Princess Secrets they Don't Tell You

[goodie2shoes]

Regarding signing a waiver for "undercooked" hamburgers, this option is also available for a rare steak (my husband's favorite) or seared Ahi (well, some kind of tuna anyway). After receiving two steaks that were too well done, the waiter got the head waiter and proceded to the kitchen where it was finally resolved. After that night he got his steak the way he wanted it the first time.

[mrspaper]

Exactly what we kept thinking about as it dragged on. One hour of being served would be fine to unwind and wait for your luggage but 2 1/2 was way too long and we didn't wait for dessert after all that.

 

I thought your screen name looked familiar, and realized you just cruised with our friends, Jim and Kath. (Johnsanders)

 

We're cruising again in 2 weeks, if I remember, I'll come back and let you all know if the DR was open for lunch.

[mythictravel]

I don't think I saw these posted early, though it's a long thread:

 

Bistro is not the late night buffet--I've seen on a number of cruises "Bistro" listed in the Horizon court in the wee hours. After late nights in Skywalker's lounge I would see the scaled down buffet and figured this was the "Bistro." On the last night of the cruise in October on the Golden Princess I discovered.... the "Bistro" was a full table service, candlelight (electric of course) restaurant. A section of the horizon court was decked out quite nice. Sorry we missed this earlier in the cruise.

 

It paid not to drink--though not listed as an option, I had inquired of the Maitre d' if he could please note for the Chef's Table that I did not drink alcohol. I was pleasantly surprised that $15 was knocked off of the usual $75 charge. Wow. Very classy.... especially considering that the experience would have been well worth the $75 even without wine.

 

It doesn't hurt to ask--I think I packed my coffee card on the last day and though I was willing to pay for brewed coffee, normally free when flashing the card, I asked at the International Cafe "Sorry I forgot my card, do you suppose I could get a cup of brewed coffee." Another passenger stepped up and said, "You can use mine." I replied, "No thank you. I'm sure [name of of the barrista] remembers me." The barrista smiled and said "of course."

 

Mike

[IECalCruiser]

Exactly what we kept thinking about as it dragged on. One hour of being served would be fine to unwind and wait for your luggage but 2 1/2 was way too long and we didn't wait for dessert after all that.

Over the last year we have eaten in the MDRs of the Golden, Star and Coral on embarkation day and had efficient service each time, much less than an hour with desert. Much more civilized than the Horizon Court. When we got to our cabin we only had a short wait before our luggage arrived.

[fairsky1984]

Just seems that after planning and paying for a very special cruise vacation, why bother scrimping over some corkage fees by sneaking in your own wine? I mean geeze.... what's a few extra dollars at that point?

[hansi]

Secret ~ at lunch time check out the menu by the dining rooms, they will tell you what is being served for dinner. If you don't like what you see, go to the Horizon Court, the food is almost identical to what is being served in the dining room, except you don't have to spend three hours waiting and eating.....

 

So what's wrong with that. It's supposed to be a fine dining experience, not McDonalds! You're on holiday, Relax and chill out!

[1 HappyCruiser]

Just seems that after planning and paying for a very special cruise vacation, why bother scrimping over some corkage fees by sneaking in your own wine? I mean geeze.... what's a few extra dollars at that point?

 

$15 bucks is better in my pocket than theirs and no sneaking is necessary, just carry you wine to the table in a glass.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

So what's wrong with that. It's supposed to be a fine dining experience, not McDonalds! You're on holiday, Relax and chill out!

For some folks relaxing and chilling out means going to the Horizon Court - nothing wrong with that! We've cruised a lot and the fine dining experience is not that special to us anymore. Some nights we would rather not dedicate that much time to food.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

[as promised :p heres what i have so far, hope it helps

grand princess tips

 

• check out the sanctuary $ (search the boards for description using the word sanctuary) but you have to get there as soon as you get on board if you want to reserve for the entire cruise.
  
• also chef's table is fantastic ($75 per person) but it includes all wine, food, a cookbook, a photo, and a rose for the ladies. I have done it twice and once on the ruby, and it was the highlight of the cruise. You have to call the dine line and ask to be put on the list, and there is no guarantee you will get it
  
• ask your travel agent to fax a request for the egg crates for bed tell them you want a top sheet as well, as i don't like the duvet cover without the top sheet.
  
• i always ask for a terrycloth robe and usually get it
  
• most of the evening entertainment is focused on deck 7, promenade, with the princess theater, crooner's piano bar, wheelhouse, explorer's and club fusion.
  
• but, the entertainment on deck5 in the piazza also offers an alternative. For a really lovely place to have a pre-dinner or sunset watching cocktail, try the little area outside (aft) of adagio. Also, skywalker's offers incredible views if you prefer to be indoors.
  
• the international cafe on deck 5 is not the only place that you can use the coffee card. Use it in the dining rooms for espresso based coffees, and also on a few of the bars on lido deck for same and brewed coffee. If you ask at one bar and they don't have same, they can tell which ones do.
  
• in the morning, you can get waffles at the pizza stand.
  
• princess makes lovely ice cream and sorbets, which are on the luncheon and dinner menus. My favorites are the pink grapefruit and honeydew sorbets. They also make lovely soufflés.
  
• 
  if you want a breakfast (or for us hot tea) delivery before the times that are listed on the order card, just write in the time you want delivery. It will arrive on time, or most likely a few minutes early.
  
• most importantly, don't disembark without a couple of future cruise credits.
  have a wonderful cruise!
  
• on our last cruise on the grand we learned that you can have escargot anytime but you need to let the dining room know 24 hours in advance.
  
• that's true for most dishes. I know we missed crab legs as they were the same night as our chef's table. So the maitre d took the order for us for the next night.
  
• i don't know about the bigger ships, but the small ships have ice cream at the buffet from 3:30 to 4:30 each afternoon
  
• if the ship has "scoops" or an ice cream bar on the lido deck, the ice cream there is now free and they have discontinued the free ice cream at the buffet. Thankfully, i was able to get free chocolate or vanilla hard ice cream at scoops since i didn't care for the soft-serve. If you don’t like the cones, bring a small, empty dish from the buffet and tell them you have a wheat allergy. They'll put the ice cream in the dish.
  
• at dinner, you can ask to see the menu for the next night, if you don't like what is on the menu you can ask for something different and they will make it for you, they are very accommodating. I also ask for fresh berries for dessert and they are usually very obliging.
  
• many people think that the salads, sandwiches, and pastry in the international cafe cost extra, but they are free!
  
• you can order a complementary plate of assorted stuffed olives at the martini bar.
  
• if you bring wine onboard you can pick up wine glasses at any bar or just leave your room steward a note to always leave clean glasses in your room.
  
• if you pre purchase internet minutes before you leave you will get free minutes based on the package you pick.
  
• if you are staying in an interior stateroom leave the tv on the bridge cam channel it will give the illusion of a window and if you leave it on all night it will serve as a night light.
  
• on all the cruises we've been on, we have asked for fresh squeezed orange juice in the mdr at breakfast, and there was no charge.
  much better than the frozen concentrate
  
• this no longer exists. They now charge for fresh squeezed. Sorry!
  
• cookies and milk about 3pm.
  
• onion soup is available every night
  
• i use room service as my wake-up call. I hang the request on my door before i go to bed, they knock on my door at the time i request and they have coffee and pastries for me.
  
• yes they have pineapple juice
  
• i have requested it on the card you fill in for room service breakfast. It isn't one of the choices on the card. Sometimes i get it and sometimes not.
  
• yes, you can bring wine, soda and water on board with no problem....enjoy
  
• volcano dessert, available on children's menu basically a huge banana split – yum
  
• - books in the library are free to borrow, as long as you return them before you get off
  
• and has anyone mentioned that if you've finished with your own book, there is a little cupboard in the library for 'passenger exchange'? This is open even when the rest of the library shelves are locked and - particularly at the beginning and the end of the cruise - you can find an interesting selection of those paperbacks which people have read and don't want to carry home.
  
• - popcorn during muts(music under the stars)
  
• - always ask for what you want, the staff try to accommodate to the best of their abilities
  
• i bring packets of crystal light [so light to carry] and mix it with water and ice from the buffet and, i'm all set with my drink.
  
• you can bring an insulated mug [also very light] and use that to put your ice tea or your soda in. We also bring cans of caffeine-free diet coke.
  
• our best tip:
  one of the dining rooms will be open for lunch on embarkation day although you are usually directed to the buffet. We think the dining room is a better experience and starts the cruse off perfectly.
  
• no one has yet mentioned what we thought was a big secret! Our tv on the last 2 cruises wouldn't shut off so called pursers desk. They talked us through how to unplug it, leave it alone for a minute and then replug! Now that in itself was great but, when you open the little door under the tv for the plug, well, there are extra outlets not being used! This was great when the shortage of outlets to recharge everything we needed to recharge was a problem! Not any more.
  
• sit at a slot machine and insert your cruise card (which is also your cabin key) and ask for money from your account to be loaded to the slot machine. The charge that will appear on your account is the amount you asked for with no service fee added. If you go to cashier a 3% fee will be charged. When you are finished at the slot machine, be sure to upload any remaining money to your cruise card (actually, it is to a ship's computer so if you lose your card, the money is not lost -- the cruise card is the vehicle to identify yourself). Then you can bring your cruise card to the casino cashier and ask to be given cash for the money that has been uploaded.
  

nice job thanks

[IECalCruiser]

Just seems that after planning and paying for a very special cruise vacation, why bother scrimping over some corkage fees by sneaking in your own wine? I mean geeze.... what's a few extra dollars at that point?

You miss the point. Princess has many reasonably priced wines and we have bought them at dinner. We have also brought some of our favorite wines on board for several celebrations and gladly paid the $15 corkage fee at dinner. We bring wine on board to enjoy in our cabin before going to dinner. We have also had people we have met on our cruises over to our cabin for wine as we have gone to other cabins. In South America especially we shared the local wines we picked up at several ports with fellow passengers. Princess allows wine to be brought on board, it is not sneaking!

[MGnut]

Do they have a hot water spigot near the coffee in the buffet?

 

Just might try that Via...DW wants to bring some tea also.

 

:confused::confused:

 

Yes, there is hot water at the buffet.

 

And you'll probably like the Via - I do.

 

A secret about the Via coffee - when making it, either put the powder in the cup before adding hot water, or fill the cup with cold water and then add the powder and stir before heating (microwave works fine). Otherwise, if you try to add the powder to a steaming cup of water, the dry powder is wetted by the rising steam and can plug up the opening of the packaging and make it difficult - and messy - to get all of the powder out of the tube.

 

At least that's been my experience.

[caribill]

I hope it's true. In my 5 previous Princess cruises, the dining room was never open on embarkation day for lunch

 

From a recent pre-cruise email from Princess:

 

Would you like to know your dining options for your first day onboard? Choose from the Horizon Court or one of our main dining rooms.

[grandbanksguy]

Can't find lox (smoked salmon) on the breakfast buffet, just ask a waiter and they will bring you a plate full from the galley. Want something special for dinner that's not on the menus? Ask your waiter and with one or two days notice you can get get just about anything you like.

[caribill]

Ask your waiter and with one or two days notice you can get get just about anything you like.

 

You need to arrange this with your headwaiter, not your table waiter who has no authority to have anything special prepared.

[raz455]

I heard there is a pool on the Emerald Princess where you can swim "laps" but I can't find the location on any of the information from Princess. Does it exist? If so, where is it and is there a cost to swim?

[mythictravel]

I heard there is a pool on the Emerald Princess where you can swim "laps" but I can't find the location on any of the information from Princess. Does it exist? If so, where is it and is there a cost to swim?

 

The Lotus Spa Pool should have a "swim against the current" machine is at the forward end of the pool in the recessed area between the hot tubs. If everything is working right, when you press the button to turn on the machine the current is pretty strong, at least for the one person swimming in the center of the pool. The current quickly dissipates, so it doesn't really work for more that one person. I've been on the Golden Princess a couple of times. Sometimes the machine worked well. Other times... not at all. Area is adult only, I think, but shouldn't be a cost. Hope this helps.

 

 

---------------------------------

weak current - \ \ \ \\\( ) --hot tub

strong current- > > >>-[ --machine

weak current / / / ///( ) --hot tub

-------------------------------

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/ships/ep/amenities_publicrooms/activities/Index.html

[1 HappyCruiser]

 

The Lotus Spa Pool should have a "swim against the current" machine is at the forward end of the pool in the recessed area between the hot tubs. If everything is working right, when you press the button to turn on the machine the current is pretty strong, at least for the one person swimming in the center of the pool. The current quickly dissipates, so it doesn't really work for more that one person. I've been on the Golden Princess a couple of times. Sometimes the machine worked well. Other times... not at all. Area is adult only, I think, but shouldn't be a cost. Hope this helps.

 

 

The current machine on the Emerald is locked in a fixed position & cannot be adjusted as on other ships. There have been so many arguments in the past they've decided to end the bickering & only have one speed. (sort of slow). Most people don't realize it could have been adjusted in the past.

[raz455]

The current machine on the Emerald is locked in a fixed position & cannot be adjusted as on other ships. There have been so many arguments in the past they've decided to end the bickering & only have one speed. (sort of slow). Most people don't realize it could have been adjusted in the past.

 

 

Thanks for the info. I hope to give that pool a try. I will be sailing in December and am looking forward to our Winter getaway!

[bigdog188]

I have an extra coupon book that was provided by my travel agent, it still contains the 2 for 1 coffee card coupon. The book expires on 12/31/2010 so your cruise needs to be in the next 30 days.

 

First one to post that they want it, it is yours and we will get in touch for me to mail it to you.

[dresch25]

I have an extra coupon book that was provided by my travel agent, it still contains the 2 for 1 coffee card coupon. The book expires on 12/31/2010 so your cruise needs to be in the next 30 days.

 

Nevermind we leave in February. Good Luck to the one who get's it. We finished our coffee card on our last cruise.

[nickels549]

I have an extra coupon book that was provided by my travel agent, it still contains the 2 for 1 coffee card coupon. The book expires on 12/31/2010 so your cruise needs to be in the next 30 days.

 

First one to post that they want it, it is yours and we will get in touch for me to mail it to you.

 

We leave 12/11. That would be great! :D

[cruise_rima]

Just off the Crown. You cannot eat in the dining room on embarkation day unless you are doing a back to back. We tried and were turned away. They take names.

[grandbanksguy]

You need to arrange this with your headwaiter, not your table waiter who has no authority to have anything special prepared.

 

Correctamundo Caribill. We aked our waiter Sergio, but it was the head waiter Alex who made the arrangements. Alex offered up other specialties for susequent nights, but the menus were so good that we couldn't think of anything else to ask for.

[ca cruzers]

I have an extra coupon book that was provided by my travel agent, it still contains the 2 for 1 coffee card coupon. The book expires on 12/31/2010 so your cruise needs to be in the next 30 days.

 

First one to post that they want it, it is yours and we will get in touch for me to mail it to you.

we're cruising on dec 8th could use a coupon if it's available thanks

[IECalCruiser]

Just off the Crown. You cannot eat in the dining room on embarkation day unless you are doing a back to back. We tried and were turned away. They take names.

Princess needs to get their act together. The website and pre-cruise e-mails detail MDR lunch as an option and it has been offered on three ships we have sailed. There is inconsistency between various ships. I believe that MDR lunch on embarkation day requires more staff and I believe some Maitre d's, such as on the Crown, don't want the hassle.