BamaVol

If that was the case, everyone would celebrate their birthday on every cruise. It is the honor system, after all. we got the cake for our anniversary last cruise. No singing. This time it will be my birthday on disembarkation day. My TA moved it back a couple days. But I’m not expecting more than a piece of cake again.

I got two calls from NCL today, as did my wife. Each time a voicemail was left informing us about their current promotion. Strange since it’s the first time I’ve ever received a call from them. Haven’t sailed them since 2016.

quite the opposite. At some ports they were handing bottles to anyone on the way out. No one was checking medallions to see who has Plus. It was all Crystal Geyser.

Me too. But I still don’t go anywhere without my phone.

Good for you! I love to walk. And love the ships with a complete circuit walking track like Caribbean Princess.

How far out are your cruises? Maybe they’ll open the other MDRs when they get closer to sold out. Might not have enough pax booked to fill all.

Much of what you find on the internet about The Villages is urban myth and pretty easily debunked. What is true is that it is the fastest growing metro area in the US. I used to tell people I lived 10 miles south of TV. Four years later, I have to tell folks I live 2.5 miles east of TV. I am no fan of the developer. But, in my book, folks are folks. There are plenty of nice people living there. It probably has the same ratio of good people to jerks as any Princess cruise you’ve taken. Too pricy for my budget. But as a non-Villager, I can still take advantage of some of the benefits they offer without living there.

Could be the final voyages of the CB. I hope not. We are about to take our second Grand class ship this fall. I like smaller ships. I really want a full promenade for daily walks. Sometimes the best competition is an alternative. I do realize that Orlando visitors looking to extend a land vacation at sea might not be impressed by the Caribbean Princess. Good. Even though I expect and hope that the pricing will be lower than the competition (except MSC) in order to entice that demographic. There are lots of older full time central Florida residents who will be thrilled to have the CB sailing out of our back yard.

We sailed CB in March with no problems. It never felt crowded outside of the coffee lines in the morning. Everything for us was in working order although there was an occasional sewage smell on deck 8. Honestly, plumbing issues can crop up anywhere on any ship. They are caused by passengers. If reported, they can be dealt with quickly. Likewise bugs. These are not permanent problems waiting for dry dock to correct. I was more concerned to read about engine and a/c issues. But we did like the ship and would sail her again, probably after the move to Port Canaveral.

LOL. That’s a lot of packets.

What a d*ngleberry! They’re in both lines, though. I had to listen to people who had 15 minutes standing in line to make up their minds about drinks but took 5 more minutes to decide when the question “what can we make for you this morning?” Was posed to them. I have Via packets that I’ve never tried, so I don’t know how good the stuff is. But I know it doesn’t take up a lot of room.

I seriously doubt it. Unless you drink $30 worth of water a day.

It seems like it would be such an easy problem to fix. They must not receive enough complaints about it. I saw a lot of people exiting the food line with puzzled looks on their faces.and angry looks on folks in the drinks line when they tried to merge.

Or take a seat and wait for a server to ask for your order.

I can’t say the coffee was better, but on Caribbean Princess the lines for coffee at Coffee and Cones were shorter than the International Cafe. However, if you were looking for breakfast treats or finger foods, you had to go into the buffet and they’re not nearly as appealing. But your point is that there are usually alternatives and you are 100% correct.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza. I think it’s on Airport Rd. We drove, so didn’t worry about shuttles. But we did catch an Uber to the Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park. I was comfortable walking around the area near the hotel. Staff was pleasant - when boarding was delayed, they had no problem extending our check out by a couple hours. if you stay here, avoid rooms facing and above the pool. It’s an all night party there.

As much as cash is appreciated, I do hope and believe that a mention by name can be helpful on the survey completed after the cruise. Certainly that could be case for a crew member hoping to make a career with Princess. We mentioned our 3 favorite bartenders and bar servers after our last sailing. On the final night of our last cruise, our headwaiter was standing by the door and next to a uniformed officer who I took to be part of the F&B hierarchy. I shook the head waiter’s hand on the way out and remarked to the officer that this man personally was responsible for the best cruise experience of my life and needed to be promoted at the first opportunity. I hope they take delighted passenger input into consideration.

It runs the gamut from the cheapskates who remove the automatic tips on their final night to those who throw money at every crew member who crosses their path. The only extra money I spend (above the std included in the Plus package) is a little extra cash to bartenders and servers in bars. I like them to remember me and maybe a few bucks upfront helps with that. I am not watching what other people are doing. I would suggest that anyone who can tell you what “everyone else is doing” aren’t enjoying themselves on their cruise the way you’re supposed to. Or possibly have a serious OCD issue.

Possible cancelations? I’ve been through this process only twice so far. In each instance, I booked ocean view and was offered three higher categories to bid on. Nothing nicer than balconies. Currently I am being offered deluxe ocean view, balcony and deluxe balcony.

I think the itinerary and embarkation port matter. My last cruise, Panama Canal, they had a couple craft beers; Sam Adams Boston Lager and Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Sumpin. There were more foreign beers; Heineken, Corona, Peroni, Red Stripe. A true beer lover will not be excited by any of those. But I have sailed Norwegian and Royal Caribbean and it isn’t any better there. However, I did drink a beer in every port and even snuck a few past the liquor wardens. You can find good beer most everywhere if you look. Except mass market cruise ships.

I agree. Thanks for pointing out my oversight.

Fixed it.

I’m using a well known auto club. There was a sign by the desk listing prices for various travel services. These are waived for members.

We were fortunate then. Did not encounter any of these issues in March. But wouldn’t have experienced most of them. We don’t use room service, don’t purchase the premier package, don’t use the hot tubs, drove to the port. The ones that would concern me would be engine, a/c and electricity outages. These are ship-specific and probably indicative of past due maintenance. I still think she’s a wonderful ship. But I might hold off booking again until she’s had some work done.

I didn’t mean to suggest that they had earned anything, just curious if Princess rewarded them for it. I did mention to another TA in the office that I was booking a guarantee ocean view and hoped I could successfully bid for an upgrade to a balcony. She gushed over that in such a way that I wondered if perhaps they were compensated - possibly not at the same rate as the original booking, but something less.