Nobbi
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Posts posted by Nobbi
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Complete RCCL newbie here. I was checking on a 2025 June cruise and the unlimited dining came out to $55 per night. Given that the individual charges are not much higher, what is the advantage of the package, even if you went every night? I think I'm missing something important. If this is covered somewhere else, please forgive and refer me there.
Thanks
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52 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:
While Princess was rebranding Club Class Mini to Reserve Collection Mini, could they not have renamed those cabins as "not suites".....
I know you @Nobbiknow...but many, many others don't.
Hello! You know me. Faboo. Let me know from where! hugs!
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Thank you all for all that great info!
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I was looking for a club class mini-suite for a freind to accompany us on a cruise on which we have a full suite so we can dine together. For our cruise I does not show up as such. Instead it says there is a Reserve Collection Mini-Suite. It describes an exclusive dining area featuring expedited seating with no wait, expanded menu options which sounds exactly like a club class mini suite.Is this the same thing with a new name? If anyone knows, please let me know.
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19 hours ago, san diego sue said:
The last time we were on the Diamond was 2012. It was for 35 days and we loved the ship. We were traveling with 4 other couples.Part of cruising is who you are with and the fun times experienced
with our friends. So even with the negative comments , I know our cruise coming up will be lots of fun.We are going to be traveling with three other couples (one of whom we met for the first time on the Diamond in 2012 and have been cruising with them ever since.). Since cruising started again, we have been on 6 cruises. yes, we noticed cutbacks on food , but we aren't foodies so not a big deal for us.
Elite benefits have been cut but that isn't why we cruise Princess . Won't be doing a live from the ship but if the internet allows , will come back here and comment.Last few cruises I had trouble posting on Cruise Critic.
Good for you! This is our 9th cruise since post-covid cruises started. We did Crystal Bahamas in June 2021, Viking Ocean Iceland in the fall, Virgin Voyages Caribbean last Thanksgiving, Princess West Coast in December, NCL Haven Mexican Riviera in Feb 2022, Princess Mexican Riviera in April, Princess Alaska in May, DCL Caribbean in September. There were no issues on any of the ships. And this voyage has had so many, not just for us, but worse ones for other guests. As I said before, we will continue to cruise Princess as Elites. But it is the first timers I would be worried about.
Enjoy all your voyages, SDS.
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UPDATE 11/26/2022
Well, it actually hit us also. Toilet overflowing today, last day before debarkation. Flush doesn't work. Apparently from top to 7 in Aft per our steward. However, they did fix the mess within 45 mi.
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I am so sorry. I posted it but the internet aboard has not been good.
I would like to add that this info goes into some picky first world details as well as some not so pleasant things. This is my first cruise as Elite. My two travel mates will both be Elite after this cruise. All three of us love Princess and will return. However, if this had been my first ever on this line, I would have never booked again.
Here it goes.....
The Diamond was the first cruise ship I was ever on. It was in 2006, a Mexican Riviera cruise. That’s when I fell in love with cruising. It was prior to the “renovation”. So I was excited to sail on her again to Mexico, but on a new itinerary which went to Loreto and La Paz.
Embarkation was not great. The Port of San Diego is a mess. The Disney Wonder was there at the same time and passengers were intermingled. Where we had to go was a somewhat chaotic puzzle. (As DCL Platinum Castaway Key members, we love the DCL ship. In fact, by our clothing and back packs, one would have thought we were getting onto the wrong ship.)
Once through security checks, there were only two lanes, based on a color on the App. There was no extra line for Elite and/or Suite guests. (I was both). Because this voyage was severely capacity controlled, it did not take an eternity to get aboard.
Aboard the ship, I had the following experiences. I will enumerate them by categories:
Restaurants
Sterling Steak House
OMG! It is located in the Horizon Court. At the table we were first seated, we felt as if under interrogation with the spotlights shining on us. But we were able to get seated at another table. It had been difficult to get a later reservation, but while we were there, many tables were empty. The food was good, the ambiance was terrible. We have been to many Princess Steak Houses, and this was subpar due only to the location.
Sabatinis
An Italian Restaurant run by Ukrainian women. Now, the staff was very friendly but severely overworked. Food service was extremely slow. And we love 4 hours lunches. Water was not refilled. Beverage service took forever, and the wine server had no clue about wine. When I ordered a bottle from their wine list, he did not know what I ordered until I showed him on paper. Then he told me he would bring it, if they had it.
Antipasti were good. Pasta was good 2 out of 3. No extra parmesan was offered as would be usual.
Secondi were not good. The seafood packet was the “worst seafood” our friend had so far in comparison to the steak house and the club class lunch. My veal was tough, and the mushrooms tasted like dish soap or motor oil. I had our tablemate check, and she confirmed.
Deserts were mixed. I had the “Chef’s Special” which was small portions of all 4 offerings. When served, there was no explanation of what was what. The panna cotta was superbly executed. (This dish sends chefs in competitions home.) The Zabaglione was good. The tiramisu presentation was just strange. I have no way to describe it. The mini-Rocher was good, very chocolatey. But the large single desert version was bizarre. It has strange bread in it. Not a cake-like bread/brownie-type, but just dry bread.
There was neither grappa nor limoncello available.
However, the suite breakfast offered there with the same Ukrainian staff was very nice. The service was great. The eggs benedict were a little over.
Kai Sushi
Dining credits are not accepted in this restaurant despite being a “specialty restaurant”. The servers, like most on board, are friendly but not trained. There were 2 different shochu on the menu. When I asked, how the two differed, she told me what shochu was made from repeatedly. After I kept asking the same question over and over again, she told me she had not tasted them. When I asked if anyone could answer this question, there was silence. I gave up and told her to bring me one. It was very mild and had almost no flavor. Also, there were no Japanese beers available despite two being listed on the app menu and one on the paper menu. I can understand not having some Vietnamese or Korean or Ethiopian beers available, but Japanese beers are everywhere to be had in California.
Guest Services
I stood in line at guest services. There were two elderly women before me at the Suite/Elite Counter. The other counters were busy. I decided to wait for the special counter as there were folks in officer uniforms there, and I assumed they would have more knowledge. Well, I was mistaken. I asked about the Elite tender embarkation for Elites. Since I was travelling with two others who were only this cruise away from Elite status, could we use that, or would it be only available to me? After typing vigorously on the computer and perusing the Princess Patter and finally making a phone call, I was told that in this case, it would be ok since there were not many Elites on board. Ask as simple question, it takes 10 minutes to get an answer. I also reported our cabin water problem (see below).
Cabin
We have the Cannes /suite, the second largest on board. The sink has no cold water, the shower has no hot water. The somewhat warm water turns to tepid, then to ice cold. I called guest services the first morning of the cruise (Day 2). They referred me to our cabin steward whom I have yet to see in person. He told me he would take care of it. Morning #2 (Day 3), no change. When I told guest services, he investigated it and said no report had been filed. This was the one who needed time to answer the tender question. On the morning of day 4, I received a call asking if the water issue had been fixed. No. That evening I had a voice message to see if it had been fixed. It had not. I did not bother calling and was too lazy to run down to guest services. On Day 5 I ran into another passenger at the Izumi (more to come about this below.) He told me how he woke up in the middle of the night (3 am) to the sound of water rushing. He stepped out of the bed and was ankle deep in ice cold water. It had come from the toilet. Later that day I spoke with a woman whose toilet had also backed up. She reported it, and nothing was done. Two days later her bathroom flooded.
Spa
The lockers in the changing room were mostly stuck in the locked position though they were all open and filled with robes and slippers. What was nice were the changing rooms which had Sauna and Steam Rooms Europeans style. No clothing needed. Although I did see a man with regular shorts, shirt, and sneakers sitting in it! Later into the cruise, I was using a locker that appeared to be in order. The lock worked. As I was retrieving my items, an attendant informed me that is was broken. I showed him how the lock was functional. To my surprise, the door could be opened while locked because the previous day, the crew had broken the latch by force to open it. When I asked why they did not use the key to open it, he said their key did not work.
The Thermal suit in the Spa had the usual heated lounges, but they were not heated.
I had booked a Men’s Grooming with Hair Cut online as I always do on cruises. I love the One Spa (former Steiner Spa) treatments. My stylist was a wonderful woman from SA. It was her first cruise contract. She had had a salon in her hometown, but due to a bad economy, she decided to do the cruise ship gig. Her hair cut, overall demeanor, and execution was lovely. However, the shave itself was not to the normal standard. One of my travel mates had booked a Fire & Ice Manicure. Not only did she get a standard manicure, but the manicurist told her that gratuities were not included. She added her standard 20%, but when she checked with Spa Manager, this erroneous fact got rectified by an appropriate credit.
The Lotus Pool, which was ice cold, had only one of the hot tubs working one day. The next day, both were roped off. We were in port both days and there was no bad weather.
I had an acupuncture session and the doc recommended I do a steam before going to bed. As the Izumi had the men on the side without the steam room, and the thermal suite steam was not very hot, I wanted to go to the men’s changing room. The spat closes at 10 pm. As I entered I was told that the changing closes at 8 pm because it had to be cleaned.
Izumi
The Izumi bath over all was wonderful. A reason to be on this ship again. I love being unclothed in a spa. However, the facilities were not in working order. On some days the jacuzzis with bubbles were not working. The steam room was cold. The waterfall showers which had warning signs about hot water were cold. Several guests asked for refunds and received them.
A special note on the pastry chef. Apparently, he likes bread. At Sabatinis the Rocher chocolate ball had bread in it. One of my desserts at our Santa Fe Club class dinners had a strange pink decoration which I thought was some type of raspberry thing. It was pink colored bread. Our chocolate soufflé at Thanksgiving dinner also had the consistency of dark bread. It sounds bizarre and it was.
Facit:
The main problem here is hardware/engineering with water issues, poor logistics with products not being on board, and extremely poor staff training as well as understaffing, all fault of corporate.
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The roll call does not reflect reality. I am posting a separate thread.
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Thank you, both!
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Sorry if this is a lame question, but I searched it on CC as well as on the Princess website but could not find an answer. We have been on several larger Princess ships in a suite where we had a concierge lounge. The Diamond which I booked because I love the older configuration has suites, of course. But I cannot figure out if it has a concierge lounge and if so, where it is located. I would appreciate any insights from fellow cruise critics!
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We will be on the Diamond in November 2022. I can't find the thermal suite on the deck plans. Is it the Japanese bath? (Izumi). They offer it online. I am in a full suite. I read earler that these are free for full suite passengers. Enclave on larger ships (Majestic) was not free for full suite passenger. Please help with info.
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On 8/25/2021 at 11:40 AM, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:
Yes. When I first got their email, I ignored it. Then a day or two later I came on Cruise Critic and asked the same question you asked. I decided it would be worth the extra money to pay extra to have safer seats (more separation, Covid) and a better chance of actually sleeping on the 6 hour nonstop flight. Several people responded, saying they had bid and won; several people said they bid and lost. One helpful person told me that rebids were allowed. I decided to try hard to win upgrades, and bid somewhere in, but not far in, the green bid zone. (I'm sorry, I can't remember actual amount). I also looked on Icelandair's website to see how many Saga seats were available, and where they were. Only 1 seat showed up as available, although I have no idea if this was the real number of un-booked seats or just some number the computer uses to hasten people along in the booking process!
I really didn't think we'd win the seats because we needed two, and the site says you must bid for all people on your ticket (i.e., you can't just bid for one person if two are on the same ticket). At the time I bid, it didn't look like two seats were available, and Icelandair in general didn't have all that many Saga seats, so I figured we'd end up in economy.
The site says you may have to wait until the day of the flight to learn of an upgrade, but we got notice we'd won at least a day before the day of our flight. But the seats weren't assigned until we got to the airport. My spouse's ended up being in what one person called the "King's Chair" - with aisles on both sides of him. I was in a seat across the aisle from him, with someone next to me in the window seat, separated by a stationary armrest. (See my scary photo).
Saga Class is, I guess, not quite as cushy as some other airlines' business class, but it did provide more room, a quieter, more private & experience, and food - fairly good (but cold) nicely seasoned chicken skewers and a few other nibbles for dinner, including a cute tiny "hamburger" tiraisu. The meal was served soon after we got up to cruising altitude. I don't drink, and I did little besides sleep, so I can't tell you more about what they offered to those who weren't so anxious to go to sleep. All in all, it was a nice experience. We had traveled on Icelandair twice before, and found it an adequate airline, despite the fact that it's budget. But if you're in economy, be aware that food is usually not provided, only offered for purchase on board.
Good luck!
Greetings!
At first I booked us United Polaris flights from SFO via EWR to KEF. It was RT $6000+ pp.
So I changed to UA SFO-JFK and then FI JFK-KEF. That second leg RT was only a little munder $3500 RT/PP in Saga. And yes, it not lie flat. But the price is so good. And the flight is not that long. Why take the chance with bidding for upgrades?
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My husband and I have taken many cruises. We especially like TATLs. We have been mostly on Disney, followed by Princess & Cunard. Recently we have explored other lines (NCL & RCI). We will be doing our first Viking Ocean Cruise next month.
We have taken 2 Crystal TATLs, one on each ship. Our first experience late in 2009 was amazing. I was afraid of stuffy folks, and that was so not the case. People were very friendly. But I have to add that we have NEVER had any issues being a gay couple on any cruise.
I found the food the beast so far on any cruise line. The service was excellent though I have had better service on Disney. Our second experience was a few years ago. This time we found the passengers to be very "Republican". There was no homophobic behavior, but it was more difficult to find people with common world views.
Recently we have started to cruise with a group of friends we met on prior Disney cruises. Prices have gone up so we are trying other lines. This way we have friends we know on board but can also do things by ourselves.
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My husband Jack and I will be on this cruise with a whole bunch of straight friends from the US and the UK whom we met on Disney TATLs. We will be happy to meet all the LGBT folks aboard! Our first ever NCL. We have done Disney, Princess, Cunard, and Crystal. We love sea days.;p
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As a frequent cruiser from Germany and the US (California), my husband and I have taken all three Queens as well as Disney, Princess, Cunard, and Crystal across the Atlantic. We have never had any issues with other passengers or dinner table mates. If a couple of old queens have not had problems, the two of you will be fine. And at 53 I still wear speedos.
Honestly, the worst thing on Cunard is the bland British food. I wish we were there on your crossing. But, alas, we are doing the late May crossing to NY.
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Jack & I will be on the WBTA! See you all then!
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Not a good piece of work. The LGBT meetings have always been well attended. But then as a gray haired, bearded, "older" man, I would have been ignored by the twink.
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We are a gay couple and have never ever had any issues with passengers or crew on DCL, Cunard, Crystal, or Princess. On one of the Disney TATLs we met the most wonderful trans woman. She was not having any issues. You would be surprised how accepting folks are in personal settings despite their politics, religion, etc.
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With the exception of the casino...you're good to go with everything else.
Sent from my iPhone using Forums
I totally agree with this. We sleep late, sometimes do breakfast. I go to the sauna/spa. Sit in the adult outside area and relax, read, drink. On DCL we do lunch either at the buffet or one of the dining rooms. They have cooking demos, wine tasting, mixology seminars, movies in the Buena Vista Theater. Trivia contests. Dance lessons. Great broadway style evening shows. On the longer cruises they often have celebrities. Once we had Charo. Once Jeremy Jordan.
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My husband & I have done 17 Disney cruises, mostly the long ones (TATL, Panama Canal, HI). We love it. Kids are segregated away. We have made many straight friends from the US, the UK, Germany as well as some gay friends. DCL is very gay friendly. We have never made any negative experiences. We now even have some Republican friends! LOL! I can only recommend DCL highly.
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We will be on the Ruby in a few days. When I found out about SHARE I was very excited. I'm a big foodie. I watch Top Chef Masters. I love Curtis Stone. I'm hoping it will deliver. I find the food on cruise ships very mediocre. They generally cater to a mid-American (as in mid west) and/or British palate. And it is mass produced for thoudands. For example, I find the food aboard Cunard some of the worst, even in Queen's Grill and their specialty venues. I'm glad Princess is having something different than Steak and Pasta. All that said, I look forward to trying this restaurant so I can join the discussion with my own critique.
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As a European I have always worn a speedo. At almost 50, I still find men in culottes look ridiculous--in and out of water. I actually prefer wearing nothing in the water, but alas that's rarely possible in the US.
We frequently cruise DCL and have never had an issue with speedos. But then I don't wear them on formal night! :p
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My spouse and I will be flying to JNU next weekend. (I am a member of the Flyertalk community where I originally learned about this site!!! :) :) :) ) Another Flyertalker, a local, has invited us to the Twisted Fish.
It's so nice to see the great reviews here. It just reinforces my belief in our family community!
I'm glad to be a newbie member of the cruisecritic family. :D
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Hi, I'm new to this board! I'll be going on my first cruise this October (The RSVP Mexican Riviera cruise) with our housemate and my second next May 2007 (The RSVP QM2 Atlantic crossing) with my partner. Can't wait! :)
Current Unlimited Dining and Deluxe Drink Package Pricing Harmony
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
Thank you so much. I appreciate your advice!