MaineCruiser243

Thanks for the link to the voyage thread that was very useful.

One thing I wondered about - if you have a fixed dining time, what happens if you decide to eat somewhere else that evening, do you have to notify them that you won't be at the Britannia?

I am also on this 21 July crossing. In one of the replies above it states "request a large table". I was wondering how dining times and table assignments work on Cunard. The "my Cunard" is very unhelpful as to details about the main dining room (Britannia). Does one need to request a specific time or is it arbitrarily assigned? Is there a way to change the time? Is one assigned to a specific table? Just not sure how things work on Cunard as this is my first trip with them.

Also are there sample menus for the Britannia?

9 minutes ago, NE John said:

Usual arrival in Brooklyn is 4-5am with hopefully getting off the ship by 9-10am. 

Thanks NE John!

On 12/21/2023 at 8:49 PM, Therese S. said:

Thank you for this information.  I was wondering where the folks who purchase the plus and premier plans were getting their morning  coffee.  The international cafe is so popular with Princess cruisers I’m surprised they haven’t found a location to establish a full IC.  I don’t purchase either plan, but do enjoy a coupe of lattes per day.  Does this location also serve morning donuts and afternoon soups and sandwiches?  

I was also curious about what there was on Island P to replace the International Cafe. The website lists something called the "Patissierie" that seems to have pastries, coffee etc. but I can't find it anywhere on the IP deck plan. Anyone who has been on the IP know where this is?

We are booked on QM2 voyage M422 Southampton to New York arriving 27 July 2024. I cannot find any information as to the expected arrival time in New York. This is frustrating as I need to plan transportation back to our home in Maine and I don't even know if arrival is morning or afternoon, and whether I need to plan on booking an overnight stay in NYC. I realize that ships can be late although my experience is they generally arrive on time.

Is there an expected ballpark arrival time in New York that I can use for planning purposes? 

Thanks in advance.

Ship                    Ruby Princess

Class                  Crown

Deck                   Emerald

Cabin                  # E726

Category            Mini Suite

Port/Starboard/Bow/Stern    Port side near Stern

Connects With Cabin #  724?

Accessible          No

Quiet                   Mostly quiet, occasional engine noise when maneuvering near docks etc.

Balcony Size      Usual mini suite size

View                    Unobstructed

Privacy Issues   None. 

Wind                   Usual amount

Soot                    None

Problems           None

Comments  One thing we liked about this cabin is the balcony is more private than the mini suites on Dolphin plus you are sheltered somewhat from weather because you have the dolphin mini suite above you. One slight drawback (not for us) was if you wanted to go to activities towards the bow you had a longer walk. For us mostly we wanted to go to places that were in the stern or midship so not an issue. There were elevators only a few cabins down from where we were with a quick ride up to the Horizon Court. Also being on Emerald you are only 1 level from the Promenade deck. You are behind where the lifeboats are so you don't have obstructed views as many of the Emerald cabins have.

I find this COVID vaccine situation troubling and feel I may not be able to get vaccinated, even if it means having to give up cruising, for the following reasons:

1. The vaccines are experimental and were rushed into production with limited testing. So essentially the long term trials normally done before a medication is approved are being done now by millions of people worldwide. Note that trials were mainly done on younger healthy people and very few on elderly people who are the ones that supposedly need it the most.

2. The vaccines use a totally new mechanism of messenger RNA that has never been used before.

3. Reports of adverse reactions even deaths. While the claim is that these are few in number, one also has to be concerned given that there is such an interest in minimizing bad publicity and emphasizing the good. We also don't know the long term effects, again because no long term trials were done.

4. We don't know how long the vaccine will be effective, some have said people may need booster shots every year. 

5. There are also reports that the vaccine does not prevent you from being a carrier of the virus. I guess this is why getting the vaccine does not relieve you of the need to wear a mask or social distance.

So people have to decide what is important to them and whether they can trust what we are being told about it.

When would be the best time to see the Northern Lights from a cruise? I realize winter is probably better but of course there are no cruises then.

All well and good if you are departing from the US, but what if your point of departure is for example Europe? Next year we are planning to spend a few weeks in Britain then departing on a TA back to Ft. Lauderdale. So we would have to find a location in the London area that does the tests as we will be there more than 5 days. I am hoping that by the time our cruise happens these restrictions will be lifted otherwise this could be a big hassle.

I looked up this topic (use of forward balconies) and it seems that most people did not have any problem using it while under way. Some people did not like the wind others were not bothered by it. There is also the issue of the metal wall on the outside that makes it hard to see out if someone is seated.

19 minutes ago, dae66 said:

Looks like a good size balcony but I think you can't use it while underway.

 

If that is true then that would be unacceptable. I may try to change my assignment.

We were originally planning to go on that September 2021 TA cruise from Copenhagen. When it was rescheduled as a British Isles only TA, we lost interest, also not crazy about docking in New York vs. FLL. So we will choose the Western Europe TA from Southampton to FLL leaving Oct. 23. We preferred the port selection and the stop in Bermuda that breaks up the TA part a bit.

For our January cruise on Enchanted we are in M106 which is a mini suite on Marina deck forward, looks like it is over the bridge. Never had a forward cabin before, this will be interesting. Has anyone had experience with this type of cabin?

Not only the buffet but the International Cafe would be affected. It is already crowded due to the small area allocated to it and the proximity to the plaza and the people watching the entertainment put on there. With social distancing I wonder how that will work. When we went we usually ended up taking our food to our room or to an empty lounge area nearby as there was never any seating at the IC itself, except maybe on a port day when no one was on the ship.

We have had some haze here in Eastern Maine from the West Coast wildfires. Amazing to see that. 

Being Northern New England fall is definitely been here for the last few weeks. Trees starting to change.

We are lucky that we have not been hit too badly with the COVID. Most of it is in the Southern part of the state which is more populated. Canadian border still closed which is too bad as one of our favorite restaurants with seating on the ocean was in Canada.

We are supposed to be grazed by Tropical Storm Teddy later today (rain, winds up to 40 mph which is par for the course anyway up here) before it heads up to Nova Scotia.

Keeping safe and looking forward to be in the warm Caribbean 4 months from now :)

Glad to hear the ship will be ready by November as we are booked on a Western Caribbean for January 2021.

We originally were going to do the TA out of Barcelona in November but that was cancelled so we have put off our TA until 2021 which is scheduled to be on the Regal. Hoping that the virus situation will be resolved by then.

I wonder how you are supposed to get a COVID test if you are boarding in another country. For example you are from the US and board a transatlantic cruise in Venice. So you fly or train into Venice then have to run around and find a place to get tested somewhere there before you can board, in a foreign country where you may not know the language ? 

I am interested in this topic too as we are booked on the November 5th transatlantic from Barcelona. So far we haven't paid anything nor have we seen any notifications about a change or cancellation of the cruise. Maybe November is far enough out that thing will be sorted out by then. 

We have also used the bidet seats at home for a few years. There are a couple different brands available in the US, Toto makes ones that fit their toilets. We favor the Totos as they are better designed than other brands. In a cold place like Maine it is nice to have a warm seat to sit on in the winter. :)

Ship  - Regal Princess

Class  - Royal

Deck  - Baja (11)

Cabin # - B525

Category - Mini Suite

Port/Starboard/Bow/Stern - Starboard midship

Connects With Cabin #

Accessible

Quiet - Yes

Balcony Size - Smaller than the minis on Grand class ships.

View - view directly below is blocked by the lifeboats along the promenade deck, otherwise unobstructed.

Privacy Issues - We liked the fact that the balcony was covered unlike our previous cruises on Grand class ships where we had a mini on the Dolphin deck which was open and viewable from above.

Wind - some depending on wind direction

Soot - none

Problems - none

Comments - In general we liked the layout of the minis on this ship vs Grand class. Having the desk opposite the sofa opened up the sleeping area somewhat. One drawback is the only outlets are on the desk so it you have a CPAP you may need an extension cord. 

Interesting about them phasing out cruise cards. On our trip in February on the Caribbean Princess it seems every time I bought a drink they would at my card and write down the number to use for charging it. I wonder how that is going to work in the brave new medallion world.

52 minutes ago, classicmovies said:

We are going out of Seattle on the Star Princess in August.  Can we bring a bottle of wine onboard?

On any Princess cruise, you can bring one normal (750ml) bottle per person with no corkage fee unless you consume it in the dining room then it's a $15 corkage fee. Additional bottles have a corkage fee of $15, which is cheaper than what they charge on the ship to buy a bottle.

For my wife, the Fettucine Alfredo in the MDR. I think she had it every night.

I liked just about anything in the MDR so it's hard to pick a favorite. At the International Cafe, the steak and something (mushroom?) pie, Basically a steak and kidney pie without the kidney and being of English extraction, I love those.

30 minutes ago, Justprettynpink said:

It is not EZair changing the flight time...it is Delta....

True, but I have not had this problem to this extent except the time I used EZ air. Maybe I was just unlucky.

Has anyone had the problem with EZ air where the airline keeps changing your flight time? We booked EZ air on our last cruise, flying Delta Boston to Ft. Lauderdale, and Delta changed our return flight 3 times, the last time would have us getting back home after midnight. I ended up canceling the EZ Air and booking flights on JetBlue out of Worcester MA which had the advantage of free parking (vs. $16 a day at Logan "Economy" parking) and a better return time.