Booked first cruise with Princess

[cruisemama5]

My DH and I have been on many cruises, but this will be our first one on the Princess line. We are going on Diamond to Alaska, 14 day, on August 31st. I'm so excited to try Princess.

 

Is there anything I need to know about this line versus other lines?

 

Thanks for any info!

[Pam in CA]

What other lines have you been on? What did you like about them? Dislike? It's hard to answer such an open-ended question as there are many different cruise lines and many different sized and type of ships with each. :)

[paul929207]

Welcome to Princess. Have a wonderful cruise

[cruisemama5]

What other lines have you been on? What did you like about them? Dislike? It's hard to answer such an open-ended question as there are many different cruise lines and many different sized and type of ships with each. :)

 

We have been on Carnival and Holland many times, as well as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Celebrity. We probably like Holland the most and we don't care for Norwegian at all. We probably find a place we want to go and then book whichever line has the best deal. So we book more to go on the cruise, than to be loyal to any particular line. However, I have been lobbying for a cruise on Princess and luckily it has worked out this time.

 

I've heard good things about Princess and can't wait to board!!

[Debbdo]

We did the Island Princess to Alaska a few years ago. The "cruisetour". My mom, sisters and their spouses only did the cruise part while my DH & I continued on to the land part. Absolutely loved it and love Princess. I think you will be pleased. :)

[Working 2 Cruise]

Welcome to Princess! From what I understand, Princess is the most like HAL than any of the other lines. You will have a great time!

[cruisemama5]

I guess I am wondering:

1. How many formal nights do they have, if they do this, on a 14 night cruise.

2. Is dinner assigned times and seating or is it anytime (husband booked it and I haven't talked to him about this yet).

3. Are there any special nights, like deck parties, etc.

4. Do they have a midnight buffet, or a chocolate/dessert buffet.

5. If they have formal nights, how dressy are they. On other lines they are less and less formal. Its almost anything goes. Just wondering Princess' policy and what people do.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Treven]

As has been posted already, welcome to Princess, I think you'll like the experience.

Regarding dinner, you have the choice of Traditional Dining where you have a set time, table, and fellow diners plus waitstaff. The other choice is Anytime Dining where you can eat when the dining room is open, and you will have a different table, fellow diners and waitstaff. Personally I use anytime and dine by myself, I ask for a table for two.

I agree with you about NCL. I thought it was pretty good until I took other cruises and had something to compare it to. Never again.

[Working 2 Cruise]

As for the formal nights, you are on a cruise that can be booked as two 7 day cruises, and for those there are 2 formal nights, on each leg. There is any time dining as well as traditional. As far as clothing, I would expect a more casual atmosphere, but there will be quite a few people dressed to the nines!

[OCruisers]

I guess I am wondering:

1. How many formal nights do they have, if they do this, on a 14 night cruise.

2. Is dinner assigned times and seating or is it anytime (husband booked it and I haven't talked to him about this yet).

3. Are there any special nights, like deck parties, etc.

4. Do they have a midnight buffet, or a chocolate/dessert buffet.

5. If they have formal nights, how dressy are they. On other lines they are less and less formal. Its almost anything goes. Just wondering Princess' policy and what people do.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

It's about time for you to give Princess a try! Welcome! :)

 

1. On a 14 night, normally 4 formal nights.

 

2. If he picked Traditional Dining, you will have assigned seats. If he picked Anytime, you'll be seated at a different table each night unless you make arrangements to be seated with a special waiter.

 

3. There is normally a deck party one or two evenings.

 

4. No true mid-night buffet

 

5. On formal nights people dress about like they do on HAL or Celebrity.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Cruisin' Chick]

I guess I am wondering:

1. How many formal nights do they have, if they do this, on a 14 night cruise.

There's 3 on a 14-day cruise.

2. Is dinner assigned times and seating or is it anytime (husband booked it and I haven't talked to him about this yet).

When he booked the cruise, he should have been asked which type he wants: early traditional, late traditional, and anytime. If not, one of you should call the booking agent or TA and asked what were you assigned to. Traditional gets booked up and usually has a wait list. If you want to switch which type, you can do so now, or talk to the maitre'd on the first afternoon, but normally it's easier to switch to anytime than to get traditional. There's no switching back and forth during the cruise, though.

3. Are there any special nights, like deck parties, etc.

Usually not on the Alaskan cruise. Not sure about the 14-day one, but it may start getting too cool to have any deck parties (there should be a covered pool for swimming).

4. Do they have a midnight buffet, or a chocolate/dessert buffet.

No midnight buffet. Sometimes the Horizon Court -- the buffet -- will have a table set up at dinner time with special desserts, along with their usual desserts.

5. If they have formal nights, how dressy are they. On other lines they are less and less formal. Its almost anything goes. Just wondering Princess' policy and what people do.

 

The Princess website has info re dress guidelines for dinner, along with a lot of other good info to read up on before your cruise.

Generally formal wear for men could vary from tuxes to kilts to dress military uniforms (have seen all of these) to suits. Have even seen men without a jacket or tie, but the head waiters will have the final say about admitting less formal wear. Women have worn glittery gowns to silky pantsuits (I have an one-piece one that I sometimes wear) to cocktail length (my usual formal wear). LBD's are very popular.

 

Some people skip the formal nights and go to the Horizon Court which will have a major range from shorts to formal. These passengers can even go to shows, etc. without feeling judged (unless you have those who feel that if you're not willing to dress to the nines, you should stay in your cabin -- but most others don't care as long as you're not wearing wife-beater tees or speedoes to any dining venue).

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Again, the Princess website has a lot of info that will answer many of your questions. I check it even when returning to the same ship.

[TLC535]

I guess I am wondering:

1. How many formal nights do they have, if they do this, on a 14 night cruise. 3

2. Is dinner assigned times and seating or is it anytime (husband booked it and I haven't talked to him about this yet).

they have both, depends what your husband chose when booking

3. Are there any special nights, like deck parties, etc.

not sure on Alaska cruises for deck party...but there will be others in the lounges - (sock hop / country etc.)

4. Do they have a midnight buffet, or a chocolate/dessert buffet.

not any longer since the economy went downhill on the midnight buffet.

5. If they have formal nights, how dressy are they. On other lines they are less and less formal. Its almost anything goes. Just wondering Princess' policy and what people do.

you will see some in evening gowns & tuxes and others in nice dressy slacks & "sparkly" tops with men in slacks & a button down long sleeve shirt...to me Alaska is a little more "laid back" but usually nothing less than the latter.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Welcome to Princess...see above in red & hope you have a wonderful cruise. :)

[eandj]

Of the lines we have been on, Dh and I most enjoy our cruises with Celebrity, Hal and Princess. If cruising with multi generational family groups, we choose Royal Carib. because they have all the "bells and whistles" that our younger relatives enjoy and take advantage of..especially on cruises with several sea days. (And we like it too. )

 

You will be very happy with Princess! ( Personallly I love the dressing area/closet areas on the ships.)

[caribill]

I guess I am wondering:

1. How many formal nights do they have, if they do this, on a 14 night cruise. As others have posted, since this is really two seven day cruises that are B2B, there will be two formal evenings on each segment. You (or your husband) will need to go online to the Cruise Personalizer to enter in needed information about yourselves. The Cruise Personalizer will include the number for formal nights on the page that shows your itinerary.

2. Is dinner assigned times and seating or is it anytime (husband booked it and I haven't talked to him about this yet). A good question to ask your husband. If you go online to the personalizer, it will tell you if early traditional, late traditional or anytime was selected and if the selection is confirmed.

 

3. Are there any special nights, like deck parties, etc. There will be a deck party one evening. Other evenings there will be theme nights such as disco night, 50s/60s night, country vwestern night. There will be a special event inside on each of these theme evenings.

4. Do they have a midnight buffet, or a chocolate/dessert buffet. On the Diamond last year there was a fantastic dessert buffet one afternoon (lunch time) at the rear of the buffet area.

5. If they have formal nights, how dressy are they. On other lines they are less and less formal. Its almost anything goes. Just wondering Princess' policy and what people do. For this and much more information about cruising on Princess go to the Princess web site and download "The Cruise Answer Book."

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

See above in red.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Tralynn]

Princess does an excellent job in Alaska!!! They usually have a naturalist onboard to enhance the experience. Be sure to attend any of his/her talks if you are interested in learning about what you will be seeing in Alaska.

 

My Princess Alaska cruise was probably my absolute favorite cruise so far.

 

Enjoy Alaska and Princess!

[skynight]

Dining

The Diamond Princess has 5 MDR’s. The International, Deck 6 aft is normally used for traditional early and late seat dining, same table, time and tablemates each evening. There are 4 mid ship DR’s, Pacific Moon, Santa Fe, Vivaldi and Savoy. They are all basically the same and all have the same menu, with one exception. Each one has one unique menu item, for example Asian in the Pacific Moon. Three of them will be open at 5:30 for Anytime Dining, The 4th may be used for overflow traditional dining and would open about 7:30. There will be at least one DR open each morning for breakfast, and for lunch on sea days. The DR is closed for lunch on port days.

 

There are 2 surcharge restaurants, Sabatini’s Italian and The Sterling Steakhouse. Each is $25/pp. The Sterling Steakhouse is an aft section of the Horizon Court which they close off at dinnertime.

 

Other free dining options include The Horizon Ct. Buffet, open continuously from 6am to 11pm or midnight. The Trident Grill, (burgers, dogs, brats, chicken, fries) and Prego Pizza (pizza by the slice). These are open from 11am to around 9pm. Of course there is complimentary room service from a limited menu (unless you are in a full suite). While comp. most tip the delivery person.

[Pam in CA]

If you like HAL, you'll like Princess. I'd say they are probably the most similar. However, there are differences.

 

While laid back, Princess is more active at night and has more (and better) evening entertainment than HAL. Cabins are designed differently. On Princess, the living area is smaller but there's a large open closet area that doubles as a dressing area. Bathroom is smaller on Princess and all cabin types less than a mini-suite have a shower, no tub.

 

The Princess buffet is open from early in the morning until 11:00PM. It doesn't close and there is a wide variety of options mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Unlike HAL, Princess room service is relatively limited. You can't order off the dining room menu unless you're in a full suite.

 

In my experience (Elite on Princess, 3-star Mariner on HAL), food and service on Princess is better than on HAL.

 

Princess has MUCH better pizza than HAL but it's Indonesian food isn't as good. There are more "Always available" options on the dinner menu than on HAL. The buffet on Princess is more self-serve than on HAL, and tables are pre-set with napkins and silverware. There is tableside beverage service on Princess. There's no sandwich bar but you can get bread and make your own with cheese, meats, etc.

 

The Diamond doesn't have a Crow's Nest but it does have Skywalkers which is a great place to go for viewing or relaxing and reading during the day. At night, it becomes a nightclub.

 

I think you'll have a great cruise. :)

[smellycruzer]

My DH and I have been on many cruises, but this will be our first one on the Princess line.

 

Congrats! You won't regret it :D:D:D:D

[cruisemama5]

Thanks so much for all the replies. DH booked late seating traditional dining.

 

I'm glad to hear about the naturalist for the glaciers. They have this on HAL and we have really enjoyed it.

 

We like to dress up for formal night, so hoping others do to. Carnival is pretty relaxed. Very surprised to see some in levis on formal night. To each his own.

 

Thanks again for the replies.