Mrs.Gosse

for us, would rather put the extra costs for Club class into going to Crown Grill... we always book a mini suite, we are elite... if we go to the Crown Grill every night we eat when we want, menu in the Grill meets are desires with fish and meat options.

Hmmm. That's a very interesting take on the situation. Since your Elites you already get all of those benefits, the minibar and the priority boarding. And the crown Grill is so good! I think you kind of just blew my mind LOL. This is a great idea.

I mentioned watching the planes at Maho Beach to DH and he sounded interested. Now that I see there is a bar with pretty good reviews there we may be making a stop. I also was able to finally find some things on TripAdvisor! I don't know why I couldn't find anything previously and still can't find anything on Yelp. Yelp is really my go-to travel review app. But anyway... TripAdvisor mentions guavaberry and a cheese shop that sounds very much of our alley while we will be trying to spend some money on the island. I'm a little less concerned we're spending money now as it seems that they are in bad shape and can use the revenue.

All of the shops in that area including Serrafina’s were destoyed by the hurricane last year.

 

We were in St Martin last week and evidence of the damage is still very visable. We did not go to the French side but were told rebuilding on that side has not come very quickly at all.

 

We have always loved St Martin but even after a year rebuilding is still going on....

That's exactly what I had heard too. Is there any shops, bakeries or restaurants you could recommend from your experience recently?

Hope you are feeling better. At least it waited. I have had noro (here at home) and its awful. I would hate having it on the ship out of my comfort zone.

If you don't mind me asking, what are you planning for St. Thomas? We will be there next week but I still haven't decided what we are going to do so I'm still looking at my options.

I don't mind a bit! Actually, we aren't really doing much. We are taking the boat from the ships dock to Charlotte Amalie. It says it is a shopping shuttle of some sort. It's narrated and it takes 20 minutes to get there but only 10 minutes to get back so I think you get to see a little bit of the cove and the coastline of the island. It says they'll tell you where the best shopping is. We are not planning on doing a lot of shopping, but we figured it would just be a fun way to get to Charlotte Amalie instead of a cab. And then we're planning on walking around that area and then walking around the port area when we get back.

Marigot/French Side has not recovered from last year's hurricanes. A lot of $$$ has been funneled into the Dutch Side, but almost nothing from France for the french side. FYI ...

 

What time are you in St. Martin? Is it a full day ... early a.m. to early evening?

Thanks for letting me know. I had seen marigot mentioned in groups before and it sounded nice but I wasn't really sure what we were looking at there. We are there from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hi friends, we will be in St Maarten in November. We are not looking to do any ship excursions because we are trying to roll or vacation fund into our big TA cruise next year. So we will basically just be doing the Island on our own.

 

I know that trying to save money limits us on what we can see and do. But any suggestions of any must see, must eat, must shop places would be welcome. We're willing to take short cab rides if they are affordable. I'm having trouble finding anything to do on Yelp or places to eat. We are not into snorkeling or doing a beach break since we have a day at princess Cays. I know it's not a lot to work with but I'm having trouble finding things to do which was not the case in St Thomas. Thanks in advance.

I'm disappointed that they're still running those drinks in the elite Lounge. I thought they were probably just testing them to see how they went over. I tried several of them and I thought they were okay but the old ones were so much better. I like going up there and spending a little time before dinner but my husband is not so into it. He'll go if I beg him. We used to only go on the nights where we would enjoy the food or the drink of the day. The Brezza marina was my favorite drink for a long time! I even tracked down the recipe and started making it at home. So we always went that night and guacamole night. I enjoyed spending the time in Skywalker's without the loud music.

I'm super excited about those new cocktails. Especially the margarita but I bet I would be fine with any of them. I had a jalapeno margarita on the emerald once and it was so full of seeds that even though it tasted good, it was crazy hot and it kept sucking up seeds through the straw.

OP, so sorry that's spa experience happened on such a romantic trip. All the people that keep saying, I just tell them up front I don't want anything... Well that's if you know they're going to push a hard sell at the end. I have a regular massage therapist here at home but I wanted a relaxing one on the cruise as a splurge last September. I didn't really enjoy it... I didn't like talking about my problem areas on the sheet they make you fill out first and the Hard Sell completely ruined it for me and it was a huge waste of money! I had luckily got it on sale but it still cost twice what i spend at home. I'll never do one again, that's for sure. Are you enjoying the rest of the cruise?

Thanks for asking this. we usually have no problem finishing a whole bottle of bubbly but maybe this would be the better way to go sometimes.

He likes to fish and is interested. Have you done it? I don't want it to be super boring. That's why I am asking for reviews.

Hello friends, we have rented the Bungalow for princess Cays but my husband is not a beach bum in any way. I noticed yesterday that they have surf fishing excursions for a few hours. I was wondering if anyone had done them and could tell me if they enjoyed the experience, or caught anything. How far away from the Bungalows or the princess compound is it, since I'm not sure if you have to leave the compound to do it. I'm considering doing it with him as well. So we were thinking about doing the afternoon one that starts at 12:30 because I've heard they pack up the bars around 1:45 so they can get them back on the ship on time. Any advice or reviews would be really helpful. As the only thing I know about it is the small amount of information listed in the Excursion reservation tab.

We always cruise in Suites and we tried to step down this cruise and changed it. Lol. I think you will be happy you made the switch. Not having to worry about having issues with who is eating in Club class and who is eating in sabatini's and will they say something... All of that being gone will definitely enhance your relaxation experience. And the benefit of everybody getting to eat in the crown Grill now we'll also be awesome! Sabatini's is my absolute favorite Suite perk but the expanded room service menu that includes special breakfast items and you can order from the dining room menu as well is also really nice. We're going to start using that took a lot more often. Last Voyage my husband had gotten an infection and had to go to the medical center and we just weren't feeling up to formal night. So we ordered in our rooms. We didn't have to get dressed up and spend an hour in the main dining room but we still got to eat the formal night menu. We quite often have skipped shows or activities because they didn't line up with going to dinner. So I think we'll use that more often.

 

Also the elite lounge and the separate line for Suite guests at passenger Services and embarkation is pretty convenient.

i am going on the first princess cruise in about 2 months. does everyone get it or do you need a certain level for it?

No everyone gets one, they're great for throwing a few things in to take off the ship with you or to go to the pool. They are like the reusable shopping bags that you find at the grocery store but they won't have an insert to the bottom and they're a little more rectangle horizontally then up and down. They are a little bit smaller than those reusable bags.

It appears they are still a company standard but it also looks like consistently that people randomly don't get one. My guess would be that the stewards ran out or there weren't any available when he loaded his cart. Some small reason. So if you don't have one you can probably ask for one. I'm actually using one of mine today as I have to a change of clothes to work and I work in the kitchen and I don't want any of my good bags to get dirty LOL. They are great for stuff like that.

Thanks didn't want to bring it if we couldn't use it. Will just make sure it's in our luggage and not carry on

Its become common for NON surge protectors to still get confiscated so i just switched to a small 3 plug extension cord. Its cheap and in no way could be confused with a surge protector.

The website and all my research last year led me to believe that on our September Alaska cruise ....the last of the season on the star princess.. that we would see an Oktoberfest. We saw and nothing of the sort! I was terribly disappointed.

Will all plastic mini bottles set off the metal detectors in my pockets? Some have a metal ring or cap but fireball is all plastic.

Not even in Alaska this season! But I love looking at the patters.

Maybe we can place the "circular file" outside the door for all the spa, art auctions and shopping seminar flyers....

Ha ha! That waa hilarious. [emoji13]

Also in a suite you get an expanded room service menu. Your breakfast includes specialty items every day that change. And on disembarkation day you get to order off of the full menu which is what we do since sabatini's is closed. Also you can order out of the main dining room. On our second formal night of our last cruise, we weren't feeling that well... My husband has an inflamed gland that he actually had to go to the medical center and get antibiotics for and I was still hanging onto a chest cold. But dinner sounded really good that night so we called and they said absolutely. And sent up entrees from the main dining room. I believe there was a cut-off time for that.

Yup......:D:D:D

Bob

I'm a tiny bit ashamed to say that we partially upgraded our mini Suite to a Suite on our next Cruise just because we have no idea where we would eat breakfast lol. sabatini's is probably our favorite perk and I couldn't give it up.

All of your questions were answered very accurately! I just have to get in here and say I love the crown Grill and to us it is always worth the upcharge! Some of the best meals we've had on vacation in the last few years have been at the crown Grill. Plus it breaks up dinners a little bit. Feels a little different. It really feels like a steakhouse on land in there.

Most people recommend magnetic hooks that they sell on Amazon to hang up in your room and say they work very well! I'm considering getting them this time myself.

It is a common mistake to think that you need to consume 15 (or almost 15) drinks a day to come out ahead on the beverage package. You need to do the math on the average number of drinks you consume daily. For example, if your average drink costs $10, you come out ahead after your 6th drink plus a couple of bottled waters.

You're right. I kind of miss spoke there. The way they write that terminology it gets in your brain that it's 15, even though I know better lol. But even with coffees and mocktails and the like, I think I would put too much pressure on myself to feel like I was getting my money's worth.