jsmac3

This was my 12th Princess cruise and this was the first time I've seen a seafood buffet. We were surprised to see it offered and went up there to look before opting out of the MDR that evening.

I seem to recall (from Cruise Critic) that when the Caribbean Princess was new, it featured a seafood buffet in addition to the regular buffet . . . it was to the rear of the horizon court where the crab shack is nowadays. The seafood buffet went away fairly quickly and I'm not sure when the crab shack began operating.

Do you happen to remember what night the seafood buffet was?

I checked the patters and the seafood buffet was the evening of the Edinburg (Queensferry) stop . . . in the patters it is called Neptune's Buffet. It is in the Horizon Court from 530pm until 11pm - no charge and self-serve.

We ate there instead of the MDR because the only thing that interested us on the MDR menu that evening was the goat cheese soufflé.

Just read your review of your trip and really enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

Thank you, we had a wonderful time.

Hi everyone, I am the OP and am so happy to have received so much useful information. Thank you all!!

 

Another other question: which side for the BI cruise--port or starboard? Or does it matter?:)

I would say starboard - especially as you cruise past the Northern Coast of Scotland . . . there is some very beautiful scenery that you can see nearly all day on the first sea day . . . of course from the port side you can also get a great view of Orkney Island and the other islands. You can also see the white cliffs of Dover on the 2nd sea day from the starboard side. This might change if your cruise stops at Kirkwall.

And of course, I don't really know what was visible from the port side.

We are on the Carrbbean Princess July 7 British Isle cruise. What port did you dock in Dublin? Was it the Port of Dublin or Dún Laoghaire ?

It was the Port of Dublin.

Thank you all so much for your replies and advice. Great, comprehensive, and pertinent information. I really appreciate it. I'm getting excited to look into this cruise further, even though it's a long way in the future! :)

Start/Join a roll call for your cruise and it will be here before you know it . . . 400+ days can go by very quickly when you are chatting with your fellow cruisers regularly.

We just returned from a British Isles cruise on the Caribbean Princess. . .

I would book my own flights, hotel, and transportation. I would book my own flights because sometimes EZAir will change your flights. The hotel, transportation, and tours because it is all so easy. You have a long time and access to a roll call here and all the helpful people with lots of great ideas.

London and nearly all these ports have the hop-on-hop-off buses which make touring so easy.

We're elite for the first time soon and the info says we get "upgraded" bathroom amenities. What exactly does this mean? Do we get a different "make" of shampoo etc or something else?

Thanks

We were in a window suite and had "upgraded" amenities which were the Princess Lotus Spa shampoo, body gel, conditioner, and lotion. They were in individual containers so that is what I am assuming "upgraded" means.

Thanks for the information, appreciate it...I am on the July 7th sailing!

You are welcome . . . enjoy your cruise . . . we had a great time . . . I wrote a review but it hasn't posted for some reason . . . we are planning on returning for more time in Ireland and Scotland . . .

Most of the time, we opt for a port side cabin . . . we did sail out of Fort Lauderdale on the Grand during December in a starboard cabin and the Miami skyline was quite scenic. Of course, if you're up early returning to port, you should be able to see the same.

How was the weather on this British Isle cruise?

It rained most of the day at Guernsey and most of the day at LeHavre/Paris but was quite good the rest of the cruise. It was always cool near the docks and a bit windy requiring a light jacket but inland it warmed up and a good deal of the time I wore shirt sleeves . . . at sea, it was quite windy and brisk whenever on the promenade.

We spent three days in London prior to the cruise and it rained one day - we were pleased with the weather. There were several days I would have been comfortable in shorts . . .

Hi

 

Do not have menus but have found them to normal Princess fare,

 

with may be one night with a UK theme per week,

 

yours Shogun

Just off the Caribbean Princess last week . . . our waiters told us the menus were changed after leaving Houston . . . probably to reflect more European tastes . . . seemed to be less starters . . . scallops offered every night it seemed . . . sorry, didn't think to take photos of menus.

I agree. With the British Isles being such a port intensive itinerary we had room service 7 of the 12 nights.. And breakfast delivered every day except one sea day that we ate in Sabatini's :D

We made it to Sabatini's twice . . . the same young lady delivered our breakfast every day (except debarkation) . . . her name was Irmya and she was from the Ukraine. She would track down anything we requested - she was great.

Debarkation day we had another guy . . . the order wasn't correct and he forgot the tablecloth.

Thanks! We are leaning to F305.

After 12 days in F305 and with all the suite benefits associated with it, my favorite thing that comes to mind first is the location, it is convenient to everything . . . except the buffet . . . but with expanded room service who needs the buffet?

Ok guys, I've been talking to dh and now I'm confused.

 

From what I've read, F305 seems like a better location (away from Churchill's smoke, slamming door). Should we switch from F303 to F305? Those bad pictures scared me but now I'm wondering what to do?

I'm thinking either is fine . . . we never noticed any cigar or cigarette smoke odor and I never heard the door slam.

F305 is more centrally located . . . very few people use the central door because it is very heavy . . . we always exited toward the piazza.

I go on it July 19th. However, two people that were just in the suite have both stated unequivocally that the room bears no resemblance to what was in the pictures. When I called about our upsell and she asked me to pick which of the three remaining suites I asked her which one she would pick and mentioned the review. She said she would actually pick F305 because the complaints had been thoroughly addressed ... so, we did.

We were in F305 on the May 20th sailing and the cabin was spotless. The cabin steward, Danilo, was very good and it stayed that way.

We were on the May 8th British Isles cruise. We saw nothing that looked like that. My wife is a nurse and would have been in someone's face to get that fixed. Evidently someone else must have because my wife even commented on how clean the room was. And she is one very hard person to impress when it comes to cleanliness..

We were in F305 on the May 20th British Isles Cruises and didn't see anything like that either. . . and I'm glad we didn't see those photographs prior to the cruise. My wife also commented on how clean the room was. We loved that cabin.

I believe Homewood Suites in Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood offers what you're looking for . . .

Just introduce yourself and begin posting.

I have several questions as a first time guest on Princess.

 

This is our vacation and we want to see as much as we can since we don't know when we will get back to these places. With that said, we also want to balance our trip with relaxation so we don't need a vacation from our vacation before we return to work. So here are my questions:

 

Is a balcony room worth the expense? At first thought we realize we won't be spending much time in our room, but seeing the sea and sights (when near land) from the privacy of my room in my pj's appeals to me.

 

Are the excursions that require 2-4 hours of travel on busses/trains worth all of that time spent getting to/from? Seems like Berlin and Paris are the two places we are wanting to get to on this itinerary.

 

Recommendations on ship excursions vs. private excursion vendors?

 

If we book a balcony room are there any recommendations on deck and placement on ship?

 

Is the optional dining that costs extra worth the expense?

 

Any additional comments, suggestions, tips, etc. are welcome! Thanks all!

I don't think it is necessary to have a balcony but I enjoy some sort of view . . . I don't believe I would be happy without a balcony on a Caribbean cruise but Northern European, an ocean view or some sort of obstructed view cabin would be fine. Others love inside cabins preferring to use the savings for more cruises. Depending on a lot of factors you won't use a balcony on a European cruise (especially northern) nearly as much as you would in a warmer climate.

I personally like the excursions that travel farther from the ship - I enjoy seeing the countryside . . . most European countryside is like a postcard and I never tire of it.

I believe the optional dining venues are worth it only if there isn't anything on the MDR menus that interests you or you can't find something in the buffet.

I normally book Princess sponsored excursions on the longer excursions because if you are on a 8.5 - 9 hour excursion the chances are higher you may be late. I have been on several (Rome, Florence, Coba) where the ship waited on us.

The odds of a private excursion returning you to the ship are very small, but things happen . . . I prefer not to worry.

You can save significantly - however, beware of private tour operators wanting payment in advance. There is some brouhaha on the Caribbean Princess now as a port was canceled and the tour operator only returned 1/2 of everyone's prepaid fare. Maybe by now things have changed.

We normally book a balcony forward on the Baja deck and a mini-suite forward on the Dolphin deck - port side.

Hopefully this is helpful.

If you are unable to change your flight into MSP and you don't have much time to get to your gate here is one suggestion thst might help. MSP seems to have a lot of "carts" and the drivers are quick to offer you a ride. Should be easy to get one.

Thanks for the advice.

I agree, originally there was almost 1 1/2 hours between flights but there has been a change. I believe I will check with Delta.

I am flying into MSP from Kansas City on Delta. I have a little bit less than an hour to make an international connection on Delta to London Heathrow. I don't know anything about gates yet. The Delta people assure me this should be no problem. Any words of advice on this?

Shogun:

I'm glad I caught you on this thread. I have a couple of questions. We are on the May 20th Caribbean Princess sailing of the British Isles. I have always imagined that when I visited Scotland I would buy a bit of cloth with the McDonald plaid or tartar pattern as a souvenir and perhaps a McDonald family crest. I imagine however, there are many patterns . . .can you improve my knowledge - I'm not interested in a kilt or anything but would like a souvenir from where my ancestors came from.

I prefer to buy something at Edinburgh which is where my ancestors are from.

Jerry

Now I see this Maitre'd email thing. Contacting that person has been a common thread amongst all paths. Every method has stated that that person would get a request. Had I seen that possibility earlier, I would have cut out the middle man and asked directly.

I do not know if I will have success. I know this much: It is good to read read read read.... and then act.

This Maitre'd email thing has been working for us for at least 8 years. A Maitre'D on the Spirit gave us the email and told us how to change it for different ships. We usually request the same table by number (on Spirit class ships - late seating) about 2 weeks before sailing. Sometimes we receive a response, sometimes not, but we always get the table we requested.

We request a booth for 4 by the Maitre'D station and have it to ourselves. Service is always good by the Maitre'D station.

And during late seating, there always seem to be many vacant tables for 2.