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Hi-

 

We were just on the ship in April and it's in fabulous condition, from the staterooms to the hallways to the public rooms. The beds were fine, and we're fussy. (For point of reference, it was our 18th cruise; fourth on Princess.)

 

Princess remains my favorite of the lines we've sailed on (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and HAL) for overall consistency, quality of food, service (beverage service in the buffets!), big closets and overall eagerness to please. I'd take the Caribbean Princess again in a heartbeat.

 

Hope this helps. - Musing About Cruising

Hi-

 

I would recommend using a rolling bag for hand carry because you'll be carting it around quite a bit (especially if you get there before 1, when the rooms are generally ready).

 

You'll also want to carry on anything breakable (e.g., cameras, computers), because the luggage carriers can be rough with your stuff.

 

Hope that helps! - Musing About Cruising

After 18 cruises, I've given up worrying about the wrinkles (on my clothing--not my face!). We all have 'em. Short of putting your clothes in the bathroom and taking a hot shower, there's not much one can do...Musing About Cruising

On the passport, I would strongly suggest it. All the lines we've gone with ask for it during the check-in process.

 

The cruise lines and ships vary so much, it's hard to know where to start! Our favorite is Princess, for an all-around good experience. While food is very subjective, of Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Holland America, I think Princess has the best.

 

That being said, since you're bringing kids you may prefer Royal Caribbean, which has a lot of onboard activities, such as rock climbing, miniature golf, ice skating, etc.

 

On the time of year, the most expensive tends to be the school vacation times, but, alas, that won't help you! But whatever trip you choose, keep checking the price--all the way up to when final payment is due--because it can fluctuate madly. And if the price comes down after you've put down the deposit, the cruise line will honor it.

 

Hope this helps a bit. - Musing About Cruising

We've done 18 cruises--on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess--and like Princess the best. It's a really solid, all-around great experience. Each of the cruise lines has its high and low points, but Princess is the most consistent. Few of the highlights:

 

* Food is the best of the three. The buffet has theme nights (e.g., German night, Italian night), which are a lot of fun and have some neat special treats. Pizza is great

* Piazza is a fun hub of the ship, where something is always happening and the International Café has good snacks 24 hours

* Movie Under the Stars is a nice reminder of the drive-in days, along with free popcorn

* The staff is attentive, including coming around with coffee and juice in the buffet

* The stateroom closets are huge, and the room has ample storage space

* Right now, Princess is celebrating its 50th anniversary and a partnership with Norman Love Chocolates, so there are a few extra treats (truffle pops at the Welcome Toast), etc.

 

We've been on the Emerald and it's a really nice ship. You'll have a blast. - Musing About Cruising

Hi-

 

We just went on the Caribbean Princess in April and I'm afraid I don't have a PDF of Princess Patter. However, if you haven't received it already, any minute, you should get an email from Princess with the actual movies being shown on your trip for Movies Under the Stars, as well as the headliners and production shows.

 

Princess is great at pre-cruise information. - Musing About Cruising

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Believe it or not, when we went to Alaska, my spouse used a disposable shower cap to cover his camera. It was cheap...and it worked! - Musing About Cruising

Hi-

 

I just visited your new blog; you did a great job! Nice mix of destinations, cruise reviews, photos and food. Really liked your piece on what not to miss in San Juan. After three trips there, I seemed to have missed every one of them! -- Musing About Cruising

Take their cruise and “you’ll come back new,” Princess promises. Does the cruise line keep its word? See the review at musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

We've taken Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity and Holland America and of the four lines, found that Royal Caribbean (RCI) draws the youngest crowd, probably because it has the most active amenities (e.g., rock climbing walls, zip lining, surfing on some of its ships).

 

A RCI Oasis class ship, which has the most amenities, is probably over your budget, but you might try something in the Freedom class. - Musing About Cruising

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Alas, Caribbean cruises are very limited after April, so you won't have too many choices. As others have mentioned, Port Canaveral has many more options in ships and destinations, including the large ships like Freedom of the Seas, which has more amenities.

 

Jacksonville (where I live) only has the one ship.

 

Tips on saving money:

* Use a travel agent and ask him/her to get you the best price

* Watch for sales; even after you pay a deposit, if it's before the penalty period and the price goes down, you can get that lower price

* Inside rooms are the least expensive

* If you're driving, stay along the route (not in a city)

 

Hope this helps. - Musing About Cruising

How wonderful to be a newbie! The first time is the greatest!

 

On the sea sickness issue, my spouse has taken sea sickness remedies with him for each of our 17 cruises and never used them once. As others have said, these ships are built to be stable and you feel virtually no movement. Often, we forget we're even on the water. That being said, it's always a good idea to bring the remedies--it's insurance that you'll never need them!

 

On the old ship vs. new ship--you'll notice when you're onboard how much effort the crew make to keep the ships in fine order. We just got back from a trip on the Caribbean Princess--it's 10 years old and you'd never know it. It was spotless and spiffy.

 

Happy planning! - Musing About Cruising

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Yes, you should be able to get the price decrease--you can make changes before the penalty period begins (which varies by ship). We've gotten price decreases on several of our trips. --musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com

Hi-

 

We've been Celebrity a number of times and the most recently, in December. I wouldn't call it upscale at all. While I haven't been on NCL, it is no different than Princess or Holland America in terms of the dining experience. In fact, we're seeing fewer and fewer women in gowns and hardly any men wear tuxes any more on formal nights. -- musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

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We just booked on the Oasis for December and they told us they were converting the ship's dining to the new "Dynamic Dining" concept that's on the new Quantum of the Seas. This is where there's no main dining room/assigned seating, but rather a series of restaurants (both no cost and cost), where you could choose to dine.

 

Rumor has it, though, that the conversion to Dynamic Dining has been put on hold. However, when we called RCI again, they were not able to assign us to a particular seating. They weren't sure what was going on. You might want to keep checking back with them to get a status update. - musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

Hi-
Did you mean price decreases on your cruise? If so, you'll need to keep watch yourself to see if the price on your trip goes down. If it does, and you haven't made final payment, you should be able to get the travel agent or cruise line to lower the price. The cruise line won't proactively tell you if the price goes down (for obvious reasons....!).

If you mean promotions on drink packages, excursions, etc., you'll get a few promotional emails from Royal Caribbean between now and the time of your trip.

Or, if you register on Royal Caribbean's website and enter your upcoming trip, you can get info on what they offer that way.

Hope that helps! - musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

Great suggestions! Two things we've been bringing, which have proved invaluable:

 

* Big digital clock, which can be seen from everywhere in the cabin (unless you're lucky enough to afford a suite!)

 

* Shoe organizer (the kind that hangs from the closet bar), which we use for sunglasses, batteries (oh, and shoes, too!). The closets on Princess ships are so big that we actually use three of these things!

 

I have some other packing tips, too, at musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

You did a really great job on your food blog--the menus are very easy to read (I'm quite jealous!) and it's nicely organized. It's filling a real gap--it's so hard to find actual ship menus anywhere online. Usually, all you can find is a sample that's badly outdated.

 

Interestingly, after looking at your menus for the Royal, I wonder if they're the same cruise line-wide. We were on the Emerald last year and the menus sound the same as what we had. Like you, we were really pleased with the food on Princess. We've been on Princess, RCI (Allure) and Celebrity (Constellation) within the past year and thought Princess by far had the best food. Some of the desserts were to die for! -- musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

Sounds like a fabulous trip! How lucky you are to be able to take such a long one; I'm quite jealous!

 

You really got some great shots--love the one of the beach in Barbados at night. And the excursions in Granada. Really nice job! - musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

There's a plethora of possibilities for creative photography on a cruise ship. Unleash your inner artsy-fartsy and give your digital camera a workout without even going out on deck. If you're interested in reading more, see musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

It would be great if we could have five-star food on a cruise ship, but the reality of cooking for thousands of people make that all but impossible, I think. But, as others have said, there's usually enough variety (or pockets of yumminess) that make a meal.

 

And, to echo others, no work, all play and endless sea, in the end, is what cruising's all about! - musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

Hi-

Which cruise lines are you referring to, and which itineraries? We've done the Southern Caribbean a number of times and could offer a bit of help.

When we started cruising in 2006, we were completely blown away by the buffets on Celebrity (both the midnight buffet and poolside fruit buffet) and to some extent, HAL. Since then, we've sailed more on Celebrity, as well as RCI and Princess, and have seen the pratice just about disappear.

 

While I agree with others that these required huge effort and expense, I can't help but feel a bit sad to think of how much cruising has changed since then. On the Constellation this past December, for example, there wasn't a single fruit/vegetable carving and only one ice sculpture on a 9-day trip.

 

By the way, about three years ago, on the Golden Princess to Alaska, there was a really special seafood buffet at lunchtime, with salmon all kind of ways. Hopefully, this won't be the fish that got away! - musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com.

Hi-

 

Some suggestions:

* Light sweater or over-shirts for inside the ship if you get cold easily (ships are all air conditioned)

* Poncho or umbrella in case of rain (usually brief in the Caribbean)

* Casual evening wear--main dining room is getting more and more casual (except for formal nights), so nice pants and top or informal dress is fine

* Other than that, shorts, light tops, bathing suits, cover-ups and sandals--(aka, resort wear). You're going to be in the Caribbean, after all!

 

-- Musing About Cruising

Hi-

 

We took a hands-on cooking class on HAL a few years ago and it was excellent (provided nothing's changed since then...). A few folks volunteered to be hands-on while the rest of us watched. A nice perk was the Food and Wine aprons they gave us.

 

We've also been on RCI, Celebrity and Princess, and HAL does the best job at a food-oriented program. There are demos (free) and "Iron Chef" takeoffs, some of which have been hysterical.

 

Also for foodies (I count myself among them!), HAL has an Indonesian "Tea Ceremony," (free) which is less like a ceremony and more like an intro to Indonesian sweets. They also have a wide range of teas and special coffee.

 

Hope this helps. - Musing About Cruising