Denverite

The Sapphire has only a few mini suites, mainly on Deck 9 with uncovered balconies. The aft mini suites on Deck 8 are coveted because they have covered balconies. Also, they are the lowest category mini suites so are “saved” as guarantees many times. The October 30th Hawaii Tahiti cruise has a few aft minis, at least they did a short time ago if you wanted to see them.

Our driver decided to go though some back streets because of all the traffic. I was prepared for $60. At our hotel I was going to call Lyft to take us to the pier because their desk person said a taxi would take a long time to get there. Paid about $2 extra for priority service and Lyft was there in one minute.

We took Lyft from Courtyard Fisherman’s Wharf to the pier, 1.2 miles, 15 minutes. Cost was about $13. Left our hotel about 10:30. No line to get in, security was fast, elite line to check in was fast and took about 3 minutes to pick up medallions. We were in boarding group 1 and they were already boarding group 2. Very few people in the terminal at this time.

The previous day we took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. It was Sunday and the traffic around Pier 39 was bumper to bumper. Taxi was about $70.

Thank you @FlorenceItaly. That is exactly the information I needed.

We haven’t cruised on HAL for many years. We are very familiar with accessing flights through Princess. When can you actually see what flights are available? Do you have to book the cruise first before seeing flights? We are looking at a last minute cruise where the final payment date has passed. Would we have to pay for the cruise before seeing available flights? Thank you.

Did both ruins in January. I wore crops and tennis shoes. My husband wore shorts. I see no need for long pants. There is not a lot of climbing around. There are steps for both ruins and not everyone climbed the steps. The steps can be a bit slippery and are uneven and steep. That is just my experience and others may have different views.

We have been elite for some time. Our previous cruises this year showed elite status on the medallion app. However, our July cruise shows "blue" medallion on the ocean medallion app as if we had never cruised. The blue medallion is the tiny one next to the photo. I contacted ocean medallion help desk both by email and phone and they said it would be "elevated" as they could not fix it. I only need it fixed so I can purchase wifi at the elite discounted price. If all else fails I will order wifi at the regular price and get OBC for the 50% off once we are onboard. Just another glitch in their system! Our medallion order form does show black medallions.

1 hour ago, HleeCruiser said:

I have seen reports that the pricing for the internet for Elite level passengers is available at a net price of 50% off.  But when I access the app the price is at full amount of $10 per day not the discounted price of $5.00.  How do I access the Elite discounted price?  Thanks

I have the same problem. Seems the app is recognizing me as a new cruiser with blue banner above the QR code and tiny blue medallion next to photo on the app. It should be black. I have used the Princess chat function twice to no avail and called the ocean medallion help line. They had no clue. Said it would be escalated to supervisor. We leave in 45 days. If no luck we will just purchase at regular rate and get OBC for the reduced rate. Good luck!

1 hour ago, Priszm said:

Are you able to share what was said? 

Here is what someone from Quebec wrote to my request:

”All the information is on the site, which indeed doesn’t say much. The program should come out by the end of spring or early July, but it is the first post-COVID edition so you know how things can be. On a normal edition, there are free activities and paying ones on designated sites. You need to buy a medallion - $15 maybe - to access the paid sites. The streets are indeed packed, but they usually are in QC in the summer. The Hop On Hop Off avoids the pedestrian streets, but know that Old Quebec is pretty compact (about a square mile) so it is pretty walkable. If you don’t feel like climbing the steps between Lower and Upper Town, there’s the funicular (I think it’s $4 now).”

Thank you @riffatsea. I did get a response from someone from Quebec on Trip Advisor.

The Quebec New France Festival is August 4-7, 2022. We will be in Quebec the afternoon of the 4th, all day the 5th, and leave the 6th. I can't find much information on this festival. Is there a program somewhere? Is the "admission fee" just for the shows? Are the main "vendors" near Place Royale? I am just wondering how crowded the city might be. We were planning on taking the Hop On bus or a short bus tour around the city the afternoon of the 4th and perhaps go to Montmorency Falls on the 5th. I am rethinking any bus tours around the city and may be better just to walk around. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you @hallasm.

We have a 6:25am flight out of Copenhagen to Frankfurt/Denver on April 24th. We have been to Copenhagen a few times so it is not necessary that we stay in the touristy areas. We want to stay near the airport for convenience the next morning. We can always take the metro if we want to go anywhere once we are at the hotel. The closest hotel I have found is the Clarion Hotel which states they are about a 2 minute walk from Terminal 3. Rate is reasonable at about $180 US. Has anyone stayed here or any other ideas?  Thank you.

7 hours ago, MNcruisingcouple said:

 

Nice comparison of the two lines.  We've primarily cruised NCL but are considering trying other lines, so this is very helpful information.  

We enjoy listening to music in the evenings.  Does Princess have much of that available and what types of music?

I am not sure how things have changed post Covid. I will know more after our January cruise on Sky Princess. Usually Princess has music nightly in the atrium. The atrium was used in the morning for exercise/dance classes. In the early evening there might be a string quartet or piano. Later music to dance to. The Vista Lounge in the back has various entertainment. The Sky Princess has Take 5 which has live jazz. It just depends upon which ship you are on. Movies under the Stars is great. Popcorn and cookies and milk served and blankets available if cold. Again, I don’t know if some of these activities have been changed because of social distancing.

NCL vs Princess

We are seasoned cruisers – 22 cruises with Princess, 2 with HAL and our first with NCL. We were on the Norwegian Breakway NYC to New Orleans. We chose this cruise strictly for the itinerary.

Cabin:

We were in a club balcony. Hands down, NCL has a huge bathroom with double sinks and a very large shower and is far superior to Princess. The cabin itself seemed smaller than deluxe balcony or mini-suite on Princess and I did not like the placement of the closet. Princess wins on cabin. Balcony size similar on both.

Dining:

We dined at Cagneys, Ocean Blue, Le Bistro and La Cucina. Food at Ocean Blue and Le Bistro was excellent. Cagneys was okay, but we didn’t particularly care for La Cucina. Just as a comparison, we don’t care for Sabatini’s on Princess (similar to La Cucina). We loved O’Sheehans for lunch and thought the food was very good. The buffet was hit or miss, some items cold. I haven’t been on Princess post-Covid so not sure how the buffet now on Princess would compare. Pre-covid we liked all the choices at the Princess buffet. We ate in the dining room (Taste) several nights and was similar to Princess. There was one section of the dining room where the service was very slow. I would rate dining room food similar on both lines. We really like the International Café on Princess and there was not a comparable on NCL.

Beverage Package:

We opted not to take the beverage package on NCL because it did not include water or specialty coffee. Princess package does include both water and specialty coffees and teas. We did prepay for a water package ($20+) on NCL while Princess offers 12 bottles of water for $7.08.

Atrium:

Princess atriums are much lighter and more inviting than NCL. I did like the big screen for Trivia on NCL but other than that, we didn’t spend much time in the atrium area.

Staff:

We had an amazing cabin steward and all the stewards along the hallway were very friendly. We have found this, for the most part, to be true on Princess. We had no issues during the cruise so did not have to utilize other administrative staff.

OBC:

I was amazed that NCL refunds in cash any remaining refundable credit at the end of the cruise. With Princess, they will send you a check in 4 weeks or so after the cruise. Princess only refunds in cash if you have $25 or less. I liked this aspect of NCL’s policy.

Entertainment:

We saw the main shows in the theater and thought they were excellent. The sound was way too loud, but I find this true on all cruises. I take ear plugs and can still hear very well. The “Bamboozled” was a puzzle where you tried in groups to unlock a box given certain clues. I thought this was very confusing and would not do this again. I think most people found the lack of direction confusing and very few people actually solved the puzzle. We went to a couple of comedians and they were good. I liked that they were in a smaller venue than a big theater. Trivia was well attended and loved the big screen to see the questions. Comparison to Princess: We have pretty much seen all the production shows on Princess and they are good as long as the singers/dancers are good. I like the Movies Under the Stars on Princess and the movies on demand in your stateroom. I might give a slight edge to NCL on the production shows.

Excursions:

Normally we book private excursions. However, in these Covid times, we decided to go with ship excursions. We had $50 off one excursion for each port. In comparison, I found the excursions to be more costly than Princess and fewer selections – but this might be because of Covid precautions. I would give a slight edge to Princess because of cost and selection. We get 10% off each excursion with Princess.

Overall ship:

The rope course and water slides were very seldom used. Perhaps this is because there were no children on the cruise. I don’t need water slides/rope courses/go karts etc. on a cruise so I prefer Princess that better utilizes space without these amenities. This is only my opinion and I am sure families and other cruisers enjoy this.

The ship itself seemed darker and not as open and airy as Princess ships. The jogging track was smaller than Princess although it was sufficient for walking – you just had to go around more times! The gym was smaller and again darker. Princess has large gyms with equipment facing the large windows. Because the ship was only about 50% full, there was no problem finding chairs by the pool. However, if the ship were full, I can see where chairs in the shade would be at a premium. There seemed to be a lot of chairs available in the sun.

Elevators were very seldom full and were very prompt, probably because the ship was not at full capacity. Walking the stairs, I seldom saw anyone else.

Overall, I probably would not book a cruise on this ship if it were at full capacity. Would I sail on NCL again? Possibly if the itinerary was one that Princess did not offer. If itineraries were similar and cost was similar I would probably stay with Princess.

NCL vs Princess

We are seasoned cruisers – 22 cruises with Princess, 2 with HAL and our first with NCL. We were on the Norwegian Breakway NYC to New Orleans. We chose this cruise strictly for the itinerary.

Cabin:

We were in a club balcony. Hands down, NCL has a huge bathroom with double sinks and a very large shower and is far superior to Princess. The cabin itself seemed smaller than deluxe balcony or mini-suite on Princess and I did not like the placement of the closet. Princess wins on cabin. Balcony size similar on both.

Dining:

We dined at Cagneys, Ocean Blue, Le Bistro and La Cucina. Food at Ocean Blue and Le Bistro was excellent. Cagneys was okay, but we didn’t particularly care for La Cucina. Just as a comparison, we don’t care for Sabatini’s on Princess (similar to La Cucina). We loved O’Sheehans for lunch and thought the food was very good. The buffet was hit or miss, some items cold. I haven’t been on Princess post-Covid so not sure how the buffet now on Princess would compare. Pre-covid we liked all the choices at the Princess buffet. We ate in the dining room (Taste) several nights and was similar to Princess. There was one section of the dining room where the service was very slow. I would rate dining room food similar on both lines. We really like the International Café on Princess and there was not a comparable on NCL.

Beverage Package:

We opted not to take the beverage package on NCL because it did not include water or specialty coffee. Princess package does include both water and specialty coffees and teas. We did prepay for a water package ($20+) on NCL while Princess offers 12 bottles of water for $7.08.

Atrium:

Princess atriums are much lighter and more inviting than NCL. I did like the big screen for Trivia on NCL but other than that, we didn’t spend much time in the atrium area.

Staff:

We had an amazing cabin steward and all the stewards along the hallway were very friendly. We have found this, for the most part, to be true on Princess. We had no issues during the cruise so did not have to utilize other administrative staff.

OBC:

I was amazed that NCL refunds in cash any remaining refundable credit at the end of the cruise. With Princess, they will send you a check in 4 weeks or so after the cruise. Princess only refunds in cash if you have $25 or less. I liked this aspect of NCL’s policy.

Entertainment:

We saw the main shows in the theater and thought they were excellent. The sound was way too loud, but I find this true on all cruises. I take ear plugs and can still hear very well. The “Bamboozled” was a puzzle where you tried in groups to unlock a box given certain clues. I thought this was very confusing and would not do this again. I think most people found the lack of direction confusing and very few people actually solved the puzzle. We went to a couple of comedians and they were good. I liked that they were in a smaller venue than a big theater. Trivia was well attended and loved the big screen to see the questions. Comparison to Princess: We have pretty much seen all the production shows on Princess and they are good as long as the singers/dancers are good. I like the Movies Under the Stars on Princess and the movies on demand in your stateroom. I might give a slight edge to NCL on the production shows.

Excursions:

Normally we book private excursions. However, in these Covid times, we decided to go with ship excursions. We had $50 off one excursion for each port. In comparison, I found the excursions to be more costly than Princess and fewer selections – but this might be because of Covid precautions. I would give a slight edge to Princess because of cost and selection. We get 10% off each excursion with Princess.

Overall ship:

The rope course and water slides were very seldom used. Perhaps this is because there were no children on the cruise. I don’t need water slides/rope courses/go karts etc. on a cruise so I prefer Princess that better utilizes space without these amenities. This is only my opinion and I am sure families and other cruisers enjoy this.

The ship itself seemed darker and not as open and airy as Princess ships. The jogging track was smaller than Princess although it was sufficient for walking – you just had to go around more times! The gym was smaller and again darker. Princess has large gyms with equipment facing the large windows. Because the ship was only about 50% full, there was no problem finding chairs by the pool. However, if the ship were full, I can see where chairs in the shade would be at a premium. There seemed to be a lot of chairs available in the sun.

Elevators were very seldom full and were very prompt, probably because the ship was not at full capacity. Walking the stairs, I seldom saw anyone else.

Overall, I probably would not book a cruise on this ship if it were at full capacity. Would I sail on NCL again? Possibly if the itinerary was one that Princess did not offer. If itineraries were similar and cost was similar I would probably stay with Princess.

We just returned from Aarhus. We were there on the Regal Princess on Sunday, April 28, 2019. The Regal Princess docked at the container port and provided a free shuttle from the ship to a tented area outside the container port. There were people there with maps and helpful information on how to walk to Den Gamle By (just follow the canal they said). We had walked a lot on our previous two stops so decided to go the easy way and take a taxi. There were only a couple of taxis there and most people were walking instead. Our cost was about the equivalent of $20US (used credit card) one-way. The driver gave us his card and said to call him if we needed a taxi back as there will not be taxis waiting there. We spent a couple of hours there, called him, and he was there in 2 minutes. He said he had not been very busy since most places are very walkable. We had him drop us off at the beginning of the pedestrian street (again about $20US). He pointed out how to walk back to the ship. There were tourist people standing around in orange vests answering questions. They told us to be sure to go to the Salling Dept. Store and take the elevator to the top floor (floor 6). Outside there is a platform where you can see over Aarhus and take great pictures. They also have a small restaurant/bar there. Again used credit card for small lunch and coffee (charcuterie board). We walked around the downtown area (many shops were open even though it was Sunday). We didn't have time to go to any of the museums but enjoyed our time there. Just a note: we were told that if you use the local buses you do need to have the local currency. Otherwise we found it very easy to use our credit card (chip but  not pin) for everything. The tented area where the buses take you back to the ship had a few vendors selling items and prices were listed in DKK and Euros.

We were on the Crown TA in November. There was a flyer in the kiosk by the Future Cruise Consultant offering "double spending money" if you booked on board. You had to really read the flyer. It was entitled "Exclusive onboard offer". If you booked 11-16 days, the OBC of $100 pp for balcony, mini-suite or suite was doubled to $200pp. It is the first time I have seen this offer and we took advantage of it. Not all cruises were included, only those listed in the flyer but it did include a variety of TAs, Baltics, Northern Europe, British Isles, Med, Hawaii. This was in addition to the 3-For-Free promotion running at the time.

We are basically doing a similar plan from Cadiz. We are going to Arcos de la Frontera, the Royal School Equestrian (for the horse training), and for wine and tapas after. I found a taxi driver on trip advisor that comes highly recommended. Carlos has prebooked our tickets for the horse training so we are assured to get in. His taxi will only hold 4 people. His web site is tours from cadiz. If you are unable to locate it, send me an email and I will provide contact information. FSusman at comcast dot net.

I had a different experience with British Air. I booked through Princess Air because the price was much cheaper for one-way (Denver through LHR to BCN). I booked premium economy (World Traveller Plus) and was able to select seats as soon as I booked, no extra charge. The flights are not until October so seat selection may change, but as of today the assigned seats are still on the BA site. If BA changes seats or un-assigns seats, no problem as at least we have premium economy. We have 3 hours in LHR to transfer to the BCN flight, and even if delayed, BA has more flights that evening, and we always fly in a day early for the cruise.

We just did this tour in November. Probably one of my favorite things to do. The Segways were very easy to ride and we went up hills and on the sand. We did a 3 hour tour and stopped for rest stops. They provide water and fruit. Their office is right on a beach so you can spend some time at the beach after the tour. They will arrange for a taxi to pick you up at whatever time you decide. Although the leader does have a loudspeaker type thing, if you are at the rear of the line, you probably won't hear what he/she is saying. We didn't really care as the ride was so much fun. Highly recommend this as an alternate to spending the day at the beach.

Thank you all for your responses. Trucker Dave: We do fly United a lot and have lots of saved miles. I did a dummy booking on United for award tickets and I can get a 7:50am flight from Heathrow to Chicago with either a 1 hr 45 min layover or a 4 hr layover and then on to Denver. Their new pricing structure shows I can do Economy Plus Essentials (which is economy plus seating plus an extra bag which we don't need) and the total for two tickets is $927.72 plus 60,000 miles. The breakdown is about $166pp for fees and $298pp for E+. They also have a more expensive option where you get access to their premier lounge (I already have two passes) and a couple other goodies but the price outweighs the extra cost. This flight has a seating of 2/4/2 and United shows plenty of economy seats. I like the fact that you can actually view their seating chart, even though it may change if the plane changes from a 767-300.

My problem with both BA and Lufthansa is that you can't see what seats are available until you book, although the plane configurations are 2/4/2. The price for BA is $853.14 per ticket, or $1,706.28 for economy plus, plus whatever they charge for a seat assignment prior to check-in.

I think I have omitted Lufthansa because it is about $200 more expensive and I will probably go with the United mileage award tickets. I am willing to pay a bit more for more comfort, but looks like I might or might not get it with BA, although I like the nonstop.

Interesting to see the new United pricing structure.

Currently looking at one-way air from London to Denver on April 21, 2017 through Princess EZ Air. Because it is one-way, it is much cheaper to book through cruise line.

British Airways nonstop London to Denver in Premium Economy on 747 (I think this is one of the 747s that has not upgraded Premium Economy, but not sure)

OR

Lufthansa, London to Munich (1 1/2 hr time to transfer) and Munich to Denver on A330-300, Premium Economy.

The Lufthansa flight is slightly more expensive but I don't think you have to pay to get seat assignment early. On BA I believe you have to pay or wait until 23 hours in advance to get seat assignment.

I have flown Lufthansa before and know the quality of service but have not flown with BA. You would think that the nonstop is a no-brainer but I have read some reviews of the older 747s and am undecided.

Advice?

We toured with Liam with this company and had a wonderful day. Liam got us to Blarney Castle before the crowds and we had no wait to climb up and kiss the Blarney Stone. Loved our tour of Cork and lunch. My review is on Trip Advisor. Highly recommend this company.

Hi Linda and Frank:

Great review! We enjoyed sharing tours with you.

Just a couple of comments on our experience:

(1) Lisbon: Since this was a last minute change, I used some internet minutes and found a guide recommended on trip advisor. I e-mailed him on Sunday (a holiday too), and he responded right back that he was available. He had room for 4 of us in his Audi and we had a great tour of Lisbon. In fact, we were probably the last few people back on the ship. We used Fabio of Yellow Taxi TT Tours. We saw a lot of Lisbon from 8:00 to 3:30, including sampling the famous pastries in Belem, sampling sangria and vinho verde and bruschetta, and ending with port wine and cod fish. There was a very long line at 3:00 to get back on the ship so Fabio suggested we go around the corner to have wine. When we returned to get on the ship, there were only a couple of people in line, but then again it was 3:35 and all aboard was 3:30. Loved Lisbon - would go back in a heartbeat.

(2) Cartagena: I was not very impressed with this place. I did walk a lot and saw the Roman Theater Museum, Roman Forum, House of Fortune, and took the lift up to the Castillo de la Concepcion. Don't waste your money on the Roman Forum. I didn't find it that interesting. I did enjoy the House of Fortune, even though it was very small.

(3) Disembarkation: We decided to do the walk-off on our own. We left the ship at 7:15am and there was somewhat of a line to get through passport control. Once through, there were plenty of taxis waiting outside. There is now a flat charge of 39 Euros to the airport (this includes all fees or tariffs). Quickly through the Barcelona airport and plenty of time to catch our 10:50am flight. Newark Airport was another story. It took us about an hour and 45 minutes to go through customs, get our luggage and re-check and go through security. Luckily we did not have to change terminals. I had allowed 2-1/2 hours between flights so we were not rushed, but again if changing terminals it would have been more hectic. By the way, if you have Global Entry, there was no line at Newark so you would have breezed through.