bichonandon

8 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

  
Formal nights are also usually more like a very dressy top and slacks, or an easily dressy dress for women, and a pair of slacks and a button up long sleeve shirt for men.  Tie optional.
Formal wear will be seen, but not in the majority.
Shorts will not be necessary.  Jeans and a t-shirt are standard day wear on a nice day.  Change the t-shirt out for a nicer shirt for dinner and you're set.

I will ditch my dresses for sure, thank you so much!

8 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

That could be.  They generally don't grant access until after sailaway so that they can conduct tours for the PAX who might want to sign up. And you can't make paying spa pass holders happy if you're parading people through while they're trying to relax.

That makes sense, thanks!

Our travel day prior to our cruise in May will be pretty brutal, and I know my back will be killing me by the time we board the ship. We have already purchased the spa package, but I can't find anything outlining when we will be able to use the spa. Do we have to wait until we sail away or even later? 

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I am so excited for the thelassotherapy pool and the heated beds!

Also, if you have any and all packing tips, this is my very first non-carribean/riviera cruise, so I'm also not sure what to bring for the dress up nights, if it's worth it to pack shorts, and in general, how will I dress on board during sea days and during dinner? I have heard it's less formal, but not sure how far we can push it. 

Thanks for any info, and happy travels to you!

Just now, Birdie And Sue said:

I merely answered the question asked.  It seems you left out the word "Making" as the first word in your post.

And you misspelled a word in your original drivel, professor. You're welcome.

3 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

 

Can you? , of course you can assuming you are strong enough to carry it.  re you allowed to, nope.  

Useless pedantry is definitely why I like to visit these boards.

We booked on the Sun May 11th for their May 17th departure. We received an upgrade offer with four days to go. My bid was not accepted, but at least I got one!

Being new to NCL and not understanding or seeing the information about our ship that alcohol was free, we paid corkage for two bottles of wine. We happily drank our wine and never knew until nearly the end of the cruise that we could have drank all sorts of wine without being charged! Every time we ordered a drink, we offered our cards, staff would look at it and nod. LOL, I guess we'll have to pay closer attention to the details next time.

3 hours ago, Weluv2cruise2gether said:

Take your own hairdryer. The one they supply is attached to bathroom wall and is the hose type. DH used that one but bathroom is small so we both would not have been able to be in the bathroom at same time to get ready. Plus, I have thick hair and it would have taken forever to dry with the dryer supplied. I was grateful for this tip before we went on the Sun in September. I do not normally take my own. Enjoy your cruise!!!

We just got off the sun, and there was a hairdryer in one of the drawers of the vanity of our balcony room.

Great info, thanks everyone. I like the a la cart idea for the specialty restaurants.

As for alcoholic beverages in my room, I guess I'll carry on a couple bottles of wine and gladly pay the corkage fee.

Hi there, this will be our first NCL cruise and we are excited to be booked on the Sun in a Sail Away balcony,  but of course there are some differences I've noticed right away during the booking process which makes me curious.

We like to enjoy a drink at night on our balcony, so we usually pre-order during booking a small bottle of bourbon or something. This wasn't an option during booking this time, so I was wondering if it's possible to order a bottle through room service?

We've heard that the specialty dining on NCL is awesome. Do I need to buy a package prior to sailing or may we reserve a table while we are on the ship? Since we will be on the Sun, if you have had a chance to try any of their specialty restaurants, I'd love to hear about your favorite.

Are there any adults only areas of the ship or quiet areas we could purchase access to during the day? My spouse will be using some of the time at sea to do some studying while I hang out at the pool, and we don't want to be in the steward's way. 

Thanks for any answers to the above questions, and any other advice you think someone new to NCL could benefit from.

We are spa people.

For us a proper hydrotherapy pool means proper spa.

No hydropool = no spa.

It's a luxury feature that can be found on a limited number of ships.

Don't look for them on so-called "luxury ships".

 

 

A hydropool is a core muscle of the spa on a cruise ship.

It's still a secret for many that hydrotherapy pools differ like day and night - from "imitations" to top quality.

What is a "proper" hydrotherapy pool?

How to tell a fake one from a real one?

Which one is worth your money?

 

WJa7Qso7gqo

Thanks for this! We love the T-Pools and going forward will factor that in when choosing a cruise because it is an essential part of our experience.

I LOVE EGGS. :hearteyes: I was on Regal in 2015. The WORST scrambled eggs I've ever had in my life!! I sampled them for a few days to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. Nope! It was real. :o

I hope things have changed. It's been 3 years.

Now the scrambled eggs on Carnival's Splendor....DELICIOUS!!

JMO ;p

I have to agree. My "scrambled" eggs on the Star this week tasted like they had been boiled in a vat of pork fat. If I want lard with my eggs, I'll ask for it. Otherwise, I just want egg.

After giving it a couple tries, I switched to hard boiled egg on Lido, and we enjoyed the MDR for breakfast and I ordered fried. There aren't a ton of things that I'd say Carnival does better when it comes to food, but serving eggs is definitely one of them. The omelette station on the Carnival ships I have been on were far superior to Princess.

We just got off the Star yesterday.

Our Baja deck balcony was sweltering for at least a full day. We also had to keep our balcony door open, and that led to other problems such as smoke and radio/music noise wafting over from neighbors. Our immediate neighbor to the right was not going to let the heat get them down, and apparently decided to throw a party in their room. The music and smoke was intense. Thankfully, it was short-lived because all of a sudden it was quiet except for one loud-mouth yelling "We had to turn it down because some *&%)@$* complained." LOL. We had a good laugh over that, and no we did not complain but we were grateful someone else did.

I have mixed feelings about the A/C situation. On one hand, we did not fully enjoy our vacation because of it. On the other hand, we found it amusing that every time we were in an elevator or sitting near others at an activity, the one exact phrase we heard constantly was, "Everybody's talking about it," meaning the A/C issue. The rumor mill was also in full swing. We heard everything from seaweed to the possibility that since the Star was in Alaska, they didn't know the A/C wasn't working. We were relieved to get a note from Princess which explained everything and as mentioned, offered some measure of a different kind of A/C, acknowledgement and compensation.

Still, it was hard to see some people seeming to suffer from the heat. In addition to the folks who were using whatever they could to fan themselves, we saw that at least one person was driven out of their room for the night and took refuge on a reclining deck chair near a pool in order to get some sleep. Even asleep he looked uncomfortable.

I guess for us, we aren't disgruntled and we didn't let it ruin our vacation, but we are also lucky we had a balcony and we are physically able to withstand some unexpected heat without consequences. Also, we appreciated the response from Princess before the end of the cruise.

No. You don't have to do anything more than that. You will be charged extra gratuities at times, check your receipts when you are at the bar.

I don't think it's ever helpful to tell people what they should and shouldn't be doing but I will state what we do: We do not prepay our gratuities, but we never have them taken off the bill. Also, on the first day we give our steward and head waiter $20 in full view of their team. Then on the last night, if the service has been over and above, we give them each another $20 in the same fashion.

I have been watching the prices of my cruise and they have been going up up up. From $622, a couple of days ago $830 ... and NOW $1,049 for the balcony!

 

I am glad I purchased when I did. I am sailing solo in a balcony. I caught the price when it was $599/pp.

 

 

5

Days

1

Port

Cabo San Lucas GetawayRoundtrip from Los Angeles, California

 

Ships: Ruby Princess

Ports: Los Angeles, California | Cabo San Lucas, Mexico |Los Angeles, California

 

Mon, Oct 22, 2018

 

DatesInteriorOceanviewBalconyMini-SuiteSuiteMon, Oct 22, 2018

Ruby Princess

$499.00*

$939.00*

$1,049.00*

Sold Out

Sold Out

Guests 3 & 4 - same stateroom$199.00*

$199.00*

$299.00*

Sold Out

Sold Out

 

Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses additional: $95.00*

 

 

 

Wow, I guess timing is important. Our Oct 1st cruise is the same itinerary except on the Star Princess!

This is an FYI for other novice cruise pax like me. YMMV so please feel free to add your experience.

My husband booked directly with Princess. He purchased an unobstructed ocean view for an early Oct departure.

Then today we found out the prices had dropped on other sites. It wasn't a huge drop, but with the cancellation fee included, we would be looking at paying an $80 difference total for both of us if we cancelled and booked a balcony through a TA site.

My husband called Princess, and they were able to offer us a balcony for $70 total extra. So they price matched an upgraded room.

Having already looked this up on here and elsewhere, we didn't expect anything, maybe a little onboard credit, but we were happy to get a balcony for a great price. This will be our first balcony!:):):)

Sorry for all the smilies, I couldn't figure out how to delete them!

Just to add they also cater for Gluten Free passengers. Just mention it to the staff and they'll bring you the equivalent GF options, including sandwiches and scones.

 

My mum is has to have GF diet and loves Princess Afternoon Tea :D:D!

That's so nice of them! Do they offer vegetarian sandwiches too? If not, that's fine, I'm happy with all the scones and can't wait to try this cream!

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I'm loving all of this information, and especially the extra advice regarding personal preference. I was discussing it with another member of our traveling group, and she wondered if there is a dress code. Well, that's been answered so this is great!

Very much appreciated!

This will be my very first Princess cruise. We'll be on the Star. We are super excited because we are looking for a line into which our lifestyle will fit. When I was told there is afternoon tea on Princess, I was super excited. But I'm wondering, what is it like? I'm American, so of course we don't usually have afternoon tea, but I'm a tea lover. Is that enough?

Tell me what you enjoy about afternoon tea on Princess

Thank you for this! I love these types of reviews comparing experiences with other lines. Great read.

I've only been on a few cruises, and only on one other line. My spouse and I are excited to try Princess and we look forward to noticing differences between lines. So I was wondering what (if anything) those of you who have also sailed on other lines would say you like about Princess as compared to some others? We do not have loyalty points or platinum/diamond/ status anywhere, so I think I'm interesting in hearing the differences in experience of the average ticket holder who has no status to enjoy.

I just read about the luggage valet on the Princess website, and I am considering using it since we will be flying into and out of LA. For one 50 lb bag it costs $124 for each leg. I know that sounds like a lot, but with the baggage fees being charged by many airlines, I don't think it is all that unreasonable considering the bag goes from your house to your room, and then from the ship to your house.

Sounds like we will have no trouble. Thanks again for the suggestions!

This will be our first Princess cruise, and I decided to check out online pictures of the library. I couldn't see a nicely sized table in the library that would accommodate four people for a game of cards, so I was wondering if anyone might be able to recall a nice spot inside that we might be able to play some cards?

We like to play games like Pitch, not so much gamblers.

Thanks for any ideas!

Get the spa pass, you'll love it.

The thalasso pool is wonderful, and I think the 8am-10pm hours are fair. We were not inconvenienced by those hours at all. One of the nights, we left the pool so we wouldn't be kicked out, and I didn't make it out of the locker room until well after 10. There were still passengers in there, so I think the staff might have the discretion to let people stay a bit longer if there is a reason for it. The thalasso pool was so nice for tired muscles after long, active days.

We are booked in our first spa balcony and those hours look fine to me.

Wonder how those hours compare to the hours folks can use the outdoor pools on board??

I found myself avoiding the outdoor pools in favor of the thalasso pool!

We put my mother-in-law in a balcony spa room on the Dream, and she loved it. Her room had such yummy-smelling products and cute little slippers. There is a lavender salt rub they gave her that was out of this world! I was going to buy one for myself but it seemed too expensive at the time.

Enjoy your spa room!