jsmac3

Thanks for sharing!

I hope Randy's Happy Horses has survived.

Just offering another perspective here - We cruised the Med last fall also. My parents have sailed there several times over the years, so they have experience with cruise lines. We have lived in Europe and travelled there as a young family, but are new to cruising.

 

My parents flew using EZAir and it was only because of their booking that they arrived on time to the ship and the luggage was delivered the next port. Their original flight at ORD had mechanical difficulties and they called EZAir. EZAir/Delta re-reouted them, but their luggage was not able to join them at that point.However they were delivered at the next port. My parents swear by booking with the cruise line, and my Dad said it was competitively priced. They say it is too far to go to lose luggage or miss the ship. It makes sense! My husband and I used air mileage, and packed in carry-ons(Pinterest helped me pack!) ;)

 

The other passengers whose luggage did not join them were stuck shopping in European shops where the women are Size Zero.

You have a valid point. It was comforting to know both coming and going to Europe that Princess would provide us with some assistance if we missed any of our flights. And if I was flying in on the day of cruise, I'd most certainly use EZAir.

I imagine most flights booked with Princess work out fine.

The thing I liked best - we used a future cruise deposit of $100 to hold both the cruise and the air fare until final payment date.

My understanding was (and still is) that if you pay for the flight when you book it, you're booked on the flights you've chosen and they can't move you. You get the confirmation number and can go to the airline's website and get your airline issued ticket number so you're confirmed (and depending on the airline, pay to pick your seats, etc.). I think the issue comes in with people who book flexible and leave off paying until they have to, by which time Princess may not have tickets for the flight you wanted.

 

Of course, I'm not an expert and I trust that if I'm wrong I will be corrected (gently please, its early and the caffine hasn't kicked in yet ;)).

Honestly, I am not sure how it works. We booked flexible air paid for the air and cruise when it was due and then 3 weeks before the cruise we received an email about the change. Happened to several on our Mediterranean cruise. What was most irritating while we were in the Barcelona airport we talked with a couple that were on our original flights.

I may be wrong, but I believe flexible means just that - your flights may be changed - but I've only done Princess Air once.

We used Princess EZAir for our Mediterranean cruise out of Venice last November. Payment wasn't due until final payment (cruise & air).

We had what we thought were great flights scheduled until about three weeks before departure when Princess, the airlines, or someone changed our flights to less than favorable flights.

There were also problems with our tickets and we were caught up in the loop of calling Princess and them telling us to call Delta and Delta telling us to call Air France and so on - finally someone at Princess corrected it.

I'm not sure I'd use Princess Air again.

Interesting;) Do you have a choice of which Tequila you can get? My experience with ordering pitchers is the bartender uses house Tequila, which is not 100% agave.

I did not think to negotiate - in fact, one of the waiters prepared our pitcher which I carried back to our cabin.

We also bought a pitcher of sangria while on the Miracle - had the waitress bring it to our table in the MDR.

Trying to get a review of the British Isles cruise that the Ruby Princess is doing this year. Can't seem to find one. New itinerary or new ship doing the itinerary? Any help locating this would be great.

 

Thanks :)

Have you looked back to last summer? The Ruby did British Isles cruises during the summer and then moved to the Med in the fall?

Last March on the Miracle a pitcher was $25 - available either on the Lido and the bar just outside the MDR.

I believe they also had a pitcher for $25 on the Legend but only at the Lido bars.

I believe the Legend is in dry dock right now. We were on the Legend for its January 4th sailing and the old menus were still being used. I assume the new menus will be offered when it comes out of dry dock.

If the schedule is similar to what it has been in the past, I recommend taking one of the final cruises in November. We took the final grand med cruise last year on November 17th. The weather is cooler, the crowds are gone, and the price can go way down.

Drawback - it can be chilly and rainy.

And if you can work it, take the TA back to Fort Lauderdale.

We've cruised on Spirit class ships 8 times and all of those were in an extended balcony on the upper (5th) deck up front. It was never too windy to sit on the balcony.

It has been my experience during our last 5 or 6 cruises that there are always vacant tables for 2 during the late seating. This was true on the Pride, Spirit, Miracle, and Legend. In fact, during our last three cruises we have been seated at one of the booth type tables for four by ourselves.

So, I'm thinking a table for two is no problem - at least during the late seating.

We always email the maitre'd a couple of weeks before sailing and request a specific table - one of the booths, and our request has always been honored.

I am thinking your observations about the upcoming changes to the MDR are on target.

During our January 4th cruise on the Legend, we discussed the changes with one of the ship's officers and he used the term "casual dining" when describing the end state of the Carnival dining experience.

Carnival is replacing the traditional deserts many cruisers are fond of with four varieties of "pies".

VIFP = Very Important Fun Person.

The best thing about the Miracle is it is a Spirit class ship - excellent layout and not too crowded.

Maybe just a tad too much purple.

That had nothing to do with flexible vs. restricted - once you're past the 45-day cutoff, there's no difference. Are you sure it wasn't something with the airlines changing something that affected your connections?

 

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I don't really know and it probably wouldn't have been a touchy subject had we not met a couple at the Barcelona airport that was travelling on our original flight.

Before the flight, we fell into the black hole of being told to call and bouncing back and forth between Delta, Princess, and/or Air France - it took 1 1/2 weeks for me to find someone at Princess that would issue the proper ticket receipt.

I did learn that whenever you buy a ticket from any source other than the airline itself, there are many ins and outs depending on the contract between the airline and original purchaser of the ticket - in this case Princess.

We booked flexible air from Kansas City to Venice and Barcelona to Kansas City for our November Grand Mediterranean cruise. We were able to select seats 9 months out and we had two great flights KC to JFK to Venice and Barcelona to JFK to KC.

Three weeks before departure everything changed. We still had our flights to JFK but then it was to Paris and then Venice. And on the return flight, it was a 955am flight from Barcelona to Paris to Atlanta To Kansas City which meant we were off the ship at 615am.

One reason flexible air is less expensive is they can and sometimes do move you to less convenient flights.

We've done all three. We like Carnival MDR food the best, Princess buffet food the best and NCL is third in both categories. We also prefer Carnival's buffet operation over Princess'. On Carnival you can get your own drinks in the buffet while Princess has servers - and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. Also it seems as though when Princess began building larger ships the size of the buffet are remained the same.

We will give the new MDR menus a chance.

We were on the January 4th sailing of the Legend and weren't able to dock at Mahogany Bay. I actually thought we had docked - we were alongside the dock but they made an announcement they were unable to dock for safety reasons and we left. It was stormy there anyway.

I have never seen anyone wearing shorts in the steakhouse. I have seen lots of people wearing jeans and shirt. On the Miracle repositioning last March, we saw people wearing T-shirts in the steakhouse both times we ate there. I was really surprised.

The Pride is a wonderful ship. We have taken four cruises on her. I believe its max number of passengers is around 2,400 so it never seems crowded. It also has a wonderful layout - easy to find your way around and one of my favorite things - it never seems as though you have to wait very long for an elevator.

The Sun Deck is our favorite area for sunning and walking.

If you can, try David's - the steakhouse.

You can remain on the ship until they make the announcement for everyone to leave which will probably be between 10 and 1030am.

I have been told to leave more than a few times.

Unfortunately, you may have made a common error. Self-quarantine is good, but not reporting it to medical can cause two problems

 

1> Even if you order jello, etc via room service, they don't take cross contamination precautions. If you go get it yourself, you are shedding the virus.

 

2> More importantly, if the crew is not aware, they don't take the necessary steps to sanitize your cabin beyond the norm, which can result in the next cruisers getting affected.

 

If you are experiencing GI symptoms it is VITAL to consult with medical.

Also, I believe if you report your symptoms and are confined to your cabin, you are eligible for reimbursement from your travel insurance for those days you are confined.

Lobster Bisque

Crab Cake or Escargot

Lobster Ravioli or Surf and Turf

Cheesecake or ice cream - depending on flavor

And I always seem to be served the mini-burger.

We were on the Legend week before last - I don't recall any music being played at the Serenity area at night.