W5KAP

I remember trying to use one of those toilets in the middle of the night at the home of my host family……I just pushed buttons until it flushed.

Photos please!

Wow, another thing to look forward to on our NZ and Oz cruise in Feb eh. I used these style in Korea years ago. Different for sure!

Cheers, Kenn

I agree with the folks who stayed near PIazzale Roma. We stayed in the Hotel Arlechinno and it was great. Like they said, only one bridge to haul your luggage over. You can see it when you get off the bus. It is only one block from the main water taxi terminal and (MOST IMPORTANTLY) it is about two blocks from the CO-OP which is where you buy your wine. And!! It is only one block from the people mover that takes you over to the ship area. You can easily get o Saint Marks by Vaporetto from there.

Cheers, Kenn

PS, sail away from Venice is like no other in the world. amazing

Cheers, Kenn

To show you ho this varies from line to line, I'll tell you that in 2011 we were on the Coral Princess out of Vancouver on a 17 day Panama Canal repo. At that time Princess was pretty lax on wine. I had 12 (yeah 12 for 2 couples) bottles of wine in a carry on bag that weighed a ton. No problem going through security or x-ray. but when our bag didn't show up at the room I had a feeling. so I went to the Pursers Desk and asked about it. When they asked me to describe the bag I mentinoed it had Hawaii in colorful letters. They said oh yeah we have it and brought it to me wine and all. The luggage tag had puled off so they didn't know where to deliver the bag. Well inside, one bottle had broken in three large pieces but a sweater had absorbed all the wine. It was the only bottle we had two of. So we got to enjoy the other 11. Sigh. I wish it was still like this. So, no, I haven;t visited the Naughty Room but I sure tried!!

Cheers, Kenn

Hi. Can anyone tell me what the port area here is like? Is an excursion the only way to go? Basically, are there some cafes, shops and such within the port area (walking distance). Not sure if I want to book an all day tour but if there is not much else to do, that is what we will do.

 

Thank for any insight

I wish I knew!! We have tried to port there on two consecutive TA's and not yet made it in. Although we did see it as we sailed by last October. I think that made it even worse. Sorry.

Cheers, Kenn

Hi I'm travelling on the emerald on 11 June - Eastern med cruise. I am in cabin D108 which is forward. Should I expect a lot of movement in this cabin as it's so near the front of the ship?

Also what movies can we expect?

 

Thanks in advance.

A ship pivots front to back, from the center. So those cabins far forward and also in the stern will move more. Also there is more apparent motion the higher up you go. On the Dolphin deck, you;re not too high up but you are far forward so you'll feel the motion. Having said all that, we always get the last room on the port side on either the Caribe, Baja or Aloha decks. We love the motion of the ocean!!

Cheers, Kenn

• http://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/wawcs0142395/voyager-live-sailings.html

• http://www.aucklandmuseum.com

•http://www.maxx.co.nz/media/83423/cg_central_guide_feb_2013_web.pdf

• http://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/

• http://www.fullers.co.nz/destinations-tours/waiheke/waiheke-explorer-tour.php

• http://waiheke.aucklandnz.com

And I know why you know these hehehe. Counting down along with you and the others. Thanks for the links.

Cheers, Kenn

Due to the late time of the year that you plan on cruising, I think you may have a problem. Most of the ships (if not all) are gone at the end of September. If you can change your dates to a little earlier you may be able to catch a repositioning cruise.

Good luck

Love Vancouver. Will be there in 33 days! Yep Alaska again!!

Cheers, Kenn

2 years ago we did the Ruby TA from Venice. We hit a ton of ports in many countries so we did spend some money. In particular we purchased a very expensive cameo set from Naples. The VAT was pretty hefty. When we docked in the last European port (Madiera) we went to the customs office with filled out paperwork and about 2 months later we saw it credited back to our American Express card. Talk to the desk on the ship. They will help you outy. By the way, you can't avoid it unless you make no purchases at which point the whole thing becomes moot.

Enjoy your cruise

Cheers, Kenn

We have rented a car and would like to drive to the "end of the road" exploring along the way. I would like to take a few strolls along some of the trails. How prepared should we be for an encounter with wildlife. Should we get a bell or spray? Do not want to be that stupid tourist.

When we were there a ew years ago, we were in the visitors building looking out when the woman next to my wife started pounding on the big picture window yelling "That's my husband!!", From there you can see several of the paths and there on the path around a corner was a bear as her husband was on the same path around the corner from the bear. When each saw the other. They both stopped in their tracks. Then the bear took off through the woods and walked right in front of the window!! This happened again with a different bear 5 minutes later. Turns out they are brother and sister and have been in the area for a couple years and are very used to being around people. So they split/ Anyplace else you might not be so lucky. I'd sure carrypepper spray or something. In Denali we saw 11 grizzlies and some were with cubs. Not a good combo.

Hope you are lucky enough to see some bears!!

Cheers, Kenn

BGUPPIES: I'm really enjoying your review and look forward to any additional info you'll be posting about the Dawn. I'll be sailing on Princess for the first time in 2015 and you can bet I'll be comparing Princess to NCL on all sorts things: cabins, food, crew, entertainment, etc.

 

And I do the same thing with NCL. On the Epic we were constantly discussing how it compared to the Sun (my favorite ship). In our case, we still prefer the Sun, while others love the Epic. I guess you could say we are biased in favor of the Sun and at this point in our cruising experience we are biased toward NCL.

While we have not yet tried NCL, thought I'd take a minute to sing the praises of PRincess. Short answer as I don't want to hijack the thread. We've done 3 CCL Cruises and plenty of Princess and love them to death. Hope you enjoy your trip. PRincess is fantastic.

Cheers, Kenn from down the road

 

We are just back from our 10 day cruise in the Southern Caribbean. Here is a link to our Emerald Princess video. We had such an excellent time, Princess is truly a fantastic cruise line.

 

I hope you enjoy the video. :)

Thanks, that made me smile and we don't sail for another 6 weeks. Loooks like you all had a ball.

Cheers, Kenn

I went on the Allure a few years ago, and it was very crowded,

I am looking for something with fewer people if possible.

Any help would be great.

Thank you

We have used Captain Marvin's twice and loved it both times. No more than about 20 people on their boats and threes stops. Good crews, fair price and conveniently located just a block left from where the tenders let you off at the dock. They have a web site. Check them out

Cheers, Kenn

I feel better!!!! Two years ago, we got back on the ship, after spending the day at Margaritaville and Jack's Shack. DD and I said we were going to take a "nap". DH tried to wake us for dinner. Was not meant to be. Woke up the next morning:eek::eek:

Yep, Jack's Shack will do that to you. As I recall, I slept real well that night!!

Cheers, Kenn

I have seen this quote on the boards "The forward viewing areas through the "secret" doors are great". Where are these secret doors? What decks are they located on? We will be on a partial transit from FLL in January.

All the answers are correct. We did the Canal on her sister ship, the Coral. I would add the Dolphin deck has access in the rear as well. Doing Alaska in 40 days on the Coral and we booked the last room right by the rear deck doors. Might be a bit noisy but what a view in Alaska!!

Enjoy the Canal!!

Cheers, Kenn

We are doing the Singapore to Sydney cruise in October and it is our first cruise with Princess so any useful information/tips would be very welcome.

Are there are drinks packages on the Diamond? I have been reading about so many different types but they never seem to refer to the Diamond.

Many thanks

Good morning. In all honesty I don;t think it matters which ship you are on in terms of amenities like drink packages. I would say that it is more which line you're sailing. We have done 7 Princess cruises and though we personally have not purchased the drinks package, I'm pretty certain it's available Princess wide. I'd check with Princess but it doesn't really matter which ship you are on as long as the line offers the product, you should be able to get it. Incidentally, we will be on the Diamond in Feb for our New Zealand and Australia cruise.

Have a wonderful trip. The Diamond just came out of dry dock so she should be in beautiful shape.

Cheers, Kenn

Somewhere, I thought I saw someone mention that they did not have to take lifejacket to life boat drill. Was just having this conversation at work and I hate to be wrong. But if I am....so be it!

I'm sure it depends on which line you are sailing. I note your cruise is on HAL and since I haven't cruised them, I can't answer specifically. BUt I can tell you that if you were on Princess, ot only would you be taking your life jacket with you to Muster Frill, you'd be putting it on if only for a minute. I have no problem with this as I'd rather take ten minutes at the beginning of a cruise (and it's always an ice breaker) than be worrying about how to put it on, where to go and what to do if we ever had a true emergency. That's just me though. If HAL decides that taking it to Muster Drill isn't required, so be it.

Enjoy your cruise!!

Cheers, Kenn

59 and a wake up!

Putterdude, how is the Westin Grsnd? We normally stay at the Westin Coal Harbor and love it there but they didn't have any rooms available for Starwood members when we needed it. Should be pretty close to Canada Place but I better be able to find a White Spot nearby!! Love that place!!!

Cheers, Kenn

I really hope an International cafe will be added. I do not see cabins on deck 6 as desirable at all.

We love the International Cafe nd will surely miss it if it's not there!! Bummer. Well we don't sail on the Diamond until February so you never know. Fingers crossed.

Kenn

Know nothing about this port , any help appreciated of what we should do or see

There's plenty to see and what I would suggest is a private tour of the island. There are plenty of folks on-line who will do this for a very reasonable price. You'd want to see both sides of the island (French and Dutch sides). For us the highlight though was Maho beach. There is a nice bar and grill there on the beach and the planes practically land on top of you at the airport. Quite an amazing site.

Hope you enjoy it

Cheers, Kenn

There is a regularly scheduled bus which will take you from the airport to PIazzale Roma for very little. You do need to load your own luggage and it can be crowded. Then Vaporetto to the hotel.

Just a though and an alternative

Cheers, Kenn

There is no contest here. Alaska by a far margin. Of course it is your choice and only you know what you like. But I can tell you you will never be sorry as Alaska is incredibly beautiful. Yes it is expensive and you can do two Caribbean cruises for about the same price. We like the beach too but given a choice we'd be on our way to Alaska. And we are on May 28th for the 31 May Coral Princess trip. We went for our 40th wedding anniversary and now are returning for our 45th. Yeah, it's that good!

Cheers, Kenn

Just curious, we are planning to do a cruisetour Summer 2015. Depending which direction it'll be starting or ending in Fairbanks. But when I tried AirCanada they don't even fly into Fairbanks. So who does? Do I have to go through a small airline and meet up with the bigger airlines? or? Any help would be great!

There are several airlines flying out of Fairbanks (Code FAI). I believe we flew Delta last time and I know for sure Alaska Air does. Also US Airways has some flights. Try using Kayak and it will show you the flights in and out of FAI.

Cheers, Kenn

Sorry to be a "Fun Sponge" ... but it's sparkling wine and taste awful. :rolleyes:

LuLu

~~~

We have ten Princess cruises under our belts and I must agree. To call that stuff champagne is a slap in the face to France!! What slop it is!! Ans while we love Princess the best of all, their "Champagne" is now not part of our cruise fun.

In the big scheme, pretty minor!!

Cheers, Kenn

is there a Harley Davidson store in Cozumel....looking for the poker chips

While you can find shorts all over the island, there isn't a true HD dealership on the island. There is one in Playa Del Carmen across the channel on the mainland though. It's 19 miles of rough water to get there and 19 back. Not sure what the price of the water ferry is. You might consider an excursion to say Tuluum and that starts and leaves in Playa Del Carmen. You could then make a quick stop.

Ride safe

Kenn

2010 Heritage Softail Classic