Royal Caribbean's Choice Air did a much better job, finding low fares and offering fully refundable fares for the price of non ref. Why bother with EZAir???:mad:

I am looking to book a cruise on Caribbean Princess, but as usual the cabin information is vague. What are the better (larger) balcony cabins? Also, in some cabins the beds cannot be put together to make a queen bed. Anyone have experience with those cabins? We appreciate any information.:)

We have cruised with Celebrity (wonderful) and Royal Carib (not so wonderful) and we are now looking, first time with NCL, to book a balcony cabin on the Star. The website only shows a cabin size range and we would appreciate any tips on which cabins and/or balconies are better (larger) and which ones we should avoid. Thanks for the help.:cool:

Just checked the itineraries for Quantum in December and January and was shocked to see how bad these itineraries are: December 1 departure from New Jersey and after 2 sea days arriving at 4 PM in San Juan. What are you going to do after 4 PM in San Juan? The only thing you can do is go shopping until 6 PM. Same for January 11 and January 23 and the only time they stay overnight in San Juan is on 3 Kings day, which is a national holiday and everything is closed. Wow.:mad:

MDR wine list starts on post #637:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1992376&page=32

Thanks Bob, would be lost without your help.:)

I want to find out what wines are offered and at what prices, by the bottle or by the glass. I know this has been a thread before. Can anyone point me in the right direction?:rolleyes:

Others have reported the same problem. No real explanation from Royal. I'd wait and purchase on board.

I called Royal, no explanation just "That is the price" That does not look like a good deal at all at $40 per bottle.:eek:

I was looking to buy a 7 bottle wine package, which showed a price of $195, but when I went to check out it became $275. Even if I add 15% gratuity plus 10% VAT, I still don't get to $275. What is going on?:eek:

Click on The ADD it will take you to The Cruise Planner. Up in the right hand corner is My Calendar it should show there.

Thanks Killtheump, I did not look on the top of that page before.:D

Did you look at My Calendar?

I do not see My Calendar either. I have the Cruise Planner page showing what reservations I made (all with an "Add" button next to them) and Preferences & Requests, all under Overview. The other options are: Messages, Cruise Planner, Cruise Docs, Cruise Details and Tips & Reminders. None of them leading me anywhere. Where do I find my Calendar?:eek:

I made reservations for shore excursions online, but now (3 weeks before boarding) I cannot see any details or cancel my shore excursions. There is only an "add" button. Where do I go to see or cancel my reserved excursions?:eek:

The Royal itinerary graphic shows Liberty going South around Sardinia, but that seems a long way around. I have seen other cruise lines showing graphs in between Sardinia and Corsica. That would be more interesting. What would be the real track?:confused:

If you are a member... Sam's Club has a good wine selection. It would be a short taxi drive to/from the Panam pier. Just tell the taxi driver Sam's Club on the Kenedy. In the old San Juan you can go to Supermax, Walgreens and Puerto Rico Drug. All on Plaza de Armas, opposite Marshalls. Enjoy.

It depends on where you are docked. If you are in the Molo Italia area yes, you can walk if you want as it's about a mile and a quarter, all flat land.

 

There is a bus if you want, with a special 5 Euro all day ticket specifically for cruise passengers, mentioned on the port web site here: http://www.porto.laspezia.it/it/notizie/nuovo-bus-ticket-per-i-crocieristi-con-atc

 

If you are in the military/industrial part of the port (Molo Garibaldi) a cab is probably required those piers can be as much as two and a half miles from the train station.

Thanks euro cruiser. Do you happen to know where Liberty of the Seas might be docking in La Spezia? Or does it change from week to week?

We plan to take the train from La Spezia to Florence in a few weeks. How far is the train station from the cruise port? Can we walk or do we need to take a taxi?