KruzPrincess

I'm watching her rigth now. Looks like folks are starting to make their way back on board. Is it an early sailaway?

I think it said 1400 local time, but I don't know what that comes out to.

Thanks for your thoughtful post. Interesting. I always say it's good to try different cruise lines for the experience. I always end up coming back to Princess. I haven't yet tried the new NCL offerings. Maybe I need to give one a try just for the fun of it.

http://portbermudawebcam.com/

Beautiful. I thought the Crown looked so HUGE when I sailed on her the first time. Now, I look at the Royal! Of course, I thought the Sun Princess was huge when I first sailed on her.

You don't have to add any card at all and just present a card when you check in. I didn't enter any card on my last cruise because of a situation similar to yours and there were no problems.

Last year, we booked after final payment for a B2B which was 14 days from Vancouver and back. We got a good deal, but you can't be picky about cabins and have to be flexible about what ship you want. I waited to see which ship had the best deals. For a large group, that may not work especially if you want cabins close to each other.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing your experience and pictures! I am especially interested in the Wildlife Refuge. T

This will be a post cruise tour for us. It sounds like it takes the place of a regular transfer. It ends at 2:45, which would still give us some time in downtown Anchorage.

If we were to be dropped off at the convention center at 2:45 at the end of the tour, I wonder what transportation to the airport would look like. 2:45 at the airport (without any free time in Anchorage) seems a little early for a 10pm flight.

Unfortunately, I don't know how late the transfers to the airport run. I was on a back to back, so we went back to the ship. It's a nice option to get to spend some time seeing other sites during the day, though.

I believe AD is not offered on the Japanese cruises.

Could be mistaken but thought I read somewhere that Anytime Dining is not offered in Australia, nor would it be for Japan. Which is even more reason why Diamond and Sapphire should stay in North America while some other Grand Class ships are sent over there.

Now that you say that, I think I read that, too. Ditto to that being the perfect reason for keeping the Diamond and Sapphire in North America. What a huge loss for us.

We stopped at the convention center on a tour this summer. It's a nice set-up with secure area for luggage, restroom, big round tables with chairs, and there were some beverage machines. Across the street are a couple restaurants: a pub and a coffee shop, I think. There is shopping within in a couple blocks. Princess has tours you can book and then they'll drop you where you need to be at the end. We did a tour to the Wildlife Refuge and Alyeska Tram. Also, saw a lot of scenery along the way. Here's some pictures: Reguge, Tram, Pub and busses outside convention center. Sorry, I didn't take pictures inside the convention center.

Unless there's something different with these new Asia itineraries, there should be Anytime Dining. The beauty of the Sapphire/Diamond MDR's is that they have different themes. It would be a pity if that was taken away.

Wow, that's a great price for Dom...:D Hmm !

 

Can you order once on board?

 

CC

There are liquor items you can order from room service, but I don't know if they offer the same things or what the prices are. I've never paid attention.

Full Suite, Elite and Platinum, I believe get these set-ups. On our last Eastern Med cruise we had 2 of each of the following: Dewers Scotch, Gin, Vodka, VSOP Brandy, Sprite, Coke Cola, Club Soda, and some Beer. You can get any of these changed out for something different by calling room service. We had a Full PH Suite. On longer cruises you will get two set-up's.

What I've gotten in the past is:

2 - Beefeater London Dry Gin

2 - Skyy Vodka

2 - Dewar's White Label Scotch Whiskey

2 - Courvoisier VSOP Cognac

2 - bottles of beer - I think Dos Equis

2 - cans Coke

2 - cans Sprike

2 - cans tonic water

2 - bottles Perrier

2 - bottles water

You can trade these items one for one for another item. Some people trade out for more Coke, etc. I always intend to trade out for water, but never get around to it. I've read you can trade the entire set-up for 2 coffee cards. I've never done that myself.

HMH60, I read through all the posts and came to that conclusion. Is it possible to order and pay for an L or .75L bottles of spirits for your suite ? I don't mind paying for it, but in late evening if I want a nightcap, I don't want to have to get dressed and go to a public bar for it. Can anyone help me out on this? Thanks in advance.

 

Mike

You can order a gift of liquor for yourself prior to leaving on you cruise. Here's what's offered:

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/cellars_culinarydelights/princess_cellars/index.jsp

Thank you for that answer.

 

I am actually looking for something a bit higher class and sophistication with this vacation. And my TA is telling me that Princess/Celebrity are in same "market space". As in something higher class than my previous experience.

 

What was the straw that broke camel's back on my last cruise with Carnival was their "Airplane" event on a final day. Being an aviation fan and a private pilot, I was hoping for something fun. Yet, I get there and we are supposed to "fold paper airplanes and hit the target". This was the activity on their Fun Times! Along with bad food options (who closes their buffet when people come back from shore?) and lack of things to do on board is why I won't go back.

 

So this is why my TA suggested these cruises. I've been to St Thomas (but I was sick and spent 2 hours on shore) and St Maarten. Just hope I won't get bored in Princess Cays.

OK, I have to admit you may find a lame activity on a Princess ship. On my last cruise on the Coral Princess in July, they had an egg drop contest. After many cruises I had never heard of that, but my next door neighbor asked for supplies to participate. We provided them some ribbon. Turns out that you have to make something that will "float" from the upper level of the atrium to the lower level without breaking the egg inside. Turns out only two people participated. My neighbors egg didn't break. If you see an egg drop...you may want to pass that up.

I've never been on a perfect cruise, but after trying several different cruise lines I found I'm most comfortable with Princess. They tend to do most things well. I like that I can count on a good experience with them. A lot about cruising is subjective. I suggest you go out and try different cruise lines, as you are doing, and you'll eventually find what you like.

Hope you have a great time.

I have never read of anyone being upgraded from a mini to a window suite. I don't think Princess would do it without prior approval because they know most people book mini's because they want a balcony. I'm sure they know most people would come back and complain. I would and have put in for a meta upgrade from a mini to a full suite. I'll do it again in the future. Emerald mini's are highly sought after. It is possible that someone who really wants one will encourage Princess to see if they can find them one. You never know. I was upgraded to a full suite on the Golden for an upcoming cruise and I'm very happy. I've never even been in a suite and probably never will get one again. If it were me, I'd go for it.

Hello.

 

Me and my girlfriend are fairly inexperienced cruisers. 2 cruises behind our backs. 2 on RCCL (Oasis and Allure) and one on Carnival (Dream).

 

We loved RCCL but not so much with Carnival. In fact, we agreed never to cruise with Carnival again. From limited food options, confusing ship layout, kids getting hurt in the pool (one had a concussion right in front of us), and a feel of a nonstop college kegger, I think it's just not for us.

 

I have a vacation coming up that I have to take, otherwise days will burn up. So we decided to try something else. Either Princess or Celebrity. So we will be either on Royal Princess or Celebrity Silhouette.

 

So, what should we expect from Princess? What would be differences from RCCL and Carnival?

There won't be as many activities for children on either Princess or Celebrity. Both the Silhouette and the Royal Princess are newer ships. I've been on the Celebrity Equinox which is a sister to the Silhouette. The new Celebrity ships are very sleek and modern. Beautiful ships and they have a lot of fans. I found my cruise experience to be very sedate. I find Princess to have more activity, but nothing like the Carnival experience you describe. You won't find belly flop contests on either Princess or Celebrity. You also won't find rock climbing walls, flow riders, parades, ice skating rinks, etc. There are a ton of Princess vs. Celebrity threads on Cruise Critic. You can check those out. There a lot of posts about the new Royal Princess. You may want to read up on that. If you love the activities on the Allure/Oasis, I'm not sure you'll be happy with either of these ships you're thinking of. Princess is my favorite, but both Celebrity and Princess offer a good experience.

I always bring a small fleece throw blanket with me in case I want to throw it over my legs or shoulders when I'm on the balcony. On one of my recent cruises I had one with dogs on it. My cabin steward made me a dog towel animal which was as cute at can me and I kept him for the entire cruise. I never eat the chocolate, but I do bring them home and give them away. Here's a picture of my towel animal!

I took the Sapphire to Hawaii last year. No Elua, but Dave Cole was the CD. They had hula, lei making, uke lessons, etc. It was all good and I enjoyed the cruise. I seem to recall that Dave of Elua posted that Princess was hiring another couple for the Grand, but you may want to contact them to clarify. I'm sure Princess is putting a cultural program on any ship that does Hawaii regularly. However, it may not be as good as with Elua. I'm sailing the Star this year and am looking forward to both Dave Cole and Elua. Dave Cole really knows and loves Hawaii. For me, I chose the Star for all of that.

What a great view of her making the turn. Just beautiful.

They turned cam #1 around.

The Fort Lauderdale Beach cam from the Marriott has a good view and nice surf sounds.

http://www.ftlauderdalebeachcam.com/

OMGosh, I can't believe I'm up in the middle of the night and just happened to notice this. I guess insomnia can be a blessing. I hope we can see her on the webcams when she comes in.

Looks like pilot is boarding the Royal.

I did a B2B on the Coral this past July. We had a forward mini-suite on Baja deck and loved the location. It was great to go from the balcony to the front "secret door" open deck. The beauty of our back to back was that we had 2 days in Glacier Bay. Our first day there had cold and rainy weather and it was difficult to spend much time outside. Our second day there was a perfectly glorious sunny day. We were so happy we had a second chance at good weather there. No guarantees on weather, of course, but we loved our back to back.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the 3 and 4 day coastals start until late September.

I've been able to bring a guest with to the Most Traveled Luncheon even if I have a cabin to myself. They just ask me who will be coming with me. I haven't been able to bring more than one person, though.