highheel girl

Just wondering.... Will princess notify you once cabin is assigned or do you just have to keep checking?

Usually you have to watch yourself.

Is your booking through a TA or Princess?

We are taking a 10 night Alaska cruise on the Golden Princess this July. It will be my parents, me, my husband and our 2 children. My husband and I prefer to eat dinner later (6:30 or 7:00) while my parents like to eat at 5:00 or 5:30. My parents would like for us all to dine together every night and we have a spot at the 5:30 seating in the MDR. I should add that my parents cruise quite a bit (mostly on HAL) and they like the MDR. I would like to try the anytime dining. My parents will probably not want to eat much later than 6:00, so I was hoping to try to eat at 6:00 each night in anytime dining. I keep reading about long waits for anytime dining and that you have to go early or late to even get in. Having to wait a long time for a table will not make my parents happy. Can anybody share experiences of anytime dining and what I might be looking at as far as wait times, etc. I do have us wait listed for a 6:00 slot in the MDR but we are currently #33 so I am not sure if we will clear that or not. Thanks so much for any advice!!

If you are not happy with the dining situation once onboard, see the MD on embarkation day at the time/place listed in the Patter. Its usually in one of the DR's between 2p-3:30p. He can fix the issue for you. ;)

Regardless of who paid for a cruise, the CFAR credit goes back in the Captains Circle account of the person in whose name the cruise was booked (your daughter). She has until 12/31 of the year following the cruise to take a cruise using it (the sail date has to be within that time frame; the cruise does not have too be completed by 12/31). This means it could be used over a Christmas break.

 

What is the situation with Russia? Something new today?

Haven't heard anything on the news about anything going on in Russia. Perhaps the OP is nervous about Putin?

He is still alive. :rolleyes:

Great reading! Thanks for doing the live. :)

We have sailed the Island/Coral many times and I think I have only been up by that splash pool once or twice.

Royal is reportedly playing The Proposal on MUTS - which DW and I saw in 09/10 on Crown (also played during the flight to FLL), so make of that what you will.

I agree the choices are not good. :(

Look in magellans.com

Good idea, I saw that!

What a nice review!

Love the photos!

Thanks for all your work on this!

Get a new TA. :(

Looking for photos and information about the aft balcony cabin on the Star D735.

 

I just moved to an aft balcony because we are sailing in Alaska and this one opened up but it says "beam". The aft thread was hard to tell in the small photos of the entire aft of the ship.

 

If anyone has stayed in D735 or D734 on the star or golden and has photos or information to pass on it would be extremely helpful.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=808951

I have not been on the Diamond but 'Conde Nast Traveler' in its February 2013 issue rated it the 14th top large cruise ship in the world. This was based on Itineraries/Schedules' date=' Shore Excursions, Crew/Service, Cabins, Food/Dining, Activities/Facilities, Design/Layout and Passengers. Last year it was rated 8th.

 

The top 20 rankings are:

 

1. Disney Magic

2. Disney Wonder

3. Disney Dream

4. Celebrity Eclipse

5. Celebrity Dream

6. Queen Mary 2

7. Celebrity Solstice

8. Disney Fantasy

9. Oasis of the Sea

10. Emerald Princess

11. Liberty of the Seas

12. Independence of the Seas

13. Freedom of the Seas

14. Diamond Princess

15. Star Princess

16. Allure of the Seas

17. Sapphire Princess

18. Ruby Princess

19. Golden Princess

20. Voyager of the Seas[/quote']

 

Never have liked their ratings.

 

Look where the Golden/Ruby are! :eek:

Bring it on any way you like.

Has to be less then a pallet.

So, how did you address the tardiness of your book's arrival? I have sent Panraven an email from their website, called (left on hold forever), sent Princess notes on their FB page and I am not getting any response except for Princess to say "someone will get in touch with you."

 

My only other ideas are to send a certified letter to Panraven asking for a response or to keep calling and hope that one day someone answers!

Think they were having major business issues a year or 2 ago and Princess dropped them. Only within the last year have they started using them again but it sounds as though its a bust again from the reports of them not responding.

When first used the reviews on the books from passengers were wonderful, many posted pictures of the completed books, what a neat idea.

I think a Panraven rep even responed on CC a time or two.

So sad if they are messing that up. :(

Great job, thanks! :)

I snorkeled there on January 5th. It's chilly but definitely do-able. You don't have to stay in the water a long time...you can easily snorkel around the feeding pier in 15 minutes or less. If you wear a rash guard, you'll be a bit warmer.

Isn't the feeding pier gone? :confused:

Its pretty chilly. :eek:

Is that not one of THE best Promanade decks at sea!!! :D

Great review!

Was that CD Richard Joseph I saw in your photo of Movies Under The Stars doing the Wake Show?

Also looked like him standing in the Atrium area in one of the above photos.

If it was him he is one of the best CD's. :)

If the covered minis on Emerald deck are all taken then I would go for a balcony on Caribe deck. They have the larger balconies that are half covered and a foot or so bigger then the mini balconies. Any balcony on Caribe deck would be the same larger size balcony. :)

The 2 aft corner balconies C752/753 are excellent with an even larger balcony.

Very private.

Thanks for posting your review! :)

Have not sailed with Princess before and although I though I had plenty of time to book a cruise in August 2013 have now find my choices are very limited. We were hoping for a mini suite but now find the only suites available are on Dolphin deck and they are exposed. Really do not like the idea of exposed balcony. Thanks to CC for alerting me to that fact. Now looking at a balcony cabin and would like some advice as to which one to look at. Some say they have a "premium balcony" eg on Aloha A401. How is this different to say a normal balcony cabin. Is is just the position on the ship? Thanks:)

What ship?

Our first onboard purchase on our recent cruise was the Unlimited Soda and More Package for each of us. In addition to receiving a special souvenir cup, a sticker was placed on each of our cruise cards which we could simply show to any bartender or server. This entitled us to enjoy a variety of unlimited soft drinks served by the glass at all bars and restaurant locations throughout our cruise. Plus, we could indulge in any juices, mocktails, shakes and floats (from the ice cream bar), and hot chocolate (from International Café) throughout the cruise. The price, which included the 15% gratuity, was $56.35 per person (or $8.05 per day). Since the per drink cost (including gratuity) was $2.25 for soft drinks and $4.00 for mocktails, having a couple a day would pay for the cost of the card.

 

We have had virgin pina coladas and virgin strawberry daiquiris in the past, but these mocktails advertised in the bar menus are fun and tasty creations:

 

No-jito – a nonalcoholic spin on the classic cocktail with fresh lemons and limes, fresh mint, grapefruit juice, sugar syrup, topped with club soda.

 

Sunshine Daiquiri – fresh strawberries, fresh lime juice, fresh lemon juice, mango nectar.

 

Key West Cooler – passion fruit, watermelon, cranberry juice, topped with Sprite.

 

Chococobanana – coconut milk, chocolate syrup, fresh banana, sugar syrup, blended with ice.

 

Fruity Rita – pineapple juice, lemon juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, and sugar syrup.

 

Tropical Blend – fresh banana, passion fruit, orange juice, blended with ice.

 

We also enjoyed chocolate and strawberry malts (blended with generous scoops of real ice cream!) at the Scoops ice cream bar on Lido Deck 15 near Neptune’s Reef and Pool.

Yikes!! I need bifocals. :eek:

On the 2 cruises I've taken with Princess I've never seen a towel animal. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe Princess does towel animals.

Once in awhile you will find a Steward that has the knowledge and will create one. Most of the time not. :)