cibaygirls

Glad this thread re-surfaced. AstroFlyer thanks for the review. I will be on the repo cruise with you and have been debating with my husband if he should get the beverage package and if he didn't I didn't plan on doing the WMD. But now after re-reading the review and menu, I think we will forget the beverage package, (it seemed like a break even thing for him) and attempt to get on the list for the dinner. I plan on boarding early, so maybe it will be a table of all Retreaters ;)

Dana

I have done them on a few cruises. It helps me to re-familiarize myself with a ship, and doesn't really take to long, we are usually out exploring anyway. When they do the drawing during sailaway, I am always at that event anyway so it doesn't pull me away from anything. Once I have had it done in the piazza a different day, I went to that, but maybe wouldn't have if there is something else better.

IMHO the prizes are worthwhile including dinner at specialty restaurants and casino vouchers. My mother won an art piece once...It was a print by Billy Dee Williams. She didn't particularly care for it, but it was fun for her to win (it was her first cruise) and a fun story to tell. shortly afterwards he was on Dancing with the stars.. so....maybe the value went up ;)

Dana

I will be sailing the Royal on 10/25 in cabin D729, so I will certianly be able to report back my experience. I realize I have taken a gamble with booking this cabin, but I had REALLY wanted to try an aft balcony and many other variables made this seem like the cruise to do so on.

I have been monitoring the many threads on this issue and there have been a wide array of experiences, some saying it rendered balcony unusable, others reporting no significant problems. So my assumption is that there are many factors at play as to what individual experiences will be. Sooooo.....i am keeping my fingers crossed that we can at least use our balcony, and if not, I guess I will just have to check out the other beautiful, peaceful locations onboard. :(:rolleyes:. I will see what happens, but worse case scenario, I am still on a cruise.

Dana

Has anyone stayed at the Best Western Plus in San Pedro?

 

We normally stay at either the Doubletree or Crowne Plaza however the Best Western came up on Expedia with good reviews and pricing so I'm considering it.

 

Any insight/first-hand experience would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

My DH and myself stayed there in May one night prior to our cruise (we were unable to get the Crowne or Doubletree through Priceline). We were very happy. It had more of a boutique hotel feel than i thought a Best Western would. The only negative was that it was not within easy walking distance of the waterfront (we did walk it, we are both 40, but it wasnt just a quick pop around the corner and wasnt in as nice of a neighborhood). The shuttle to the port the next morning was free. We booked it when we arrived and were able to get to the port early. Next time I would try to get the Crown just for its location, but if I could not get a price I liked, I would book the Best Western again. (and there was a free breakfast buffet).

Dana

Dana

I had vistied Antigua couple of years ago, but did a ship's tour. This time I was hoping for me and DH to grab a cab to Valley Church Beach. There are several people on my roll call who are advising against this. I did see the State Departement did issue a warning for this specific port and does specifically address cab drivers. Others on the roll call, say not to have any worry. I told my DH I would look into it a bit further until we decided exactly what to do.

What are your thoughts/experiences? thanks!

Dana

This is a shame to hear. I have an aft balcony booked for an upcoming cruise at the end of October. I hadn't heard much, either positive or negative, regarding the soot issue. I am on a different deck but am hoping it will all work out. Guess I will pack a "sooty" outfit that I don't mind getting dirty to spend time on the balcony. I realize I am rolling the dice, which really is a shame as I have booked this room quite in advance and am, or was, really looking forward to it.

Dana

Thanks blue_water.. I have some calls out. I have heard from some and it could be done but it seems like a private charter might be outside of my price range..I am going to keep researching, worse case scenario, I will just have to do a land trip and spend a full day on a charter

I was wondering if anyone has used any private charter companies to get to the Baths, Virgin Gorda from St Thomas. I will be in St Thomas on 10/29 from 8AM to 5PM and am interested in going. I have been to St thomas several times, and while I realize it is a long trip, really want to see this site. I currently reserved it through the ship, however I thought if the price difference wasnt too much, perhaps this would be a worthwhile option. Thanks.

Dana

rendezvousantigua.com however they do not have any prices posted you will most likely need to call them

Thank you

Dana

Sorry, I never did wind up doing this tour as I never heard further feedback. I wound up taking an island tour, I am drawing a blank on who we used (I think we went with Gordon), but we were happy with the tour as we got to see alot of the island. I am actually going back to Antigua in November and am going to just go to Valley Church Beach on my own. We had stopped there on the tour and liked it.

do you have any contact information for them? i was hoping to look into any horseback riding tours on Antigua but am having a hard time finding website addresses

Dana

I would agree.. book it on your own. Key west is easy enough to get around so that there shouldn't be a huge fear of missing the ship. The tour does not take you to any remote locations that you would have to worry about getting stuck at. It is a great city!!

Dana

I recently used Edge of the World tours to do a sonoma valley tour when I was in port for my birthday in May. He was fantastic. It is a father/son operation; I had the father as our tour guide (his name is escaping me right now:(). He took us to some out of the way places to get a great view of the golden gate. i believe on his website he does offer other tours. He picked us up right in front of the pier and dropped us off right there. He is very willing to work with you. He typically only did the tour I wanted on Wednesdays, but we were in port on Tuesday so he cancelled the wednesday and rescheduled it, for only 2 of us. He ultimately had others join us, and I grabbed 2 people from our roll call, but he was very accomodating. He also has very high ratings on trip advisor. Enjoy your trip whatever you decide to do.

Dana

Jantez, I am on the same cruise as you and am in the debating process of my cruise preparation. One of the debates is whether or not to purchase the package. I am interested reading others use and thoughts of it. (I am also in great debate as to what to do in St Thomas- (a trip over to the Baths, Water Island, or our old tried and true of Magen's Bay). Such decisions to be made:rolleyes:

Dana

Thank you arubalisa

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

Is there a fee to use Nikky beach other than to rent chairs/umbrellas? I am looking to go to this beach instead of doing a day pass at a resort. Thanks

Dana

i loved reading your review and as I was reading was hoping you would return after your cruise on the Coral. I am assuming that since you did not mention it, you did NOT run into Joseph in the MDR?

I just did the California to Vancouver repo cruise in May on the Crown and loved it!!! It was our 10th cruise on a various Princess ships. The crown did not feel more crowded to me. We enjoyed ourselves a great deal, yet we are very much roll with the punches kind of people. We did have issues with our toilet the first night, but they were immediately corrected. I had also been on the Crown in November and experienced some AC issues, but did not notice that this time around. i would book it again in a heartbeat; actually am considering doing this repo cruise on an annual basis.

Dana

I just went into the standby program on my personalizer to verify that I had the same options as in the photos. I do, and had checked some ports but alas never received any notifications. Hmmm.... I will have to keep a closer eye out.

Dana

When i click on >>>VIEW DEALS in the MY DREAM DEALS, It says that at the TOP of the list then underneath are the list of offers that have been emailed to me.

 

I will post a pic of how i have set my email settings so you can compare to yours?

Please do. I have signed up on the website for standby offers but have NEVER received one. I also rarely get emails of deals; my mother who just cruised with me for the first time a couple of months ago gets them all the time. I have sailed 10 times with princess and don't get them:confused: not even into my spam folder

Dana

My DH and I always love doing the aft hot tubs at night.. we are always commenting on how no one is ever in them.. until our past cruise as we were saying that 4 other people showed up, and then they were drained the rest of the trip. :rolleyes:

Dana

I am voting for Blue Heaven as well. I was in Key West for the first time last year for a week with my DH and we had breakfast there. It is still one of the highlights of the trip; it just truly felt like what I wanted key west to feel like, and it was delicious...make sure you get a slice of key lime pie there too! Who says you cant have dessert with bfast??:D

Dana

I have not seen it as of yet. I just got off the crown and it was not available there.

Dana

I was just on the Crown in San Francisco and while I don't recall the exact number, we were just by pier 39, so I would say maybe pier 36 or something along those lines. There was another Princess ship, the Star I believe, who was docked right next to us.

I'm sailing on the Crown in a couple of weeks for a B2B in Alaska. Does she have a wide or narrow promenade deck? Loungers or just the occasional bench?

I just got off the crown repo cruise... there is a promenade deck with the teak chairs, however not the full teak loungers. Enjoy. We really enjoyed ourselves, there was no hint of noro, as had been my initial concern.

Dana