AKman2495

We always share-although we have had tables for 2-especially for lunch or breakfasts.

For Dinner, Sharing gets us into the MDR faster and we had had luck in having good table mates for interesting conversation.

The fact that you got an "exclusive" offer does not mean they can't or won't make a better offer to someone else later.

It seems like what they offered other cruisers later was not the "exclusive" offer they gave you.

Also, please note that the word "exclusive" does mean "best".

(CBP) Pam, TSA is not invloved. ;)

Think again:

http://www.tsa.gov/stakeholders/port-and-intermodal

and

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/20/nation/la-na-terror-checkpoints-20111220

Princess lets you look at the deck plans of any of their ships. I often go through them before the cruise to get familiar with the ship.

It gives something to do while waiting for the next cruise. :D

One thing, no map will replace the experience of walking through the real thing. After studying the deck plans for months before our first time ever on a cruise ship I though I was prepared. However, once aboard, the ship looked different. It will take a short time to get your bearings, but once you do, it will be simple to get around.

Up here in Alaska we often take red eyes. We are taking one to FLL to get there the day before....It is no big deal for us.

We were on the first 2 cruises out of the Bayport terminal back in November. The first was a 4 day and the second was a 7 day. That means we were in Bayport 3 times (Embarkation, turn around and disembarkation).

Embarkation went very well. The ship was only about 1/2 full for the first cruise and it was great. There ship is in fine shape and we had no problems in getting to the first port and back. The seas can get a little rough, though.

At turn around, we stayed on board and had to march off and march back on for all of 10 minutes. After that, we had the run of the ship.

The send cruise was packed full-3400 passengers. But even then we really didn't fell crowded. That cruise was fine. We made all ports with no problem. On the return, we were held up for 3 hours before docking-so, as others have said, to be on the safe side, book your return flights in the afternoon.

As for the fog, I have no problem sitting comfortably in a cruise ship for the fog to lift. The IC was open and we had access to all of their goodies while we "suffered" through the wait.

Obviously, people with early flights were having kittens, but that was not Princess' fault.

People talk about the narrow channels at Houston. To see just how complicated it is to get out of there, go up to the Skywalker's lounge at sail away and sit on the seats all the way in the back and look down. We could not believe how the ship essentially pivoted on the dock. We we amazed that the ship didm;t hit the dock in all that maneuvering. Finally, the ship got turned and then pulled away from the dock-that was a memorable bit of maneuvering.

Good afternoon, I am working on booking next year's cruise. I am taking my fourth Carnival cruise on the Pride next month, but would like to try something a little more upscale next year. My schedule limits my choice, but I have narrowed it down to the Celebrity Constellation or the Princess Caribbean Princess, both 5 day cruises in February 2015 out of Fort Lauderdale.

What I have enjoyed about Carnival:

The near all inclusive nature of the cruise

Activities around the clock during the day, even if not very interesting, there is always something to do.

What I could do without:

The raucous activities, hairy chest contest, loud parties on the Lido.

Princess looks great, but I have a few questions.

What can I expect to pay for on the cruise that is not included? How many specialty restaurants are there?

Will I be bored? I do not like the raucous activities of Carnival, but I very much enjoy afternoon tea, trivia contests, bingo, and the shows even when they are bad.

I like wearing my tux for formal night; can I expect a more upscale dress on Princess?

Thanks

As others have said, there is plenty to do on Princess.As for formal nights, yes, you will find many who will wear tuxes as well as nice suits. small minority wears a jacket/slacks with or without ties and some even in a nice pair of pants and a nice shirt.

But, those last few are the exceptions. Expect to find Princess cruisers better dressed on formal nights.

We are on the 10 day cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale on Jan 8 on the Emerald Princess.

I wanted to get my wife something at the Lotus spa.

Has anyone booked anything there and is it a good experience?

 

thanks

While never sailing on the Emerald, I have had spa experiences. Sometimes they are good, sometimes not. I just depends on what you want done and how comfortable you are in a spa. On our last cruise I has a credit for a 30 minute back massage. That was WONDERFUL. So, it depends.

One thing to watch for is the sales pitch after the treatment. They will try to sell you spa items to help you improve in whatever they perceive is your problem. These can get to be expensive, so be careful.

On our first cruise, "I had the shave to end all shaves". That was more than wonderful. She did sell me a package of products for shaving that I likes and have used ever since. My attendant there took the time to show me the products and explained how to use them.

It is up to you as to what you want to do, but you have been warned. ;)

I hope this question isn't considered too much off topic but I was just wondering.

 

We have always done AD and had a table for two. When we're on the Ocean (which only has TD) in October I plan on requesting a table for two but realize there are a limited number.

 

When you're seated with others is it assumed that if you order a bottle of wine it's only for the folks that ordered it? Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all cheap and have no problem sharing my toys (;)) but we generally always order a bottle at dinner. Should we become friendly enough with our tablemates who knows....but it's not in the cruising budget to be sommelier to the table. :D:D

 

I'm sure I'm over thinking this but thanks for any responses.

We have always done AD and have usually shared tables. At no time has it ever been awkward for somebody to order wine. People assume that your drink orders are your drink orders. Certainly, no one has ever offered to share and no one has ever expected to share.

Obviously, if somebody wanted to share, they can always make an offer.

Sharing a table for AD means meeting a bunch of new people but not being invited to someone's home.

I think the pressure for TD diners to share wine would be much greater as you all know each other.

Being herded in like cattle

We have always used AT and have never been "herded in like cattle". I also find that the waiters are attentive and service is always fine. On a longer cruise, they get to know you too and it makes for a pleasant experience.

As for meeting new people, that is up to you. We have no problem doing it.

One of the reasons for going early is for booking of the Crown Grill, Enclave which could be done by booking on-line months or weeks ahead of time. Don't waste your time on booking the Sanacutary because you will need a act of god to do that. It was already full in the first 30 minutes of our cruise. Something is up with that?

That's simple. There are many cruisers doing a B2B. They can go up there first thing in the morning of disembarkation day and sign up llong before anyone can get aboard.

Knew that was going to be brought up. Sorry but that part of the contract does not make it right. Time for the customer to let the provider know what they think of it as it seems to be getting out of hand. Wonder what would happen if some one had the money to take an unasked for cabin change to court. Contract fine print or not it is still wrong.

That's the funny thing about contracts. Unless there is a law that is broken, you can agree to anything within a contract. The fact that you don't agree with that term in the contract does not negate it.

Lawyers tell you to read the fine print for a reason-because too many people sign contracts thinking they know what it is in them...and then being very disappointed when they find out otherwise.

And no, changing cruise lines is no help they all have the same terms. They go back literally since the beginning of sailing and carrying passengers.

I remember that the naturalist Joseph Banks back in 1772 declined to travel with Captain cook after his cabin plans were changed by Cook! Banks lost the argument and stayed home.

Here is a recent thread on this topic:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1949124

I guess the lesson from all of this is that, at least on Princess, booking a cabin you want is a crap shoot. Presumably, the contract lets them move you around and "Do Not Upgrade", does not mean "Do Not Upgrade" under any circumstances.

And it is clear that the fact that you carefully select a cabin means nothing to the Princess upgrade computer.

Why should I spend money that I don't have to spend?

Good question here is why:

1) say you're on a cruise and something happens medically (god forbid). They put you off in a foreign port and you have to fly home from there to the US. Guess what? You need a passport. Of course, that never happens.....

2) The ship breaks down (again, like that ever happens :roll eyes:) again, they sail to a foreign port for a free fly home. Guess what? you will need a passport....

3) Say you accidentally miss the ship in a foreign port (of course, that will never happen to you...) to fly home...you will need a passport.

Same thing with travel insurance. Many people say the exact same thing about it. But do a search about "no insurance and had to cancel cruise or had a medical emergency" and you will find it happens a lot.

I always carry a passport. Since I have it, I use it and I don;t have to worry about not having one if something bad happens....

They are in the changing rooms that are open to anyone for free. BTW, they changing rooms also have wonderful, large showers that are also available for free.....We loved them

It's easy for an out of towner to be confused about CBs home port.

Princess describes Bayport terminal as being in Houston, but it's actually located in Pasadena. Can't blame Princess for telling a small fib.;)

 

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruise-information/

 

Excellent review Donner, thank you. One question: You refer to TWO snorkel stops at Coz. I'd like a two stop, but can find only single stop snorkels in the Princess descriptions.

Will you please provide the Princess description for your two stop?

I actually knew that. My point was that the OP described the beginning of the cruise as leaving from Galveston. No matter what Princess says about "Houston", the ship does not leave from Galveston.

Ummmm, the Caribbean Princess was sailing out of Houston when we sailed her at the beginning of November....Are you sure it was Galveston???:confused: Read the end of your review. You sailed out of Houston, not Galveston.....

Well, it all boils down to budget and preferences. We always book insides and have no problem with them. That said, if we had a large group and wanted to entertain, we might have to rethink that.

Insides save money which can be used on things like excursions and on really nice pre cruise hotels. On our last cruise, by choosing an inside we could stay at the 4 seasons in Houston, which is a really nice hotel.

On our first cruise, my mother joined us and she was upgraded to a flu balcony. She had some more room, an extra chair and the balcony. We avoided the balcony much f the time because where we were-it was far too hot to enjoy.

Suites are nice, but then you feel that you should spend more time in the suite, as it has so much room and you paid for it. That means less being out and about in the ship, but then, Princess is all about doing what you want.

I know this is not much help, but like I said, it all boils down to what you want....

Those menus are from 2009. Current menus are somewhat different.

Actually, I was just on the Caribbean Princess last month and they were pretty similar to those they send.......

Princess has gone back to putting the always available on the left page. And the different courses were mostly available on that cruise......

On our canal trip we were on deck 8 (Emerald) and it has a great aft deck. The best part was our cabin was near the stern and we could out there whenever we wanted and most of the time the deck was completely empty.

Even on canal day the aft decks tend to be much less crowded.

They are really great viewing decks.

About 6 weeks before your cruise you should get an e-mail from Princess that tells you who the hotel manager and Maitre D' will be. In that e-mail they have a link to sample menus.

Here is the link from my upcoming cruise:

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/dining/menus/dining_room/Sample%20Dinner%20Menus.pdf?utm_source=DM&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=PRECRUISE&utm_content=4-Caribbean

You will get one for your cruise.

The ship usually goes thru the Canal VERY early. About 5:30 AM is not unusual.

Actually, it starts to go through the canal that early. It takes all day to go through the entire canal.

We got up at 4 am to see the entry to the canal. We went up to Baja and through the "secret" doors out to the front deck-and it was pitch black!

Sunrise is a lot later than 5 am and you will not see a whole lot till the sun comes up. Fortunately, the ship didn't get far into the canal before first light. It takes a while to actually get to the locks.

After getting up that early we went to the HC for breakfast until it got light enough to see anything.

I've been on 2 B2Bs the first was under one booking number and the second had 2 different booking numbers and in both cases, my minutes rolled over automatically.

I did check with the manager and he said it was automatic.

And if they don't roll over just talk with the IT manager on the ship. They are very helpful.

I agree. The Island was the very first ship we ever sailed and is till our favorite.

 

Do they have Spanish lesson on all sea days? I am assuming they are very, very beginner classes. That's fine--we all need practice and it is always good to review the basics.

 

We are really leaning toward Princess.

As far as I recall they did have Spanish classes on the sea days. And yes, they do call it "for beginners".

On our cruise we bypassed Mexico and had 5 straight sea days From LA to Costa Rica. I don't think they do that anymore, but we found it great.