Qcruise

So at $60 per person per day if an average drink is say $15 bucks that would be about 28 drinks for a weeks cruise total. For us, our cruise will have three port days, I can't imagine drinking that much to make it cost effective. We'll order our drinks ala carte.....I don't want to be feeling "obligated" to drink that much to justify the expense, that's just how we feel. My liver should not need a vacation from my vacation.....:eek:

We are aboard the Inspiration this New Years for just the little three nighter to Ensenada.....I like to take a couple of cigars to enjoy on vacations, what is the cigar smoking policy on board....? I've been on RCI ships that you can't even smoke them with the cigarette smokers up on deck.

OK....so we live in Long Beach and see the Inspiration/Imagination ships rotate the weekend "booze cruise" itineraries all year round here. We've sailed only once before on a Carnival ship, the Splendour a few years back, and enjoyed the ship and cruise (aside from blowing out my knee and being in a wheel chair for five of the seven days), but we have some apprehension about the New Year Day weekend cruise we just booked on the Inspiration to celebrate our twin sons 21st birthdays. They turn 21 in September, but we can't do anything then as they are in college and can't. So we have two interior cabins and we expect to have a ball. This cruise is not during New Years Eve, but embarks on New Years Day....so we only chose it for it's convienience not having to take any vacation days, and it works with our boys schedules well. I know the ship is old....and assume some wild party crowds will be aboard with us, can anyone tell us their experience. I'm hoping no horror stories.....we are booked, and I'm sure our kids will have fun regardless.

We've only cruised with Carnival one other time, and then we pre purchased a bottle of alcohol to have in cabin. I see that is still available, though prices have increased dramatically since then (3 years)....I hear about their "cheers" program, Carnival's version of a beverage package. When on line a "beverage package" shows bottles of booze with mixers to pre purchase. How does one buy the drink package for the bars on board....? Must I wait until I board to purchase this....?? Maybe just easier to pre purchase a bottle to be in the cabin. On Princess one can just order a bottle from room service to have delivered to cabin, still less $$$ than individual drinks from a bar.

Well, this year they had one from Seattle to Vancouver (one foreign port) then reboard from Vancouver to Los Angeles (one foreign port).

We want to pair a repositioning Alaska next year, we've seen in years past they will pair a one night from Seattle to Vancouver or vise versa with a three night down to Los Angeles or San Francisco or San Diego. Now looking at next year at either end of the Alaska season May/Sept. they don't seem to show this combo anywhere. Should we call a rep and ask about this....?? It shows the overnighter but nothing to connect it with....makes no sense to us.....?

So we just booked the Carnival Inspiration for the weekender leaving on New Years Day so we could celebrate our twin sons 21st birthdays. We just got interior cabins, and I was ticked to hear they are holding all of the cabins with upper berth beds for four people in a cabin, and a triple has to have a roll away. Floor space for three adults in a cabin concerns me, though they say the cabin steward will put the bed away during the day. They will let us put three to a cabin if we get an ocean view. I thing that kind of stinks. I know they want to stuff this ship to the max for this cruise. Although it leaves on new years day, so it's not like it's a new years eve cruise.

We were aboard the Oasis last November, inasmuch as these ships are so much larger in width (Central Park in the middle) it seemed much more stable to me. However when the seas got a bit rough coming back, when we were in the main deck promenade we were a movin pretty good. I would try to stay towards the middle as a rule any ship.

The only thing you'll be lacking on the Crown for an Alaska sailing is an indoor pool.....the sister ships in her class all have indoor pools along with the outdoor ones. Hope you'll have nice weather and it won't be a problem.

We were there in September 2006 for my 50th birthday cruise....our ship got very close to the glacier....it was amazing. Stayed there for a few hours and the ship turned 360 degrees so give all cabins a view, calving of ice was very active. I remember sitting on our balcony thinking it was raining, but actually it was bubbles rising through the beautifully colored water around us from the ice melting......amazing experience I'll never forget.:)

You'll get many answers to that question here.....we've arrived early (11am) and had great luck getting on board by noon, and we've arrived at 1pm and walked right on as well. We've also had to wait hours to board arriving at 11am as well. It's up to you, risk waiting in terminal to board with chance of getting on as early as possible, or wait until a bit later.....good luck.

I forgot.....the breakfast in bed included mimosas or bloody marys.....it was a hot breakfast.....and quite good, though it said it had caviar on the eggs and we did not see that. But overall we added up well over $400 bucks in items for the price.

I bought the $200 romance package for our November Oasis cruise and we were blown away with the value it provided. Two thick terry robes to keep, an 8x10 picture with silver frame, a bottle of Vueve Cliquot champagne ($40 bucks retail) with 4 cupcakes at arrival, hor dorerves and petite fors on both nights....and breakfast in bed one morning. The robes are probably $85 bucks alone. Oh yeas, and flowers in cabin too....we were very pleased with it's value.

I sware I've seen on the deck plans for the Navigator OTS I saw a smoking lounge.....am I crazy....?? When I look now I don't see one....does anyone know if it has one....?? I like to smoke a cigar while on vacation and it's getting more and more difficult to be able to do so. On the Oasis we were at least able to go up on the pool deck, my last Princess ship only had what they called a smoking lounge, but the ventilation system was so bad it was miserable being in there, and we weren't allowed up on deck with the cigarette smokers. Thanks for your help.......:)

We got to our waiting lounge at around 745am and were called at 920am....waited in the line around the atrium for about half hour, got to our car around 1015am. We had pretty good luck with anytime dining as our group was 10 people, so we would get a reservation each day. We got 730pm on Saturday night and had to take 8pm for Sunday, then changed it to 5pm which messed up watching super bowl, but preferred that to missing some shows later. Food was overall good in dining room, buffet is buffet, enough said.

It's really a shame in this day and age of "political correctness" and diversity and inclusion that people can't just allow others to enjoy something. Understood, imposing on anothers breathing space is not acceptable, but just create an environment that is comfortable and has air to breathe.

Air conditioning worked fine throughout the ship....and our bed was very comfortable, but our friends was too firm.

So "flame" me if you must.....but as a cigar smoker the policy on the Crown is really not so good for us. We are not allowed to smoke up on the pool decks, only in the lounge off the casino, which would be just fine, if it were large enough and had a decent ventilation system. It's so very small, and there is no ventilation in there, our loved ones can't stand being in there with us, the smoke is so thick it sticks to everything on you. Up on deck 16 I was not allowed to smoke with the other cigarette smokers. Personally, I'd rather smell someone smoking a nice cigar than a cigarette any day. There other ships (Sapphire, Golden) have great lounges with good ventilation. It seems this was a total afterthought....and on superbowl Sunday, it was not enough room for everyone. Just sayin......:(

Just got off the Crown from our nice three nighter to Ensenada this morning....boy what a "cluster" it was. There were three ships in port, so we were docked in berth 46, which is 2.5 miles away from where we got on the ship. So customs came on board and ran every passenger through one of the dining rooms before getting off and being bussed to the terminal. If I can avoid a sailing like this in the future I will, but you don't find this out until a month or so before sailing. I suppose Princess did the best they could, but it was a mess. Other that that I'll say the Crown has some serious maintainence issues with her restrooms for sure. Two nights there were multiple restrooms on many of the floors off the theater and dining rooms that were closed due to problems.....it was pretty bad. The cabin was fine, and service was great too......any questions.....??

My wife and I sailed Oasis last November and tried a CP balcony for it's uniqueness. Having done that once, we both agreed that if we were to do it again we pay the extra $200 bucks for a OV balcony. While we did enjoy the park setting (they play "park" sounds in there, birds, crickets) and there were string bands, soft music at night, for people watching too. You'll be amazed by the ship itself, it is a distination in itself.....so many dining choices we never ate in the windjammer even once. The "healthy" food choices are amazing.

I feel your pain.....we too are aboard her this weekend and we've never debarked at any other berth before, after many cruises from here. Does anyone know why we have to berth elsewhere on our return....?? Is there something going on at the port.....?? Half of our group need to get to work on Monday morning, so this will delay everything for us.:mad:

We just got off Oasis in November to Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten....wonderful ship and cruise, should experience the Oasis for sure. Also were on the Vision a few years back, and since she has been re-done I've heard. We really enjoyed sailing her then, intimate ship easy to navigate. The Oasis is a "destination" ship....that's half the idea, not the Vision so much. The dining choices on Oasis will blow you away, we never had to eat in the Windjammer even once. Healthy food options up in the Solarium restaurant as well and at Park Café too.

We would definitely recommend a balcony cabin for Alaska. We went the last sailing in September and it had great benefits. We saw the Northern lights off our balcony at midnight, late season that is possible, and they are clearing out all "Alaska" clothing and souveniers from the ship and the ports.....great deals for sure. We came home with many Christmas gifts, one could actually buy all your winter wear on the cruise. Some folks were sailing a back to back and the ship went from Alaska to Hawaii the next week.

So our little group will be aboard the Crown Princess on Superbowl weekend....at Ensenada on that Sunday. What can we expect on board...?? I assume they'll put it up on the big screen in the pool area....maybe a tailgate party....?? I've also had people ask me if there might be wagering on the game in the casino, though I know there is not usually a sports book there. Hoping for good weather that day for sure.......:)

My wife and I did Alaska on the Serenade, her sister ship....that class of ship is outstanding for outdoor viewing throughout the entire ship....I don't think you could do better.....you'll enjoy it very much.