KarateMan

I have certainly never booked a cruise hoping to get a free upgrade. I always book a cabin based on where I would really like to be on the ship. I don't think many people at all would book and hope for an upgrade that they may not get.

You don't know what you are talking about.

 

In your picture -- the fin is mounted on a shaft.

 

In operation, the shaft rotates back and forth,

so that the fin can produce a force upwards,

or a force downwards.

 

A gyro in the ship senses roll, and rotates the fins

in the direction needed to counter-act the ship's roll.

 

Constant heel from wind, or loading is adjusted by heeling tanks,

not stabilizers.

Please do not quote my posts again. I am adding you to my ignore list as your information is incorrect.

First you claim a bridge officer gave you your information and now you act as if you know about it all.

You then claim the stabilisers are located above the engine room which was subsequently proven wrong by photographic examples of where they are located.

Your information is totally wrong.

On grand class ships, the stabilizers are located about under the international

cafe, aft of the plaza deck cabins. If you are outside the ship -- on the

pier or in a tender, you can see the painted mark for the position.

 

They are on deck 2/3, which is above the engines.

 

They are not silent, as they move constantly when deployed.

That is how they operate.

 

They are never deployed in shallow water, narrow channels or

while docking.

 

I asked a bridge officer about hearing them in pax cabins.

He said you could hear them in crew cabins on decks 3+4,

but not on deck 5 and above.

That is totally incorrect information.

Whoever told you such made a mistake and is not an expert in that field.

As you can see from this photo of the Coral Princess the stabiliser is located on a downward angle from the bilge keel

They do not constantly move as water is an unstable medium and harmonic vibrations would make it an uncomfortable cruise if the stabiliser got into a rhythm which constantly rolled the ship.

A calculation is made based on currents, the ships forward speed as to which angle is most suitable to deploy the stabiliser either downward or upward, based on the forward motion and the currents a fixed angle is selected in which the stabilisers angle applies enough pressure to either try and dive or rise one side of the ship to counter a possible roll caused by currents in the opposite direction. A stabiliser will only need to change its angle if the ships speed changed or if the currents changed or on course changes.

The reason they are not deployed in shallow waters is because as you can see they are on a downward angle from below the keel and they are in fact well below the engines.

You can just make out a stabiliser on this ship:

You can also make out a stabiliser in this picture:

Many people like the Plaza cabins for their convenience to the IC and MDRs, but I will warn light sleepers that they can get a fair amount of noise from the stabilizers and bow thrusters.

Stabilisers are silent and remain still on a fixed angle determined by the currents to negate a roll and thrusters only operate when docking if allowed to do so by the port authority. Also the stabilisers are deep in the keel well below the much louder engine room. You would have better chances of hearing cotton landing on felt than hearing the stabiliser on a ship.

Just last month I found out the hard way that Princess immediately sells your cabin the moment they "upgrade" you. In my case I found it more of a downgrade as I was moving from a top deck to a lower deck and from a good location to a bad location.

I called Princess immediately and managed to get my original cabin back. This was only 4 days before departure.

On arrival at the ship I had the cruise card and cabin that I wanted, however the name tag on the door was for another couple, the beds were in the wrong configuration and all of my elite Captains Circle invitations were sent to the wrong cabin. Even my most travelled lunch invite was sent to the wrong cabin.

In effect the moment they upgrade you they immediately signal the ship which sets in place all your invites and tickets to be reprinted to the upgrade cabin.

It is a stupid game that Princess plays. Some upgrades I admit are very good and really worth it and possibly help out be encouraging passengers to book a higher grade on return.

However some upgrades are really poor, lousy and a deliberate attempt to shaft passengers into undesirable cabins that they cannot sell to the more savvy cruise passengers who know their ships well.

My example was if you book an inside cabin on Lido deck with prime access to the upper decks where I spend all my time in the day and close to my favourite location, then why on earth would I want un upgrade from the top of the ship close to the decks all the way down the bottom of the ship and in longer walking distance to everything I use.

If you pick an inside cabin on the upper decks then the only upgrades they should offer are cabins on the upper decks.

I disagree with you 100%. The reason is that I can afford a mini even booking as a solo but ever since Princess changed the balcony chairs, I find them very uncomfortable and am unable to sit in them for more than a few minutes at a time. Thus, for me, balconies are useless and a waste of good money if I can't enjoy the balcony. I'm now booking OV cabins and have extra money for the Sanctuary or even another cruise.

 

As for the OPs post, it's important to be familiar with Princess ships and cabins. What Princess considers an upgrade might not be an upgrade in your or other passengers' eyes. Shortly before my recent RP cruise, I had an "obstructed" balcony on Emerald deck near the aft elevator that wasn't obstructed. Princess "upgraded" me to an Aloha deck unobstructed balcony mid-ship. No thanks... not on your life! I was able to get my cabin back. I loved the location and no way did I want to be stuck mid-ship.

My rationale for inside or balcony cabin is this. If I have the money I will book a balcony cabin. If for any reason a balcony cabin is too expensive, not in the area I want or not of use then I will just go for an inside. I see an outside cabin as a waste of money. Unless you can physically step outside then it is not providing any benefit.

The outside cabin is always a window in a indentation in the hull, there on there is some distance to reach it. You have no way of testing the weather outside, the window gets dirty, its no use taking photos through glass.

My though is you are only sleeping in the cabin so the window provides little use. I can then save money and use it elsewhere on the ship.

I have tried them and I never liked the outside cabins. I only ever tried the unobstructed view ones. Besides being on the bottom two decks of the ship was quite an inconvenience also.

It seems trivial worrying about upgrades over a few minor $$$ difference in the price.

You should be more concerned about location.

I agree some upgrades are bad. In effect cruise lines often "downgrade" unsuspecting passengers to inferior cabins that are disliked by many people.

I can understand not wanting to be above or near the theatre. That is a reasonable ground to decline an upgrade.

On my last cruise I had booked an inside cabin on Lido deck on the Diamond Princess. For me it was a prime location with immediate access to the open decks, it was in a quiet area and up high so it ticked all the boxes of what I like. A week before the cruise I got an "upgrade notification" email. When I examined it more closely I decided it was not actually an upgrade for me as going from an inside on Lido deck to an obstructed outside on Emerald deck puts me in an inconvenient location compared to where I booked. The Princess cruises call centre person actually abused me on the phone for wanting my original cabin back!

Personally I do not care much for outside cabins. They are useless and a waste of money. I will either go for inside or balcony. A outside cabin is just a second rate excuse for people not rich enough to afford a balcony cabin. I have tried an outside cabin before and did not like it. You are behind thick glass and the window does not provide any benefit. The moment I tried a balcony cabin it was a different story. Having access to the outdoors and feeling the weather was better.

This is what I do. If I book an inside cabin I never want upgrades. I will turn them all down unless it is an upgrade to a balcony cabin.

If I have the money for a balcony cabin then I book a grade I know I will be happy with. I accept upgrades if I book a balcony cabin. Usually when upgraded in balcony grade cabins it is something I have always enjoyed.

I think for you booking an obstructed view cabin the only upgrades you are entitled to is to go down to a more inferior location in some views. Booking inside cabins they will try and upgrade you to obstructed views. If you don't like what the options are tell them you don't want upgrade offers.

My comments in the changes refer to move away from Grand to Royal Class. Britannia is a Royal class type ship. That is a change for Princess, there was much uproar about the moving away from Grand class.

What P&O UK have done is completely change the livery.

The Royal Princess was a new design for Princess. I cant see the problem with that. Princess cruises started off with Sitmar design ships, came up with their own Sun class ships, evolved that into the Grand class and changed them slightly. Princess also has a completely different designed Coral and Island class. The Royal Princess was an inevitable change.

I find it disappointing that P&O UK is changing its livery to something cheap and tacky. It is just cheap advertising to appease certain types of people. If you want change how about repainting the hull of QM2 white, changing the paint scheme of its funnel and maybe painting a bow wave on the ships hull and a smiley face.

They did, its called Regal and Royal Princess.

Absolutely no change at all. They still have the Sea Witch logo on the funnel:

Best you not small snippet quote as people who do always omit the vital information when they do.

It is absolutely revolting and an insult to the lines tradition and heritage. I don't like what is happening to P&O at the moment and it is going down very fast.

I don't know what motivated them to change their history and design, perhaps they want to distance themselves from how Costa looks.

Can you imagine Cunard ships getting rid of their dull black hulls and red funnels with black stripes, can you imaging Princess ships removing the Sea Witch logo from all of their funnels, imagine Cunard painting a massive US flag on the front or Princess doing the same.

The biggest problem with P&O is that its flag was never British. Their house flag was made up of the colours of Spain and Portugal as they received Royal approval from both countries to deliver mail. It was Spain and Portugal that was integral in the formation of that company 175 years ago.

Very sad what is happening to their ships.

As I say again imagine Princess ships as you know and love them changing design completely.

Thanks again

 

One more question

 

What did most people wear for Formal night? DH is wondering whether he should bring his Tux, Suit or is shirt & tie & good pants enough.

 

I have a couple of cocktail dresses that dont take much room, so I'm easy

 

Cheers

 

Tanya

For myself I just took an ordinary suit and tie for formal nights. I have a fairly better than average mid-priced but not a fashion label suit that is light and easy to take. Some men will always take a tux so you will see a few. There are now always the crowds that "don't do formals" and a handful of passengers stick to the buffet and upper decks in shorts and singlet tops watching movies. The Japanese will either bring their western style clothes or go traditional kimono style. Personally I loved seeing the variety of different styles people wore on formal night. It was all different.

How did you find the Internet on board. DH needs to check his emails daily as he is Self employed.We are Elite, so have plenty of minutes.

 

Tanya

I found it fast enough and reliable. I could upload high resolution photos to facebook no problems at all and could navigate the web on several tabs at the one time and go offline the moment I had everything I needed. For the 9 days I was on I did not go over the 250 minutes of free elite internet. It is not at the speed of land based but it was fast enough for me and I always got a connection.

The only problem with the line is that they will always operate hand-me-down ships that have seen their better days with other lines. Unfortunately P&O has this reputation and is not seen as quality compared to the other fantastic ships we see visiting our shores. It is for that reason P&O Australia will never be a company that can compete with the likes of Celebrity and Royal Caribbean let alone the other lines like Princess and the ones affiliated with Carnival.

I suspect the big cruise lines are looking for new revenue sources since the traditional Western passenger market isn't spending what they used to and there is an internatinal glut in the number of berths.

 

I was looking at trying the Diamond in Japan next year. Sadly, I've read a lot of reviews that indicate Princess isn't really catering to Westerners on these cruises. I'm all for experiencing new cultures, but I don't want to be limited in my choice of activities and excursions.

 

I guess this is how non English speaking cruisers often feel on big US/UK mainstream ships.

That idea of yours is totally wrong and you should ignore all those reviews.

I have been there to Japan on the Diamond on the 31st August sailing. I can assure you it is still 100% Princess style. Nothing has changed.

I found my cruise outstanding with lots to do and a very friendly well organised cruise. The passenger mix was great. Sure they catered to Japanese tastes and gave them some of their own shows and food. How could you begrudge them that. It still is very much Princess. There is absolutely nothing different from my recent Diamond Princess cruise just a while back compared to my Golden Princess cruise in March. There is absolutely no difference.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.

Great pics KarateMan. Thanks for taking the trouble to post. It brought back great memories of our 2013 trip on Arcadia from Southampton to Sydney via South America. We count it as one of our best cruises ever.

Being on a British ship we couldn't dock in Ushuaia but a side benefit of that was we were able to sail through the Beagle Channel in daylight. Sensational scenery.

 

Re most travelled. We were on Ocean Princess earlier in the year and the most travelled passengers were over 1100 days!

As I said another ten years and maybe I will be a most travelled passengers. :-) It would be nice to have the status one day but I think I am a long way off.

The reason above is why I chose Princess for South America as the British ships run into problems with Argentina.

I do feel the Beagle Channel was a highlight of that cruise and probably more impressive than the glacier we saw Amalia a few days later.

There were no pre-paid options for my recent Diamond Princess cruise in Japan.

On pre-paid I could go either way. I found it convenient with Celebrity as I walked off Celebrity Solstice last year with a $0 bill at the end of the cruise.

Then for my Golden Princess cruise around South America in March it was more convenient to pay on board.

The price of the Australian dollar does not bother me. You cant put a cost on having a good time and enjoying life.

I think if I were forced to pre-pay for everything then I would do it as one payment and not spend a dollar on the ship. That is what happened with Celebrity. I purchased the excursions and the all inclusive alcohol package and walked off that ship without being charged at all.

If I don't pre-pay then I am more likely to spend more money on the ship knowing what my budget is.

I think this policy might benefit us passengers, though the cruise line will stand to profit from it by potentially earning interest on money that has been paid up front for something that they don't have to pay for until later.

At night time we ate in the MDR and for some there may have been issues. The menu has been split and what were once all time favourites on the left hand side of the menu are now Japanese influenced dishes. This in effect limited your choice if you were a particularly fussy eater l.

That is not exactly correct. They are still exactly the same choices Princess has on all their ships. I have just come off the Diamond after doing the Kyushu & Onsens Cruise on the 31st August.

What Princess has done is simply re-name the dishes to the native Japanese language to give the waiters a better chance of understanding them.

Chicken Breast is always on the menu. In Japanese Chicken is 鶏肉　Toriniku. On the Princess menu they have put something like Tori Niku Chicken Breast.

In Japanese Tori 鶏= Bird and　肉 Niku = Meat, then they compound the word and say it as Toriniku they know it to mean chicken meat.

There have been absolutely no changes whatsoever to the "always available" menu. It is still exactly the same. The names are just more decorated by adding Romanisation of the Japanese words.

Same with Pork Buta Niku is what Princess calls it and in Japanese pork is Butaniku which translates to pig meat.

Sakana means fish.

If you had eaten in Japanese native restaurants you would know that what is offered on Princess is certainly not native or traditional Japanese food.

Ditto, observed no obnoxious people either, mostly Americans on the ship, but they were fine. Yes, the photos are nice.

 

KARETEMAN, you attended the Captain's lunch for most travelled passengers? How many days did you have up? We had about 300 days on boarding, no lunch invite.

Re the Captains lunch, I have been using all my annual leave on cruise ship holidays for the past 12 years. Between two job transitions I had the time to do a 49 night and 40 night half world cruise respectively. Delivery driving on 12 hours+ per day for 6 days per week left me with 6 weeks annual holidays.

Also Princess recognise the P&O UK nights. Right now both lines are about equal in time spent on them.

If I keep going the way I am going I may make it to most travelled in another ten years or so. Right now I am leaning more towards Princess than P&O.

Golden Princess was a great cruise for me. Passenger mix seemed very friendly. That one person I mentioned was just some fool in the theatre who wanted to start an argument over my possession of a camera during a local folkloric performance of Peruvian dancers.

The recent Diamond Princess cruise I had the jackets were compulsory, however a new procedure they did scan your cruise card as you entered the muster station.

What I would like to see is that regular cruises can be eventually given some sort of accreditation that recognises them as regulars and knowledgeable in evacuation procedures. Going to the muster station to prove you know where it is should be enough. It gets rather annoying listening to the same recorded announcement every cruise.

[YOUTUBE]

I am still trying to work out how to embed youtube links for video of captured cruise. For some reason the testing posts seem to include a playlist drop-box starting from the most recent uploaded.

If I can point out with internet all I can say is that when I have been on Princess it has always been fast for me. At least enough to upload a few high resolution photos and do what I need to do.

I don't purchase internet I get it free as elite status so I have never really cared about the speed at all.

It has been an issue for well over a hundred years now with ships. Why do you think that aft cabins and decks were typically 3rd class areas in the old days.

It is also inevitable that whatever comes out of a ships funnel is going to come back down in some place.

Besides that it may not be engine soot. It could be incinerator waste as ships use incinerators for certain types of garbage disposal that cannot be recycled.

Canberra is in good driving range of Sydney. I have driven there before and it is an easy drive with little to no cars on the highway there. Hotel prices are cheaper in Canberra. Lots of good things to see and do.

Now you're just being silly.

Please explain?? How is it silly.

Seriously P&O gave these passengers whoever they are a bottle with wine equal to what the waiter thought was remaining in their bottle. Now the contents of the bottle had to go somewhere.

1. If the waiter tipped it down the drain then that is just waste.

2. If the waiter tipped it out and into another bottle for consumption by other passengers then that is a health and safety risk. Its akin to tipping wine out of a used glass back into a bottle for someone else.

If staff on ships are doing such things with wine then it leaves me with little confidence in their food handling practices and they probably should be reported for that.

I think this is exactly what the OP wanted. As this was an accident, no one was to blame, therefore no one party should profit from the situation. However, whichever way you spin it, P&O were out of pocket on this one. P&O replaced the wine that was spilt at no cost to passenger; only cost was to P&O. If they had provided a full new bottle, even greater cost to P&O; profit to passenger.

 

Please get over yourself; you say this was an accident. It was not P&O's fault, so do not hold them accountable.

There is a slight problem with your rationale here. The bigger issue is what happened to the contents of the wine bottle that P&O did not give the passenger.

Did P&O tip the contents down the drain?

Was the contents re-bottled for use of a "wine by the glass" passenger which is probably a violation of hygiene laws in many countries.