Lovetocruiseprincess

If I want the specifications for a Porsche, I go to Porsche.com and expect the specs to be correct.

 

If I want the specification for a Samsung TV, I go to Samsung.com and expect the specs to be correct.

 

If I wanted to know about accommodations on a Princess ship, I'd go to the Princess website and expect the specs to be correct.

 

Most reasonable people start at the company source and don't then go looking for additional third party information to corroborate or disprove what the company shows on their site. I think it is unfair to fault the client for starting at the source and believing the information. Sure, many people do further investigation on subjective matters, look for user reviews of an item, etc., but there is a line of what is reasonable to expect and if Porsche says their car has 350 HP, I wouldn't expect a 3rd party to state it has 320. If Samsung says their TV plays in 1080 resolution I wouldn't expect a third party to say it is really only 720 resolution.

 

Swapping out an incorrect graphic file should take some office peon 5 minutes to accomplish if directed to do so. 2 years without the proper information is ludicrous and inexcusable and most definitely reeks of a bait and switch.

And don't forget to add that most people actually look at a product in a showroom before purchasing it unlike checking a brochure which doesn't really look like what your going to get :( especially after having been on numerous other Princess ships.

As posted IF they fine a bottle in your luggage it will be taken BUT this mostly happens to people who just pack the bottle thinking they won't spot it. Since they've began looking harder now that they only allow 1 bottle of wine per person (;);)) without having to pay $15 per bottle over that your best bet is to disguise it in another container that looks more innocent..... like a Rumrunner or other type of plastic bottle.

It is cabin E 433 on the Regal and guess what.? Not only are there many like this mid-ship on all decks, there are even bigger ones! :D You can also find them fore and aft.

Yes, it is misleading every time you post and leave out this important information: larger size balconies are available on the Royal and Regal even though the standard balconies are small.

Yes, I can see that there are some larger size balconies but most are of the tiny size that people get when they expect them to be the "normal" Princess size balcony. (as we found out).

Either way we'll just book an inside room & save the difference for another cruise.

Did the "swim against the pool" work?

Nope, not in mid Feb. It was either broken or permanently turned off. I'm not sure if anyone asked for it to be turned on or not.

Something must have changed in the last couple of years because I did get breakfast at Sabatini's on my 50th cruise on the Sapphire about three years ago. I was back on the Sapphire last year for my 75th cruise. It was a four day short cruise that I should never have booked, and breakfast at Sabatini's was never mentioned. Everything else -- champagne, flowers, and strawberries -- was the same on both cruises. Also the bridge tour.

Yes it did change at some point in time but then again it was only something that Princess did without having anything in writing. When we questioned them on it the Captains Circle host couldn't find where it was mentioned. I suppose to many people were making their 50th cruise & they had to reduce the amount of people in Sabatini's.

You can have a balcony like this on the Royal/Regal on several decks.

Too bad you missed the other link. It has more information .

Here it is again if you need more help. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2183759

 

I'm sure there are few of these size cabins on the ship but just want cabin was it? Most cabins are not anywhere like this size so it's a little misleading without all the information and of course it comes at a premium price for that class.

Had no problem sitting facing the ocean, enjoying a meal or having 4 people on the balcony for sail away enjoying some champagne.

Standing at the railing of course. ;)

Not all people - in fact probably not even 'most' people, but those that do seem to enjoy boasting on this board.

You obviously think most people are like the ones on this board when in fact they are in a very small minority compared to the typical Princess cruiser.

 

You certainly are avoiding a bar tab when you bring 2 boxes of wine on board. It was these kinds of posts in the first place where people told of bringing their own wine onboard that caused Princess to clamp down and institute their current policy. I'm a wine drinker & I don't like the policy, but I've signed the contract i will abide by the rules. Plain and simple.

You don't know that for sure. First of all it might be a brand they don't carry on the ship. (I know they don't stock mine because it's one of the cheap ones). Second, How do you know they purchase wine from Princess anyway because of the cost.

Contract or not, people will bring as much as they think they'll be able to sneak on board.

We were also on this sailing. We did a b2b starting March 7th. The turnaround day (Mar 14th) had over 1200 passengers staying on. I was very impressed how smoothly things went. A new CD , John Chandler-Burns, came on board with some of his own staff and a new group of singers and dancers also joined the first week. After a slow start, I felt the entertainment and activities were pretty good.

 

Captain John Foster was very visible around the ship and loved to tell jokes at the Captains Cocktail Party. He also had the patience of a saint. We were late sailing away three times the week of the 14th, due to passengers who "forgot" the time change.

 

The Caribbean Princess is in need of some plumbing repair. During the two weeks, so many public toilets and sinks were out of order. The ladies room outside the Palm DR had one working toilet and no sinks working..not a good way to keep noro virus away.

 

We found the Caribbean Princess to be a little worn but she is still a great ship with a lot of places to go and find an activity to join or just sit and relax in the ocean breeze. There were enough pools for the sold out sailings. Even with her plumbing problems we prefer her to the new Royal.

 

Regarding her plumbing problems..We were next to the Caribe cabin that had the overflowing toilet. When we woke up to vacuums in the next room, I got up and stepped into one inch of water. The only dry place was in front of the bathroom/closet. Luckily, we don't put our luggage under the bed and usually keep things off the floor so you don't trip. BTW it was clean water not sewage..TG.

 

With no rooms left available for such emergencies (hotels leave 5%) we roamed the ship from 4:30am until 7:30am. When we returned we had no curtains and drapes..no bed skirt and ten pool towels on the floor so we could walk. Passenger service encouraged us to leave the ship so they could fix the room while we were on shore (excursion desk would not refund our tour..Passenger service said they could not help with refund). So we got off at 10am

 

When we returned to our room at 4pm there was one fan trying to dry the rug that was now wet door to door. And it smelled!! The room next to us had a new rug put in at 10 am. (They had so much water it flowed into the hall). Up until now I was fine..things happen..but why not change our rug

too. Ready for the answer I got...we don't have any more blue rug to match the drapes and bed skirt!

 

After some discussion, (proud to say I never raised my voice..just kept saying..You got to be kidding me, how can we sleep in this room) We had a new gold and brown rug installed by 6:30pm. 14 hours out of my room..unacceptable. Not happy with the handling of this situation..

 

In the end, we really enjoyed our two weeks on the Caribbean Princess. We played a lot of trivia and met a lot of people, enjoyed MUTS, loved the heated terrace pool, found a bar on deck 17, enjoyed the magician, comedian and bands in Explorers and Wheelhouse and the DJ at the pool.

WOW. The plumbing problem on the Caribe deck (somewhere between cabin C602 & C614) that I originally posted about had occurred on our cruise which ended on Feb 21st so it must have happened a second time. It was actually hard to tell where the smell originated since the hall was filled with the stench & we were just trying to walk as fast a possible to pass it.

It appears to be an ongoing plumbing issue that isn't that easily corrected.

No wonder our cabin steward wasn't the happiest one we've ever had. :rolleyes:

I believe this might be a little more in perspective but they were actually truthful how could they possible sell the ship. :D

When we were on the ship our deck (Caribe) had a flood close by also but it was raw sewerage. We had to avoid walking down our hallway for 2 or 3 days to give it a chance to dissipate the smell was so bad. I felt sorry for the people in nearby cabins. They definitely have some plumbing problems to address during dry dock.

Although shorts are not approved on any nights in the dining room it's been reported that on the Crown they've been seen many times in past trips. If you really want to wear them, see what they currently are tolerating & proceed from there.

Capri's are definitely OK as are jeans of any style as long as they're the type without the rips & holes.

We were on in early Feb & noticed that the ship definitely needs some work. Nothing that stopped us from having a good time but there are many items that need replacement. We had no problem with food or entertainment but after dry dock it should be back in shape.

Did they order replacement blankets for MUTS on your cruise ? There were people sitting there one evening wrapped in 3 or 4 towels each.

What a great location...sadly one that will be soon gone on the Island & maybe also during the Coral's next drydock. :(

It's one of the nicest spots to view the canal without to many people.

After the new wider canal is open aren't the Island & Coral moving elsewhere?

If it's raining that day the best place in in the Horizon but as mentioned the windows are dark so the photo's won't turn out all that great. You'll have to stake out a seat by the windows early in the morning to get a good spot and once seated people don't leave.

Cabin stewards and waitstaff are required to turn in any cash tips they get -- along with the cabin number of the passenger. If the passenger kept on the autotips' date=' the crew member gets the cash back. If the passenger reduced or took off the tips, the cash gets turned into the tipping pool, and the crew member actually gets less from that cash.

 

If the crew member doesn't turn in the cash, and gets caught, he will get fired. And he/she lives in very small quarters.[/quote']

 

Yes they are but I've had many cash transactions with crew members over the years (for other reasons) & a few times they've asked me to return later since their supervisor was nearby. In some cases it wasn't a tip but they didn't want to take the change of having it mistaken for one.

If you want the person you're giving it to to keep the whole amount be discrete when you hand it to them.

My wife had a top that was defective (faded) & brought it back 8 months later on anther cruise (different ship) & they did make good on it. It did take a little negotiating but they did do an exchange in the end. Same thing for a cheaper watch that stopped working. I suppose they feel that keeping a customer is a better policy.

btw- We usually keep the receipts except for that watch and there wasn't any problem.

Astro Flyer: I saw your post that Princess allows water and soda to be brought on board. Holland America did not allow that on our last cruise in Mar 2014 and sodas cost over $2 per can. Thank you for the valuable heads up. Will pick up some before we embark.

I'm just curious but does HAL allow any drinks to be brought on-board such as juice, ice tea, etc. ?

They just have a "Dress to impress" night which covers everything. If people want to dress up, they do but it's not what most people chose on our 4 day.

Just say nothing & board the ship like many others that will do the same. Why should she volunteer any information other than what they ask for?

Baja looking down Caribe:

Caribe balcony:

WOW ! Comparing that balcony to one on the Royal or Regal sure does look impressive. It's probably larger than a suite balcony on the Royal. :D

Starboard is correct and once the ship is underway, there isn't any issues with cabins above the aft end.

As Dudleydog73 posted, the smoke can be a problem drifting upwards especially when you have a large group smoking at the same time. I can remember distinctly before the new smoking rules came about, even 1 or 2 cabins below us could cause us a problem mid-ship. I can only imagine what the effect would be with a dozen or more people smoking at the same time.

Sorry for the dumb question - our group (61) has an appointment with the Ship's photo department for a group photo - we need to pre-pay (charge to our room) to receive group photo discount price ($12.50 for an 8 x 10). Not a problem....

 

How are the copies of the group photo distributed to each member of the group ? - Does the group leader (me) pick them ALL up from the photo department and I take care of distribution - or ??

 

Just curious - wondering if I should have some sort of a "check-list" made up in advance.

 

Just a guess but my thinking is that since they'll all be billed to you' date=' they'll all be sent to your room & left to you to distribute & collect from each person.

If I were you, I'd make a checklist & get each person's money [b']prior[/b] to the cruise photo shoot.

I hope you're getting a free photo for your troubles. :D

If not satisfied, one can always upgrade to a suite.

It's a shame that you have to pay that much additional just to get enough room to squeeze by a person sitting down without them moving.

It's not even comparable to a regular balcony width on any of the other ships...at no additional price. Of course you did get those padded chairs and a larger table to eat on. :rolleyes::rolleyes: