Dulcibella

when they tried to talk me into going in there it seemed they only opened twice during the cruise but i am not sure if that was true or not ?

Yes, the Crab Shack opened only twice and was very popular. I was not very impressed with our experience.

Our best specialty dining experience was the Crown Grill. Sabatinis was fine also.

If you are talking hardware as in how the suite is then Princess does not have anything special. A standard veranda cabin on Celebrity is much better than some of the suites Princess have. On Princess the bathrooms are a compact unit with shower curtain, plastic basin and shelves behind a mirror. The bathroom on a Celebrity cabin has a sliding perspex shower door, tiled floors, wood or imitation wood paneling in the bathroom with drawers and cupboards and shelves as well as a raised porcelain type sink with lighting above the mirror. With the exception of the couch in the cabins on the Solstice class which looks like some excess stock from the 50's the Celebrity cabins are much better than the cabins that Princess has.

 

 

 

Bear in mind however that Princess was designated as mass market and Celebrity as Premium so it stands to reason that Celebrity facilities would be better. Unfortunately the GFC hit cruise lines hard and lines like Celebrity dropped the price to compete with the likes of Princess so I fear that now things are improving Celebrity may be trying to raise the bar again.

 

 

 

I cant really comment on service as I have only ever been in Princess full suites for 2 night cruises. I love the Princess style and I also found Celebrity great. I sometimes refuse to compare aspects because I know there are some things each of them do better than the other.

The description is of a standard cabin bathroom on Princess. In my experience both the mini suite on the Sea Princess and the S4 suite on the Golden had marble bathrooms with spa baths and large showers with glass doors.

The bathroom pictured at http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-GP-Tour-7.html matches the one we had on the Golden. Not a shower curtain in sight.

Come to think on it I thought I did see cheese cake on the golden but forgotten which one and whether it was a special one for the night or if it was always there

We had cheesecake on the Golden over Christmas New Year in the Crab Shack.

ar1950, thanks for posting the recipe for the Black and Blue onion soup. Loved it when we had it in the Crown Grill. :)

My thanks also for the recipe, I thought it was terrific when we had it on our most recent voyage.

We had a mini suite on the Sea Princess and a suite on the Golden Princess. We chose the suite on the Golden as the mini suites are like balcony rooms just a bit deeper and with small balconies because they are on decks with narrow balconies. On the Sea Princess the mini suites were two windows wide, ie not deep cabins but wide cabins. That was good and we wanted, and got, a similar configuration by taking a suite on the Golden. On the Caribe deck on the Golden the balcony is a comfortable depth. A few differences in service levels between suites and mini suites but not significant. I suspect suite service or other lines might be more attentive. We don't desire attentive service and did not get it.

Chicken and Leek Pot Pie

 

 

 

Pork Belly

 

 

 

Veal Occo Busso

We had the same offering on Golden Princess over Christmas New Year (traditional dining late sitting)

The long lines were on embarkation, disembarkation was similar to yours collection in the shed then walk the pier unless you had a bus transfer or a taxi. Traffic jam outside the gate was worse for embarkation than disembarkation by far.

We were lucky with embarkation timing until the customs queue. We were supposed to have priority boarding but given the wrong ticket after first registration and couldn't get it fixed. Customs and immigration the only hold up. No queue to get onto the pier or to drop off luggage.

Chaos in 40 degrees would have been most uncomfortable:(

Motoring organisations seem to give an automatic 5% to members booking cruises through them.

The teams not much use if you have mobility issues and need to lug luggage.

We lugged luggage. It wasn't a problem. My point is that perhaps access to the pier should be restricted to those with mobility problems. For those, like me, with no such problems, access was easy and efficient and the walk not that great.

For my friend, who was picked up by car, pick up just off the pier was straightforward. She had a trolley for the luggage. The car had no trouble finding parking.

That luggage collection point at the gate before the pier on our cruise had a line several hundred meters long on a day that was nearly 40.

We collected our luggage on disembarkation in the shed near the gangway. Then had quite a long walk with it. There was no queue though. It seemed orderly especially given the numbers.

We used Rite Price Rentals. They have a shuttle between the ship and their depot. Worked very well for us and also for our friends who booked separately. I am happy to endorse them.

We drove to Rotorua. There is a small charge to use the motorway. I would recommend taking this option even though it is for only a third of the way. You still see plenty of countryside.

Catching a tram to Station pier worked brilliantly for us. My friend was picked up in the car park between the tram and the pier, ie not on the pier. I think traffic onto the pier should be restricted to those with mobility problems. At embarkation our luggage was collected by the ship at the entrance to the pier which worked well. Disembarkation and luggage collection worked fine. So, based on my recent experience (Golden Princess Xmas new year) I had no problems with the pier and I think they are to do with taxis and cars.

Ship Golden

Class Grand

Deck Caribe

Stateroom # C423

Category S4 - balcony suite

Port/Starboard/Bow/Stern starboard midship

Connects With Cabin # n/a

Accessible n/a

Quiet mostly - no noise from lifts or passage. Once or twice we heard the little elephants gallivanting in the cabin above us. Not enough to be a nuisance and it was not regular noise from the cabin.

Balcony Size generous as Caribe deck has double width balconies - half covered and half open. We had a teak table and four chairs plus two recliners

View excellent

Privacy Issues none

Wind no issues

Soot none

Problems none

Comments pleasant airy comfortable. I failed to take a picture of the bathroom but it was marble with a glass shower door, spa bath and a separate room for the lavatory and hand basin. I also didn't take a picture of the sitting area which had a second desk, television with DVD player, fridge, sink and area with marble bench to prepare drinks, tub chair table, sofa ... The sofa folds out to an extra bed if needed.

I am sorry I missed the meet ups too - I had the second one scheduled but something conflicted. We were travelling in a party of ten which kept us busy.

I read about John's escapade :( Definitely gives one pause for thought. I wonder too how that poor person who was taken offat Milford Sound fared.

Your blog is much easier to read on the desktop. On my mobile it has a dark blue background and very hard to read the black font :(

Look forward to reading about the rest of your experiences.

regards

Anne

Look forward to reading about your experiences. Black writing on dark blue is a little hard to tead though - maybe my phone. Sorry I failed to catch up with anyone from CC.

It would have been boxing day that they were taken down as that was Embarkation day. If they were there, they were not over the top noticeable. Perhaps some had been removed or at the end of the Christmas season these things fade into the background from my perspective. That was a good thing in my view as we were on a post Christmas cruise.

For the original poster I think I would not set expectations too high that they are still there.

We travelled with friends. I am sure they too more pictures and I will check.

Hi everyone, just a quick question, boarding Diamond Princess on 30th Dec (can't wait :)) will the Christmas decorations still be up? Thanks Anjo.

We were on a Sea Princess cruise that started Boxing Day from Sydney a couple of years ago. There was certainly no artificial snow and I don't really remember any Christmas decorations, nor does my daughter. There was a balloon drop, champagne and party hats for New Years Eve.

Thanks for the review. I am travelling on the Golden next month. I found your comments really helpful.

No. You need to make sure you switch to airline mode and use wifi. Then you are confident you are only using Princess internet and not attaching yourself to some tower on land ...

I think Schettino acted foolishly but there seems to have been other issues too and others in Costa are not being held to account. Here is a perspective from today's Conversation looking at corporate responsibility http://theconversation.com/if-a-company-causes-death-at-sea-dont-assume-that-means-jail-time-37512

Yes, he deserves to be held culpable for the fatal errors in his judgement.

 

I hope he is remorseful for what he did and the lives that were lost due to his actions and non-actions.

Agree. Sadly not much remorse is being reported. Perhaps that is an issue with the reporting.

Anne

Ballarat, Australia

The article states "Schettino suggested some good had come out of the disaster, pointing out that cruise liners now faced tougher regulations and gave more training to officers."

I haven't cruised since the accident. Have any other cruisers noted changes to safety procedures? Has the industry learnt anything?

Anne

Ballarat, Australia

I cannot answer for Carnival but most other lines have their room keys for one cabin (whether 1, 2 , 3 or 4 pax) will be linked to the one on board account. Therefore it would be difficult to put a limit on just one key card.

With Princess a couple if years ago we could put a limit on our daughters card even though she was sharing our mini suite. We could also specify no alcohol even though she was over 18 (it conflicted with her medicine). She knew the rules too but we just made sure.

Anne

Ballarat, Australia

We can recommend getting the ferry over to Devonport. We have twice done Segway tours there and thoroughly enjoyed it (we are in our 60s). Google

Magic Broomstick Tours

Don't know if they operate on Christmas Day.

Thanks for the recommendation. I have contacted them. They are not sure if they will be operating this Christmas Day. They have closed in the past.however they suggested I contact them closer to the time.

Regards

Anne

Ballarat, Australia

What about booking your son as a solo passenger and adding a travelling companion later? He would pay more per person initially but the fare would be adjusted if a second passenger joined him in his cabin.

Anne

Ballarat, Australia