KruzeKrazy!

Celebrity comes first alphabetically but Princess has 1 less letter and only two vowels.

Now try to make sense of that!

(Sorry, couldn't resist a little nonsense for fun...[emoji4]).

A year + ago bimmer09 wrote a fantastically informative comparison of Princess and X (in particular the Silouette). He did a comparison of each of the primary ships' areas/experiences including nice photos.

Swimmers don't play in one's diaper pail so diapers shouldn't play in the pool...

Shirt/tie fine if you do not want to pack or wear your sportcoat. Your wife will be fine in a nice dress, pants/sweater/blouse/jacket/wrap/jewelry. Some wear their bling, but you will see most everything. Jeans are just frowned upon.

Agree. Some will dress to the nines and some more the "casual" part of "smart casual."

It also partly depends on the climate of the itinerary, i.e. more sport coats in Alaska and fewer in the Caribbean.

Personally I like to wear a sport coat at dinner - colored shirt and sans tie on smart casual nights and white shirt plus tie in formal nights. Multi-purpose packing and dressing!

I detest sabatinis with a passion. Share was a welcome and enjoyable experience.

 

 

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Different strokes for different folks - we enjoy Sabatini's, especially the great service.

Of course, our like for Sabatini's is admittedly influenced by Breakfast in Sabatini's which we absolutely love and is a highlight to start every cruise day.

Glad you enjoyed Share - we hope we do as well as we'll undoubtedly give it a try to know for sure.

The biggest problem we have with embarkation is it's not until December when we take our next cruise! [emoji26]

I like trying new venues when I cruise I enjoyed a few new ones on the Regal. I will be sailing on the Ruby in December. I just went on the Princess site to look at the Share menu. It doesn't appeal to me, especially at $39.00. I might take a chance at $20.00 but most likely won't at $39.00.

I will also be on the Ruby this December and between now and then will be trying my best Jedi mind tricks to have Share replaced with Sabatini's once again. Wish me luck... [emoji6]

Look for the fantastically informative Princess/X comparison by bimmer09. He is an avid Princess cruiser who tried and also liked X - and in particular the Silouette. He has great photos and methodically compares all the primary aspects of the two experiences and ships.

Very nice ship - relish the "good old days" of sailing with fewer other pax and a great crew. Only one MDR and a smaller showroom but who cares - you're on a ship! [emoji4]

Plus they have Sabatini's and Sterling (think Crown Grill).

You're trading the more choices of a larger ship for the more intimacy of the smaller ship. But one other advantage of the smaller ship is very quick and easy on and off

We had an aft Owner's Suite which was huge and loved it!

We still like the grandeur of larger ships but also the balance of mid-size ships and the "yacht-like" experience of smaller ships. To us it's like 3 different kids - each is their own person but we love them all.

What did you like most in Skagway? I haven't booked an excursion there yet. (We're not into flying or kayaking!)

White Pass train ride. You catch it right by where the ships dock and it goes up through and into the mountains. Nice ride, nice scenery, and then still time to walk around town afterward.

Both port lists are the same and include 2 days we love - Glacier Bay and Skagway.

Option 1 has the advantage of the inside passage.

Option 2 has the advantage of Seattle which if flying often times can be a bit cheaper and easier from the U.S. for U.S. citizens.

If flight cost and connections, etc. are similar I'd lean toward option 1.

I think this is where we are at. I was looking yesterday and see the forward premium suites may be another option. Looks like the same suite benefits, good sized room but a smaller balcony. Have you stayed in the forward premium suites (Like A101) and how do they compare to the aft PS, VS or OS?

Only been in a forward suite on Seabourn which was a smaller ship. Didn't like the forward location - when underway it was too windy to use the balcony and the waves striking the hull were noisey. Some of that may be due to the specific ship but I think others on Princess ships have had similar comments.

There should be postings about forward cabins on Princess ships you could check out for more pertinent comments.

I enjoy cruising in general and Princess specifically. I don't expect too much and tend not to be disappointed.

 

Trying to answer a couple questions I recall from other threads:

- Yes, the MDR was open for lunch on disembarkation day. Although I noticed a separate entry for Club Class, it seemed pretty low key and didn't affect, as far as I saw, the experience for those of us not in Club Class.

- Onboard entertainment included a couple of production shows: "Colors of the World" and "Magic to Do", both of which I enjoyed. We had two comedians, Jeff Burghart and Carlos Oscar and a juggler, Steven Ragatz.

 

Pluses: (affected by my own personal biases)

 

- Embarkation (and disembarkation) seemed to go about as quickly as one could walk. I was impressed by the army of retired looking folk directing traffic. I couldn't even pause for ten seconds and look around without having someone approach to offer assistance.

- A nice promenade deck. Got that, Princess? (the new) Regal, Royal and Majestic are deficient in that regard. Some people view that as important.

- Shipboard credit programs, combinable future cruise, military and stock ownership. All are great deals and, when comparing different lines' offerings for a similar itinerary, they often make Princess stand out as the better choice.

- Good overall value. This frequently overshadows other problems I might see. The price for cruising seems to have stayed about the same in real dollars over the last couple of decades and makes it a very good (though certainly not the only) travel choice, imo.

- Traditional Dining. Please keep it, Princess. I enjoyed the food in the MDR and the service.

- MUTS. The Princess public movie offerings work better than I've seen on other lines.

 

Minuses:

 

- Poor TV guide for the in cabin TV. I had trouble figuring out when movies were due to start. There was a guide station, but it frequently froze in place and wasn't comprehensive. Nor did the passenger service desk have, as I've often seen on other ships, a print version to hand out. This is a small snivel, but also an easy one to fix. The newer class of Princess ships, btw, have a really cool on demand in cabin TV system.

- The buffet, and pretty much any food offerings on the 15th deck. I didn't venture there often, but found the buffet offerings pretty limited while the pizza and burger offerings seemed mediocre. The MDR and International Café, on the other hand, were just fine. The service seemed pretty good, but they had occasional crowd control issues.

- Ship offered excursion tours. Not news to most here I'm sure, but they're overpriced and often not as enjoyable as tours that you can pre-reserve on your own or simply negotiate pierside. Going to the Princess theatre, getting a numbered sticker and having tour organizers shout at everyone gets old. Chatting with the manager of an independent tour company (that was, incidentally, really great), he described to me how the cruiselines were insisting on exclusivity for their ships while in port. It's easy to see how some operators might feel they couldn't comply with that and also easy to see how ship passengers might be missing out on some interesting experiences.

- Shopping specials. I don't shop much, but thought I might go and pick up a couple of t-shirts during one of their specials. What a mistake! It was like being stuck in the middle of a pack of wild wolves. I noted that some people seem to really enjoy them however. Again, this goes to the value aspect of cruising. If these stores, the ever present photographers and the art sales help the cruiselines keep fares low, I'm happy for them. One can choose to play or not.

Thanks for your comments. From our experience on 3 different Princess ships plus multiple other lines we agree with your perspective.

And we'll be on the Ruby later this year for our first time so it was nice to read your comments on her and that it was a good "Princess experience." As you said, the negatives are relatively minor and we agree so we're happily looking forward to a nice Princess cruise on a nice Princess ship.

We've stayed in aft PS on the Caribbean, an aft VS on the Grand, and an aft OS on the Pacific.

Your question is not about an OS so I will not comment on that other than I agree with some other posters that there is more space than needed - especially the absolutely overly huge balcony. We never thought a balcony could be too large but it really was a lot of unused space for two people.

We found the aft PS and VS generally similar but different as well. The PS layout was a bit nicer but not a huge difference, and it didn't have the "dreaded beam" which we, like others, did not find that dreaded.

If they were the same price (which, of course, they aren't) we'd certainly take a PS over a VS. Overall we'd say the PS was maybe 10-15% better than the VS so wouldn't pay 15%+ more for the PS. And if we wanted to use the price difference for excursions or other things and be in a VS we'd be very pleased with that overall cruise formula.

We very seldom use the cards as not sure what time we'll be up so we just call room service upon rising;)

What . . . you don't set your alarm when on vacation! Oh my! [emoji1]

Such fabulous photos - especially the scenic outdoor ones! They look very professional and if matted and framed are nicer than most they (try to) sell on the ship!

What camera did you use? And did you use any special setting?

How exactly does Stewart get one?;)

Stewart asks his friend Harvey...

Although it does take quite a few drinks a day to make the package worthwhile. For most including us we could not drink enough to justify buying it outright.

We agree. For us the math just doesn't work. While we do drink plenty of water, my wife loves her coffee, we drink some soda, and we love our beer and wine we just can't drink enough to justify the price - especially when you factor in non-ship time in when in port.

We will be traveling on the Ruby this summer- with a first time cruiser. While I prefer the MDR lunch I'm debating for our first time cruiser friend doing the grill or buffet so they get to see more of the ship? What say you CC? If bringing along a first time cruiser where would you take them for embarkation lunch?

First time or seasoned cruiser with us we would always go to the MDR for embarkation lunch for a nice start to the cruise. Plus in that setting it's easier to have a conversation about the upcoming cruise, make some plans, answer questions, etc. You can always tour the ship after lunch.

Even so, never have seen "too much" on our Alfredo's pizzas. :rolleyes:

Agree. If there was an Alfredo's Pizza near us it would be our favorite land-based pizza restaurant.

Goop?? :confused::D:)

I would say "goop" refers to toppings, etc.

May I ask which dining room?

 

Thanks!

Patters should say.

I find it unfortunate that most ships don't have Alfredo's. The pizza is sooooooooooo much better than the stuff on Lido deck. Our next cruise is 28 days on Emerald. 28 days without any decent pizza. Sigh.....

 

(Such awful first world problems... :rolleyes:)

Thrak -

Our next cruise will be sans Alfredo's as well. We share your misery.

But look at the positive side - perhaps a few fewer calories...

Makes no sense to me

I was joking... [emoji4]

I don't understand your post, or are you just trying to add to your post count.

Makes sense to me... Three dots is in between two and four... [emoji1]