cruiseclues

Hey fellow cruisers, I hoped you could help me out here.

 

We have previously cruised on P&O, RCCL, Thomson & Princess.

Princess being our favourite by a mile.

We sailed on the Grand 3 times, last time being 3 years ago, twice before her refurb & once after.

Each cruise was just superb and could fault nothing.

A big thing was the entertainment throughout the day & evening was just second to none, just fantastic!

 

My kids are now teens (13 & 15) but have been cruising from a young age & this year we chose the Caribbean Princess as we loved the itinery for our dates.

 

We have just returned from a 14nt Med sailing from Southampton on 18th July.

 

One huge difference I noticed was the lack of entertainment!

What's happened to the big production shows, with singing, dancing etc?

In my opinion it was sub standard for a cruise & probably the worst I've encountered in all my cruises.

The entertainment team tried but there was just nothing there.

Other than an odd quiz, all the other entertainment was audience participation, where the staff sat back, judged and let the passengers provide entertainment.

Yes is good to see every now and again but part of cruising IS the entertainment and what the team put on.

 

I felt that the ship was geared up to sell, sell, sell!!

Loads of retail, art auctions, bingo, etc etc.

Went to a couple of seminars on well being, health etc and after sitting through a 45 min long informative talks etc, then the hard sell comes along... $300 for tubs of vitamin tabs & excercise sheet!!

 

Loads of wee things missing... Eg no cookies & milk trolleys poolside, not saying this in particular ruined the holiday, as it didn't, but it was small things like this that just made previous holidays for the kids a bit special.

 

I felt there was something seriously lacking on the ship, not just one thing but loads of small things.

 

There was also a strong smell of sewage in various parts of the ship, at different times of the day etc. This was obviously not pleasant.

We also had lots of welding going on just along from our cabin on 4 different days. Strong smelling of grinding/burning metal.

 

The food was fantastic as is to be expected, staff fab too, give or take a couple of rude ones.

 

I am looking to book our cruise for next year and I'm in a quandary as to which way to go.

 

Have Princess standards slipped across the whole line?

Or was CB just not the best ship?

Is the Grand still as wonderful as she was 3 years ago?

What are your views on the Royal & Regal?

 

Any advice or your views would be most welcome.

:)

We loved our cruise Fall 2014 of Caribbean Princess. :):):):)

Sorry about your mom.

Thank you for your live review. :):):):)

I know I almost always say thank you...but sometimes I forget to say please...guessing that makes me at least partially rude...so I'll apologize now & try to do better. :):):):)

I agree. We do our best to ignore these folks but there are times when enough is enough and that is when we take then and throw them overboard.

I knew there was some reason for so many people going overboard. :):):):)

Didn't recently see any cigar smoking in any cruise ship casino. :):):):)

Lots of good info...thanks. :):):):)

Thanks for your great photo review...I enjoy your reviews. :):):):)

Thank you for your interesting review.

The number & temperament of Kids on the ship will vary...& thankfully so...as we have been fairly lucky with the Kids on our Carnival cruises.

Kids have Drowned on Cruise Line Ships as most Lines do not provide a Pool Life Guard. Not sure what the parents were thinking.

Here is Carnival's Policy for Pools & Other Water Sports Onboard.

You'll note that • Parental supervision is required for children under 13.

:)

Fine Review...thank you & thanks for the link to a photo of the Splash Zone. :):):):)

Here's Carnival's link to the Pasta Bella & the Details including that it is only on the Carnival Dream....and Here is Carnival's link to the Pasta Bella's Menu which is on the same page.

:):):):)

I always enjoy these versus threads...thanks to all for the info. We've cruised the Breeze but not the Dream...we found it to be a great ship with some of the best overall food & service Carnival has to offer. We agree that the entertainment was a bit lacking. The comedy Club was smaller than the Carnival Glory's & didn't make sense to us as the Carnival Glory is smaller...Our cruise on the Glory was part of a B2B on Carnival...Glory then Breeze. Carnival Glory was very good also.

New Orleans is our favorite City in the country primarily due to the incredible food...so the fact that we like to try different cruise ships & the Louisiana Food would probably cause us to choose the Carnival Dream. :):):):)

Lots of good info...thanks. :):):):)

Thank You. :):):):)

Thank You very much for your interesting, enjoyable photo review. :):):):)

There really isn't a sure fire way to find out. The cruise line will not tell you. They claim they're protecting the privacy of the other passengers. The more cynical believe they won't tell because they're afraid of cancellation.

 

BTW, the Holland forum does an excellent job of finding which Holland cruises have large groups. They have a continuous thread going to keep posters informed.

 

One thing you can do is join your roll call. Sometimes someone will find post some information there. There is also a website:

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/

 

It's difficult to search but sometimes you'll find something. Try searching on ship's name or date. Not a guarantee but the best I've found.

 

BTW, my Oasis cruise in November has a Star Trek group on board. Formal night should be "fascinating". I've never seen a Klingon in a tux.

On the Grandeur of the Seas Bermuda cruise we recently had we saw a Tux which was Hunters Camoflouge & he wore lace up boots... the guy had a beard & I thought maybe he from from the Duck Decoy's TV Show...He turned out to be a very nice guy...but not from the TV show. :):):):)

Here's a post I just saw. My cruise was cancelled!

by missmetal 8/6/2015

Maybe I missed it, but what was the RCI Ship you booked...and what was the date? And the cruises offered...were they all on the same ship?

Runaway!!!! Runaway!!!

 

Do not look back there is no deal worth dealing with that crowd. No offense to those who disagree with me... actually, go ahead and take offence!!! :D:D:D:eek:

 

jc

What an Outstanding Quote you have in your signature.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

C. S. Lewis

I'm guessing that you must pay more to be part of those who can watch Nsync...there website for this Allure of the Seas Event where they refer several times to the term our group is Dirty Pop At Sea

Their site has the prices for different cabins.

if that's true...I also might guess that more could sign up (& pay more) which might tempt Royal Caribbean...to drop your reservation...and maybe even class it as chartered. I'm interested to see how things turn out...and wish you the best. :)

Just found out through my roll call that there will be a rather large group of Nsync fans on my Allure cruise next April. Its known as "Dirty Pop at Sea with Lance Bass" cruise.

 

Im considering switching to another cruise but then of course I would lose my deal I got through the TA I switched my booking to. I got a CP balcony and 255.00 OBC for the same price I paid for an inside cabin when I booked this cruise on Freedom a few months ago.

 

What can one expect on a cruise like this? Closed venues Im guessing?

 

I guess its better than it being a full charter and getting cancelled altogether, or is it??? :o

Your 1st & only post on your Allure roll call was 4/27/2015 & the only mention of Nsync was posted on April 13 (with a couple of quoted responses on 4/14/2015... almost 4 moths ago &... you just found out.

I'm just teasing you...hope you don't take offense.

My main concern would always be losing any of the space on the ship (as you & some others have said).

:):):):)

Great post. Didn't read everyone's info...but just wondering why you called the bar in your room an honor bar if the drinks were $0? :):):):)

Absolutely Great Review...excellent info for a quick review & especially liked the WiFi info. :):):):)

From Our Personal Site: Links to Allure of the Seas Pictures 2015

:):):):)

I wish they'd trade off a few of the Oasis and Quantum class ships instead.

I like the smaller ships. :):):):)