Guinness1000

2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Oasis on Sunday with my daughter and Granddaughter!  

Slightly off topic, but...  🙂

I know Starbucks is not included in the premium drink package, but what about milkshakes at Johnny Rockets?

Went on Navigator last year. Although the ship and cruise in general was fine, it's our least favorite cruise so far because of the hard beds. I don't think we slept well one single night.

I'm not a US citizen. I use my passport when I check-in online and then I have to prove that I have a Green Card when we check-in at the port. I don't know, but it doesn't sound right that you can travel outside of the US with just a GC. Maybe it depends on where you're going?

Awesome review! We'll be on her in four weeks!  🙂

Only had an aft balcony on HAL and we had soot on the floor of the balcony every morning. Annoying, but other than that we had the best views and the balcony was HUGE. Maybe it's like that on every aft balcony?

I was just on her over Christmas and there is one pool in the open on lido deck and then the other one before you get to the spa that has a retractable roof. It's supposed to be adults only, but I saw a few kids there occasionally. They were far and few between and I doubt they bothered anyone.

Great review!

I remember it was a bit rocky on the sea day between Costa Rica and Grand Cayman. 

We arrived early, 9:30, in Miami last year because we flew in. We had to stand in line outside with nowhere to sit for over an hour before they opened the terminal. After that it took another 45 minutes before we were on the ship. It felt like forever. This past Christmas, we drove and we arrived in FLL at 12:35. No lines at all. We pretty much walked right on. The fastest embarkation ever for us. IMO, I rather arrive a little later and walk right on than get there early and deal with lines and such. Just my take.  🙂

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Do yourself a HUGE favor, do not book through Royal. Get off the ship, grab a $4 cab, and go to Atlantis. When you get to the resort you will be able to see all the options on admission for your party and will be able to customize your experience much more easily.  

Ok. That sounds good.

For anyone interested, I ended up calling them and RCCL consider 3 and under infants and they go free.  

Thanks everyone.  🙂

12 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

Guests under 4 are free at Atlantis.

Is that through RCCL or just through Atlantis? Would you know if RCCL uses that 4 year old age limit on all their excursions?  Thanks.  🙂

We are supposed to be in Nassau 8am - 3pm.

Going on Oasis Feb 10th with my daughter and granddaughter (age 23 months). I have read through the excursion info on the RC website and all I can find is 139 dollars for a US child. Does that mean even for a child not even two yet? Any info on this would be greatly appreciated since I'd like to take both of them there, but might have to rethink this if that's the cost for my granddaughter to go. Thanks.  🙂

My husband uses a CPAP. We bring a four foot extension cord on our cruises. No one's ever said anything about it.

Forgot...

We also went on the open air train ride in Costa Rica. Different than we thought, but still good. We saw the real country. Not touristy at at all. We also saw a sloth in the wild and two Howler monkeys. Word of caution though, the train ride was very bumpy and there were no restrooms for the entire three hour excursion. 

Oh, and Bill Hall (?) was great! Sat in on all his lectures.  🙂

I was surprised to be faced with this from the rear of the ship.

We went on the Rose Hall Great House and lunch excursion in Falmouth. Very interesting drive up there and the property was beautiful and the lunch was great.

We also went on a local tour in Cartagena. I would suggest just getting your on cab and go to the places that interest you. Hawkers were bad, a smile and a polite no was enough to get them to leave you alone. There were just A LOT of them. We were told most of them were from Venezuela, so we felt bad for them.

We did not do an excursion in Panama. I would suggest making sure promenade deck and aft deck (7 or 8? Can't remember) for the ultimate close up experiences.  🙂

We were on the same sailing!  🙂

Thanks for doing the review! I came here often looking for any info on the Island Princess before we left, but it seemed to me it was the least mentioned ship. I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate your review of her.  🙂

On 12/27/2018 at 3:24 AM, MTJSR said:

 

I am on the Emerald right now. This is my 15th Princess cruise and the worst food I have ever had on a Princess cruise. Before all the "Food Defenders" chime in, the menus have changed and so far not one meal has met my simple standard of just having "taste".

 

I cannot believe ANYONE is excited or will lust for more of this very mediocre, completely forgettable, flavorless MDR food. The Horizon buffet is a freakin zoo! Never an empty table and the food is even less exciting. Seriously, the OP is right. Princess has attained a new low in food taste and quality. So disappointed!

We just got off the Island Princess and I kind of agree with this part. Although the food in the MDR was fine for us, we don't eat meat, it wasn't memorable at all. Except for the Creme Brulee. That was good. Seemed like pretty much the same food on the menu every day.

The buffet, although not bad, got really dull by the end of the cruise. Seemed like the same or similar stuff every day. Well, there was a German Food night once. Yuck. Who wants that kind of food while on a cruise in the Caribbean and Central America? 🙂

On 12/12/2018 at 2:47 PM, rburzanko said:

Going on Royal Princess cruise in early January and this is only the third cruise I have ever been on.  Wondering if the premium beverage package makes any sense or not.  I certainly like to indulge in some adult beverages when on vacation but nothing over the top.  Wonder if the $60+ per day per person makes any sense or if you are better off just paying as you go.  Are sodas, coffee etc included in the meals you have or do you have to pay for those separately as well?

 

Appreciate any feedback you can offer my question and wish everyone a happy holiday.

IMO, no. We've been on many cruises and we usually get the premium drink packages. Mostly because we know we would get stingy if we would have to pay every time we wanted something to drink, wether that's water, soda or alcohol or anything else. Every time I add up what we drank after the cruise, we've never spent anywhere near what we spent on the packages.

We spoke to someone that works at RCCL and we were told that cruise lines have to get up to speed with the times and offer fast internet and wifi services because people are so addicted to their phones especially that many people won't even consider going on a cruise if it means they won't be "connected" at all times. 

Awesome! We found out yesterday we got an upgrade too on our upcoming Island Princes on December 20!  🙂

On 11/18/2018 at 1:48 PM, pcur said:

HAL is more subdued and quiet.  I think it's because there are usually few children on the ship.  They are very classic ships with good service and good crews.  Their buffet is a step above.  We were on a 28 night cruise from Honolulu to Vacouver, and ate in the buffet for dinner about 10 nights.  They have separate areas for appetizers and desserts that are wonderful.  Their food is fresh prepared with cooking stations behind the buffet, and the staff serve you, except for sushi, and pre-prepared items.

 

The main dining room service is very good, as is the food.  Can't complain there.

 

You are correct, the night activities are minimal, except for the casino, but we don't go to many entertainment venues on any cruiseline, so it's not a problem for us.  

 

I thoroughly enjoyed our HAL cruises, and the HAL board here on CruiseCritic has some very gracious and helpful people.

 

RCCL is more oriented to keeping you active, busy, entertained.  HAL is more oriented to keeping you stress-free, calm, and comfortable.  A 10 day HAL cruise will probably be more 40 - 80 age group.  Our 28 night the ages ranged more like 65 - 85.

I agree with everything you wrote. Our favorite cruise line, so far at least, is HAL. We care more about itineraries than onboard entertainment, so they are perfect for us. I'm going on the Oasis in February though, but that's because I'm going with my daughter and granddaughter, so activities onboard are important.  🙂

On 11/10/2018 at 12:49 AM, Scrapnana said:

Not a world cruise but I am doing an 80-day South America/Antarctica cruise in January.  I will be writing a blog and I know at least one other person will also.

https://2019halgv.blogspot.com/

 

 

Awesome! That will be our first long cruise in 2020 (I think). Will follow along on your blog.  🙂

Thanks!

This is our first ten day cruise so suitcases will be really full. If we don't have to bring shampoo, conditioner and soap, it will free up some space for other stuff to bring.  🙂