marne001

Disappointed. Sailing November 30 on the Emerald Princess I submitted my stockholder benefit request September 18 to the faxline never heard anything never saw a credit reminded my friend she should get her stockholder obc request in as well. I never saw the credit in the system so refaxed my request along with proof of stock ownership 100 shares CCL stock (also provided on Sep 18 fax) October 17 same fax number again nothing showed up on the stupid website princess.com. I called them today and I was told they never received my request. Further, they said that only one obc Per cabin. Never heard of such crap.

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The ruins are nice. Take Deet! It is a looooooong ride with hard bumps!

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Sorry if this question has already been asked. This will be my first time going there. When we get off of the ship, is there a beach right by?

I've been reading and apparently there is nothing?

I've thought of just doing the 'beach day' Carnival has listed as an excursion. Is it ok?

Thanks!

To be candid, there are not 'pretty' beaches as in Coz, Ochie and Georgetown. I took a cab to the "best beach" that did not take > one hour and found the sand to be mostly dirt and muddy water (think lake not beach). There was a bar and a volley bar court, but it was not the fun I have in Coz and other ports/islands.

Hi all,

I joined a group that booked a private tour to Alta Hu and the total cost was $27 pp! They gave us snacks and cold drinks going. Walked us around the two different ruins. Allowed us to stop for a quick personal shopping, convenience store for beers. Then they provided more snacks and local beers. Never felt unsafe passing through the gates and off to the "right" of the terminal. Locals spoke to us, but were very respectful.

Marne the Cruisin' Fool

Hello Sanctuary Experts,

I have only used Sanctuary twice (tough to "get"); once on Panama Canal day-never again and once at the end of a long B2B cruise(s).

What goes on post embarkation in Sanctuary? Is is open for booking that day? Or is it left unused?

Thanks a bunch!!!

I was told there was a fee after a certain time for items (say 3 or 6pm) is that true? Or are the deelish items available 24*7 for no added charge?

Yum-o!

Made my day!!!

More for me! I haven't found any shrimp yet I won't eat. (Knock on wood!)

 

I think they would allow someone non-Platinum to escort a disabled Platinum person. I don't think you'd even have to mess with the card.

I have always taken someone with me and in most cases they are not P/E/Suite pax; never been a problem. I simply ask the ship's Hostess as I enter is if is "...OK to bring brother/mother/friend/boyfriend with me who is on their first cruise and if not we will leave". They have always happily invited my guest in with me. Again, I ask permission and not assume a thing.

Don't bet on that. These folks don't have private quarters. Their cabins are very small and cramped and they have roommates. Not a lot of places to hide any extra money. And if they are seen with it there is likely to be questions from co-workers. Why would they take the chance and possibly end up getting fired?

Ship crew have an onboard "bank" of sorts, not FDIC insured, but they can deposit and withdraw as needed. Autotips are credited at the end of each sailing to their account along with their salary.

That is an interesting case.

 

On one (princess) ship that I am very familiar with...

 

On the last night, each wait station had a big manilla envelope.

Any envelopes received were placed in this envelope.

At the end of service, the waiter meets with the head waiter

for the section.

 

The head waiter has the list of cancelled tip, and compares it

to the cabin numbers on the envelopes. (the waiter is supposed

to ask / write cabin number on envelope when it is received)

 

For cabins with tips that are not cancelled, waiter gets tip envelope

back. Others go into pool.

 

I don't know what happens when the tips are cancelled after

the last dinner service.

I have been cruising sine 1967 and given the tips envelopes personally to each person, except for cabin steward--just left on desk. In the MDR they are tastefully put away in their jacket pocket. How would they know my envelope from the five in front of me or the six behind me?

Actually, I enclose a personal note of thanks, mentioning something they did that especially made my cruise special and along with my tip I include an international telephone card.

Again, I cruise a little bit (four * per year, between 7 and 19 days each). This experience has allowed me to become friends with many levels of a ship's staff from Security, Hotel and Restaurant Manager, Maitre 'd, Cabin Service (under H&R Mgr), entertainers and of course the Purser's team. I believe I have heard most of "it" all and never heard this.

Where did you hear of this practice?

Ok please don't hate me! I do read the forums etc but it has been almost 4 yrs since my last princess cruise. I was able to slap a "luggage"tag on a box of 7 bottles of wine from Total Wine in Ft lauderdale and it was delivered to my cabin, much like the water and soda-are those days completely gone? Any insights are of course appreciated. It does sound like those days are gone, but then again, I am not sure? Thanks in advance!

Love love love Total Wine in FFL. Their wine manager is great at helping you pick based on your tastes-plus he stays under your price point.

Let me see if I understand you correctly. You can either pay for a bottle of wine at a 40% discount with the Beverage Package or get the same wine by the glass without cost, if you have the Beverage Package. Is that correct? If that is the case, why on earth would anyone with the Beverage Package buy a bottle of wine?

greater choice in bottles than the short list o' wines by the glass

IMHO better choice in bottles as it is often on land, too...

We were also on the 17 day cruise ending 06/28/14. We had a wonderful cruise but we also found the food in the dining room to be just so-so. The service was excellent but the food was uninspiring. One other thing we noticed that was different from our other Princess cruises was that not once did a head waiter come by to ask if we were enjoying our meal or if we had any problems. On previous cruises (we are both elite so we've had more than a few) we've always found that the Maitre d' and head waiter both came over to see how we were enjoying our meals.

 

I agree that the chef can make a big difference in the food despite recipes being the same. We found that even in Crown Grill and Sabatinis the food was not the same as on prior cruises. At those venues, the head waiters were very attentive though. Just as an example of changes in food quality/taste, the first night we dined at the Crown Grill (we ate there several times) I had the Black & Blue Onion soup which I love and enjoyed that evening. Later in the cruise on our 3rd or 4th visit there, I ordered the soup again. It tasted horrible! A couple of people at the table next to us also ordered it and we overheard them complaining about it as well so I don't think it was just me.

 

Everything else about our cruise was very good. We loved all the ports including Koper where we took a tour to Ljubljana. Dubrovnik was a mess! My daughter stuck it out going into the walled city; I didn't after seeing the crowd. I had been there before and didn't want to contend with 12,000 of my closest friends also trying to go in to see the sights.

 

I know that food and fuel prices have gone up and frankly I would prefer that Princess increase the cruise price a little to compensate than see them let the food quality go down as it has IMHO. I know not everyone will feel that way and I know that food is a very subjective thing, so some people may think it's great. We are all entitled to our opinions.

I have been sailing since 1967 and visited several continents. In my experience I have found the raw materials sourced for non-US based cruises vary from food sourced outside the US. In other words, the food served on cruises departing and returning to a US port can be considered different that that experienced on cruises that do not visit a US port. Just my two cents. I am pretty easy to please and was able to dine well regardless of where we were sailing; however, noted it was somehow different.

On a loosely related note, I hate ALL airline food served in the US. It is simply awful and I take a snack or meal with me. However, during an Aeroplot flight between Moscow and Krasnodar, I found the meal enjoyable. not sure what we were served, well ok I recognized bread and the salad(!); so I was able to dine just fine.

I always buy one or two FCCs and was sad to hear they were cancelled. So this is news to me that FCCs are back.

FCC == free money (aka OBC) $100

Combined with the stockholder benefit == sweet!!!! $100

Believe it or not, $200 can be hard to spend LOL

As a single traveler paying double the posted rate and being credited for two cruises I am wondering if I am still limited to one bottle of wine or if I would be allowed two before the corkage fee kicks in. Any other singles out there who have experienced this situation.

...But you will get two sailings (credits) toward your next level. I am working on Elite...

Thank you for the concise review, liked the format!

Room Service Menu (cont'd)

 

Dear Johnql,

Thank you for posting so much information. We are trying to plan our final purchase, the last day liquor sale, might you have the list detailing what is offered? I am not so interested in the price, but it is a bargain, but in the specific offerings.

Thanks,

Marne

cannot wait for Dailies and menus.

Marne

I sailed the one-of-a-kind 16-night Colonial America itinerary from Quebec City to Tampa on Norwegian Dawn in October 2012 (during Hurricane Sandy!) and it was sublime. It was my first longer-than-seven-night sailing, and initially I was worried about the length. I kept saying to myself: "Okay, it's like doing a 7-night, then another 7-night, and then an extra two days beyond that." :eek: But at the end of that 16-night cruise, I could have done it all again! :p

 

The quality of the experience comes from knowing you have more than enough time to do whatever you want. I bought the spa pass, and turned my daily trip to the gym into a 2-and-a-half hour spa experience. And that's the point, you have time to get into a rhythm. Sit-down breakfast in the MDR; long trip to the gym; afternoon coffee with live entertainment in the atrium; trip to the pool/hot tub (weather permitting), then dinner and a show, and drinks afterwards.

 

Of course, we had 10 ports of call on that cruise, so there was plenty of time off the ship as well, but what a wonderful way to really sink into an onboard experience. Give it a try! Oh, and I forgot: I was 45 on that sailing and my travel buddy was 52. I think we were the youngest people on the cruise. But lots of folks in their upper 50s and lower 60s. A chatty crowd. Lots of Canadians!

You hit the nail on the head. I always relax on a cruise, but knowing there is more than just "one Monday...Tuesday...", etc., gives the mental freedom to explore more of the ship and its offerings.

Just wish more of my friends understood this!

Have a blessed weekend and thank a soldier (retired or active duty).

Marne

Ref the links posted by CARIBILL:

 

It always amazes me that out 4,000 plus people, passengers and crew, on that ship the TV talking heads found two that complained about being confined to their cabins while sick. They wanted to run around the ship spreading the illness to other passengers.

 

I am surprised that they did not start off demanding two free cruises and chocolate cake due to the confinement.:rolleyes:

 

They don't realize how lucky there were. They had a warm cabin, visits from the medical staff and meals brought to them.

 

Bob

The media will be at the pier talking to anyone who will accomm0date them; however, they are selective on which passenger is aired. For example, when the Triumph returned to the US, major media was there. Hundreds of exiting passengers were asked about their trip. The overwhelming majority told of how everyone did their best to not only get along, but make the best of the situation. I call these folks "cruise people". To me cruise people just know how to have fun, never at another's expense, are open, friendly, middle class folks, who work hard and enjoy a cruise each year. The minute I heard about the system difficulty on the Triumph (which I have sailed many times) I knew what the cruise people would be doing! Cruise people upon learning about the loss of certain services (operational toilets and hot meals in the MDR) they would take the sheets off their beds, grab their beverage and head to the open decks to make their forts. Then they would taken their beverages and go check out other cruise peoples' forts and make even more friends. There will always be the haters, you know these people. They frequently are bitter about whatever is the matter at hand. Further, they are envious of the rest of us as we can almost always find a way to see a silver lining when we are served lemons. I feel sorry for those people.

It has been over two years since I sailed PCL (sadly) but I thought if you had a coffee card, it entitled you to free coffee pot brewed coffee. I did not buy the card nor coffee; however, fellow passengers told me that around May 2009. Anybody confirm or deny this?

Thanks

For recent Conquest passengers, I have a few questions:

• What time where you able to access your cabin? Usually it is after 1:30pm.
  
• What time did CCL start boarding passengers?
  
• What time did you arrive and how long would you estimate you were in the security line waiting to be screened?
  
• Do you have any 'lessons learned' you would care to pass on from your past cruises?
  
• When is your next cruise?
  

Thanks a bunch!!!

Taking my boy friend on his first cruise and want it to be perfect for him, since he is perfect!

Is the limit of 1 liter/adult enforced when returning into Galveston?

 

Is it cheaper to buy from the Duty Free ship board store, or a DF shop in Grand Cayman?

My experience has been one bottle over, which I declare, has never raised an eyebrow or resulted in an additional levy. Of course I always am respectful and try to tell a corny joke as I walk up. I am a Texas resident.

I think Cozumel is cheaper than CG; however CG is the best place to get the Tortuga cakes.

Does anyone know if you can still sneak alcohol in your suitcase?

CCL xrays luggage and if it looks like a bottle of alcohol they will remove I have been told. This sucks as we like specific wines (Opus, Mondavi Napa Valley, Gold Creek, David Bruce, etc.) which are not offered by CCL. We happily pay the corkage fee in the dining room in addition to purchasing many drinks, photos, excursions throughout the week--we are not trying to be 'cheap'.

Life is too short to drink bad wine. Read that on a tshirt years ago and it is true.

Some people say the rum runners (plastic flasks) get through about half of time.

Let me know if you are successfull, email is marnejameson at yahoo. Not my real name, duh! Happy cruisin'.

She was the last ship to sail into a US port that had a huge functioning fireplace, however, due to Coast Guard regulations, it was never fired up. Just loved to stand in front of the fire place and imagine what it must have been like years before to see the fireplace in its roaring glory.

This was a wonderful and intimate ship. Although she was a bit old by today's newer and flashier ships, the crew passionately give the best service I have ever experienced.