karatemom2

I wish they stayed open that late. Breakfast hours in the MDR are 7 - 9 am. Hence the reason we rarely make it even though we much prefer it to the buffet.

Yes, by the visitors' center - at least that was our experience. Then you are told how much time you have to hike through on your own before getting back onboard..

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Who is paying for the cruise? Are you and Mom splitting the cost? Since you really seem to want it so much, maybe you can cover the cost for the both of you and gift it to your Mom.

In my experience, when going for an individual massage, you check in at the front desk and they direct you to the ladies dressing room where there are lockers and showers. You are provided with a robe and slippers and can leave your clothes in the locker. You then go out and relax in a waiting area where they have infused water and tea and clipboards with a form they ask you to fill out and provide to your massage therapist who will come and collect you and take you to your treatment room. Very much like a doctors office. It was different with our couples massage - in that instance we were taken directly to our treatment room and undressed with our clothes set aside in the room. I didn't really like it as well - I prefer to be provided with a robe.

Yep, we don't keep getting those awesome "free" casino offers because they are losing money on the degenerate gambler that I married. : )

I never thought about it this way before, but you have a great point. I'm not a non drinker, but very light drinker, like maybe one glass of wine or one cocktail occasionally, and definitely not everyday. So on behalf of those like us, I thank you all! Seriously, these conversations are getting downright silly. It's becoming the new formal wear debate. It really is such a personal decision based on how you partake in your cruise - great for those who love it and get a great value, and not necessary for those who don't.- No debate needed. There are a lot of people who are probably appalled that my DH loves to plays Craps in the Casino. That's where a lot of his time and dollars go when we cruise, and I'm sure there are tons of people who think it's a waste of time and money. I don't really care. He loves it and we get great cruising benefits because of it. Thank goodness Princess is a cruise line that offers something for everyone - and hey, to all the nongamblers, you are similarly welcome that our donations at the Casino help keep costs down. Haha!

Not necessarily exotic but there is usually a duck dish or appetizer one night. Also we did find the had escargot on the menu again on our last cruise. I remember years ago when my kids were younger they had frog’s legs in the menu one cruise. They both insisted on ordering it over my protestations. It arrived looking as nauseating as I anticipated and they both changed their minds rather quickly. They both still love escargot, though.

The shows aren't a make or break for us in choosing, hence why we stick with Princess for other reasons. Overall Princess shows are just ok in general compared to some other lines we have been on. By far the best and most professional shows we have seen have been on NCL and Disney, but NCL really does it right. Their productions of Six, Choir of Man and Jersey Boys are top notch!

Yes, there will be holiday activities. Probably caroling and ginger bread house contest, special activities on kids club - maybe card or ornament crafts. The ship will be decorated and festive. Since you will be getting off before Christmas you probably won’t get the Santa experience but who knows? Usually that’s reserved for Christmas Eve or Day in our previous experience. But no doubt there will be some fun, Christmas themed activities.

It's not on the Lotus Spa menu of offerings. https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/wellness/lotus-spa-favorites-menu.pdf

It was all four years when we did our Hawaii cruise out of LA, first year was Diamond and subsequent three years on Golden. We had never seen them before and had no idea what they were! It just happens we met some fellow passengers onboard who had a daughter the same age as ours and we all became fast friends. They were also from CA, but Mom was raised in the UK and she explained the tradition to us with the crowns and jokes. We had a fine time at dinner sporting our tissue paper crowns and reading our silly jokes. And even better we remain friends with them to this day and our girls are all grown up. And Christmas Crackers have become a beloved part of our annual Christmas Eve tradition ever since!

Like I said I’m my initial post, it’s been a few years since we did a holiday cruise, but I would say in our experience people definitely were dressed more formally, especially on New Year’s Eve. Christmas Eve usually featured many special things - Christmas Crackers on everyone’s plates at dinner, caroling, a reading of the Night Before Christmas, Ugly Sweater contest, etc. And there are generally religious services as well, or at least there used to be.

Hank offers excellent advice. As he suggests, we usually do a combination of ship and private tours on our cruises depending on a number of factors - priority of what we want to see, time in port, types of tours offered (both ship tours and private) and of course cost. Planning is a big part of the fun for me as it offers months of anticipation and I get to learn about the ports as I plan. We did a Western Med cruise last summer and here are some examples. In Livorno (Florence) we did a private tour as we found a well reviewed company (Italy Tours) that offered exactly what we wanted and had a proven track record catering to cruise passengers. In Rome we wanted to fully maximize our day without worry about getting back to the ship so we opted for an expensive ship tour that covered our top priorities because that was a really important city for us and it was distant from port. In Barcelona where you port right at the city we fully did our own thing without any tour, but planned our own sightseeing day using our feet and taxis and purchasing our own entries to the attractions we wanted to see. Sometimes those end up being the best days. A great source for research is the Ports of Call board here; https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2-ports-of-call/ Happy planning!

No, not as of a few weeks ago on the Sky. We asked one of the waiters in the Vista lounge about it and it sounded from his response that there are no plans to bring them back. Even with COVID restrictions going away, they have probably figured out they were a great way to spread other things like Noro as well.

That’s kind of how it was on our Hawaii Christmas cruises. Decor started coming down the days after New Years and were gone by the time we disembarked and before next cruise started. We board December 30 so hoping to enjoy them for a few days before they come down. Jan 2 and 3 are both all day port days, so likely a good time for crew to do the dismantling process when the ship is quiet. it will just be fun to be back on for a holiday again. It’s been awhile!

Yes, we are on the same cruise and I was thinking the same thing wondering if the might use the turnaround day to remove decor. I hope not as well! Our other holiday trips all included Christmas and New Year’s, so in our experience the decor stayed up. But these are a different circumstances.

We cruised with Princess over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays several years in a row when our kids were younger, but it’s been about 10 years now since our last holiday cruise. We are booked on Discovery for the New Year’s segment and are just wondering from those with more recent experience if the Christmas decorations stay up through New Year’s and if they have any other activities going on beside the big party on New Year’s Eve. I’m guessing they might broadcast the Rose Parade and some football? Would love to hear from those if you with more recent experiences.

Be sure to note it when completing your online preferences prior to the cruise. There is a question about special occasions you are celebrating onboard.

Spa robes are a little more luxurious - thicker and warmer then the thin waffle weave robes in the cabin. They also are generally a little larger and longer. They are nice - didn’t know you could request one as an alternative. I might try that next cruise and see if it is doable but I have my doubts. They probably are the property of the spa company.

There is a disclaimer on the door stating that door and curtains must be kept closed at night but it is not at all enforced in our experience. We have had these forward cabins on four different cruises now on two different ships, and the doors were never locked and we had no issue using our balcony on sea days. We like to keep our cabin door slightly open at night for the fresh air and never had a problem with that either. Fortunately we experienced calm seas and good weather on all of our cruises where we had forward balconies.

We have been in the similar cabin on both Royal and Discovery just one floor up on Lido deck. They are amazing. We actually have M103 booked next summer on the Sky for our Land of the Midnight Sun cruise. The size of the balcony and the stunning full panorama views provided are so worth it. If it was very windy it could be problematic but that’s true of any balcony cabin. You will not regret booking - we are hooked on these forward facing balconies!

If you stay in Marseilles I would highly recommend a boat trip out to Chateau D’If and a visit to Notre Dame De La Guarde. Both very worthwhile.

It is a long walk - probably at least 20 - 30 minutes. Better option is to grab a taxi or take a water taxi. The land taxi will have you there in 5 minutes. Water taxi takes a little longer but it’s a nice ride - you have to jump out in the water though.

Just off the Sky a couple of weeks ago - we paid $2 for bottled water, $2 for fountain soda, and $2.50 for cans of soda.

They were a big part of why we enjoyed our LA to Hawaii cruises that we did for a number of years over the Christmas holidays. They still work with Princess and I believe they will be doing the Hawaii sailings on the Crown out of San Francisco this season.