shamrockace

5 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I'm not the Sgt. Major, but I'll ring in.

 

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I have just under 50 cruises on several lines, including, Cunard, RCI, Celebrity, HAL, Princess, and Viking Ocean.  While her comfort requirements are a bit above mine, my travel benchmark is camping out on long Harley rides and eating military MREs warmed up on the bike's engine as I set up camp. Anything above that and I'm pretty much satisfied.

 

We cruise for the itinerary, but also try to avoid spring break and school holidays to reduce the number of feral children on the cruise.  We enjoy a wrap around promenade with deck chairs.  If I can scrape up a wee dram of a good, peaty Scotch before dinner, I'm good.  We always find something good to eat somewhere on the ship.  

 

Conventional wisdom is never book a world cruise on a line on which you have not sailed before - BUT the price on P&O could not be beat by all of the lines that I researched.  And it's on the Aurora - adults only!  99 days, Southampton to Southampton.  January 3, 2022.

 

Nice to hear from a fellow biker. Just got back from riding the Florida Keys and heading to the Canadian Rockies on the bike in July. I’ll check out P&O. Ride safe

 

Thanks all. We’ve always done an interior room.  Fresh air would entice though. Has anyone done a world cruise on an inside room and would you do it again?

On 9/9/2019 at 7:48 PM, Sergeant Major said:

 

This is enlightening to see these side-by-side 2020 Viking & Princess World Cruise comparisons. Since my wife & I have some different spending habits, and with the 2021 Princess World Cruise Early Booking Benefits being much better in 2021 than it is for 2020, the Viking cruise would still be nearly double the price for us. Thanks for sharing this info, it actually makes me feel better about my upcoming 2021 Princess WC now, but I will also be keeping a closer eye on price comparisons for future WCs. I see you also have an RV & timeshares, so perhaps we will see each other sometime in the future. We are enjoying your blog too. Keep enjoying life to the fullest, and Safe Travels!

 

 

We are looking at the 2022 Princess World Cruise and are hoping for similar Early Booking.  Plus, Hubby will get military credit.  Sgt, Major, can you advise what type of a room you book?  We've always done an inside room for financial reasons as well as the only thing we do in a room (well, almost 😉 ) is sleep and change.  But this will be a lot longer than our normal trip.  We travel light as we are used to traveling double on a motorcycle.  Thanks in advance.

Sounds like I better wait until we are there and try to book last minute. Thank you for your answers 

We will be in San Juan January 9th on the Allure from 7 am - 1 pm ship time. We want to do a 2 hour excursion independent that starts at 10:30 and ends at 12:30 San Juan time, right next to the ship.  Does the time stay the same for ship  & island?

Do the two hour Segway tour.  So much fun, that I've done it twice.  The office is close to the cruise ship too.  You'll have to ask if the 9 year old is old enough though.

I've done the segway tour twice.  I'm in my late 50's and had no trouble.  The segway office is the pier right next to where your cruise ship docks.  Easy to find.  You get instructions and get to practice in the courtyard before heading out.  The tour itself is 2 hours and you get to see all the history while having fun. I highly recommend them.  My husband has balance issues and couldn't go and we were refunded our money for him.

I am bumping this up as we will also be looking for something to do with our 3 year old granddaugher and 5 year old grandson.

We (4 adults) did the cave tubing in February a few years ago.  It is cold when you first get in, but you get used to it. Funny how the same experience is viewed differently. My husband & I hated this excursion, but our friends said it was the very favorite.  If the water is low, they will say "butt up" meaning you lift your derriere so they can pull you thru by your legs.  You wear a minor's hat with a light for the dark caves, but honestly, there isn't much to see.  We barely made it back in time to catch the shuttle, (last one back) so be sure to watch your time if you are going on your own.

The fort is very easy to do on your own.  The cruise ship docks within site of it and it's an easy walk.   I also highly recommend the segway tour that includes the fort along with some of the old town.  It was a great way of seeing everything without walking and included the fee to the fort.  Never been to the rain forest there so I can't say anything about that.

They did advertise a "buy one, get one for a dollar" drink specials most days. Since I don't drink, I didn't pay a lot of attention to it.

The medallion was on a limited basis only and we were not one of them. They did give us each $100 on board credit because we weren't chosen. We were able to get on facebook or facebook messenger without purchasing internet minutes. They also had big screens thru-out the ship where you could play games or see the schedule for a particular day. Those that had the medallion seemed positive about it.

The second formal night was the night we were in Grand Caymen. We had 4 formal nights on the back-to-back, two per week.

This is our third time on this ship, which is one of our favorites.

Embarkment - We are elite members. We arrived at about 10:30 and was on the ship within 20 minutes. We dropped off our luggage in our room and headed back up to Alfredo's for a lunch. It was a great place to eat lunch and people watch as others got on board. We split a pepperoni pizza and salad. Our checked baggage was delivered to our room within an hour of embarkment. We were completely unpacked, met our room steward Miriam and had purchased coke plus cards all before noon. Great start.

Dining - We did the early seating in Allegra and had the best wait staff we've ever had. Mark and his assistant Gerard were wonderful, quick & friendly. We ate at a table for 2. The table next to ours had a very difficult and demanding couple the second week and the staff handled it with grace and smiles. I had never heard such ridiculous demands before, yet the staff met them all. The section supervisor, Sergie, was always checking to be sure things were running smoothly and talking to the various tables. He wasn't afraid to jump in and help remove a dirty dish or offer suggestions. I liked how he supported his staff. He was also very helpful with the difficult couple. Food was reasonably good and always served quickly and at the right temperature. I do miss the fettuccine Parmesan bowl they used to have as it was my favorite. Hubby missed the iron steak that used to be on the "always available" menu. The desserts were heavy on nuts, which I am allergic to. The prime rib night, they need to cut the serving size of the meat in half as it's a waste of food. We do wish they'd offer lemonaid in the MDR. We only ate at the buffet for breakfast & we mainly eat oatmeal only. When we did eat lunch, it was usually at the grill or pizza. The fries were some of the best.

Entertainment - The production shows on this ship are the best. Of the four lead vocalists, three are very powerful and all four are good. The black chick can wail! I love to hear her sing. Fiera & Bravo are my favorites, but all were good. They had two comedians, each performed two nights. Carlos Oscar was the best. I had tears coming out from laughing so much. The other one was good too, just not as fresh & I've seen him before. I do miss when they used to have a production show and a comedian in different venues on the same nights. We didn't even go in the Vista Lounge the whole 14 days. What a waste. This was our first back-to-back and the second week, we did have some evenings with nothing to do other than watch movies in our room. If they still had two shows an evening, we would have had options. We did LOVE the demand tv options. They had both movies and tv shows. If the movie showed on MUTS one night, it would be offered on demand in your room the next night. I do miss the warm cookies and milk cart for MUTS. They do need more entertainment during the late mornings/early afternoon, especially if it rains that day.

Pool area - we mostly hung out at the Fountain pool area. The first week there were very few kids, but that changed the second week. There was a couple who used the plunge pool for their babies in swim diapers, so we mostly avoided that pool area. They do need to do a better job with the chair hogs who put their towels down first thing in the morning, and then disappear for hours on end. I removed some myself after no one would show up after a couple of hours and I saw others looking for an empty chair. We never use the pool in the sanctuary and I'm not even sure we are allowed without joining the sanctuary. The rules are very unclear.

Our cabin was interior D-427 and everything was fine and clean. We did have issues with neighboring rooms slamming doors in the early hours and late at night. It really doesn't take an effort to close your door quietly, especially when your neighbors have the "do not disturb" signs out.

Ports - We have done the island ports on numerous occasions with the exception of Jamaica. We scheduled a shore excursion thru the cruise ship (on board credit) for the Dunns Falls, Bob sled, Chair lift. It was a nice day. I didn't walk up the falls myself because while I did wear my bathing suit and water shoes, I didn't bring a change of clothes and I didn't want to sit in wet clothes the rest of the trip. I kind of regret not doing it now. The bob sled was a blast and the chair lift took about 20 minutes and was very relaxing. Anyone afraid of heights would hate it though, as it was very slow. Other ports, we just got off for an hour or so and shopped, than got back on the ship to relax when the ship was not as busy.

shopping on ship- I did go to the shopping seminar. It used to be only an hour, but now it's two which is too long. I bought a few things on board, but not much. Shopping in port - same stores at every stop.

We didn't use the fitness center but did take the stairs a lot and lost weight on the cruise for doing that. Elevators were always busy during the usual times and some people can be very rude. I ended up helping a couple on a scooter because even though they had been waiting, rude people would fill the elevator before he could get in. I blocked the door and said, "he's been waiting a long time and this elevator is for him". lol

Public areas - everything was very clean and the ship still looks great. Staff was always friendly and helpful.

Casino - I played a little blackjack and walked away with about $44 to the good so I was happy. Dealers were friendly. Some of the people playing looked like they never seen sunshine the whole cruise, but lived in the casino instead. Sad.

Disembarkment - very easy and quick as we did the walk off. By the time we got down to the Vista lounge, they were already telling us we didn't have to wait, just get off.

Costa-rico has sloth sanctuary. We did it a few years ago on a Panama Canal trip.

We did it several years ago and it was awesome! One of our favorites. I only wish it was offered thru Princess when we go next month. They will ask you to purchase sunglasses with an elastic strap to keep saltwater out of your eyes unless you bring something similar from home.

Unlike Carnival, Princess gives wonderful military OBC. Be sure to ask if either of you ever served.

We rode one of these with my 72 year old dad at St. Thomas. He had a blast. They do make you purchase glasses with a strap if you don't bring one.

I started this post because we did have a couple of issues, and despite the credit card companies and this site saying I should have no issue, it did happen and I wanted to warn others. I think it is amusing that just because some didn't have an issue, they assume no one else would /should either. Well I did. Granted, it was using various machines instead of in-person. It was in the airport buying train/bus tickets in Copenhagen; it was ATM machines in Berlin. It was just a heads up. geesh, some people are too quick to jump on others. Just was letting others know to be sure to have a pin related card with you. We had our bank atn card with a pin (no, not credit card) with us and used it when we couldn't use the regular credit card.

I had read somewhere that you needed a pin number when using a credit card in some countries in Europe along with a chip credit card. I called my credit card company (Chase) and they assured me that I didn't need a pin.

Thank the good Lord I took my bank card that DOES have a pin. If you need to use any of the automated machines in Europe, you MUST have a pin number. This goes to using the bus & train ticket machines as well as the ATM machines.

Also, be sure to let your credit card and bank card people know what countries and dates you will be in so you don't get denied.

I guess I was thinking more like something like a Harley Davidson shirt which is very expensive in other countries sometimes compared to what we can get them in USA. But with the internet, I'm guessing you are right, they can get almost anything. When we lived in Germany, they wanted us to get them a pair of gym shoes which would cost them so much more. Benzoyl peroxide? That's interesting. I agree about the sweets being so much sweeter in our country. I had a friend who was a baker in Germany and he hated our sweets.

Not to replace a tip, but is there anything to give our guides for the Northern Europe tours, that they can't get themselves?

We are planning the two day highlight tour with TJ Travel while in St. Petersburg. The only thing missing for us would be the Feberge Museum and we are considering it for an evening tour. Has anyone done this and was it just too much / too tiring after the rest or was it worth it. We don't think we will ever get back and want to see it all but we all have limits. We are both in our mid 50's.

rtfnl - can you advise how the dialysis went for your group? I have a brother-in-law trying to do the same in San Juan. Any help would be appreciated.

In my opinion, the cave tubing wasn't much fun. The caves are dark and nothing to really look at. The water is cold and dark, and they have to drag you thru when the water is low (Butt up). Then there is the workers who solicit a larger tip. Just wasn't my thing. But the couple that went with us loved it. So, to each his own.

I would not take a cell phone unless you have a waterproof case. Inside the caves are dark, and you use a mining hat to see. The water is very dark and cold and if you drop your phone, you may not be able to find it. Butt up! will be a phrase you'll hear often