poolreader

The Eagle Preserve float trip is my favorite excursion in about 7 cruises to Alaska. Exquisite scenery, abundant eagles, a small native village the only human evidence, truly awesome.

If I am sailing around Halloween, Christmas, or Easter I put a bowl of snack sized candy bars or holiday themed treats in the room and offer them to the cabin steward. I tell them I have plenty more and they are welcome to take as much or as little as they want. They always take a few pieces, but one time all of the Almond joy were always out of the bowl. I kept replacing them and one day the cabin steward apologized for taking so many because they reminded him of home, so I just gave him the rest of the bag to take back to his room.

I saw the mermaid sea glass picture on Pintress. But if you just google sea glass pictures, or sea glass art you will see many sites, There are crafts where you can use the glass to create jewelry, mobiles, vases, etc. The pictures sell for around $100, but I found instructions to make them yourself. There was even info on how to take your photos and transfer them onto larger pieces of sea glass, and with all your and Sakari's fantastic diving pictures you could come up with something gorgeous.

Thank you for your review. I always enjoy travelling along with your family virtually, it gives me that much needed cruise fix between my own cruises. You may have seen something like this, but there are Sea Glass pictures, pieces of sea glass arranged between two glass sheets in the picture frame. I saw one that looked like a wave with a mermaid swimming under the crest of the wave. It made me think of Sakari.

I believe this mentality is the crux of not just this "service" animal issue (and shorts in the MDR and chair hogs and and and), but all that is wrong with society today, on-board and on-land.

 

Everyone is so self-important and self-centered that they don't see the big picture anymore. These entitled people act as though the rules don't apply because "you should just MYOB." This lack of civility, social responsibility and general consideration for others is, frankly, sickening to me.

 

Instead of thinking of yourself first, why not try thinking about how your actions will impact those around you? Go ahead, snowflake. You do you... but do it in the privacy of your own home. When you're in a public space, you need to think of others.

 

/rant

It’s only the mega ships. On the Gem, we made no reservations in the MDR’s, and you can’t reserve shows. Does Princess have mega ships? I believe all of the larger ships on every line require more reservations.

Thank you for that information, I can see why the size of the ship would make a difference. I think Princess has 3 ships with 3560 passengers, much less than the Mega ships. I have been on Allure of the Seas and did not care for having to make reservations for shows, especially because they would also limit when you could make dining reservations if you already had a show reservation. I prefer being able to decide when to eat, or what to see that night depending on how I am feeling, maybe because I cruise a few times a year I do not feel the need to do everything with each sailing. For me cruise lines have a personality, and some lines appeal to me more than others. The only cruise line I did not enjoy was NCL, so I could not resist when the title of this thread was 'A good way to annoy people'. I probably would have enjoyed NCL if I used any of the specialty restaurants, but my DH has only agreed to them 5 times out of over 40 cruises across several lines. I also see many people talking about the wonderful Haven experience, but that is well beyond our means.

Yeah okay buddy.

I am happy to see you admit that I am 100% right, thank you.

You are making a lot of assumptions. I've never been on a cruise but I already know that I don't HAVE to make a reservation but I CAN if I want to.

I am not making any assumptions, but because the OP was upset at not being able to make reservations logic would say he or she feels they need to be made in order to have a nice cruise on NCL. I simply gave a recommendation to the OP that would provide a nice cruise with no reservations even able to be made for the shows. I am sorry my attempt at helping another person has caused you to chime in on something you admit you know nothing about.

Offering reservations and needing reservations are two different things. If you do not know the difference I’m not sure what to tell you.

 

 

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So you are saying anyone can get a seat at any show they show up to see , and eat in any pay for restaurant they decide they want to eat in that night and they are accommodated? I understand the difference between needing and offering reservations, but why would the OP be so upset if reservations were never needed. They would simply go where they wanted to once on board. The issue is with NCL's Feestyle cruising and how misleading it appears from the post on this thread that concept has become. I was simply trying to help the OP have a more relaxed experience that would make them feel Free and be able do plan activities as befit their Style at the time, rather than the FEESTYLE experience of NCL.

I have to chuckle at this post. I mean you do realize NCL is the original Freestyle. No need to make any reservations, no set dining times, etc. it’s just that they do offer reservations on the bigger ships for those who do like to plan. But it’s certainly not necessary.

 

 

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If you do not NEED reservations then why do they have them? If anyone can show up and see the show or eat in the restaurants then reservations would not exist, there would be no point to having them in the first place. It is an illusion and frankly false advertising.

I would cancel and book with Princess. You never have to make a reservation for the shows, just show up and sit down. Specialty restaurants always seem to have some openings the day you want to book. You can make a reservation one day at a time if you have anytime dinning, or just show up (sometimes a short wait). I prefer that type of cruise where I am Free to choose the Style I want for that day, rather than being locked into a regimented time schedule like you are forced to do on NCL.

Bags can be taken in error, it happened to my mom. I picked her up at the airport and we could not find her suitcase, but there was one similar to hers still on the belt. We checked with airport workers and they insisted we open the remaining bag, because my mom night be confused, the tag may have fallen out, etc. We were surprised to find a priests vestment inside, but not as surprised as he must have been to find an old ladies dirty undies and bras. There was identification inside so eventually my mom got her bag back.

I did this on the Ruby with my sister and mother, it started with a little 'tour' where info needed to solve was incorporated in the tour. Our group would have been faster, but one person (someone we did not know) tried to take over control of the items and he did not want to take any females suggestions. Finally I just said please let me try something real quick, and it worked, so all the others started taking a more active part. I think the only thing that could have made it more fun was knowing everyone in the group. But for a free activity it was great.

Lauren,

I live in the greater L.A. area and cruise mainly out of San Pedro or Long Beach., and I find many people on these cruises are also local. Perhaps you could ask on you Roll Call if anyone would be interested in car pooling to save on parking fees. Also, some of these cruises have the Bon Voyage Experience, which allows those not sailing to visit the ship for a few hours. The cost is $39 but you get the money back if you book a cruise within the next 60 days, so perhaps you know someone local that would be interested in doing the BVE and give you a ride. That is what we have done in the past and plan on doing for our Sept. cruise.

Last time I went I was the person in position to get the last pour and ended up with less than half of what everyone else had. Since I got it for free I saw no point in complaining. Overall the pours were much less that other land based tastings. Nothing that impressed me enough to seek out that wine. But it was a pleasant way to spend some time, with interesting company.

I have not received that book for my cruise next week, I hope I do get one I would love to do the specialty dining.

If you look carefully you will that cruise is listed as a 7 day, but the schedule shows it coming back on Fri., which would make it a 6 day.

Congratulations. Hearing about others lack of upgrades makes me feel better. I hope all of us with many cruises get an upgrade on our next cruise.

I think it would take closer to 6 hrs. on a Friday, with a quick stop to eat, and could take considerably longer if that weekend is connected to a holiday. For instance I routinely drive a 90 mile distance and this can take from an hour and a half up to 3 and a half hours, depending on time of day, day of the week and holidays. Friday is a get away day and you will find a good deal of company headed to Las Vegas.

For me each cruise line has a personality, and among each line different ships vary in atmosphere. Think about that fun friend that dresses a little over the top, likes to drink, play games, stay up late dancing, to me that is Carnival. Sometimes I want to hang with that friend.

Other times I want the friend that reads books, goes to lectures or the theatre, and takes classes to learn new things. To me that is Princess or Royal Caribbean.

If they like to spend lots of money going out to eat, do not mind paying for the best seats in the house (when cheaper seats still let you hear the music), are not interested in reading or learning, then go with NCL

Never upgraded, but did get an upsell once.

I have done 2 BVE's. The first was when friends dropped us off for the cruise. We took them to see our cabin, and since we had been on that ship several times we gave them a tour, had lunch and spent time by the pool having drinks. It was a great day. The second time was a BVE on a ship I have never been on. My sister and I went because she was going to be sailing on that ship a few weeks later and she had never been on a Princess ship. We took the tour with the Captain's Circle host, but did not see anything we could not have found on our own, and it took up a lot of time. I liked doing it on my own. It is hard to get off and see others sailing away, but still fun. The second one we got the money back on a cruise we booked together with my DH and mom.

I love reading so much that I even read when I am in the pool. I walk laps and read, but I can actually swim with one arm while reading.

I was on the Ruby for the Coastal Cruise right after this. I must say I was a bit disappointed in the MDR service. We had slow service, and poor attitudes. We did not get everything we ordered. For example one morning they did not bring my fruit with the others at my table, but brought it with the others main dish. I ate it quickly and asked for my eggs and ham, which they did not bring until everyone else was finished and the plate had no ham, just cold eggs. This is how most meals in the MDR went, always someone had something missing, but no one wanted to hold the others up to wait for it to be brought. We know food is available all over the ship, and there is always room service. My mom is 87 and she had some pain issues so stayed in the room and ordered a few meals from room service, every time the order was wrong, and being diabetic it was things she can not eat. No big deal we brought food to her, but I have never had this many issues on one cruise.

I love the feeling on a cruise that dining is hassle free, and usually it is a great experience, just not this time.

On the last day of the 7 night cruise a man was complaining to Guest Services about his several thousand dollar room charge bill. They explained it was mainly charges from the Spa, for his wife. He said that is where they were wrong, he had hidden the charge cards from his wife, she only had the services that were included with her room card.