KruzPrincess

I was just on there without any problem.

I was just on the Star Princess for 15 days in December and had a great time. Yes, the ship is older and a bit dated, but the staff that I encountered were great. Dave Cole is one of the best cruise directors that Princess has and there were tons of activities. Elua and Dave Cole provide an excellent Hawaiian culture program. Food was decent. The buffet area on these ships is small with limited choices, but they always had good choices. The staff in Sabatini's is excellent. I am not thrilled with the current Sabatini's menu, but the staff was great and food was good. I loved the Crab Shack. We had a really fine meal in the Crown Grill. It just shows that everyone has different opinions. I wish I could go on this cruise again. I had a really fun trip.

I was curious how often you could enter and here are the rules:

4. How to Enter: During the Promotion Period, visit https://princess.promo.eprize.com/holiday/ and follow the links and instructions to complete and submit the registration form including a valid home address. P.O. Boxes are not permitted. You will automatically receive one (1) entry into the Grand Prize Drawing each day you register or login. To earn additional entries into the Grand and Weekly Prize drawings, complete one (1) or both of the following activities:

a. Take A Personality Test (to enter the Grand Prize Drawing ONLY): Follow the links and instructions to complete a personality test. You automatically will receive one (1) entry into the Grand Prize Drawing after completing and submitting the personality test. Limit: You may enter and take the Personality Test one (1) time during the Promotion Period.

b. Upload A Photo (to enter both the Grand and Weekly Prize drawings): After you register for the Promotion, follow the directions to upload one (1) photo that displays your favorite vacation destination, and a title of the photo (not to exceed 25 characters), collectively referred to as your submission ("Submission"). You will automatically receive one (1) entry into the applicable Weekly Entry Period and one (1) entry into the Grand Prize Drawing. By uploading your Submission, you agree that your Submission conforms to the Photo Guidelines and Content Restrictions as defined below (collectively, the “Guidelines and Restrictions”) and that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may remove your Submission and disqualify you from the Sweepstakes if it believes that your Submission

I keep reading how much trouble the Caribbean Princess is having sailing out of Houston. (I know that some of the recent issues are due to Norovirus. I'm not talking about Noro.) I have friends in TX and always think about going on a cruise out of TX with them. Now, I've read a lot about the strategic problems with these sailings. For those of you who sail out of TX a lot, are some of these problems due to changing from Galveston to Houston? Would they still be having the same problems in Galveston? Just curious. I know a lot of people want a Princess ship in TX, but do you think they'll keep one there? Thanks for your opinions.

Interesting comparison. In regards to price, did you deduct the $600 per person that Concerts at Sea adds to the normal cruise price? That amount is the cost of the entertainment package. I agree that comparing Aqua Class on Celebrity to a regular balcony cabin on Princess is not at all equal. I've cruised on Celebrity and Princess both and find them more alike than different. I prefer Princess, but some prefer Celebrity. The Caribbean Princess is an older ship, so it's not going to be like one of the Solstice Class ships. Have you sailed on the older Celebrity ships? How does that compare? I just looked at your cruise history and see that you sailed on Equinox and Solstice and it was a couple years back. I'd like to hear your opinion after you sail on the Century, which I believe hasn't been Solsiticized yet.

I received the email after I took the questionnaire. I don't know if uploading pictures gives you more entries or not.

Are there any issues with noise from the lifeboat being lowered and raised? I just booked E718 and I'm wondering if it will be noisy. Thanks.

Thanks for your report. I'm looking forward to going on the Sapphire in March. I look forward to seeing what these short cruises are like. I suspect this is a lot harder on the crew having to turnaround passengers every 4 days. I'm glad you had a good time in spite of these issues.

I love German night, too. Like others, I always get the spaetzle with gravy from one of the entrées. I can't recall the name. I also call it "wurst" night because they usually have a selection of sausages like bratwurst, knockwurst, etc.

The next break in the schedule is May 2015. https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/ships/fleet-drydock-schedule

Well, the last Island Princess cruise on the website goes to May 13, 2015. I don't know if that means there will be a break then. The website you list says they got the information from Cruise Critic and I haven't seen anything listed here that says that. Maybe they are right. Maybe they've seen something here that I missed. As I said, we probably don't really know until we see the new schedule when it come out. Maybe the person who does that website has inside information. ??? Many people have speculated that the Island is going to the Med in the summer of 2015. If that happens, then I would expect a drydock before it leaves.

Is there a date set for the Island dry dock?

Not that I know of. It was originally going to be done in October 2013. Then, it was going to be October 2014. Now, they've filled in the October dates with cruises. I guess we'll have to wait until the new schedule comes out to see if there's a drydock break in the schedule.

Both ships are nice and pretty much the same. If it was me I'd pick the Coral because of the recent upgrades and refreshing. The Island's drydock keeps getting postponed. I was on the Coral in July and it was very nice. I've been on the Island a few times and had nice cruises.

As for viewing, if this is your first time through the Canal you'd want to be on deck. I personally love having a balcony for all the other days of the cruise and I do spend time on my balcony during some of the transit, but the first time I did a Canal cruise I spent all day on deck. It's a great cruise.

Hello,

I really want to go on a cruise this year in 2014, but don't have anyone to go with. So my questions are this:

 

How did you make that first step in going solo?

 

I love to cruise and my friends either couldn't get away or couldn't afford to go as much as I wanted to go. I've traveled by myself on land vacations a lot. I've cruised quite a bit. I decided I'd try a solo cruise to see if I'd like it.

 

Did you have fears of never leaving your cabin/room?

 

Not at all. I do like to spend time in my cabin and I usually book a balcony cabin. I like having that space to myself, but I do leave my cabin several times a day. I have to admit that I wasn't sure I wanted to do a solo cruise again after my first one, but I ended up booking another one very quickly. Now, I just love it.

 

Where did you cruise to?

 

My first solo cruise was to the Caribbean which I've travelled to many times. Since then I've done other Caribbean, Panama Canal, Hawaii, etc.

 

What ships cater or like having solo travelers?

 

I mostly sail on Princess. They don't cater to solo travelers, but they always treat me well. Their loyalty program gives you double cruise credit if you book a solo cabin.

 

At ports did you stay on the ship or adventure off?

 

Both. I'm not super adventurous. When I first cruised I went on an excursion at every port. Now I've seen most places and just go off to shop. Sometimes I don't get off at all. Sometimes the cruise ship is my destination. If I went somewhere new I'd try to see some sights.

 

How did you pick your excursions?

 

Just look for something interesting.

 

How long was your first solo cruise?

 

7 days.

 

Dinner, I don't even want to go there. That is #1 fear. Eating by yourself in a packed restaurant EEKKK! Help needed on this one.

 

I'm really OK by myself. The person who said you should start going to restaurants alone is giving good advice. I go out to lunch alone if I feel like going out and no one is free to go with me. On board, I'm not a morning eater and usually just get room service if I want something. I go to the MDR for lunch sometimes and sit with others. People are always welcoming. I don't really like going to the MDR for dinner much because I don't like how long it takes. I love the salad bar in the buffet, so I just take a book and make a salad. Sometimes I try a specialty restaurant and sometimes I have pizza or something quick. I always choose Anytime Dining so I can meet a lot of people if I decide to dine in the MDR. I met a solo traveler on my last cruise who always got a table to himself each night in the MDR. I prefer sitting with others.

 

 

Any helpful advice is appreciated. I am shy female not young, not old either. I really want to cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, not Bahamas I've been there. Any tips on a good first solo cruise?

 

I am shy myself, but I'm really happy with my own company.

 

Thanks,

Janine

I suggest you try it. People are very friendly. And, like someone else said, I have had met a lot of nice people who couples or friends. I don't limit myself to trying to find other solo cruisers.

I know it's mean, but I love watching for people running for the ship before sailaway. LOL. I've seen a lot of people running, too. I've seen people miss the ship.

They can't automatically do it because they can't tell on their computer if the cruise was sold in segments. Just like I mentioned, they need to email the main office , have them check, and get permission to make the change.

I also had them change it right onboard without any checking when I did the 14 day Alaska cruise. I suspect the on board rep just knew it could have been booked as two cruises without checking. I'm sure I wasn't the first person that asked. Of course, maybe there's new policy since July. I don't know.

I'm grateful for the benefits. I haven't read anyone say that they don't appreciate them. Princess does a lot of things right. I'm grateful that we can combine OBC. I love my free laundry and internet minutes. I like that I get extra OBC for number of cruises. I'm just about to get to the $50 point.

That said, it does kind of irritate me that someone taking a bunch of short cruises, many of which may have been free, can get to Elite in very short order. People have paid a lot of money for those benefits. Some people, like me, cruise solo and pay double for their days. I get double points for cruise totals, but no double days. Princess had to have thought about the fact that these short cruises would affect the loyalty numbers that they were already struggling with. Maybe there's some plan down the pike that we haven't heard about yet.

I do know that you need to be careful what you wish for, though. I think it's Cunard (???) that added some super elite categories and you have to cruise a certain amount each year to keep at that level. Now, I know that wouldn't be me. Some people here wouldn't have a problem doing that, but I know I'd never get to the top level on Cunard.

The menus on the 3/4 day Coastals are not the standard menus, but specifically for the Coastals and they are a combination of other menus. As you posted, there is really nothing that hasn't been on other menus.

 

 

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Thanks. By the way, are you going on the 12/4/14 Hawaii cruise on the Grand Princess? I think I saw your screen name on the roll call.

I have better luck with Super Shuttle, but what others have said about either Prime Time or Super Shuttle is true. My friends live north of LA and they always get a shuttle from Prime Time for themselves. It's really easy to catch it for the return. They have shuttles lined up at the cruise terminal and you just show your reservation to the Prime Time or Super Shuttle person. They'll get a shuttle for you in a very short time.

Thanks for the responses to my question. I have seen most of those items the IECalCruiser listed on the Hawaii sailings, if not all. I love Asian food and would love to see more dishes. I see a lot of Indian and Indonesian food on all the ships and I'm not as interested in that. If anyone has seen new Asian dishes other than the regular specialty items that are always on the Sapphire, please let me know. Thanks.

Are they currently offering any of the new Asian dishes that they were testing out??? If yes, what are they? Are they in the Pacific Moon dining room? Any other food changes?

I don't think so. My son got the premium card (can't remember the exact name) on the Royal at New Year's because he thought he would be able to get bottles of water, fresh squeezed juice, San Pellegrino, etc. - but it actually just included soda fountain pop, and mocktails - nothing more. On Celebrity his premium non-alcohol card could be used for anything that wasn't alcohol - tea, coffee, bottled water, freshly squeezed juice, San Pellegrino, Red Bull, etc. - so he was disappointed.

 

Our fault of course, for not clarifying what was included when we purchased the card. A lovely waitress in the Horizon Court sold it to us, and we just assumed it would be the same as Celebrity - and you know what happens when you assume ;)

The Celebrity premium non-alcohol package is $18 plus gratuities a day. The Princess Soda and More package is $8.05 a day. I got the Celebrity package once and never once spent $18 on non-alcohol items. I did like that Celebrity carried Vitamin Water, though.

I got a great deal on a 14 day cruise on the Coral last year. I was surprised to see that they chose not to offer that option this year.

The room service department on the Star is outstanding. Alvaro, the supervisor is the best of the best. I think our fruit was changed every day. We were spoiled in the GS for a month last spring.

 

My point was that suite perks seem to be slipping. We didn't get the floral arrangements like in the past. The Royal had two orchids stuck in with two small foliage plants.

Yes, I understood your point. I think it must depend on the ship. My suite on the Star was my first time in a full suite, so I didn't know what to expect. I was on for 2 weeks and got 2 full flower arrangements. I was surprised to see another one the second week. It was great for me.

I never got the plush robe as an Elite. I only had it in a full suite.

I do use the free postcards. Just an FYI. I was just on the Star Princess in December and the internet café was often very busy on that cruise. I found that sometimes the postcard option wasn't available. I would hit refresh several times and then it would pop up. I don't know if only a certain number of people can be using it at one time or what.