PrevailingConditions

My wife and I are considering taking the 8 day Cuba cruise in January or February of 2019. We are experienced cruisers but exclusively with Princess. Advice on sailing aboard Viking Ocean would be appreciated.

My wife and I are regular cruisers upon Princess Cruise Lines and would like to visit Cuba. Does anyone have any insights into Princess beginning to offer port visits to Cuba? We know that Carnival offers cruises to Cuba but we prefer Princess.

We're sailing on the Grand Princess in April and I'm wondering where can I access the daily dining room menu short of physically walking to the dining room and reading the menu posted at the entrance. Princess@Sea perhaps??

The calorie counter application, Calorie King, worked well off line. Unfortunately, I was so overwhelmed by the variety of dishes that I failed to maintain my journal. The good news is that over the course of the 6 day cruise I lost 3 pounds. I was very pleasantly surprised and would not have believed that I could loose weight on a cruise but I weighed both before and after on the same scale. Thanks everyone for the helpful advice and for the more amusing observations.:)

Congratulations Krozulo on your weight loss. No small feat. An alcoholic can live a long and healthy life without ever taking another drink but skip a meal or two. My wife suggested that we should begin celebrating both the Canadian and American Thanksgiving. Where will you cruising to in April 2018? I will post an update on how I do on our December 2016 Western Caribbean cruise. I understand that Ripley's has a record of a man who actually lost weight while on a cruise but that involved the ship sinking and him living on coconuts and raw fish.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I found an app. called CalorieKing that has a data base the works offline but no dairy function. Unfortunately unless I'm prepared to walk from Hawaii to San Francisco I won't be able to walk away the calories I will no doubt consume. Moderation in all things. Personally I believe all excess calories should be forgiven at the end of each cruise.

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Does Birrieria La Guadalajara accept American dollars? Do you have any suggestions on transportation from the cruise ship to the restaurants?

Good question Micah's Grandad. A calorie counter app. has thousands of foods in it's data base. Simple foods like an apple contain generally about 110 calories, a little more or a little less depending on variety and size. More complex foods like soups or casseroles are much more difficult but a good app. can estimate the calorie content within 100 calories. The problem I am having is the large data base required to make this work generally require internet access. Internet access aboard ship is expensive.

My wife and I will be cruising aboard the Caribbean Princess in December. I am a calorie counter and don't want to pay for internet fees. Does anyone know of a calorie counter/diary that will work with an iphone offline?

My wife and I have cruised with Princess before but always 7 day cruises or longer. We're booked on a 6 day Western Caribbean cruise. On shorter cruises does Princess offer the, "All you can pack into the laundry bag"?

On the return leg of the 14 day round trip from San Francisco to Hawaii aboard the Grand Princess we make a 4 hour visit to Ensenada, Mexico. While stationed in San Diego many years ago I visited Ensenada many times but my wife hasn't. She would like to find a Margarita and a bowl of nachos near the cruise port. I really am interested in venturing into the city. If you have a good suggestion, Thank you?

Anyone had any experience with Grand Princess, D-211 Dolphin Deck 9?

A little off topic but I hope this might be helpful. My wife and I cruised aboard the Coral Princess last year and dined at Sabatini's. I enjoyed the porterhouse served with a choice of four different flavored salts. Hopefully, the Crown will offer something similar. Upon return I added smoked sea salt to our personal kitchen.

On our past two cruises with Princess, specifically, New England and Panama Canal, we have booked a Mini Suite. The word Suite is indeed a misnomer, a Princess Mini Suite consist of a seating area between the bed and the balcony door and a shower/tub combination as opposed to the standard shower. I think you receive a couple of other minor amenities, such as a welcome aboard glass of champagne.

The benefit for us and the reason we like Mini Suites, is that I'm large man. The shower/tub combination affords me room to take an enjoyable shower and the seating area is appreciated particularly on longer cruises.

The covered vs uncovered issue, we had both, and unless your cruising near the equator (as we were in Panama) we haven't noticed much of a difference. The little extra shade does help keep the cabin a little cooler. On the Grand the staterooms on Dolphin deck 9 forward of suite D211 starboard side are covered. Likewise to port, but I simply don't remember the stateroom number, I assume D212 forward. I hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise.

Well it's official !! My wife and I are going to Hawaii on board the Grand Princess the April 23, 2017 sailing. We took advantage of the on board deposit on our last cruise. We have received on board credit (OBC) for military, and Princess booking credit. We have not made our final payment but have a travel agent. Ordinarily we use Princess affiliated shore excursions but are open to independents. So finally the question. What can I do at this point to maximize our OBC, minimize the cost of the cruise, or find a better independent shore excursion?

We cruised aboard the Coral through the Panama Canal in 2015 and are booked on the April 23, 2017 sailing to Hawaii aboard the Grand Princess. Small world. I have cruised from San Diego to Hawaii several times aboard a US Navy Frigate (438 ft long / 52 foot wide). I can tell you that the weather can be ruff particularly near the California coast. The span between the wave crest become shorter as you near shore. If your prone to seasickness I would caution you to take precautions on the first and last days of our cruise. Most seasickness medications should be taken before you have symptoms to be effective. Some common mistakes I've observed include reading a book or using electronic device while at sea. The short focal length plays havoc with your inner ear. The Grand will have stabilizers and you should expect a gentle 5 degree roll. Eat and drink to moderation and you should have a wonderful cruise.

First a bit of background information, we have been on three cruises, two of which were booked with the assistance of a travel agent. Also, I have read many of numerous postings regarding this topic. My experience thus far has been disappointing. The agents we have worked with have done little more than make a few reservations. I can handle the logistics, I'm looking for discounts, ship board credit, etc. Perhaps we haven't found the right agent? I know the theory. A travel agent books numerous vacations with a cruise line thus has considerable clout with that cruise line. Where do I find these agents?

August 20, 2015, we booked the Hop on Hop off Miami tour with this company for November 6, 2015. This booking included pickup at the Holiday Inn Express hotel at 1500 SE 17th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL at 8:24 am. On the appointed day, at the appointed time we arrived at the hotel and was informed by the front desk clerk that Miami Citysightseeing had discontinued pick up at their hotel weeks earlier. We were never informed of this change. We called the tour company and they confirmed that they had discontinued pickup without notification and there was nothing they could or would do. I was also informed that if I were, "interested" in a refund I should send them an email. No managers could be found and enjoy your vacation. After 6 phone calls, 3 emails, and 4 1/2 weeks I did receive a refund. Citysightseeing is a large tour company offering tours in several cities both nationally and internationally. This was the first time we attempted to use Citysightseeing tours and it will be the last. As a post script, Gloria the Holiday Inn Express manager was very helpful in suggesting the Fort Lauderdale water taxi service. We had a great time riding the water taxi.

Were considering a 2017 sailing on the Grand Princess (San Francisco - Hawaii - San Francisco). What time of the year is best?

This has nothing to do with balconies but we chose a mini-suite because the showers on board Coral are smaller than on other Princess vessels. Also, our cruise is a 15 day Full Transit and the mini-suite offers a nice seating area between the bed and the balcony. For your consideration.

Does anyone know if the Coral Princess has On Demand TV service?

Does ME Class Mini-Suites on board the Coral Princess have handheld showers heads? We are booked in cabin B228.

I double checked my Personalizer and no Panama Canal excursion was offered. I looked at the list shore excursions for your January 2016 Full Transit as listed the, "find a cruise" section of the Princess website and "no excursions are available at this time" for Panama. I think I'm going to assume that our November sailing doesn't offer shore excursions during the transit. Thanks for help and have a wonderful cruise.

We are booked on the November 7th, 2015 sailing of the Coral Princess Full Transit of the Panama Canal. I keep seeing descriptions of shore excursions while the ship is transiting the canal. I believe that these shore excursions only occur on partial transit cruises but I want to be certain.

Can the balcony loungers be replaced with deck chairs?