MakeItCount
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Posts posted by MakeItCount
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Sitting in the terminal waiting to board the Regal. A young, enthusiastic, and very loud woman is yelling instructions and introductions on how to use the new system. Did I mention that she is very loud?
So everybody in the terminal is confusedly peering at their phones, trying to download the apps.
Hopefully it’s great. Call me a curmedgeon but one of the things I always liked about cruising was to put my phone away in the safe. And people talking to each other instead of gazing at their screens.
I will keep an open mind. But I dislike the yelling. :(
I couldn’t agree more! I work in a field where I stay constantly connected. The only way I was ever able to truly disconnect was the occasional escape to environments where the technology couldn’t work (i.e. phone, text, internet). In these environments I couldn’t do anything about it except to record a voicemail to explain I couldn’t be reached and provide instructions on seeking assistance in my absence - not having the ability to easily communicate alleviated the guilt I felt for not being accessible. On recent flights I’ve been on they have now equipped planes so you can still receive texts; ships are integrating similar features; far flung countries that are less industrialized have cell towers. Can we just allow the sanctity of cruise ships, air planes, and some third world countries remain? There are/were only a few places where you could legitimately say you can’t be reached and people would accept it and move on and wait for you to return and not penalize you for not being available at their beck and call. (If you’re not self employed,or don’t own a small business this struggle may not make a lot of sense - it’s easy to say ‘you have to set boundaries,’ but that’s not always practical in some businesses.) Anyhow, places where you are legitimately unreachable are becoming no more. And that makes me a bit sad.
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I'll share with my wife that a Ph.D. agrees with my assessment on her excessive intelligence when compared to my own. ;):'):');)
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This is an interesting conversation to me for more reasons that whether or not one would enjoy a transatlantic cruise. I for one hope to go on one, one day, because I love sea days (or at least I think I do based on my limited experience). My entire life I honestly can't think of a time where I was truly bored!!! My wife is the exact opposite; she recalls boredom a lot as a child and will still complain of being bored. The closest for me to get bored is to sit through a long lecture I have no interest in, but even then, my mind wanders and entertains me so it doesn't even apply then. I've always considered my wife much more intelligent than I am, so maybe that's it, but then doesn't it take some imagination to be entertained by following your own train-of-thought to wherever it leads? Whatever you decide to do, I think I could sure manage to be "trapped" on a beautiful ship with plenty to eat, the sea and wind to enjoy, and my cellphone (which rings incessantly) to be largely out of order! Dream come true!
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Didn't mean to confuse. The watch and phone are tied together with Bluetooth and share information. What I was referring to was that you can change the time on the phone and the watch will now show the time set if you are setting for ship's time. The intranet opportunity with P@S allows the use of the message function to "text" a message to the person you have set up to receive them. We carried the phone all the time while on the ship to keep track of the ship's activities and schedules and if need be, to take photos or video if the situation presented.
Thank you!
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We used ours during our morning laps on the walking track and during the day as an event reminder along with the unique feature of telling the time! The iPhone is our cabin clock and alarm, then during the day it is our message communicator using the ship's intranet feature in Princess@Sea.
So if you’re connected to Princess at Sea, does it allow iPhone to update thereby updating Apple Watch - regardless of full internet connection? Or have I misunderstood Princess at Sea? My understanding of it was that it’s more of an intranet while on board, but if the intranet keeps the iPhone updates on time, the Apple Watch should follow suit. My wife and I depend on ours and neither of us considered the fact that they might not work. The comments so far appear to be in conflict with each other, or are accolades for the Apple Watch. Forgive me if these seems obvious to others. I appreciate the insight in advance.
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This is very common in countries where typically at least two of three elements are present, so it shouldn’t be surprising. It could be all three, but the requirement of paying for the use of restrooms typically occurs when:
1) Resources are scarce (could be money, infrastructure, physical space, etc) and/or things must be retrofitted at great expense to install plumbing
2) Poverty is plentiful.
3) The local or national government has a bent toward socialism as its governing influence.
Again all 3 may not be present, but at least one, and most normally 2 of those elements are at work, with a dose of supply and demand, and voila, you pay for the toilet.
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Just came off the CP Cabin R743 for 2 weeks over Christmas on the Circle Caribbean itinerary. No issues. We were in all ports on time all the way down to Aruba and back. I did not find any fault with the ship at all to be honest. We've sailed on her previously and found the changes and additions to be fresh and attractive. As for the AC, it has been my experience that the system does not like being set all the way down at the lowest setting. Use the level one above lowest. Also, and I assume most know this, the sliding door of balcony cabins effects the AC in the cabin. Make sure your slider is closed and locked as the AC will turn off if the door is left open.
Unrelated but interesting, we had a Medical evacuation of a young boy with appendicitis on our last evening on our way back to Port Everglades. The ship kept a steady pace at a pretty good clip as a coast guard helicopter hovered above the ship lowering a basket to retrieve the teen and his dad.
In all from my very recent experience I wouldn't hesitate to book a cruise on this ship. As with anything, every day is a new adventure and anything can happen no matter which ship you choose, but if you are looking for a systematic flaw to lead you away from Caribbean Princess I don't think that there is a real problem that has consistently negatively effected the ship to the point that it should be considered a "Lemon" from a passenger point of view. What goes on behind the scenes really isn't the concern of the passengers if it doesn't negatively effect them. For all I know Clopatra's rowing crew was down there getting us from Island to Island... and they did a fine job of it. Happy Cruising all!!
This is very helpful. Thanks so much for sharing your experience! We are excited to see the updates on the ship as well and it’s nice to hear that they seem to be well done. Certainly hope the young man that you mentioned being airlifted is ok - I can’t imagine as a parent such a circumstance. I’d read about this incident on the forums and it sounds like all was handled as well as possible, which is reassuring.
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From what I've read on other posts, if one balcony door is left open in a section, the entire section is affected. It is not this way on the Royal class. I read a technical description of why this happens. It's on a post called Close Your Balcony Door Already.
This is what I’ve read as well regarding balcony doors. We’ve only been on one cruise with Princess, on the Crown (similar ship) to the Mexican Riviera - also in March. I don’t remember these issues on that ship, but I am trying to recall if there was any effort by Princess to post any conspicuous notes about not leaving balcony doors open. The fact that I don’t recall likely means it wasn’t conspicuous. If this is the case, it doesn’t sound like it (I.e leaving doors open to feel and smell the breeze) is being addressed directly enough with passengers to not cause issues. Of course, in any group as large as the number of PAX on a ship like this, you’ll have about 15% of the folks who think the rules don’t apply to them, or somehow think that they’ll be the only ones skirting the rules and its “not a big deal.”
Anyhow, I’m not sure which is better - passengers mucking stuff up because they’re ignorant and/or inconsiderate, or technical issues with the ship. The latter can conceivably be solved, while the former is beyond a solution.
Really hoping for the best. We leave in 60 days and are booked in an Emerald Mini! We’re excited, but must admit reading this thread has us a bit concerned as well as hopeful. Seems like about half have had bad experiences and the other half have had no issues. Crossing fingers to be in the “no issues” half. Either way, we have in our minds to enjoy the ride!
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We are booked on Caribbean Princess for the May sailing to the ABC islands. I have read that the speed of CP has been reduced for months and ports cancelled because of this problem. Is this still happening, or has it been repaired?
I am also concerned with air conditioning problems on this ship...are they worse than average?
Would we do better to change the booking to the Royal in November to the ABC islands? I prefer the many pools on the Grand Class and have never been on the Royal class before, but having a hot room and missing one of the ports because of slower speed would be a deal breaker for me.
Any input?
We are on CB for a Panama Canal Cruise on March 8th. The propulsion issues are there and from what I gather will be present on the ship for another year or more (until next dry dock). It has resulted in the loss of one port (Falmouth) from the original itinerary and adjustment of times on others (all shortened). This is disappointing to us and the $50 pp ship credit doesn’t quite cut it for us, but what do you do? Our work and family schedules and obligations don’t give us the flexibility to reschedule without a lot of upheaval. This is an anniversary cruise for us and the main goal is the Panama Canal. That’s still on there, if it weren’t then that would be a different story. As for the A/C, Lord help us all! I hope there are no issues there!!!
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Hi,
We have a lot in common. I was 13 years old when the Love Boat began in 1977 and watched it every Saturday night. I took a seven-day Caribbean cruise with my parents on NCL's Skyward in 1976 and fell in love with cruising. The Love Boat allowed me to relive these memories (and look forward to future cruises) each week. I also collected the cruise brochures (I loved studying the deck plans for every ship). I have purchased all of the seasons of the Love Boat that are available on DVD and watch the show on Sunday afternoons.
I am now 50 years old and have taken over 70 cruises. I can truly say that I have enjoyed every single cruise. Also, Princess is one of my favorite cruise lines. I also still get very excited about each cruise. Enjoy the Golden Princess. I cruised aboard her in September 2013 and really liked the ship.
Chuck
Haven't taken nearly as many cruises as y'all! And, I was a bit younger, but remember The Love Boat on Saturday nights. I think it was then that I knew I wanted to go on a cruise...I remember thinking it was so cool that a pool was on a ship! I didn't go on my first cruise until I was 24, though!!! It was on Carnival and was an awful experience...I took a chance and went on a second one and loved it!!! So glad I didn't give up on it. We've taken several since then and I absolutely loved it..on a variety of lines: NCL, RCCL, and Oceania . Studying each ship...each cruise line...it's all so much fun! It's the best way to vacation in my opinion. Can't wait for our next one in March...our first on Princess!
Princess Cruise "Secrets" 2019
in Princess Cruises
Posted · Edited by MakeItCount
Regarding the bonus gift card, does anyone know of this is available with Father’s Day coming up? As suggested, I searched the board for keywords related to it, and didn’t find anything or missed finding it. I’m curious how this “bonus” works? I went to the gift card section of the Princess site earlier today, and didn’t see it. Admittedly, I didn’t look for too long as I was pressed for time.