Retired1064

I had a great cruise and will be back on Seaside with over a dozen family members (on my recommendation). If I didn't enjoy Seaside the way that I did, I would have chosen a different line/ship for the occasion.

 

 

 

Some complaints may be valid but most are "...we usually sail xxxxx and MSC was different so we didn't like it...". I ignore those kind of complaints.

 

 

 

Other complaints such as "...how come those people get and we don't...?" when someone chooses a lower Experience should also be ignored. I've seen that type of complaint from people who couldn't access parts of the ship that Aurea and Yacht Club guests could access.

 

 

 

Complaints about rude guests usually aren't the fault of the cruise-line and can vary from week to week. Ignore those complaints, too.

 

 

 

No deck chairs? Not true. There are dozens of empty loungers along the ship. If people want to crowd on top of each other in one area, they shouldn't complain when there is plenty of space and sun elsewhere. They aren't huddled in the pool (because of depth) so if all that they want is a lounger, there are plenty of them that are available.

 

 

 

Is MSC perfect? No.

 

Is Seaside perfect? No.

 

 

 

No cruise-line is perfect and no cruise ship is perfect. If people expect perfect but get "different", they will complain.

Right on!

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Taking a Princess cruise in the next couple of weeks. I want to drink on the ship, but don't want to spend a lot of money doing this. I HEARD that Princess allows each adult to bring one bottle of wine (750 ml) in their carry-on. On their website they seem to give a hard no to outside wine.

 

 

 

What is their 2018 policy around this? Has anyone brought wine in their bag? Anything I should know about procedure, how to do this, etc.

 

 

 

Thank you!

We were on a Panama cruise on the Coral princess in November and we ordered it through room service and they brought booze to the room. I think we got vodka and crown much cheaper than drinks in the bar but more expensive than buying on shore. Plus we could hang on the balcony and make our own.

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:'):'):'):')

I can’t stop following it now. How embarrassing lol

Am I really following a thread about:

1-STRAWS?

2- Best time to use a STRAW?

3- What different materials are used to make STRAWS?

4- How they should make paper STRAWS better?

5- Where to buy steel STRAWS?

 

I'm definitely looking forward to the future follow up thread...

 

"I left my stainless steel STRAW on the Star, NCL owes me $10. If you're on the Star, can you look for my steel STRAW, I'll pay you to mail it to me."

 

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Coming soon to the forum...

 

"I refuse to sail NCL because they don't have Coke." will be replaced by "I refuse to sail NCL because they don't have straws.".

:')

Great ... now I have to go back to rolling a $20 bill :evilsmile:

Ha ha

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Retired SCSO myself and daughter is 794 married to 854 if you know them. Feel free to email me at hogwildterry@hotmail.com if you have any questions about the Coral of the canal transit.

Yes Mr. Green I friended on fb. I have heard of the walsteads? Good troops

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Retired1064.....WSP by chance? Anyway, wife and I did the eastbound Coral Princess on 9/27-10/12/2017. We had a Baja forward mini-suite on the starboard side. We normally spend a lot of time on our veranda but for this cruise we spent almost every morning after breakfast on the promenade deck in a lounge chair enjoying the view and warm weather.

 

For the canal, Caribe and Baja forward observation deck is open. You just go forward to a door that looks like maybe you should not go through it...and go through it. There is one more door and that takes you to the outside. For some reason, Coral does not allow passengers onto the open bow during the canal transit.

 

As a side note: After having dinner in the dinning room for the first ten days and the menu starting to become a little too similar we opted for having dinner in the Horizon Court. To our surprise the food, variety, quality and service made for a nice dinning experience. As always, food is subjective but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Yes WSP. Just retired a year and a half ago. Will definitely go to that viewing area! Thanks for the food advice! I would rather not look through blue glass while in the locks.

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What are you going to find out?

 

 

 

Every single passenger has to be off the ship in order to board the next group.

 

 

 

You can stay on until last call of your current sailing (usually around 10am). That's what we do.

That was a earlier post while we are still on the 7 Day western med cruise. Now we’re on day 10 still 3 to go on the same ship (Epic) We did not get off in Barcelona and could pretty much go where we wanted.on the ship. We hung out in the atrium and had some drinks. They gave us a sticker that you stuck on your shirt that said. Still vacationing back to back cruisers, so the crew knew we could still be on board. We never left the ship in Barcelona.

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The January Coral PC will be our 5th Princess cruise.

 

We have only enjoyed the Golden and the Crown (which are

 

very similar). This will be the smallest ship we have cruised

 

on and most "exotic".

 

I (and we) will be interested in your comments for Princess and the cruise.

Great. Looking forward to it!

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Dear Retired 1064-

 

Have a wonderful trip! We are fellow Washingtonians.

 

Would love to hear about your cruise upon return.

 

Happy Sailing :cool:

Sure will. We have been on NCL epic for the last 16 days and booked this Princess cruise for the trip back to the West Coast. Looking forward to a direct comparison as we have never been on Princess yet.

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I’m on a back to to back now. Western Med then transatlantic. We did not have to get off and didn’t in Barcelona. Just changed rooms when it was ready. Of course had to get a new key card at 9am at the desk

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I guess I'm going to get a bit wordy here, and remember that it's only my opinion and observations relayed here. Others may disagree, and that's fine.

 

 

 

For the canal transit - it's an all-day event - make sure you move around in order to get the experience from different perspectives. Decks 10 and 11 at the front of the ship are opened up on transit day. You get a great view of the operation of the locks from the aft decks as well (decks 8 and above). We never went up to the Lido and the dreaded blue glass panels diffusing the view. If you don't have a balcony, the Promenade (Deck 7) will give you an unobstructed view of the lock operations. Otherwise, if you have a balcony - this is the opportunity to use it as well. Finally, don't forget to go down to deck 6 for one of the locks, looking through the windows near the Explorers Club. It looks like the ship will scrape the wall as it moves vertically, but the 'mules' keep everything in place.

 

 

 

Princess encourages you to make a 'homemade' sign for the canal transit. They supply the poster board, stencils, decorations, pens and markers. You are supposed to hold it up as the ship photographers snap photos and shoot videos of you going through the locks. Then you can buy the photo or see yourself in the DVD they produce and sell later on in the cruise. If you have an artistic side to your personality, you might want to give this some thought and come up with a good idea.

 

 

 

We had a very short stop at Aruba, and it was on Sunday morning (7:00 AM - Noon), so not much was open other than the Princess-approved shopping. We found the Dutch Pancake House in an outdoor mall near the helipad, and had an interesting and delicious breakfast there. Cartegena was short(ish), 6 hours, and HOT. We just took the Old City On Your Own excursion. Unfortunately it was a holiday the day we were there, so most of the museums and churches were closed. For Puntarenas/Costa Rica, get off the ship and help the economy. Hurricane Nate blew through there this fall, and they need your help to rebuild. Puntarenas itself is sort of remote and sleepy, so you probably will want a tour of some kind to see a highlight or two of the country. Our stop in Nicaragua was cancelled due to tendering problems in the high winds. It was replaced by Puerto Vallarta. Since it was short notice, we just took a cab to the Melancon and strolled.

 

 

 

We had a great port lecturer, Richard Munroe, a geologist from Winnipeg. He had very dry sense of humor, and worked in a bit of geology in his presentations. The theater got more and more crowded for each one of his entertaining lectures. He also did a fine job narrating the canal transit throughout the day.

 

 

 

All of the production shows were entertaining, especially 'On the Bayou' that's held in the Universe Lounge. The casino was tiny, with 'tight' machines, poor table game rules, and easy to avoid. Of the acts that they picked up along the way, I enjoyed Duncan Tuck the most. He is an accomplished guitar player, and put on an entertaining set of somewhat obscure favorites from the 60's/70's. I also enjoyed the classical artists and piano players that played in the atrium every day.

 

 

 

 

 

I never had a bad meal. I tried to watch my intake, and thought I did a good job, but my downfall was any 'Chocolate Journeys' offering. They were all fantastic and not to be missed! Breakfast and lunch were eaten in both the Horizon Court and the Bordeaux dining room. The dining room was closed for lunch on port days. Usually, if we ate one meal at one, we would have the other meal in the opposite venue. We ate dinner at our assigned 7:30 (late) dining time nearly every night. We did visit and enjoyed both the Bayou Café and Sabatini's. Our waiter at Sabatini's said the menu would be changing soon and the Lobster Three Ways and NY Strip Steak offerings were going away. I looked for the Seafood Shack at the Horizon Café, but it was never offered.

 

 

 

 

 

You're probably not going to pack enough clothes for a 15 day journey, and you will be doing laundry at some point. There are only 3 washers and 3 dryers on each deck with cabins (decks 8-12), so they are heavily used on sea days. Our secret was to use them on port days. We got back about 2 hours before sail away on Cartegena day, and our Puerto Vallarta stop was unplanned, so we had an early return there as well. We got back on board in time to keep up with cleaning the dirty clothes in the unused laundry room at those times.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this helps! Enjoy your cruise in January!

Nice review, we’re doing this cruise next week and your information helps!

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Yes, if I could have a dollar for the times I've been asked, "And how many points do YOU have?"

Ha ha yes so true. Wow. I got some chocolate covered strawberries and a free drink. I get the drink package anyway. I enjoy hanging out with a first time cruiser as they are so excited and happy it's like watching a 4 year old at Chuck E. Cheese!

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Link is to an article based on interviewing a 6 year cruise line employee. There is a lot about living on ship, TIPPING, and why people choose to work for a cruise line despite the almost non-existant wages:

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/working-on-a-cruise-ship-what-its-like

Great article. Seems to confirm all the other candidly written articles I've read. I had to laugh about the cruise points section with how people act and compete.

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We started getting the drink packages with the cruise and it sure felt more like a vacation rather than worrying about the cost our two grey good martinis being 26 bucks a round plus all the waters while heading out to ports etc.

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Thanks for the replies. I guess we will find out!

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Anthomaniac nailed it. You can stay on as long as you like. All you have to do is keep booking the next cruise. B2B2B2B2B . . .

 

 

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We're headed out for a b2b next month on a w med cruise then transatlantic on NCL epic. Heard we have to get off the ship and get back on. Anyone go through this? Sure would be nice no to have to!

We always sit and chill with a cup of coffee until the last hour or so out of the way after breakfast (around 10) still respecting the crew and turn around. Easy off little crowds left.

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HAL's present policy:

 

 

 

If you remove the Hotel Service Charge, any cash tips you give a crew member must be turned into their supervisor who turned it in and it is placed in a pool to be divided among all crew. The supervisors give the workers under them a list of those passengers who have removed the service charge. If a crew member keeps that extra cash, then they can be fired.

 

 

 

We always leave the Hotel Service Charge in place and know that extra tips we give, they can keep for themselves.

Thanks for the info. We have two cruises next month to go on and for the first time did not pre pay service charges when I booked. I just went online and pre paid the service charges based on your info. We always tip personally throughout the cruise to our waiters and room attendants in addition to the pre paid. I did not know that if you didn't pre pay they were required to give the tips we give them to their supervisor which is not where we want to give our tips. We want our tips to go to the person we give them to so thanks for your information! Hope this all made sense!

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We tip at the end, to use up our OBC :). We get the drink package, but also tip the drink servers along the way, in places we frequent often (like the MDR and Solarium)- I feel like we've gotten better service since we started doing this.

 

 

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Ditto, we get the drink package also and pre pay. I always bring 100 ones and tip as we go and it's amazing how we never have to ask. Good to hear someone else thinks the same way!

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"He" should be delighted spending time with you.. also.. walk the promenade.. bring a few new games and puzzles.. join trivia.. go to happy hour.. attend a wine tasting.. chat with other cruisers.... invite them for a cocktail.. watch the stars.. read a book.. catch up on CNN.. dance at BB Kings.. enjoy breakfast in bed.. go to a show.. research a tour.. plan your next cruise.. catch classical music with Adagio., or pop tunes at Billboard.. take a ship tour.. decorate your cabin door... join your meet and greet... watch a movie in room.. watch a movie in the theatre.. experience a sunset or sunrise.. order room service.. enjoy a specialty restaurant... try caviar.. bring along a flameless candle and remember your first date.. send photos to loved ones.. take a dip in the pool.. enjoy the hot tub., chat with your cabin stewards.. waiters.. bartenders.. learn about their culture and who they are.. write a blog of your cruise experience.. take pictures.. enjoy long evening meals meeting other cruisers.. take the art tour on the ship.. do some shopping in the gift shop., go to ship lectures.. watch the aft camera.. have a special coffee in the crows nest.. check the New York Times archives available.. have some ice cream.. pen a diary of your cruise.. get a massage.. if you are worrying about what "he" will do.. maybe better to have him plan another agenda for the same length of time and he can worry about what you will do... hope you have a happy trip..,

Nailed it!

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If you don't mind a thirty minute walk the David Foster trail was really neat. We took the bus in and strolled back along the trail. Cool little houseboat community and nice flat walk along the water.

I think I get wat he was saying about the auto grats, thinking that they didn't leave tips which I sure hope the individuals tipped the deserving crew we had on this cruise. I do also understand the company wanting the employees to pick up the tips. We really did enjoy this cruise also. Victoria was great. Wish it was a longer cruise. We ran into a lot of nice other people too! The price was so good we passed that savings onto our room/dinner service and bar staff. Probably around $150 additional to regular tips. It sure was fun and I know they appreciated it.

Went on this cruise booked 45 days out $189 pp.

 

 

It is absolutely a reasonable question. Tipping is a personal matter, but if no one ever mentions $, it is hard to discern amounts.

 

 

I can tell you what we do. Our gratuities have already been pre-paid. We don't eat in the main dining room, but we just leave the tips in place.

 

 

On the last few cruises we have tipped the room steward an additional $0 to $20 on a 7 night cruise, depending on the level of service we received. If we have to ask for things, are they delivered promptly? Is the stateroom made up in a timely manner? That sort of thing. Sometimes we leave nothing for marginal service or $10. Any additional tip that you provide to a crewmember is money that they would not have ordinarily received so there is no right or wrong amount.

 

 

We also provide additional tips to our favorite bartenders, and add a bit more to specialty dining meals. Again, that is just what we do. :)

Couldn't agree you more! We usually tip our room/waiter/favorite bar staff as we go from day one and have had the best times ever. $5 per day for room, $3 per meal. $1 to $2 per round. Wish we could do more but the workers seem very appreciative of anything extra. We average 3 cruises a year and if they see you are a tipper ( no matter how much) from the first day they put in a little extra for you. Just my two cents worth