AKman2495

The only time I sailed with notably less that full load was a 4 day "Cruise for Veterans". I was on the Caribbean Princess and I had booked it before it became the Cruise for Veterans. I had also booked the 7 day cruise following it.

Anyway, they had about 1,500 passengers on that 4 day cruise and it was wonderful. No long waits for anything, and no big lines. We also had some big shots-including the then CEO of Princess aboard and the crew was especially sharp.

The next cruise, the 7 day was full and BOOM! was that a change!!!

But it was still a great cruise!

Not to be a nit picker, but one does not do a "full transit" on a partial canal cruise.

Also, you do not make a return trip "through the canal".

A full transit through the canal means you start in the Caribbean and end up in the Pacific Ocean or vice versa.

What you really mean is that you make a return trip through the Gatun Locks.

While I'm not into snorkeling, I found Roatan to be one of the most beautiful tropical Islands I have ever seen.

When water is great and the views around the island are fantastic. A lush paradise is no exaggeration.

Enjoy!

Probably. But, while he may not be alone, he will be in the minority....

We just did a southern TA in September and it was too like glass. It was boring, but still. We did have some wind (we tried ping pong on the exercise deck of the Royal. That was a hoot. You would hit the ball into the wind an it would come back to you!)

Only once were there any waves and that was really nothing.

OK...We were in Panama on a native village excursion. I had a nice straw Panama workers hat on and some fast dry outdoor clothes. It was hot, as usual. We were in long, thin canoes. We were speeding along on a lake when the sky opened up and it poured. There was nothing we could do but sit there and wait till we got to the village.

We got to the village and made it up to a hut they had built for the tourists. It was large and dry. In that hut, we dried off fairly fast. It rained on and off while we were there and before we left I put on the plastic poncho they had given us (O put mine in my pocket and trying to put in on in the fast moving boat was out of the question). Needless to say, it rained on the way back, but I was a lot drier.

The natives walk around 1/2 naked and paid no attention to the rain.

Perhaps that's the best way to handle it.....;)

No, not a problem. We have done two repos now and both were great.

I remember in a Maya ruin when we were all seated on a low wall while the guide explained the site. Suddenly, it started to shower. The guide gently led us under the nearest large tree and said that the rain god was just happy to see us.:)

I also remember standing atop a Maya temple in Belize while it poured rain. I had a rain coat, so I was OK. The others on the ground simply moved under a tree until the shower passed.

I agree. The water is great on ships. If you want to lug a bunch of bottles of water around with you, fine-but it is a lot of work for nothing IMHO...

One more thing. Any bar will serve you all the ice water you want for free!

We had a cruise in Nov. of 2013 and were delayed 3 hours getting in because of heavy fog (the captain said there was a tanker anchored ahead of us. We could not see it). We got off the ship around 11:45 am-we had been scheduled for a Houston tour before going to the airport. That was canceled and the bus took us straight to the airport. We were there around 1. We has a 4 pm flight so we had no problem.

All I know is that there were a lot of frantic people on their phones during those 3 hours!

The Princess patter has a guide in the last page to all of the dining and bar options. They give the hours for each venue and, in the case of the MDRs, what they serve-whenter it is anytime or traditional.

In addition, one of the MDRs is always open for breakfast every morning. Such is served on sea days and usually, on embarkation.

Replies in red

We were sailing out of the new Houston terminal and we got stuck by fog. We didn't tie up until 10 am. We were 3 hours late.

It probably won't happen to you, but I would keep the airline and the rent-a-car company on speed dial.....

Perhaps it depends on the matre d', the ship, the port etc, but we have missed our set dining on Princess and had no problem being accommodated at "anytime". However, we were not fussy as to a large table, a small table, a table only for 2....whatever they could accommodate us with was fine for us. I'd post on the Princess thread as well and see what answers you get.

I'm curious, did you tell them you were a traditional diner who missed his time, or did you just show up at the anytime dining room?

The difficulty I have is that you alone doing it is not a big deal, but when say 40 people doit, it gets to be a problem for the people who actually signed up for anytime.

I have seen one one cruise where a bunch of friends who are a mix of anytime and traditional want to eat together. They get into anytime dining, while we cool our heels in the bar with a pager.

That, to me is not right.

Having raised 3 daughters, I learned a long time ago to take showers down at my health club:D

Fortunately, we have only cruised 2 to a cabin.

We usually get up early and walk several times on deck (or the waking track), we then shower and head off to breakfast.

If we have been out and about in warmer weather, we usually shower in the afternoon before dinner.

You can shower whenever you like, that is the nice thing about cruising.

IF you miss your dining time you will have to eat at the buffet. They will NOT allow you to go to the anytime dining room or sit at a later seating.

Sadly, it happens way too often that they do indeed seat traditional diners in anytime dining.

They will check cruise cards at the beginning of the cruise to get people straightened out, but after that, they do not look at cruise cards-meaning anyone can get into anytime dining venues.

Sometimes if the ship is leaving later than usual say 5 pm, they will switch to "open seating" where you can eat in any of the dining venues at any time.

this will be announced in the newsletter for that day.

If not....please do not go to the anytime dining room. People who have anytime dining can be forced to wait if too many traditional guys shop up for one reason or another.

On our last cruise (it was a TA with over 1000 elites and who knows how many platinum) was held at 7 pm one night.

We did not go, as I am sure many others didn't too. 7 pm is either right in the middle of dinner or just before the first shows.

I am sure they set that up to keep the turnout as low as possible....

My mother was with us on a cruise a few years ago and her camera broke. She bought one on the ship-a nikon and still uses it. The prices are reasonable. The ship is not a discount house.

They also have knowledge people selling them - and they follow up with good service.

Again, it may not be the cheapest place, but they are not way out of line and they have a decent selection.

I agree. The main purpose of the FCC's is to allow you to book with only a $100 deposit (the FCC). Assuming you paid the usual deposit when you booked, why use the FCC? You can;t get a refund on the deposit and you will have to pay it again anyway before the final payment date.

The small OBC you get is a little icing on the cake-not the main attraction of the FCC's....

Pam, I have experienced this also and also I have just turned around and walked out. JF - retired RRT, I think they are trying eventually do away with a MDR being open for embarkation day lunch, between the limited menu and the crew herding everyone to the buffet.

 

I just cruised on the Coral and they did have the normal embarkation menu (I love the salmon) We had a late embarkation that day so the dining room was pretty empty :) :) :) It was wonderful!

We've found that too. On our TA (15 days) we had lunch in the MDR only once.

Hi

 

Do not want to worry you, but many years ago we got stuck under a storm,

 

every day we moved it moved, folks kept saying first days rain in months,

 

heavy rain for about ten days non stop, ship started to flood there was

 

so much water coming down.

 

yours Shogun

That wasn't the ARK was it???

No offense taken. Just trying to understand how the system works as a first timer on Princess. We have 30+ cruises on one other line and scattered other cruises on 2 additional lines. Just no Princess yet.

Well, the problem is, as you can read, some people have had bad experiences with AT dining, while others have not.

One thing that may have helped us getting faster service is that we are always willing to share a table. That will often speed things up a lot.

Also, I have found that, at least on longer cruises, the person who seats you gets to know you and tends to take care of the people who will work with him or her.

I have found that to be true. There are times, for example, when we have shared a table and she put us at a 10 top with two other people. It took a while to fill up the other places. She apologized for the delay. The next night, she put us at a table that was filled quickly.

I know Pam has had problem on almost every cruise. We have had few problem except for one cruising that was due to a large group (over 1,000) who tended to eat together, filling up the ATD umm traditional or not. That has been the exception.

All other times have been good.

FWIW.

Our first cruise was through the Panama Canal on the Coral. We were in E721 (an inside). These was minimal noise and vibration from the engines. We also did not hear noise from the lounge.

As for the minimal noise and vibration, it was comforting to know that we were still moving along.

It's when those vibrations and noise stop-an you're not in port- that you should worry...

While not changing rooms, when I booked out TA way back in 2014, I kept watching the prices and early in 2015, there was a nice price drop with benefits like free specialty restaurant dinner and OCBs. I got the reduction and the bennies.

Later this year, the price dropped again and I called about it and they said if I took that promotion, I would lose the bennies from the previous sale. Because the price drop was big enough, I dropped the bennies and went for the lower price.

I imagine something similar might apply in the situation you describe.

We were on the Royal in September and had no problems with anytime. Yes, we had slow service the first formal night and the head waiter came by to check up on things and we told him what was going on and he immediately took care of the problem.

Out of 14 nights, we ate in the MDR 13 of them and we had a beeper only on one night. Other times, we were seated fairly quickly. We ate typically between 5:30 and 6. One night we did go to the early show and ate around 7:30 with no problem.

We moved around, but we had the same table more than once.

If I wanted to eat at the same table with the same waitstaff at the same time every night, I would choose Traditional dining. So the idea that they should structure anytime dining like that makes no sense to me.

While others may disagree, I find anytime dining works well-if you don't show up between 6:30 and 7:30. Then you'll have to wait.

To that I say DUH...It's like showing up at a popular land based restaurant at those times and finding it will be a 1 hour wait!

If you go at peak times, expect to wait. What can I say....

Otherwise, we like anytime dining. It works for us.