conifercruiser

Like cflutist, we also did the Midnight Sun & Spitsbergen that just wrapped up last month. We packed VERY light (an under-the-airplane-seat bag and backpack was all I brought for 33 days on the PP plus a week in England & a week back on the QM2). No boots, just normal Saucony trail walking shoes and a Gore-tex waterproof coat. Never felt like I didn't have what I needed - layers are definitely the key.

The shops on the ship didn't sell boots but they did sell lots of coats and sweatshirts.

Thanks for posting the pics, Cheryl! It was great meeting you and Ernie. We really enjoyed the Cruise Critic tea you hosted in your suite - so thoughtful of you! Sadly, on the day of the tea it was really rainy so we all (what was there, over 20 of us?) had to cram inside - but that suite handled us all with no problem!

We just had a basic BE cabin towards the aft on 6 (6076), nothing special but no strange noises or howling from the wind like some people complained of, a nice enough cabin for sure. I know some people had duct tape on their balcony windows for at least half the cruise when we were way up north, and some people just could not get enough heat.

The area that still needs updating big time is the Pacific Lounge - the furniture up there is in dire need of replacement!

Vikki

I'll take a ride over to Red Hook on the new ferry in early June just to test it out (sans luggage), & will report back on the experience.

 

I know the overwhelming majority of cruisers don't want to be dragging luggage onto ferries before or after a cruise. But I've taken NY Waterway ferries between Hoboken or Weehawken and the East 39th St. Manhattan terminal for sailings from the Upper West Side piers on a number of occasions. (I travel light. Well, light-ish.;))

I'll be very interested to read your report in June! We are embarking on the Pacific Princess on June 12, coming from Manhattan/Chelsea area and traveling "light-ish" (one small carry-on bag each). Looks like we could catch the free shuttle on 34th & 6th Ave over to the 34th St ferry terminal, take the East River route to DUMBO, then change to the South Brooklyn ferry to Red Hook. Looks like a bit less walking than taking the subway down to Wall Street and walking over to Pier 11 :confused:

Would be fun just to do it, we loved taking the ferry from Weehawken to Manhattan in the past, much more scenic than a cab!

By any chance were you on the September 2009 TA, otherwise known as the cruise to nowhere? Missed ports due to weather, but had a fabulous time and the Northern Lights were an amazing bonus.

According to our photo mosaic coffee mug (we make one with our best photos after each cruise), we did the trip in 2011. We missed a port in Greenland due to high winds, then the Canada portion got messed up because of Hurricane Irene (I think). I guess it happens a lot!

Anyway, OP, sounds like you have a good shot at crossing the circle & maybe seeing the Northern Lights - Happy Sailing!

When we did a similar westbound TA on the Crown a few years ago, we did cross the Arctic Circle and everyone received a certificate from Princess stating that we had indeed crossed it.

Enjoy your trip! If you go in September, you may actually see the Northern Lights - we did, off our starboard balcony near Greenland :-)

We were in transit on a B2B in Southampton in May & the embarkation that day at Ocean Terminal after noon was horrendous. I don't think anyone heeded the progressive check-in - it was completely packed everywhere (initial check-in, security, then eternal wait upstairs to be called by deck to board the ship). Not sure if they had a problem that day or if it's always like that there. Not many happy cruisers that day. You'd probably walk right on at 3 PM, & as others have said, your hotel could hold your bags. Southampton has a few decent pubs & the mall to kill some time in.

You get the same basic furniture (one padded chair, one small glass-topped table, & one desk chair) as every balcony cabin. And even though the balcony is huge & could easily accommodate 2 or more loungers & a big table like the mini-suites have, they won't put bigger furniture out there because it is only a category BE & not eligible for the better furniture.

We've had Caribe balcony rooms before & really liked R746 better because it's so unique. You will give up closet space, but if you want to feel special I'd go for R746. You can search for R746 on CC, there are photos out there, I will try to post some in a few days when on my laptop where the photos are....

R746 has a huge totally covered balcony & is one of a kind. We loved it - you have a view looking up the whole of the port side of the ship. It is BE category (cheaper than Caribe) & the only cabin with that kind of balcony as it was added after a retrofit.

It's under Cafe Caribe but we never heard any noise from above. The Terrace Pool & buffet are a short trip away up the back steps.

There is a bit more ship motion as it's so high up, & there's no " dressing area" as the entry is horizontal (door opens right into the bed area). The TV is mounted on the wall like on the Royal/Regal & that & the smaller closet area makes the room seem much more open.

We had that cabin for 28 days this spring and LOVED it as we loved the ship motion, padding out to the pool/buffet, openness of the cabin & that huge balcony that made us feel like we were in a big limo!

Club 6 is very quiet during the day & has nice lighting, Horizon Terrace on deck 16 outside of Horizon Court has awesome comfortable wicker furniture if you can snag a seat & it's covered (our favorite spot), & the seating on Promenade Deck 7 outside of Crooners (port) & Facets (starboard) is usually very quiet since it's somewhat hard to find & there's no "Promenade".

By the way the cabin location is great as it's right out the door and up to the aft terrace pool, CC and HC.

We had an aft facing cabin on the same deck on the Diamond a few years ago and loved it, that's why we decided to take a chance on this one. It was great to be able to pad on out to the pool & buffet & not deal with hallways & elevators!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

When is your trip?

We have this cabin booked for 28 days this April/May 2015 for the CB TA/Med. We'll know all the positives and negatives by the end! If you are going after that, I'll update you.

We decided to take a chance on this after checking out a previous thread, which also has a photo of the view from the angled balcony (it is indeed angled as klenklen said and not just a bigger balcony like on Caribe deck).

Check out the previous thread, pretty much covers everything:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2079369

Just curious...

RCCL's C&A loyalty programs have some benefits when cruising Celebrity...

 

Since CCL owns both brands, is my Platinum status carry over, for my next Princess sailing?

 

Thanks!

 

Mike

DH and I are Princess Elite and recently booked our second TA on Cunard for next spring. Cunard asked me to take an online survey and the bulk of the questions centered on how appealing it would be if loyalty benefits on one cruise line would be extended to all the brands of CCL (I said that would be "extremely" appealing!). So perhaps CCL is considering doing this someday - which would be absolutely AWESOME.

Until then, we are "stuck" on Princess. Actually, we really like Princess, never had a reason to look elsewhere yet.