DrJohn999

Hi All! Posting for the first time in a while. We had a bit of snow here West of Portland, OR, but now it’s melting away with temps in the 40’s and sunshine today. Dreaming of a cruise but will wait until issues like vaccinations, available destinations, etc. are resolved.

Well, then we could reverse it and use up these cards while not getting a new coffee subscription until the cruise after the next one. Not too hard to be limited to six gratis on-board coffees on this one — we will be cruising up the Alaskan coast. Pretty sure there are some dynamite coffee shops along the way!

We have two left-over "real" cardboard coffee cards with six punches left total. Both cards state the punches can be used on future cruises, no time limit given. For those who haven't seen the old Coffee Cards:

(Note that sometimes the staff must have lost the punch, so they crossed the spots off with a pen!)

This one was left over from a 15-day (I think) Panama cruise. It was the second one; we wiped out the first one in about eight days, I think. The other card is labelled "Café Selects". We forgot to bring it along last time; I don't know how old it is, but it predates the "New Grounds" ones.

So, for the next cruise we will buy one coffee "card" of the electronic variety and use up its punches first, then dip into the physical punches on the "real" cards if necessary. Might not be needed on this upcoming 7-day trip. Brewed coffee isn't so much of an issue for us -- we take breakfast in the MDR as often as we can, and the coffee served there is quite decent! I also enjoy breakfast with a view from the buffets, but then I would maybe get a brewed coffee afterward in the IC.

34 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Best way to do this is to use the "report post" link in the upper right of the first post on one of the threads (better to be the one with the date formatted correctly) to ask that the two be merged.  Be sure to post a link to the "other" thread in the request.

 

 

Thanks, I just did that — will see what happens.

I searched manually a few days ago and found a roll call for Star Princess, May 26, 2019, here: 

. Then today I found another roll call here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/star-princess-may-26-2019/  through the roll call finder. Would you please move the posts from one to the other so there's just a single roll call?

Thanks!

DrJohn999

On Royal Princess on a Baltic cruise summer 2015 I ran a 5K around the jogging track while docked in port at Helsinki. Thought you might enjoy the GPS track of it:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/embed/816885170

Somehow the run max - min altitude was 174 ft... the tide?? :D. I also ran 10K on the track at sea but didn't bother with the GPS.

Anyway, that was a lot of times around the track, about 65 laps total at 7 per mile! The best part was the expressions on the faces of those sitting below at the stern in the smoking area: ranged from guilty to jealous to disbelief to disdain.

I've sailed Ruby too, and the jogging "track" is much shorter than Royal's. I agree its better to take the promenade around as long as you're not going so fast as to be a hazard to the walkers. Same problem on the track but at least on Royal there were marked lanes.

Next cruise is on Island Princess; no track and the Promenade has been cut off at the stern to make room for those extra cabins, so I will be on the treadmill for a half-hour or so on average per day or, even better, running through some of the ports.

don't care too much about the parmesan basket, but what about just plain fettuccine Alfredo?

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How did you find the Princess staff, or the right bus, at Victoria Coach Station? On the phone, they just said meeting time is 10am.

She was just giving the address of the station, but not where in the building to find the staff or the bus. Thanks.

Victoria (Rail) Station is indeed large. The buses leave from Victoria Coach Station, which is adjacent to (across the street from) the south end of the rail station, and not so very large. Google shows this well. We stayed in London for 3 days pre-cruise, in a nice walk-up B&B hotel (Georgian House on St. Georges' Drive) just three blocks from the Coach Station. It's a good location due to the proximity to Victoria, with many restaurants, nice area for walks, and of course taxis, buses, and the tube easy accessible.

There was perhaps one actual Princess staff at the Coach Station, who directed us in the general direction of the coach gate for our bus. There, we found a number of contracted persons (i.e. not Princess staff) with lists from different cruise companies as well, and thus the confusion began.

The system to get persons on their buses consisted of calling out the bus time and gate number, but upon going outside there were quite a few possibilities for which bus to board. We paid attention, asked which, and had no problems, but as I said one woman going on another line's cruise managed to get on our bus and nearly left the station before it was discovered that there were one too many pax on the ride!

Both bus rides themselves were excellent. We sat close to the front on the way to Southampton and enjoyed the driver's commentary and answers to some of his passengers' questions. Embarkation was flawless in Southampton, for us through the Platinum queue. In our cabin probably less than 1/2 hour after exiting the bus.

Took Princess transfers from Victoria (London) to Southampton on the front side of a Baltic cruise last summer and Southampton to LHR on the back side. There were some serious organizational problems at the Victoria Coach Station, like one woman booked on another cruise line getting on our bus only to find out the mistake upon a headcount -- no signs on the buses to indicate which cruise.

But in wonderful contrast the trip up to LHR went flawlessly and we arrived in plenty of time, too much really, for our flight.

I would book the same transfers if I were to do it again.

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Zip lining in Dominica!

Wondering what destination-themed dining have you experienced on Princess, like Chicken Kiev or borscht on the way to/from St. Petersburg, or a luau on a Hawaiian cruise? I fondly remember the seafood bar one evening somewhere near Tracy Arm. And of course there's always the Baked Alaska, which I somehow missed on that same Alaska trip. :D

Princess newbie but from what I have read:

 

….I am thinking of booking the Sanctuary (lounger) for a sea day do I go straight there after embarking and try to make the reservation?….

 

Thanks, Donna x

I was on Royal in Dec. 2013 E. Caribbean, and my recollection is the Sanctuary was taking reservations only for full-cruise reserved spots on embarkation day. They limit the number of these and hold aside some for single full- or half-day reservations that are available starting at about 7:00 AM the day-of, whether in-port or at-sea.

So, if you want to have a reserved spot or two in the Sanctuary for the entire cruise then yes, rush directly there upon boarding and get in line. Otherwise, show up early the day of and get in line.

Bear in mind that it can get quite windy in the Sanctuary when underway (the crew try to make sure you have enough blankets so can be a good nap), and you will be in the Baltics so the weather can be somewhat cool. I think I will play it day-by-day for my upcoming Baltic cruise on Royal this June.

John

Hi Victoria,

We were on the same cruise! I don't remember seeing you but I was one of the others with a new D7100 slung around my neck. I brought my D600 flash along and had a little fun looking like one of the crew photogs taking candids.

Remember sail away from St. Maarten? Royal was delayed slightly, despite blasting out the Loveboat theme, to make way for RC Allure's departure. I took this photo from my balcony.

Heading out on Royal again next month and looking forward to more photo-ops and cruise adventures.

Thanks for the excellent review of the Christmas cruise; makes me want to book another this year.

If you have one big camera per person I don't think they would check your bags for cell phones and tablets as well. But as far as I understand you can not use professional equipment in the museums even if you have a permit. So for instance you can not use a tripod. Also even with a permit there are certain rooms in the museums where you can not take pictures at all, like the Amber room in Catherine's palace for instance.

Yes, in museum situations you must rely on a fast stabilized lens. What I'm really getting at is whether anyone has had / seen trouble when using both a camera and a cell phone in SPb museums / sites.

Another potential issue comes to mind: what about shooting video? Everything we will bring, cameras and cellphones, also shoots video. Really, how could they tell what was being recorded, but I wonder if that is possibly an issue?

Thanks!

We are planning one of the 2-day group tours in St. Petersburg. We are both decent amateur photographers and will bring some "real" cameras. But of course lots of people just use a cell phone or tablet. A permit / sticker for photography is included with each museum ticket where needed. Does this mean that each of us can use only a single camera? Or are we permitted to use both our cameras plus our cell phones? If not, are we permitted to bring both into the museum and just use the one, or will we need to check the cell phones at the entrance. Or just mute them and keep in pockets? :D

I've gotten upgraded from, for example, BE to BB but never from one class to the next like balcony to mini-suite. After a few cruises I started to book the cabin I want since the differences between the various in-class options are small compared to my preferences for certain areas. Plus I usually tend to wait until Princess puts cabins on sale a couple of months out (my business travel makes it impossible to book very early), and I almost always book through their website.

The option to upgrade is the default on the website; I had to choose a specific cabin to not ask for an upgrade the past couple of times. The rest of the options are pretty well spelled out, but getting it right the first time does require some previous familiarity with the site — I agree it could use a makeover.

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Thanks. I just did that and didn't see anything at all about progressive boarding. Wonder why some got it and some didn't? Anyway, I'm happy to go whenever they want me to. There will be eight ships in port that day, including the Allure and the Royal, so we'll be sure to bring our patience along!

We are on Royal for the Christmas cruise. Just downloaded and printed the Travel Summary from MyPrincess: Under Important Notices I found,

PROGRESSIVE CRUISE CHECK-IN INFORMATION

Embarkation for your cruise is from 12:30 pm until 3:00 pm. As many of our

guests are enthusiastic to join the ship, you may experience delays and longer

lines when trying to board before your scheduled time. For those passengers

with flexibility, the closer you arrive to your scheduled time, the shorter

your wait is likely to be. All those who arrive by 3:00 pm will be accommodated

and will not miss the ship. Passengers with a Preferred Boarding Pass,

transfer, and/or part of a group may check-in anytime during embarkation. Once

onboard enjoy a meal at the Horizon Court, which remains open throughout the

day to serve you. We look forward to welcoming you onboard.

12:30pm - Caribe & Riviera Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with C & R

1:00pm - Baja & Marina & Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with B & M &

1:30pm - Dolphin & Emerald Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with D & E

2:00pm - Aloha Deck - Cabins on this deck begin with A

But we are supposed to check out of our hotel at 11:00 AM, so we may just hang out at the hotel pool-side or something until our (1:00 PM) "check-in" time.

Thank you so much for the detailed review. We're heading out for the Christmas Caribbean and are looking forward even more now!