Summerprincess

Honestly, the 2 lines are pretty comparable. We have been on both Crown and Jewel. jewel is smaller, 90k tons but very pretty. We do mostly Royal, but have done a few Princess cruises and have 2 more booked on Princess. I really don't think you would be disappointed.

Thank you very much for your reply. There is a post on the Princess forum right now where a lady is asking about the "classy" difference between Princess and Carnival. I am not and snob and I am not rich but I certainly don't want to cruise on Carnival. Am I correct thinking Royal Caribbean is similar to Princess? Also, how would you compare the quality of their excursions? Thank you for taking your time to help me out with this.

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My DH and I have been devoted Princess cruisers. We have been looking at the Adriatic and Aegean Medley 14 day cruise for May 2018 on the Crown Princess. This time we will be traveling with my sister and her DH and they found a 10-night Royal Caribbean cruise on the Jewel of the Seas for the Western Mediterranean which costs nearly half as much as the Princess cruise. It has 3 fewer nights but it does go to the ports we would most like to visit. Could anyone who has recently cruised with both cruise lines share their experience and insight on the differences between Princess and Royal Caribbean? I deeply appreciate any help anyone can offer. The cheaper price is appealing but I do want to make an informed decision. Thank you so very much!

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The whale watching was excellent . The trip to the glacier was also very good . I would recommend this excursion .

Thank you very much for your reply. Sounds like a great excursion.

If it's like my trip a few years back.... the whale watch happens in Favourite Channel. You then ride a bus to the Trail of Time for pictures. I wished we had more time at Mendenhall. It was operated by Gastineau.

 

http://www.stepintoalaska.com/excursions/whale-watching-mendenhall-glacier-photo-safari

Thank you very much for your reply. It is very helpful!

Hello All! We will be on the Juneau in July on the Star Princess and are very interested in the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching Photo Safari. Has anyone done this excursion this year? We are hoping for great views of the glacier and a terrific whale watching cruise with opportunities for excellent photos. I am wondering we will get views of the glacier that are different that what we would get simply visiting the glacier on our own and going to the visitors center and going from there. Any insight and/or firsthand experience anyone can share would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

Does anyone happen to know how much the helicopter surchage is for passengers weighing more than 250 lbs. for excursions in Juneau, Alaska? We are looking at the Glacier excursions that fly you to the Mendenhall Glacier to ride a dog sled on the glacier or to have a guided 25 minute walk on the glacier. I would love to hear from anyone who has done any of these excursions or has other excursion experience in Juneau. Thank you so much!:)

Yes!! The Coral is a much better choice than the Star. ;)

Hi Keith, Thank you for your reply. Would you mind giving me an overview of why you would recommend the Coral so much more than the Star? Thanks again for your help!

We are looking at taking a cruise to Alaska on the Star Princess this July. I would love anyone who has sailed on the Star Princess, especially in Alaska, to share their experience. Also, we are trying to choose between the itinerary that goes to Hubbard Glacier or the one that goes to College Fjord. The other stops are the same on the itinierary - Anchorage to Vancouver or Vancouver or Anchorage. Thank you very much!:) Oh, and if the Coral Princess would be a much better choice than the Star Princess, please tell me that too! Thank you again!

We are visiting Messina in October, 2017, and will be in port 7am to 7pm. We are planning to take ship excursion to Taormina from 8:30 to 12:30. Then we would like to go into Messina and see the Duomo and the Regional Museum. Does anyone have any insight about if it is okay to walk from the ship to the Duomo and then probably take a taxi to The Regional Museum. Is it safe to take taxis in Messina? I would certainly appreciate any insight or help/suggestions anyone has to help us plan this as well as possible. Thank you!

We are looking at taking the Pacific Princess on Venetian Connoisseur Cruise Oct. 30 to Nov. 11, 2017. I am wondering if anyone has taken this cruise and can share their experience. It is round-trip from Venice and visits several Greek Isles as well as stops in Croatia, Montenagro and Athens. I am concerned about it being so late in the year. I don't know if shops are not open and if the weather is generally rainy. I have tried looking at the weather on weather websites but thought firsthand experience would be nice to consider. Thank you for any insight anyone can give. :)

We did the canal this spring. We walked all around the ship and over many decks. We went up and down. Most interesting were the lower decks because then we were looking at the walls of the canal. Do not stay only on your balcony. We talked to people at dinner that spent the whole time on their balcony and they missed so much. We talked about everything we saw that day and the couple said they did not see any of it. The only suggestion about room selection is the sun. The canal runs north and south and we made sure we picked a room so that we had the least amount of sun during that day in case we wanted to be on our balcony.

Hi MickeyandLV,

Did you select a balcony on the port or starboard side to have the least amount of sun on your balcony when you went through the canal? Thank you for pointing this out! If you have any other thoughts/insight, I would greatly appreciate it you would share it with us! Thanks again!

Yes keep your luggage and don't put them out the last night, a few days before Athens go to the service desk and ask for a "walk off" time, you'll have to handle your own bags but you'll be in the first groups allowed off.

 

 

I have good memories of easy an disembarkation in Athens, and particularly with Uber it should be a pretty smooth morning for you.. (Ps.. You'll love the Acropolis !!)

 

Srpilo

Thank you so very much Srpilo. Thank you for telling me to keep my luggage. I wondered if that would be okay. I am glad you have good memories of everything going smoothly in Athens and gave me sound advice to make mine go smoothly as well! Thanks again.

I recently got off the Royal Princess in Athens and although I don't remember the exact time people started being allowed off the ship, I believe groups were being let off at least by 7:00 am, with walk offs being allowed off at the same time or earlier. A disembarkation questionnaire was given to each stateroom about 2 days into the cruise about time preferences, but I'm sure you could go to passenger services earlier to inquire about disembarkation times. You could also try calling Princess - they might be able to provide some info.

 

If you decide to leave your large luggage with Princess the night before you shouldn't have any trouble collecting it quickly the next morning - it was all really well organized and porters available if needed. It probably took less than 2 minutes to find my luggage at 7:30 am and might take you even less time if you get off earlier.

 

There were no customs to clear.

 

Another option to consider is taking the disembarkation tour in Athens. It's probably only a bit more expensive than doing your own thing with Uber/taxi, but you won't have to worry about rushing from the ship-hotel-Acropolis. The Acropolis will be busy even in the morning as there's usually more than 1 cruise ship docking + other tours, but the tour bus will drop you off at the end at either the Old Olympic Stadium or at the airport, whichever is closer to your hotel.

Thank you Melia! This really helps. I feel much better now all of this now.

You can get early walk off which allows you to get off the earliest time available with all your luggage. I recently did this in Barcelona - we docked at 5am and I was off ship by 7:30 (see below for Barcelona warning!) but if memory serves - there were earlier debarkation times.

 

You'll love Athens - be prepared that the Acropolis can be very hot and crowded and the ground is very uneven. Also the ground is half gravel and half marble so it can be slippery - just take your time and you'll do fine. There is also a drink stand close to the exit - they have a wonderful lemonade - very refreshing.

 

side note - I would not recommend this in Barcelona as you have to go down an escalator...with your luggage - as a natural klutz - it was not a pretty picture.

Thank you Corinda! Did you just keep all of your luggage with you rather than putting it out the night before? Am I correct thinking that I just to go the service desk once we board and ask for the early disembarkation time? Thank you for all of your kind help. You can tell I am a little worried about all of this.

Probably. Thinking about arrivals in ft lauderdale, even if we dock at 6, they don't start disembarking for a bit, plus will you have customs to clear? Not sure they will turn up too early......you could try asking on a roll call for an upcoming cruise for someone to report back or hopefully someone who has recently ended a cruise in Athens will chime in.

 

What is the earliest flight you could book (if you were flying) in EZAir? That's a good indication -

Thank you! I will try that. This is the first time that we haven't gone straight to the airport once we disembarked so I am trying to figure out the best way to handle it! Thanks again.

I would confirm with Princess what time you will be allowed to disembark. Arrival does not mean that disembarkation starts immediately.

Do I need to wait until I am onboard to ask that? I have looked through everything in my account on Princess and it doesn't say anything about when we can disembark. Thank you!

What time are you scheduled to dock?

We are scheduled to dock at 4:00 am.

We are will be on the Royal Princess disembarking in Athens on September 17. We are having an Uber car pick us up at 7:00 am to take us to our hotel in Athens so that we can go directly to the Acropolis and start sightseeing. Should we only take carry-on luggage so that we can easily and quickly disembark that early or can we keep a larger size suitcase with us as well to walk right off and up to a waiting car or is it quick and easy to collect a larger suitcase from Princess once we disembark. Any help for anyone who has done this in Athens would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone recommends a taxi rather than Uber there or has any other insight, please add it! Thank you!

Hello All,

We are on the Royal Princess Greek Isle cruise mid-September. I am wondering if I can have some input from cruisers who have done this cruise with respect to how much space to allow for souvenirs. We will be traveling in Europe for the week before we embark on the cruise and then staying in Athens for a few extra days and so taking only a carry-on would be great. That said, I am worried if I need more space for any amazing souvenirs that will be an option on this cruise. I know this is a subjective question, but I thought I would ask. We did the Baltic cruise this Spring and was glad I had planned an extra suitcase to bring back some beautiful sweaters, etc. Thank you all for your help!

The Royal Princess was scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on July 28. Does anyone know if it did make this scheduled stop there? If anyone on that cruise has any other information for us, it would be wonderful to hear from you. We are scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on September 15 and are hoping we get to stop there!

Is there a required number of shares you must own to get the $100 OBC on each cruise? Also, does the spouse of the person whose name is shown on the brokerage statement get the same amount of OBC as well or does each spouse have to own stock in their own name? Thank you!

We are also disembarking from the Regal Princess on that same day for an early International flight around 10 am. The ship docks at 5:00 am. We did buy our flights through Princess and scheduled the Princess transfer shuttle to take us to the airport. Since we scheduled everything through Princess, we are confident they will get us to the airport in plenty of time for the flight.

We are traveling on a Baltic cruise departing from Copenhagen May 1 this year. Does anyone who has done this cruise at this time of year have any suggestions on how heavy of a winter coat to bring? I know that daily temperatures are forecasted to range from highs in the low to mid 50s and lows in the 30s. I know it will be colder on the water and with the shipping moving and I want to be able to enjoy our balcony and see the scenery without freezing! I am packing sweaters and can't decide if a mid-range winter coat is adequate or if I should pack a heavy winter coat (we live where winters are cold so we do already own heavy coats). I am bringing a raincoat for rainy days that we are in port. I would so appreciate any guidance or suggestions anyone has to offer on coats or other attire. Thank you so very much! :)