First time on Plaza – sleepless night

[ccheng64]

My husband and I just finished a Saturday cruise on Golden from Seattle to Vancouver. We love to do the 1-night cruises since it is a good way to earn points and also a nice weekend getaway. We usually stay on higher decks but this time we decided to try Plaza. Our cabin number was P323.

 

The location was so perfect. I totally love Plaza deck and it was so nice to be so close to the activity center. We are both big fans of International Café and totally don’t care about Horizon Court. ( the buffet on this 1 nighter was particularly awful, the worst ever) Anyway, being so close to the main dining room, internet center and international café was so convenient! We also love to walked through the art gallery on the way to our cabin.

 

However, we went to bed tired at 2am but did not get much sleep. We kept hearing some chair moving and walking\running noises. Then I heard the ship whistling every 5 mins which totally drove me crazy. I was so tired and couldn’t think straight. (my husband told me it was the vacuum cleaning sound later) It was such a restless night. I believe all the noises we heard were from the Crown Grill right above us. If we are taking a 7 day cruise, I will avoid staying under the Crown Grill at all costs.

 

We still love Plaza deck a lot. Maybe we will try to get a Plaza cabin not underneath any restaurant next time.

 

BTW, we are not very satisfied with this 1 nighter. They definitely let the quality of service slipped way. We did not even get the bill in the morning. I looked at other cabins and no one got one. I had to stand in line at the front desk to ask for our bill before disembarkation, which was really time consuming.

[BalconyGal]

Thank you for sharing. Hey look at it this way, you got one more cruise credit under your belt. :)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

My husband and I just finished a Saturday cruise on Golden from Seattle to Vancouver. We love to do the 1-night cruises since it is a good way to earn points and also a nice weekend getaway. We usually stay on higher decks but this time we decided to try Plaza. Our cabin number was P323.

 

The location was so perfect. I totally love Plaza deck and it was so nice to be so close to the activity center. We are both big fans of International Café and totally don’t care about Horizon Court. ( the buffet on this 1 nighter was particularly awful, the worst ever) Anyway, being so close to the main dining room, internet center and international café was so convenient! We also love to walked through the art gallery on the way to our cabin.

 

However, we went to bed tired at 2am but did not get much sleep. We kept hearing some chair moving and walking\running noises. Then I heard the ship whistling every 5 mins which totally drove me crazy. I was so tired and couldn’t think straight. (my husband told me it was the vacuum cleaning sound later) It was such a restless night. I believe all the noises we heard were from the Crown Grill right above us. If we are taking a 7 day cruise, I will avoid staying under the Crown Grill at all costs.

 

We still love Plaza deck a lot. Maybe we will try to get a Plaza cabin not underneath any restaurant next time.

 

BTW, we are not very satisfied with this 1 nighter. They definitely let the quality of service slipped way. We did not even get the bill in the morning. I looked at other cabins and no one got one. I had to stand in line at the front desk to ask for our bill before disembarkation, which was really time consuming.

Thanks for the tip....

[srpilo]

Good to know

 

 

 

 

 

Srpilo

[A1A]

Thanks for the great mini review, appreciate your comments!

[above sea level cruiser]

Thank you for sharing. Hey look at it this way, you got one more cruise credit under your belt. :)

 

You took the words right out of my mouth......minus the "@#%&*" expletives that would have been included in my reply. :D

[PescadoAmarillo]

I really don't think that the cruise lines come out ahead in offering these short cruises. People say that they are a good introduction to cruising, but based on my (limited) experience, if that is what cruising is all about, I wouldn't be interested. We did a 3 night and a 4 night cruise on Celebrity, on a ship I had been on often in the past, and knew I loved. Still, those two short cruises left such a bad impression. They really aren't like longer cruises at all. The crew seemed stressed and the passengers were rude. It seems to me that the cruise lines would want to try their hardest to have things go well, since those short cruises really are the ones that determine whether people will cruise again.

[runnerodb83]

I really don't think that the cruise lines come out ahead in offering these short cruises. People say that they are a good introduction to cruising, but based on my (limited) experience, if that is what cruising is all about, I wouldn't be interested. We did a 3 night and a 4 night cruise on Celebrity, on a ship I had been on often in the past, and knew I loved. Still, those two short cruises left such a bad impression. They really aren't like longer cruises at all. The crew seemed stressed and the passengers were rude. It seems to me that the cruise lines would want to try their hardest to have things go well, since those short cruises really are the ones that determine whether people will cruise again.

 

It's true, after doing many coastals in a row we did a 7 day alaska and its remarkably more enjoyable. I guess if you have never cruised before, its good to try a short one knowing that a regular 7-14 day cruise will be far superior.

[RickEk]

I really don't think that the cruise lines come out ahead in offering these short cruises. People say that they are a good introduction to cruising, but based on my (limited) experience, if that is what cruising is all about, I wouldn't be interested. We did a 3 night and a 4 night cruise on Celebrity, on a ship I had been on often in the past, and knew I loved. Still, those two short cruises left such a bad impression. They really aren't like longer cruises at all. The crew seemed stressed and the passengers were rude. It seems to me that the cruise lines would want to try their hardest to have things go well, since those short cruises really are the ones that determine whether people will cruise again.

 

I'd agree. We took a two-day coastal on the Dawn Princess a few years back from San Diego to Ensenada and back. Of the cruises that I've been on, this was my least favorite (best part was watching the Red Bull air races in Mission Bay before sailaway). We still had fun, but it was certainly a party crowd and some folks were in party mode the entire voyage. Drunk = rude :rolleyes: . But on the plus side, the crew was in great spirits. After we disembarked, the ship set sail empty to San Francisco and the crew was anticipating a couple of days of downtime and parties on deck. :D

[lovevacadays]

I really don't think that the cruise lines come out ahead in offering these short cruises. People say that they are a good introduction to cruising, but based on my (limited) experience, if that is what cruising is all about, I wouldn't be interested. We did a 3 night and a 4 night cruise on Celebrity, on a ship I had been on often in the past, and knew I loved. Still, those two short cruises left such a bad impression. They really aren't like longer cruises at all. The crew seemed stressed and the passengers were rude. It seems to me that the cruise lines would want to try their hardest to have things go well, since those short cruises really are the ones that determine whether people will cruise again.

 

I often have people here on the West Coast say they are going to do one of the 3 day weekend cruises to find out if they like cruising. I always tell them that this really wouldn't be the best option to evaluate the cruise experience. Ships aren't always as nice, crew can be stressed with the constant turnover, passenger demographic can be different, etc.

 

I will say, though that when the Star Princess was brand new they actually did a couple of 3 or 4 day intro cruises on her here on the West Coast. My sister, niece and I decided to try and we actually had a fabulous time. Everything was top-notch. I guess we got lucky on that one!