browneyedwoman

I think that would be a very bad idea. Cruises should include food.

I'm enjoying your review. So sorry to read about your Dad. I hope the dialysis helps. I'm sure you missed him on the cruise but it looks like you had a fun time which is easy to do on a Carnival ship. :) Keep the review coming!

This is just another example of Carnival cutting back on services. I really enjoyed the Fun Farewell Party and the Repeat Cruisers Party. I think it's an excuse for them to say that people complained about the restrictions using the drink coupon. The answer to that isn't to eliminate the coupon, the answer is to eliminate the restrictions. We actually didn't find it difficult to use the coupons at all. We used them in the afternoon at the main bar in the rotunda area.

I am enjoying your review. The pictures are gorgeous! When you said that your Mom felt old because of the special muster area, I thought that it sounded like something my parents would say. It's really nice that you were able to spend quality time with your Mom on the cruise. As they get older you never know how much longer they'll be able to get out and about do fun things with you.

The walk sounds like a great idea. I know several people who have had breast cancer. Some have fared better than others. I like the idea of exercising and doing some good at the same time.

It sounds really convenient. I wish they also had a way to check your luggage from your home airport to the ship. I hate dragging luggage but like to pack a lot.

I hope they get them fixed. Some people can't climb steps as an alternative.

We're sailing on her later this summer and I would like to read more about the ship too.

The $20 charge is per person to utilize the service....Princess checking in and getting boarding passes for you, etc. Princess does not charge for luggage but if your airline does, then you will pay for that.

If you don't have to check in at the airline counter at the airport, how do they charge you for the luggage? We'll have three checked pieces of luggage per couple.

I forgot to add that we also look for Christmas ornaments from all our stops. Our tree reminds us of all our vacations over the years.

My parents are going to be with us and I wanted them to get a taste of shopping in the Caribbean. We'll be buying touristy things like T shirts, magnets and mugs, nothing special. I'm sure they'll tire out fast in the heat and want to go back on the ship. I thought lunch and a little shopping would be enough for them.

We would like to have a short lunch and do some local shopping close to the port but I really don't want to shop in the cruise line owned port shops A short cab ride would be fine. I'm not familiar with the area. Does anyone have any recommendations of what area would work?

Not to start a flame war here, but. it also pays for the organizer's cruise. At least that is my experience with group cruises. :cool:

You're probably right. I wasn't the planner on the group cruise I went on so I don't know for sure but I wouldn't be surprised.

If it's in the evening and women are wearing high heels, some avoid stairs for safety reasons.

I read on FB that on the Regal, when one orders a mixed drink, they are being charged an additional separate charge of $.75 for the mixer beverage used to make the drink!!

 

If true, that's really pushing the nickel-ing and dime-ing to a whole new level.

I find that new practice very offensive. It makes you think about just taking your own alcohol along.

Thank you for writing a review. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it since we're going on the ship in July. We're getting excited for the trip.

I've always noticed that these specialty type cruises, be it with sports teams, celebrities, or even groups of musicians such as jazz groups, are always priced at a premium. The premium pricing helps pay for the "luxury/privilege" of sailing with these groups.

The extra price also pays for rooms for group activities, cocktail hours and the rooms and payment for the celebrities.

Thanks for the info. My parents are coming along and they have definite mobility issues. I want to make sure that they have a seat to sit on for the wait in the terminal. I agree that 10 AM is too early. Now I'm wavering between 10:30 AM, 10:45 AM or 11 AM. My ideal would be the situation we had in Baltimore. We were able to walk right up to the check in counter and then sat for about 40 minutes and had an easy entry onto the ship. The lines for our two other cruises were pretty bad.

We are going on a Princess cruise later this summer and we've never used that port before. We arrived between 10 and 10:30 AM before for Carnival cruises in other ports. The car service that I'm looking into thinks 10 AM is too early but will do whatever we decide. We are staying at one of the hotels at the port area.

Will they have a seating area that we can wait in like Baltimore and Miami did? I would like us to get on the ship early. I've read that some people have walked on the ship between 11 to 11:30 AM. What do you all recommend?

Oops. The question was already answered.

I saw this offered in the UK - see below

 

We will have two fantastic offers on 2015 Europe & Alaska cruises at launch.*

• Brand new FREE DRINKS PACKAGE worth $56pp per day – available with Caribbean Princess cruises sailing roundtrip from Southampton

• LOW DEPOSIT of just £99pp on ALL 2015 Europe and Alaska cruises

We were on a land vacation where people from England paid a significantly lower rate than we did. I don't know how they do it.

We're going to do a Segway tour of San Juan when we're there in April.

There are two versions: a two hour tour for $84 and a 45 minute tour for $42. We signed up for the longer tour.

 

We rode Segways in Cozumel and really liked it, so we're going to try it in San Juan. They are really easy to learn to ride.

How did you like the tour? We are looking at this for later this summer. Where do you meet up with the tour? I'm trying to figure out if we can make the early tour or not.

I have not tried the bean bag toss Don, but have watched others enjoy the game. Actually it was pretty fun to watch, the 40 something crowd I watched play had a great time! It's a fun game that involves some skill as does ping pong, shuffleboard, putt putt golf, all of which are available on Princess. I say live and let live, not necessary to castigate someone for a simple question.

Cheers!

Ken

Thank you.

Thanks for the info. We'll have to check this out. Do they have it in Fort Lauderdale?

We've never been on Princess so I don't know their games. The reason I asked about the bean bag toss was that he specifically asked if they would have that on Princess. I told him that if they did, the people on Cruise critic would know.

I try to humor him and play games that he likes. He's in his late 70's and enjoys games more than lying out in the sun. While he's still here and is able to go on a cruise, if he asks to do some activities on the ship, I'll join him. He's played the cornhole bean bag toss at various picnics and on Carnival and had fun. For those of you who don't like certain games, you don't have to play them.

Thanks for the shuffleboard recommendation, but I'm not sure how good his balance would be it. We'll see what the horse race game is like but I really don't like gambling so that may turn be off on it. He would like the pool golf chipping. I don't know what the 60 second game is. I'm sure we'll check out some of the trivia.