TR: Island Princess Oktoberfest Capitals 10/18-30

[KKB]

I always have plans of a LIVE TR...but If I start, I rarely finish as we are just busy & have a great time on our cruises!

 

DH prefers not to cruise during golf & college football season...yeah, that limits us to Dec-Apr!

BUT he will almost always cruise with family or friends during those times! (I haven't had to manipulate that yet...there could come a time!)

Some dear TX friends we met cruising on Celebrity in 2018...then cruised last Nov...well, he wanted to see the Xmas markets in Europe.

SOMEHOW this led her to this cruise; they had only done Celebrity & we assured them Princess was a close product. (was hoping we were right in their eyes!)

 

We got a decent price on an OV room. They had only done balcony before...but it was a big jump in price so they bit the bullet.

We did make Move Up bid...they COUNTERED us a week or 2 before (THAT'S a new one on me!)

$700 for a mini suite window. That means no balcony. 

Now, we usually say about $500 total bid for a week for a balcony. 

Yet we realize we REALLY do not use a balcony much; and in cooler weather even less. 

So we took that bid & got the mini suite.

It was nice to have the extra room, but I wouldn't do it again. Frankly way more space than we needed. 

If you had kiddos sharing room it would be worth it.

 

Air was about $1K each from Omaha to Southampton. Not bad.

DD & I flew bulkhead back from Rome in August & I realized this was a GAME CHANGER for my 6'2" DH & frankly myself.

So another $900 got us both bulkhead seats on the long haul flights both ways. 

We will do that every time. 

Long haul home was in the exit row, so even larger area, tho near bathroom so could get congested--we felt the room was still worth it.

Plus I find they have no issue with me keeping my small-ish crossbody on my body during takeoff/landing. 

It holds nearly all I need (iPad, earbuds, lip balm, lotion, gum, etc) to get thru most of the flight. I do drop it on the floor near my feet after takeoff.

 

We spent 3 nights in London pre-cruise plus one night at LHR hotel after.

[KKB]

London.

OMG I LOVE THIS CITY!

DM (God rest her soul) loved this city & I know why!

 

We stayed at the Marlin Waterloo--solid choice for around $200/night.

GREAT location--busy enough, not crowded.

3 pubs w/in half a block, lol (is that everywhere in the UK?🤪); Pret A Manger next door many restaurant choices very close by.

10 min. walk to the Eye, Big Ben & Westminster Abbey (MUCH busier there!)

 

Since we got in at 8AM on Sunday we had to bide some time before we got into our room; we killed a few hours at Hercules--a Fuller bar (they own 200 bars in London; not a chain tho...as we hit one later that is nothing like this). Locals seem to love these Fuller bars as well.

 

The first night  it was just us & we had made reservations at a nearby pub for Pub Quiz (we love trivia...well, I do, and he humors me)

In trying to find the pub, we stumble upon another offering a Pub Quiz--Windmill, another Fuller bar . I wander down & find our original plan but it is a few blocks off the beaten path, a bit out of the way, so we stick with our new find & had a lovely time. Got last & a free pint--woo hoo! (yeah, we figured UK trivia might trip us up a bit...we did manage to get some help from other patrons!) We took our friends for a meal there as well & liked it as well (tho if you want fish & chips, get the enormous fish & chips, not the fish topped chips, JMO) GREAT staff both visits. Honestly, we had great staff everywhere!

 

Our friends arrived the 2nd day & we had (paid!) reservations for Pub Quiz at Vaulty Towers on Marsh Street, 5 min from our hotel. 

OK...Marsh Street. FANTASTIC.

M-F street is closed during the day & food tents line the street. OH. MY. GOD. I want to BOTTLE the aromas!! It was VERY difficult to choose what to eat! But we managed! Very inexpensive & FANTASTIC.

 

Now for Vaulty Towers--a MUST DO!! The MOST FUN trivia we have ever done! 

Reservations are a must--I think it was $2.50 a person.

This bar is funky, full of funky tchotchkes & unique seating areas created above the regular bar area.

This is NOT you usual trivia. Expect the unexpected (drawing round, dance offs)

I would do this EVERY time we were in London on a Monday!

Mostly 20-30 somethings; and it is a local hot spot. 

But last call at 10:15 was interesting!

 

The next day we walked to the London Eye & grabbed the HOHO bus. 

Brilliant--you see nearly everything (but only drive by the side of Buckingham Palace), and the commentary was full of lovely British Humor. Highly recommend!

 

We then stopped for a pint at the bar closest to our hotel (Crown & Cushion) & had a local chat us up

("Gram with no ham") He was a STITCH!

He also suggested dining at La Barca (Italian if you weren't sure) on Marsh Street.

He did NOT lead us astray--this was as good as our pasta in Italy (actually, better than one place!)

 

London, our trip first meeting was much too short. 

We WILL be back.

 

[KKB]

Transfers:

We used Transfeero from LHR to Marlin Waterloo. About $125 for car for 2.

We used British Express cars both from London to Southampton & Southampton to LHR.

We booked a van both ways for the 2 of us, running about $140 for each couple.

Yes, we could have taken the train for much less. 

But with a checked bag & carryon each plus our friend has back issues, transfers were a luxury worth paying for.

The last transfer even dropped our friends at their Terminal & us at our LHR hotel.

Highly recommend both services.

[KKB]

Island Princess

Embarkation was a breeze--literally walked right on at 11!

 

Ship is smaller (about 2K & was sold out) & older (about 20 yrs old)

It is set up similar to most Princess ships with a couple exceptions: buffet is forward.

Basically most food & bar choices (other than specialty dining) are forward.

Gym is in an odd space aft deck 6, no windows. 

 

Biggest con is no International Cafe--definitely miss that. 

But Good Times Bar & casino bar had pastries in AM on sea days.

 

Lots of toilets were often out of order--this seems to be a particular issue on Princess ships.

 

One night was in the room sitting at desk & heard running water behind me--sprinkler was pouring water as if a faucet had been turned on. I grabbed a wash cloth. Happened again...I grabbed a hand towel. This was the one time that minisuite came in handy. Our friends had soaked bedding from this when they returned to their room that night (we were forward deck 10 & they were aft deck 5, so happened all over) Appears many rooms had to have bedding changed. Felt bad for all those stewards who work so hard & split shifts to have to work more that night.

 

We ate at Sabatinis the 1st night...it was good but a bit of a let down after our fab Italian meal in London the night before!

 

We ate most dinners in Bordeaux, any time dining; plus a few breakfasts.

Felt service was great (tho slowed a lot the couple times we ate at a big table).

Food was good to very good. 

We did get lobster & filet the 2nd chic night--and the lobster was a nice size!

 

We usually ate breakfast, lunch & a few late dinners at the buffet; grabbed a couple burgers or pizza at those locations by the pool. Annoying soft serve ice cream is on the other side of the pool! Probably kept me from getting it!

 

We spent most evenings in Explorers or the casino bar--FANTASTIC bartenders & servers at these locations. They served us well!

 

(Explorers offered a light buffet for Platinum & Elite 4:30-6:30 daily; enjoyed that a couple times!)

[KKB]

Activities

Did not go to any production shows as this tends to be a weak spot for Princess.

Saw comedian 1st night--he was OK. 

Other than Carnival that is my general opinion of cruise comedians.

Later we had a 2nd comedian & people raved about his theater show. 

We saw him in Explorers--I also would call him OK.

 

Trivia & Gameshows are our thing.

We missed most AM trivia as we are also TX Hold Em players & tournaments were at the same time.

The Activities staff was FANTASTIC & they got to know us early--especially Angela (asst CD) & Andrea.

Our friends got picked for the Marriage show (40 yrs!) so that was a hoot! 

(they are a hoot anyway...and the crew thought so too!)

 

Casino

Quite small. 

Hate the 10 coin minimum video poker (tho DH hit a jackpot on that the 1st night so I shouldn't complain!); miss other video poker choices as on Discovery. 

TX Hold Em gaming table (not electronic poker table) was nuts--6 people were there 1-2 hours before the table opened EVERY DAY (sea & port days!) & played almost every open hour! 

DH & I managed to snag a couple seats at 1145 one night. (I did well).

These people were like "we get free cruises doing this"

Uh, I like to DO things on a cruise besides gamble! But no judgement!

 

There were TX Hold Em Poker tournaments at 10AM on sea days. 

We had about 12-15 interested regularly, so they added 4PM one on sea days as well. 

No one really wanted cash games so they added 10PM tournaments for us the last couple days as well.

 

 

[KKB]

Ports (weather was cloudy, cool (50s), often windy & sometimes rainy the whole trip)

PART 1

 

Originally had Hamburg & Aarhus as our 1st 2 ports but Storm Babet had other ideas.

So those were scrapped (we had some rocky days!) & Amsterdam was added--YEAH!

I have been to Hamburg (admittedly didn't tour it) & this felt like a win to me.

 

Amsterdam--we did not port in Amsterdam but near by (Zeeland?)

Cabbed to city center & wandered.  (this is what we like to do)

Stopped at 3 spots for drinks, plus fondue & bittenballs at the last place.

Everyone was so lovely at each venue (our friend...well she makes friends EVERYWHERE)

Had hoped to do a canal cruise but we couldn't get one in before we had to get back.

I can never get enough of Amsterdam.

 

Copenhagen

We had a Segway tour booked; our friends had done it but we never had.

GREAT FUN!! Would do again. 

After we headed back to Nyhavn & hit 3 bars for drinks & munchies (see a pattern??!!)

EXPENSIVE-$50 for 2 beers & 2 glasses of wine.

Lunch: Smorrebrod (same offering at nearly every venue)

We also shared an excellent hot dog from a street vendor (our "appetizer" lol)

 

BUT the most fun story is when we were sitting at lunch & saw a gentleman sitting on the edge of the canal with a bottle of wine & an actual wine glass.

Our very friendly friend offered him some bread & cheese (one MUST have bread & cheese with wine!) & he declined but offered her some wine. 

Needless to say...the pics tell the story!

We also had a  wonderful guitarist show up--Copenhagen was a magical day!

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by KKB

[Paula_MacFan]

25 minutes ago, KKB said:

 

We ate at Sabatinis the 1st night...it was good but a bit of a let down after our fab Italian meal in London the night before!

 

 

We did the same European Capitals cruise 9/22 - 10/4.  Sorry you had some weather issues -- we were lucky to have smooth sailing and didn't miss any ports.  We had a fabulous time and also did several days in London on our own prior to boarding the ship.  Agree 100% with your comment about Sabatini's -- we also ate there during our cruise and although it was good, it was not as good as the wonderful Italian meal we had in London!

 

Glad you had a good time on your trip 🙂 Thanks for sharing. 

 

[KKB]

Ports (Part 2)

 

Gothenburg: 

Did the HOHO. Good. Saw a lot; commentary was well done if lacking humor (we are spoiled).

We went to Stora Saluhallen food hall & had wonderful Swedish meatballs (PS the kids portion would have been plenty...live & learn).

We then were looking for a bar...ended up at an Irish pub. 

Meh, was not great. Was out of a lot of things, beer was skunky...

We did enjoy Gothenburg, but not that Irish pub!

 

Oslo: 

Did the HOHO. It was a good tour but the audio was very poor & hard to hear.

We had visions of doing the whole tour then hopping off to grab a bite at a local pub.

Well, there were 2 areas we scoped out on the 1st round. 

But as we looked more closely...there are LOTS & LOTS of SHOPS in Oslo.

And lots of chains (Subway, TGIFridays...) but bars didn't open until later in the day & local restaurants were rare. It was odd.

Looking back there were a few restaurants near the Opera House--but these looked shiny & new (like a hotel restaurant), so not really what we were looking for.

Our friends got off at the Kon Tiki museum & enjoyed that.

 

Rotterdam

We had tried to book a private beer tour but they were all sold out, as was the Princess brew tour at double the price.

Well a couple days before I discovered 4 seats on the Princess tour--entitled Brews & Cruise or something like that. 

So we thought it included a canal cruise...uh, nope. A water tax to/from the port area to the other side of the canal. Huh.

BUT our tour guide Thomas was fantastic. Good combo of a walking tour & stop at 3 bars/breweries with snacks at each one. While overpriced, we really did love it. (tho now realize could have easily re-created this one on our own; I had my eye on a "do it yourself" food tour for $40...probably a decent value). The cube houses were COOL--would have loved to see inside! (uh, YOU TUBE)

After our tour was over he invited us to another pub if we wanted. Would have been fun but 4:30 on a Friday it was PACKED so while several stayed, several of us made the short walk over to the ship.

 

Zeebrugge

OK if you don't take an overpriced Princess excursion, it is a bit of an ordeal to get to Bruges.

Shuttle out of the port area required for all.

Tram to train station.

Train into Bruges.

So DH & decided to stay onboard & do laundry, lol (that's a first! of course laundry was far aft & our cabin is far forward...so we still managed to get over 10K steps, lol!) 

This is the first port intensive cruise DH has done...so he was ready for a break.
I've been to Brussels so I thought no big deal to miss.

Our friends ended up grabbing a cab at the port exit (WISH THEY HAD TOLD US THAT WAS THEIR PLAN!)

They LOVED Bruges. 

Shoot...oh, well, next time...

 

Le Havre

Since this was the last day we also opted to stay on. 

Appears to have been a good idea--our friends said almost everything was closed in Le Havre since it was Sunday.

They bought the overpriced Princess shuttle (DON'T--just grab a cab for half the price for 2; even less if there are more of you) & apparently on the way back it dropped most passengers off quite a distance from the ship...then proceeded to drive close to the ship & drop off mobility challenged passengers.

HUH??!! WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? I understand dropping close to the ship for those passengers, but why couldn't ALL the passengers get off there? That makes NO sense. 

It was the ONE thing our friend did not like about Princess.
 

[KKB]

We stayed at the Staybridge Suites Heathrow post cruise--I had a free room w/ my IHG card.

I was concerned as most S. Suites do not have restaurants. 

It was attached to a Holiday Inn Express which DID have a sports bar & restaurant (again, not typical!)

We had a nice room but the bed was a BRICK. 

(Unlike our amazingly comfy Princess bed!)

 

We sat in the bar all afternoon playing cards, drinking & eating.

Had a nice time. Servers were great.

 

Sadly, we found the 3 Magpies down the road on the way out--traditional Pub.

Woulda been cheaper & more authentic, shoot, but no big deal.

 

[KKB]

We had a great time. Our friends are a BLAST.

I would recommend this ship & this cruise, BUT I would rather sail other Princess ships over the Island. 

We certainly found some places we want to return to & spend more time (the beauty of a cruise).

 

We are on the Regal in April for a TA & UK. Looking very forward to sharing the ports I fell in love with in the UK w/ DH plus some new one ones. 

Different friends will be on that one with us; they are a bit lower key than these friends--probably a good thing!

Just like DH had to learn Vegas was no longer a sprint when we started doing longer trips...cruises are the same!

He's done 12 &14 days (easier to pace with just he & I); 28 days will be a new venture!

(I am pushing that man for a world cruise someday!!! Baby steps...)

 

Thanks for reading! 

Happy to answer any questions.

Edited November 4, 2023 by KKB

[KKB]

CORRECTION:

I said we took our friends to dinner at Windmill.

NOPE

That was Hercules.

HUGE fish & chips. Get that if it's what you are looking for.

Fish on chips had a curry sauce--if you love curry, you will love it. But it was overpowering.

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

We did this same itinerary last year, 2022.  It remains as one of our top 5 cruises!  Have a great trip!

[cruiseNYer]

Thank you for posting your trip report.  I'll be on her in a couple weeks.  BTW, did you happen to notice if they switched the coffee in Horizon Court to Lavazza yet on this ship?

[KKB]

3 hours ago, cruiseNYer said:

Thank you for posting your trip report.  I'll be on her in a couple weeks.  BTW, did you happen to notice if they switched the coffee in Horizon Court to Lavazza yet on this ship?

Sorry I didn't notice--I'm a specialty coffee gal!