pettygirl

Sailed the Breakaway in Feb of this year, and yes: definitely take the "iffy" reviews with a grain of salt. The ship was very clean, well-maintained, and just generally cared for.  We went somewhat off-season during mid-Feb, so the ship didn't *seem* overcrowded. We always found deck chairs together - there are a lot of areas and multiple decks to choose from, if you're OK with not being pool-side.

Some of the Qs I don't have answers to, but here's my 2c:

Yes: there was a Glow Party onboard, hosted at the Spice20 deck area (off limits to under 18s, which was enforced at the sliding door).  Didn't see a White party, sorry!

We did eat at both Ocean Blue and Le Bistro, and definitely rec Le Bistro over Ocean Blue.  The Ocean Blue area is shared with a number of other restaurants, with wide-open pathing into the main thoroughfare, so Ocean Blue didn't have an enclosed/restaurant vibe, at all. The food and menu was good, but not noteworthy.  I remember feeling like I should have chosen a different place. Le Bistro, however, was a lovely little enclosed space on a lower deck, much more intimate and felt more like fine dining. A much better total dinner experience, with a very good menu. Both of us suggested to go back on our next cruise. Plus 'technically' it's the only place onboard where they serve Veuve Clicquot!

7 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Not really during your date but i think this will be helpful.

This is exactly what I was looking for, and I believe I saw one of your prior posts about this subject, too, when I was looking around CC! SO Helpful, thank you! (notwithstanding my verb typo in my original post ugh!!)  

The timing on security vs. Haven line is great to know.  Part of the prior issue my group had is that no one knew where to go, and no staff knew either, so that tracks if folks were asking/looking prior to security.  It sounds as if there is ample signage (or at least a clear route where to go/look for this) 'now'. 

And GOOD note re: arrival prior to 11AM.  I think we'll take this advice - after all, that means a more leisurely breakfast in the Big Easy anyway.  😉 

Any tips about port arrival via cab transport?  Did you get dropped off, or? Any issues with a clear porter queue, or was that all "cruise port normal"? THX

A few years ago (and in these boards!), NOLA cruise terminal experiences seem like a nightmare: no signage, no staff knowledge, long lines and bottlenecks, confused pax, and just... general mayhem.  Not the way to start a cruise, amiright?

Does anyone has any recent (Oct 2023 - January 2024) experiences with Port arrival, security, embarkation/debark to share?  What should we know prior to boarding and post-cruise departure? We are heading out of NCL/Julia Street terminal next month late Feb 2024, after Mardi Gras.  Most of the CC boards talk about self-parking and lot issues, but we're not local and are planning on using cab/Uber/Lyft. Double bonus awesome points if you have Haven line/lounge knowledge, portside?

(x-posted to Ports of Call > New Orleans forum)

A few years ago (and in these boards!), NOLA cruise terminal experiences seem like a nightmare: no signage, no staff knowledge, long lines and bottlenecks, confused pax, and just... general mayhem.  Not the way to start a cruise, amiright?

Does anyone has any recent (Oct 2023 - January 2024) experiences with Port arrival, security, embarkation/debark?  What should we know prior to boarding and post-cruise departure? We are heading out of NCL terminal next month late Feb 2024, after Mardi Gras.  Most of the CC boards talk about self-parking and lot issues, but we're not local and are planning on using cab/Uber/Lyft. Double bonus awesome points if you have Haven line/lounge knowledge, portside?

Thanks!!

(x-posted to Departures forum)

Also just received this notification, for Breakaway in Feb 2024.  NO stateroom changes, just the renaming of the category from Spa Suite H9, to Haven Penthouse HI.

In an abundance of caution, since we're many months out, I'm going to make sure to bring hardcopies of my rez with the Spa Suite category, and a copy of the email/doc stating in writing that access to the Thermal Spa will be honored.

Unless I'm missing something - this change, while annoying, only affects Spa access, right?  I didn't think I would need to rely on Haven concierge for anything, but I may ask them to handle rather than Guest Services - it's right in their wheelhouse, nay?

Chiming in to say a 2024 out of NOLA on Breakaway is also all sea days. Fleet-wide rush on the Lido Deck, baby! Chair hogs get those towel clips ready 🫠🤣

Jumping into this post because we have just done the exact same:  jumped lines to NCL from Royal/Princess, mainly because of Haven, which we have booked for 2024.  Excited to learn all the in-n-outs of NCL and Haven, and currently busy reading the nearly 70+ pages for Gary's Haven 2022 update. 😅

One question I also have, in addition to the above, is other specialty onboard dinners?  Reliably on Royal/Princess there have been on-ship dinners like Chef's Table or a special Winemaker's dinner/pairing, Princess has 360, etc.  We know that these cannot be booked prior, and we always look or request these once we get onship.  Part of the 'gametime' fun of begin underway!

For NCL, should we save room or look for impromtu meals like these once we're aboard?  I see from the boards that NCL has done away with Chef's Table, but do similar special meals exist on this line?  

Can anyone offer insight to your experience of the onboard kids programs?  We sail in April 2023 on Discovery and while the Princess FAQ is helpful, with hours and ages and such, I'm looking for what actually happens on ship, what we need to know in advance, and any tips or practical experience.  The few boards I've found on CC are limited with testimonial info, and usually just repeat the Princess FAQ, which we already are familiar with.

We have two boys age 6, super well-adjusted, already socialized, cool little kids - and we plan to use Camp Discovery, and hopefully the drop-in babysitting hours over the dinner/late night hours at some point.  We already plan to go to the kids area ASAP for signups when we board the ship.

Any and all info or descriptions of experience is appreciated!   

21 hours ago, vjmatty said:

This isn't the one with the pictures but it has a lot of information

 

Thank you so much, @vjmatty!

41 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

  I do know that if you want more loungers than the two provided

Oh, so the cabana includes the two loungers?  The videos I've seen have a chair and a couch underneath the canopy, and what seemed like two loungers very close to the entrance to the covered cabana.  Those loungers are part of the cabana, technically?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk3vAezv-2s

As I understand it, any additional lounges needed would then need more reservations/pax from other staterooms to book.  But one passenger could book a single cabana with room for about 6? 

We're not fussed about cost-sharing across our group per se - we're just trying to understand how many people need to be actually be in line to book the Sanctuary, and if other passengers in other staterooms could join us if they wanted without being on the reservation.  Thanks!

Hi all - Looking for experiences and/or tips and suggestions for booking a day at the Sanctuary onboard. 

I understand you cannot book in advance, you must rush up there in person on embarkation day, and one person from each stateroom must go together to reserve (only if you're you're trying to book enough loungers).   But what about the cabana?

Can other adults join you in your cabana if they haven't made a booking themselves?  We are thinking just sending an emissary to reserve a cabana for the day, and everyone else in our travel group (3 staterooms) and come and go if/as they please.  From videos I've seen it looks as if there is two loungers very close right outside the covered area but it doesn't look like they are part of the cabana booking.  So, max 3-4 people in the cabana at one time possibly, and if we want the loungers, someone will have to join our emissary to book together on embarkation to battle for lounge-supremacy. 😆

Any other insights we should be aware of? I'm seeing that there is also cabanas at the Retreat Pool, too? 

Thanks! 😎

OP here.  😇

My particular pre-paid excursion was cancelled online 9/17 (a Saturday), so I was prepared to start the clock on the Monday (9/19).  Once I clicked 'cancel' on each pax line, the reservation disappeared from my booking.  Did this for the 3 in our stateroom, but didn't get an email notification of cancellation for any of us.  

Surprisingly, my refund showed up today, 9/21 (Weds)! 🤩

Based on other people's experience of refunds being applied to other excursions, AND Princess' own FAQ, I did not rebook another excursion at the time.  Just didn't want to have wires crossed.  But I am about to, now that the refund has gone through and no need to dispute moving forward.

Just wanted to memorialize for the boards that this type of refund - booking and cancelling months in advance, with NO OBC or FCC involved, and no other open excursions to apply a refund to - seems only to take a few days, but annoyingly without any proof of cancellation other than the excursion disappearing from the booking page.  YMMV.

Thanks to all who offered insight!

On 9/18/2022 at 3:14 AM, PacnGoNow said:

 It usually is about 7 days before I see my refund back on my credit card, up to 10 days.

 

Outstanding, thanks everyone.  I'll check in about a week and give it a few more days after that.  

Sailing for Spring Break 2023 with extended family - so plenty of advance time, but we need to cancel a pre-paid shore excursion, and rebook a different one.  

At some point in our research the excursion FAQ said 24 hours refund to CC on file, but now I see it reads: "all refunds will be processed in due course, but delays should be anticipated. Please allow us sufficient time to manage this process[...]"

I have trawled through the forums extensively and not really finding a specific answer: How long is it taking for just a normal refund of something booked well in advance? NOT a covid-, OBC-, or FCC-related refund?  Some of the experiences I read about refunds on Princess sound legit nightmarish, but a lot of these are post-cruise, covid-isolation, dealing with onboard overcharge disputes, etc.

If you've had just a regular refund of excursion, spa, or any other pre-booked fees recently - how long did it take?  Thanks!

I do every cruise through an online TA.

 

Mainly for the perks.

 

Don't need them for advice, I find the cruise, category, & cabin, do the pricing.

 

Then call them to book.

 

They sit on the phone with the cruise lines and I never have to go on the "dumbed downed" websites.

 

And yes, I do have control over my booking.....

Same here - I use everyone's favorite wholesale warehouse for booking cruises through their travel site. I do the fun OCD research for myself, and tell them what I what, which deck, and they very nicely honor whatever RCI is currently offering, plus a nice chunk of OBC on top. Then I link our cruise reservation on Royal's site to make dinner/show reservations, etc. online through Royals' cruise planner portal.

Occasionally I've had to call to check on price drops (which I've found, easily, by being subscribed to the cruise emails). Never once had any issue with either the cruise line or the TA customer service line, though I have found that wait times to get through to Royal have been much better when the TA calls!

Honestly, the best of both worlds: Perks from TA, control for planning my existing booking. I highly recommend to anyone looking into vacation planning.

NO cancellation fees at all when outside of Royal's 75-day-prior-to-boarding payment deadline, either. The one time I had to cancel a cruise (I know: blasphemy!), we got our down payment and interim payments refunded directly within 3 business days. :D

Hey Sussi - THANKS so much for offering to be our reconnaissance mission! :)

Could you find out what exactly is the status is, for JS entry into Coastal Kitchen? There is a lot of outdated and/or conflicting info on the boards and even on Royal's documentation about Coastal Kitchen, JS and Oasis class ships.

Specifically: will Junior Suites be allowed full access to Coastal Kitchen or is it just for dinner only? or not at all?

THANKS, HAVE A BRILLIANT TRIP!! :D

Central Park is indeed beautiful at night. It's part of what makes the Oasis class ships so exceptional!

However, CP is very muggy and warm. Beautiful, but it feels like sitting in a greenhouse! I personally would not be able to enjoy the balcony for more than a few minutes at a time, which would defeat the purpose for me. :o

For sure, there is definitely a price difference in your favor to booking early. We booked our 4/2016 cruise in 5/2014 (nearly 2 years in advance).

Checked this past June during the most recent 30% off sale .... prices had went up by nearly $900 apiece. :eek: Even our customer service gal on the line was impressed! :D Maybe they hiked the prices during the sale but even so, I'm glad we booked as early as we did, as booking even a year in advance would have priced us out.

Just a quick inclusion to the suggestions above: servers do only serve one alcoholic drink at a time, to discourage sharing of the package.

However, I have never had an issue with getting, for instance, a mixed drink and a bottle of water together. Or buying a bottle of wine for the dinner table, and all 4 of us at the table each having a glass. So while it is regulated to rightfully curtail people taking advantage, it's not overly militant either. :)

Hope this helps!

I'm a RCCL VISA cardholder as well, and found the new website linked in the above thread to be pretty easy to navigate. Never had an issue handling this way, but I suggest putting your booking # in the notes field of every transaction you do through this method.

Make sure to save your transaction records, and a hard copy with you on cruise as well. Ordered OBC and cabin goodies and such will not show up anywhere on your booking if you're checking online prior to boarding (unless something has changed in the last year), so without these records there's no track-back when you're On The Boat! In our experience OBC shows up by Day 2 :)

Oh, I would LOVE for Royal to come back to San Diego and stay awhile! Any ship, any itinerary, I don't even care. I'm not picky! San Diego misses Royal!!

Subscribing for later! :cool:

What were some of the specific challenges on Allure v. Oasis? You mentioned your stateroom cleanliness, and a BOGO offer at Chops, but what else?

We were on Oasis in 2013 and it was so amazing that we booked Allure with friends for next April. Would LOVE to hear your experience, and how the ship offerings differed specifically??

Heyhey! We were also on this sailing; what a great pictorial review so far, OP!

Quick question: when you get to the day, could you go into a little bit deeper detail about why Sabor was such a great experience for you? Every single time we passed it, it was completely deserted. Probably 10x over the course of the 6 days: Not one customer, no movement, no life ... nothing to give us any inkling that it truly was worth the same surcharge as Giovanni's, which was outstanding (thanks to our rockstar server Vladimir!!). I mean, there HAD to be something that would command $25pp, right? Right??! :D

Luis at Sabor subbed in for our normal MDR waiter one night, and while he was great/funny/vibrant, he still couldn't give us any differentiators. Believe me, we wanted to go and were looking for recommendations that it was worth it! But the lack of understanding why it was special just couldn't surmount a mediocre-looking menu and consistently-empty tables for us.

Did we miss out? :(