AKman2495

IMHO, there is nothing better than hitting the Lido for some Prego's pizza after a long port day!

We were coming back from the cabin yesterday and we passed a couple of Celebrity buses. The rented buses and put a Celebrity sticker on them.

Princess cruises have the Princess logo painted on them Big.

Holland America is my favorite. They painted their buss with wildlife scenes and forty colors. They really stand out on the highway!

FWIW....

I've only seen other ships near ports. For example, sailing into FLL on the last night of the cruise, you could see two other cruise ships heading the same way. And no, they were no following us, they were nearby.

Around the Panama Canal you'll see lots of ships. As you get nearer the canal, they multiply....

At ports, landing will be set at different times so that the landing crews can handle each ship one at a time. I've been in a port when another ship pulled in right next to us. They closed our gangway for 20 minutes while the other ship docked.

One time, I was on the Crown when the Ruby docked next to us. They had guards posted to make sure passengers didn't get mixed up!

But out on the high seas, you do not see many ships.

I believe there are local shuttles there, but as I took a ship's tour, I really didn't look into it.

It is an interesting drive from the ship to the shore, though as it is a rather narrow causeway.

On Princess, you can sign up for "deluxe" events like anniversaries, renewal of vows, etc. In the deluxe package you get a bridge tour thrown in.

On my bridge tour, the captain said to keep it quiet because only the people who select this option get to tour the bridge.

I've been to Progresso and there is not much there. There are some Maya ruins, though. One is close by both the other is a longer drive.

OH....and the pier is 5 miles long. Yes, I said 5 miles. If you want to walk it, when you get to the end, there is not much there.

We took an ship's excursion to the closer ruins and had no trouble at all.

I would be nervous driving around that part of Mexico in a cab for small tour bus.

I would stick w it ship's excursions.

I am also on the 9/6 TA and will be bringing my tux....that makes 2 of us :)

It has been my experience that most men will wear either a tux or suit for formal night. Some and I do mean some men will opt for no jacket and tie. They may get away with it. but they are in the minority.

I have heard that this being a European cruise, it will tend to be dressier than a Caribbean cruise, so keep that in mind.

Maybe I'm just imagining it, but we have sailed Inside, oceanview and balcony on Princess. It seems to me that there really isn't any difference in size. 3 adults in any of those categories would probably be tight. It isn't until you get to a deluxe (Royal/Regal) balcony or minisuite that you gain more room.

Actually, you're correct. As far as space is concerned there would be no difference.

Not having natural light may make the inside feel smaller. We have done a 28 day with an inside and didn't have any problems, but then we didn't have a 3rd person to contend with.

Perhaps, it would. But the lack of natural light is peanuts compared to having an extra adult in there with you...

We are leaving next month on a 15 day TA in an inside and re looking forward to it!

We just took our first cruise on Princess on the Star and as much as others talked about waits for Anytime Dining on various ships I didn't really get it. So for other newbies the term ANYTIME dining It just is not true. If I called for reservations they only had 5:30 or 7:30 or later available which basically were the same times for traditional dining except you could switch between early and late with anytime. If you wanted to eat at an in between time it wasn't possible. They filled the only early anytime restaurant with people at 5:30ish and then they were not done until 7 or later. This impacted on being able to attend shows. They were honest about it though which I appreciated. We had thought we could go like at 6 and even if we had to wait 30 minutes no big deal get a drink but no at 6 the wait was an hour plus. At 6:30 it would be 45 mins. You get the idea. Just realize it will need to be 5:30 or 7:30 or later. The only benefit to anytime is being able to switch between early and late. Do make reservations that day though as it does make things quicker to be seated. We did find maybe just bad luck that the wait staff in the anytime only dining room was the least skilled as compared to the dining room that is early traditional and late anytime. So if you can wait until 7:45 hit that dining room rather than the anytime only one.

What you describe is fairly common but not because there is a problem with anytime. Rather, many people like to eat early -around 5:30. As you say, the MDR fills up and is occupied pretty much for a couple of hours, when a lot of the diners are done.

We usually eat around 5:30, so we have never had a problem with anytime (except for one time, which I think was caused by a large group. They would come to the anytime dining room whether they had anytime or traditional and take up all the seats. So we had to wait...)

Other that that experience, we've had no problem. Now, I can see where if you show up at 6 or 6:30 you could run into a full dining room.

As others have pointed out, anytime is just like a restaurant. Get there when the place is full and you will have to wait. That does not make it bad per se.

We always book inside rooms. The price is great and, for two, they are not bad.

That said, I would never book an inside for 3 adults-especially on a 15 day cruise!

It ill be just too tight for the3 of you.

IMHO.

We loved the Bistro on Princess when they had it.

 

Nothing like a nice NY steak at 2:30 in the morning. :)

At this stage of my life...a nice soft, warm bed beats that out every time!:)

Agree with you on this! We either book an excursion with the ship or take a taxi to where we want to go on our own. :)

 

AKman ... We have been on at least one roll call/cruise together.

Were you on the roll call when someone was organizing a private tour for 5 couples and turned out the organizer kept adding more and more people and going to additional places?

What started out as small turned into large and many got really mad and sort of ruined the roll call ... :(

 

LuLu

Hi LuLu, no, I wasn't on that roll call, but if I had been, that kind of problem would have had me signing off for sure!

We are heading out next much for a TA on the Royal. !5 days with the first week hitting Europe and the last week at sea. My kind of cruise!

I tell this story often because it sums things up nicely. My DD told my DW before our first cruise not to pay the gratuities as you go-just give some envelopes at the end of the cruise. (I left the auto tips on unbeknownst to her).

Anyway, about halfway through the cruise, my DW came to me and asked me to turn on the auto tips. She had received such good service from all of the crew, there was no way she could remember all of them much less adequately tip them all at the end of cruise. We did add tips for the steward and a couple of the servers who did a great job, but she felt a lot better knowing that the auto tip was on.

FWIW

I feel the same way. My family decided to base our in-port time activities based on my research and hubby's and daughter's input too. If we book an excursion' date=' it'll be through the ship. Less drama, less hassle. And for the ones we've booked, and that I've been able to find a comparable indy tour, there doesn't seem to be much of a price difference. We know once it says we're booked, we have the tour (unless it gets cancelled, then we just do some things on my back up list). I don't have to worry about corresponding with a stranger and hope they're organized.[/quote']

 

I do admire the people who want to do it themselves. But, in fact, they are trading their time for the extra cost of the excursion through the ship. I pay for the convenience of letting me do other things while awaiting the cruise and then relaxing on the cruise.

 

Many people like the work setting up and researching excursions, but it is not for me...

I've been to a 3. Here my opinion. For Roatan, you can go wither way. It is really a beach place as it is really beautiful. Check out the beaches.

Cozumel-if you stay on the island it is a beach day. To go to ruins, you need to take a 45 minute ferry to the mainland. Then you will have to figure out how to get the ruins and back to the ferry for the 45 minute ride back-all before the ship leaves.

Beach no problem, ruins go with a ship's tour. We were an hour late getting back from our tour and the ship was waiting.

Belize. Here you need a tour. Belize city is a dump and I would not go out of the pier area on my own.

They have snorkeling/diving tours, cabe tubing, etc-but you need to plan, organize and book these ahead of time to be sure you will be able to go. On the day we got to Belize there were 4 ships in port and at least 10,000 people milling around the port!

That's another reason I book excursions through the ship!

And sorry, but eleven years is OLD for a ship (our balcony was really rusty). Do you drive an eleven year old car?

.

11 years is not old for a ship. You cannot compare a ship to a car (besides the point that I have owned 11 year old cars and they have worked well).

The OP says "My son and I are foodies, we love swimming, shopping, historical stuff. He has no interest in things like Zip Lines or anything thats really an adrenaline rush".

IN that case, Curacao is the place to go. Bonaire, as you're read is pretty good for only snorkeling.

Snorkeling is nice, but it apparently is not one of the big interests they are looking for.....

Didn't we all learn in Kindergarten to play nice and follow the rules? :)

A) apparently not.

B) We must have learned a different set of "rules".

 

Icelandair's coach is a premium product with good leg room, all the above included in the price, and the layover deal is incredible

Glad to hear that. We're flying with them from Anchorage to London next month. Although our layover is only 1 hour or so....

We go to our cabin, drop off our carryons, check the mail and other papers that are in the cabin and then leisurely head down to a nice lunch, preferably in the MDR. We don't grab drinks much these days...

Our first cruise was a 3 day repo from Vancouver to LA (before our cruise through the Panama Canal).

We met many Canadians who were aboard and they said it was cheaper for them to sail to LA than it was to fly!

On the 2 day experience, the ship anchors off Fuerte Amador and it tenders.

The tenders stop at 6 pm, but the ship remains anchored until early in the morning (like 3 am). It then moves around Fuerte Amador and enters the canal. By 6 am you should be nearing the true entrance.

That means you will be at anchor on the first night and a UBD would be a great thing. At anchor, the ship will rotate somewhat, meaning the view might change over time.

Panama city and Fuerte Amador are modern with many buildings palm trees and lights. A perfect setting for your UBD.

Our first cruise was from Vancouver to LA in September. We were sailing south and it was pretty calm. I hear northbound can be a little rockier, but as far as I could tell, it couldn't have been by much.

That said, all it takes is one good storm and you could be rocking again.....

As someone who has lived in Alaska for 40 years, I can say positively that on Sept. 1, fall begins. It can be 70+ degrees the week before-the day before, but on Sept. 1, fall begins.

It will be cooler. Maybe dry maybe rainy. It will be beautiful, but it will be fall.