ErLee

9 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Did you mean to say "booking" your first VV cruise? Or "looking" at your first VV cruise?

Booking 🤦 We leave tomorrow

On 4/1/2024 at 12:54 PM, Gretchendz said:

 

Since they can be transferred to another person once, many TAs buy as many as they can and transfer them to their clients who have never sailed Virgin. The client reimburses the TA the $300, then the TA books the client on the cruise, and the client gets all the perks.

This is exactly how we ended up looking our first VV cruise for next week! A friend that's a travel agent did exactly what you described and we and some friends bought two of them from her. It was a great deal!

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

 

So my vote is for the Dawn, and to put in a bid for the 3br villa. We found out the night before we flew to Spain for our trip on the Star that we had won even though the room was listed as sold out for months. So you never know!

Thanks for your input! That's really good info, and what a great tip about the bid!

4 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

We did this cruise on the Dawn with zero sea days and loved it.  One of our best trips ever.  The main reason we chose the particular sailing we did though was because it embarked in Copenhagen and ended in Stockholm, enabling us to spend five additional days in each of those cities.  I don't know if that would be a factor for you.  Which two ports do you give up if you choose the Prima rather than the Dawn?

Oh that's good to hear that you loved it! 

The Dawn itinerary we're looking at for Sept 2025 begins in Oslo and ends in Stockholm. We would definitely be trying to add on at least a day or two in both of those cities. 

By doing the Dawn itinerary, we give up London, Brussels, and Amsterdam. (I'm not worried about London, because I would rather include that in a UK land tour later)

The ports we gain on the Dawn itinerary that are not included on the Prima are Oslo & Kristiansand in Norway, Aarhus in Denmark, Hamburg in Germany, and Riga in Latvia. The Prima itinerary does not go to Norway or Latvia at all and only has Berlin in Germany.

Did you go to some of those ports and really recommend them? 

I'm leaning toward the Dawn because the itinerary is so good.

2 hours ago, brookie848 said:

You say the itineraries are similar, but are the times in port similar? Does one have more tender ports than the other?

 

We've been on the Dawn and the Viva. If it was a port-heavy itinerary, I'd be happy with either.

Thank you! Those are good points and the reason I asked the question! To see what I haven't thought of. I've checked....There are no tender ports on either according to NCL's tender port list. The port times are similar, but I'd say maybe slightly better on the Dawn itinerary. There are seven ports that are on both itineraries, and then some that are on one or the other. The biggest difference is the Dawn itinerary has no sea days, so very port heavy, LOL! Two sea days on the Prima, so 2 less ports on that one.

We're looking at a couple Baltic itineraries for fall 2025, one on Prima and one on Dawn. Similar itineraries, dates, price. I know these two ships are VERY different. I just wanted to get some opinions from people that have been on one or both of these ships to help me make an informed decision. Thanks in advance!

3 hours ago, JGmf said:

@ErLee we just came back from a California Coastal on Princess.  We stayed in Santa Monica for two days prior to the cruise and we are very glad we did! 

 

It's very walkable area with a lot of food and cocktail bar options.  There are some tour companies that are located there as well, so you can walk to the start/end point from your hotel.  We didn't rent a car either.  Just used Uber/Lyft from LAX and back to the port.  No issues at all. 

Thank you for the feedback!  it helps me know that's for sure what we want to do. Where did you stay if you don't mind sharing? 

On 1/9/2023 at 7:13 PM, Bruin Steve said:

But, for tourists who want to see a lot and have things to do day and night and won't have a car, Santa Monica is just a VERY GOOD place to be.  OTOH, hotes can be a pit pricey...But, this is LA--decent hotels in decent areas are generally pricey.  If you find a bargain somewhere, really question it.  There are many cheap hotels...and they are largely cheap for very good reasons... 

Oh wow, this is a great post for those of us that don't know LA at all, thank you so much! We just booked a California Coastal on Princess for next April, and I definitely want to fly into LA a few days earlier to see some of the sights. This is all very helpful info, sounds like Santa Monica is the right place for us to stay! I definitely don't want to be driving myself around in LA! 

9 minutes ago, cruiseat50 said:

You can but I don't think you can be logged on at the same time unless you buy two packages.  I could be wrong...

 

Well it's a 2 device package so it allows for 2 to be logged in at once, I just wanted to be sure it didn't matter whose device it is. 

If I buy the 2 device package for unlimited WiFi, can one of the devices be mine and one be my son's in the cabin across the hall? 1 device package is no longer an option to purchase for our cruise. 

29 minutes ago, shof515 said:

yes there is a chat feature in the app. it costs a few bucks to activate it

Thank you, do you sign up for that once you’re onboard or in advance? I didn’t see it anywhere.

Does NCL have onboard messaging between passengers in their app like some lines? We're traveling with several people and just trying to figure out how to keep up with everyone. 

9 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Are you sure you are on Epic?  It sails Jan 29 - Feb 5.  

There's definitely some mistake in the OP's post. We're on the Epic January 22nd through 29th so I know they're not coming back into San Juan on the 28th!

We are cruising with NCL in January. Haven't been on an NCL ship in years. Can someone explain to me the FAS Specialty Dining credits? I know this may seem like a stupid question, but I don't really understand what it includes. If we choose a fixed rate restaurant, I get that we could apply one of our specialty dining credits to cover that cost. But what does it cover if we pick an a la carte restaurant? I'm sorry if this has been explained a hundred times, but the search feature on these boards is making me crazy! 🤪

Also if anyone would like to share an opinion on which specialty dining restaurants are the best on Epic, I'm open to suggestions! Brazilian steakhouse, Cagney's, Teppanyaki, French, Italian? 

Never mind, I just finally found it!

Is there a way to prepay gratuities in the app? I have looked everywhere I can think of and can't find it. I'm hoping someone here can help!

Can someone explain the odd bathroom set up? I booked the Epic out of San Juan Jan 2023, but didn’t really understand the bathroom situation…

5 hours ago, jeromep said:

Are you a seasoned Princess cruiser, or is the Sky your first experience with Princess?  I think that will help with answering your question.

 

Though we are not seasoned Princess cruisers, we sailed to Alaska in May on the Coral Princess. We had a mini suite on the Coral, absolutely loved our room and the balcony size was great. Because it was an Alaskan cruise, we spent most of our time outside and were not bothered by the limited options for entertainment on the smaller ship. 

We have not sailed on a Grand class ship.

The British Isles cruise is so Port intensive, I expect we'd be off the ship a lot! 

On 1/9/2020 at 12:06 PM, seacruise9 said:

Hi, 

 

I have cruised aboard the Crown Princess three times (2015, 2018 and 2019) and enjoy the ship. Most recently, I did a 12-day British Isles cruise on this ship in September 2019. This was an excellent cruise with wonderful ports. Because this cruise is very port-intensive, we spent a large portion of the cruise taking tours in the nine different ports.   

 

In December 2019, I did one of the short inaugural cruises on the Sky Princess. This is a beautiful new ship. Of course, the Sky Princess is new and much larger than the Crown Princess. Also, the Sky Princess has more dining options and many additional features. However, the Crown Princess has some advantages (fewer passengers, larger balconies and an excellent promenade deck).

 

The Crown Princess may pale in comparison to the Sky Princess in some respects, but it is still a fine ship.

 

Chuck

Thanks Chuck!

A 12 day British Isles cruise is just exactly what I'm looking at. Nice to hear good reports on here of that itinerary as well as the Crown. I was assuming it would be just as you said - much more time spent on excursions and less hanging around on the ship. 

We've just had a wonderful trip on the Sky - she's beautiful and we enjoyed every minute! - but wow the balconies are small! We were in a minisuite on the Coral and the balcony was so much bigger! We've been told even the minisuite balconies on Sky are small.

On 1/9/2020 at 11:24 AM, fishin' musician said:

I've not been on the Sky, but have been on Regal(4), Royal(1) and Crown (4).  In fact, I just got off the Crown on Monday.  If the OP's only Princess experience is on the Sky, I see a strong possibility for disappointment in about every aspect except balcony size.

No worries there @fishin' musician, we actually also sailed on Coral Princess to Alaska this past June, so we've experienced the new and fancy as well as the older but still lovely! I just wanted to get some input on the Crown. I've actually booked the Enchanted to the Mediterranean for summer 2021, but am thinking about switching to the British Isles cruise on the Crown. 

I’m currently on the Sky Princess and deciding which cruise will be my next. I’m considering a Crown Princess in the British Isles. Looking for likes and dislikes about the Crown....any input?

We did the Bennett Scenic Journey with Chilkoot Charters this past June.  We chose van up, train back.  It was an amazing day, one of the best of the two week trip!  Riding down through those mountains standing out on the platform between the rail cars with the sound of the train, the wind blowing, the smell of fresh air and  the spectacular scenery is an experience I will never forget!  I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

We went out with Jayleen in Juneau this past June.  It was an amazing day!  She is a delightful person and an experienced boat captain.  It was just the four of us in our party and her on her boat, and she was happy to do whatever we wanted to do.  We spent most of our time following around a mother and baby humpback watching the playful youngster breach over and over.  It was unforgettable!  I was too enthralled to take pictures, but here's one Jayleen captured that day.

I booked most of our excursions  for June 2019 independently.  In Alaska, it's not really that the prices are less, but I book local because I want a personal experience with a small group.  

I booked a Misty Fjords flight in Ketchikan with Island Wings, a rental car to tour Juneau on our own along with a whale watch with Jayleen's Alaska, the Bennett Scenic Journey through Chilkoot Charters in Skagway, and a Denali flightour in Talkeetna with K2 Aviation.  I highly recommend all of the tours we chose.  You can find detailed reviews in my trip review.  I'm still working on the land part but all my cruise excursions are there.  All the recent trip reviews are a great way to find ideas for excursions - that's how I came up with ours!

Absolutely try the Spruce Tip Beer in Skagway!  You can't get it anywhere else, and it's good!