Lovetocruiseprincess

They used to have the makeup drill scheduled the next morning. That changed after the Costa ship sinking and the makeup session now has to also be before sailing.

If they did have a makeup no one said anything about it & it wasn't mandatory- at least on the CB.

I've found that the only thing worth while is the desserts. Go to the Horizon for a decent lunch & stop off at the Wheelhouse for a dessert afterwards. :D

Of course this is the same passenger service desk that always says there is no dining room open for lunch on embarkation day even though it is listed in the Patter.

 

Also listed in the embarkation day Patter is the make-up embarkation drill. On one recent cruise:

4:00pm Late Embarking Passengers Drill - For those who missed the earlier drill. Conference Room, Deck 6 forward.

 

If they cannot find the dining room information in the Patter, what makes you think they can find the make-up muster drill information?

That's the one we missed & there was no makeup scheduled.

Then you are supposed to attend the make-up muster drill, specially set up for people who miss the main one.

We were never asked to attend any makeup, only given a letter spelling out all the details that transpired during the actual muster.

On board activities, such as cabin crawls, slot pulls, times to meet for coffee, setting up trivia teams, group lunches, etc. are allowed at M&G's.

 

Obviously other than the activities you listed, the arrangements for tours should be moved to another venue after the M&G. This can be prearranged on the group roll call prior to sailing and word of mouth but not during the actual M&G especially with officers present.

Sometimes getting on the ship at the very last minute will get you out of muster drill.

On our cruise last month on the Grand, our muster station leader actually made a comment on the PA before the drill started that they don't clean the whistles. It got a bit of a laugh/groan from the crowd but no one tried to blow it.

I always toot mine with a cupped hand before the show and you'll always get a few others to blow theirs in response. :D:D

Given the choice between the two ships- go with the Coral since the Horizon buffet had been redone & is much nicer with the updated arrangement.

You must all be unicorns. You must. Because it's been YEARS since any kid I've interacted with has used "please" or "thank you" or hasn't generally been shrieking their heads off and running around like someone set them on fire while in public.

 

Please, please, PLEASE keep doing what you're doing. The world desperately needs more amazing parents like you.

While there are a few parents that do control their kids, most only believe their kids are little angels and see them as well behaved because they live with the situation every day.

My wife came don't with similar symptoms on a Princess cruise & it lasted for a little over 1 1/2 days. We inquired with the medical dept to ask if any others had reported the same conditions (thinking it was food poisoning) and although they wouldn't tell me if there were others, they keep her confined to the cabin for 48 hours with anything she wanted from a limited menu for the first day & from the standard menu on the second day.

Although we had insurance I told them upfront that we were questioning them only out of curiosity & not for any treatment. We never received any bill even though they did examine her twice. I still suspect that it was food poisoning & there must have been others that came down with it even through they wouldn't say.

On a B2B out of FLL in February 2014 we were glad we brought our second boarding passes. We were bringing on 4 bottles of wine (2 each) and we had to show the staff at the 'wine table' both boarding passes to prove we were entitled to the extra bottles.

Great idea. Plus the fact that you can get off the ship in-between cruises & get a few more bottles.

People are nuts. It's a shame that they think other cruise guests will "babysit" their kids for them. They'd probably be the first ones threatening lawsuits if their kids were injured or worse on the cruise. I would have no problem telling the kids to knock it off although it would probably fall on deaf ears. On my CB cruise a few weeks ago I was disgusted when I saw parents letting their little boys snorkel and dive under the water in the hot tub. So gross!

There should be no snorkeling allowed in the septic tank. :cool:

Well.....when it gets to the point where everyone is "elite" no one is...

It's way past time for another upper level where being in that category actually means something. ;)

I need to put all these breaks in a spreadsheet! I think some breaks are fine but I have now learned that I am overwhelmed with big breaks. Too bad since I like to vacation during Thanksgiving.

Actually there aren't to many kids on the longer Thanksgiving cruises.

Oh how I wish this were true!

 

On one of our recent cruises there were 600+ elites onboard, there would have been a very very long queue for breakfast!

If it were true the wait time would be outrageous. :D

I agree with that. Sent out a pair of dark blue jeans. They came back really light blue. :eek: Couldn't believe it.

Next time only send jeans in the the "cleaning"- NEVER "washing".

We've been on CB 3 times as well as other Princess ships and never had an issue with the bar staff weather we had the drink package or not. I will tell you that once we find our bar(s) of choice we do hook the bartenders up from the start. They are very appreciative and always keep an eye out for us. its amazing what 10 or 20 bucks will do to Improve your bar experience! :D

You're right about that. When they weren't swamped, they would see us coming from across the deck & have our drink ready in a matter of minutes.

They'll also remember you from previous cruises & give extra special service.

So much for putting an additional tips in the pool. :rolleyes:

Good night for the buffet. :D

It is pretty pathetic when there are so many platinums and elites that the normal line moves faster......perhaps Princess should limit priority boarding to Elites and Suites or, allow boarding an hour before the rest of the passengers to Suites and Elites.....then give the priority boarding to the platinums after

At the rate the people are making the Elite level these days it won't be long until the lounge and early boarding is limited only to Suites & Elites and then it'll really mean something once again. I know that arriving at the port around 11 AM being Platimun or Elite means walking past dozens of people standing there waiting to get inside the terminal. :)

I'm a retired teacher. Parents were always "shocked" when I called about the behavior of their child. Any child left unsupervised with other children can find trouble

 

I feel sorry for kids kept up late at night. We were on a cruise that had specialty dining for families before 6:30 and for adults only after 8:30. We booked late dining. One night a large family brought in their young children at 9:00 PM. The staff didn't say no even though there was a BIG sign. The children were so tired that they laid down on two chairs and either went to sleep or played on their iPads. The adults completely ignored the children for two hours!

 

I avoid cruising in the summers and during holidays.

What did the sign actually say? I can't believe it said "no children" for late seating.

Golly how does a cruise ship go from Treasure to Trash in one year? :confused: We sailed the Caribbean just over a year ago and she was really nice! Hopefully they will spruce the old lady up! ;)

The only thing that I can see is that the raving reviews are mostly from people who have never sailed much in the past or are very tolerant of conditions that most people (more Princess) wouldn't put up with. We've sailed almost all of the Princess ships over the years and this ship is definitely in need of repair/replacement items. We found the Grand to be similar years ago & I suspect it's been taken care of since then. The only saving grace about the CB is the service, food & typical Princess entertainment which salvaged the trip for us.

They had the name brand Splenda the last two cruises we were on.

We were on the Caribbean Princess from March 26 to April 4 (b2b), and were disappointed in the decline of the ship from our previous cruise on her. Some things good, some not.

We found the same items as you did and I'm wondering just how long will Princess let the decline of their older ships continue? I'm reading more & more of these negative comments & before long, Princess will be known for old run down ships when we all know that this isn't really the case. Maybe the line has just grown to much in recent years? Maybe they don't want to take the ship out of service for fear of losing money?

Either way it's going to bite them in the long run.

I like kids.. I really do. But lots of really bad ones get on your nerves after seven days.

 

No, you're wrong about that.....it doesn't take take seven days.

1 is enough.

Try 10 day trips. They usually have less kids on them even during the dreaded season of spring break. Don't do B2B 7 day cruises either (usually advertized as a 14 day cruise) as there are are only a few true 14 day trips around.

I probably think the crowded bars were the fact that it's spring break which could account for the big wait on drinks. I got to meet many of the bar tenders on the CB during a much less crowded time & found them all to be efficient & friendly.

Sharing of the drink plan on our cruise was also evident but it didn't seem to slow down the process of service although I always went to the bar most times to get mine.