cflutist

1 hour ago, Banditdog said:

hi there, on the grand princess. in the vista suite, day 8, and never got any extra bottle water...did get the mini bar set up and traded the seltzer water for bottle water .guess princess stopped the two bottle waters per day..also no same day laundry service, unless you pay for same day. you'll get your laundry the next day b4 6pm. sucks

Did you check the Presto box on the laundry slip?

We had same day laundry and two bottles of water per day on the Grand in July 2018 and the Majestic in September 2018.

Out by 9am, returned that evening.

I see it on our Explorer cruise to the Russian Far East

Kathy16

Going over the Drake was fine. They were closely monitoring the weather reports and decided to skip 2 of the 5 stops in the Falklands so we could leave early. In fact, the captain blew the horn and they sent out crew to look for pax wearing red jackets in the pubs. The positive was that we got to spend an extra 1.5 days in Antarctica. 

Coming back was a bit rougher, waves hit the bridge on deck 8, we were on a bridge tour and saw it. Just took some meclizine and was fine.

We still got back a day early and had a full day for exploration and/or tours.

Having a Veranda Suite on deck 7 was very convenient for us.

We ate our first breakfast and lunch in the MDR @ sea but found the service to be too slow for us. So we ate those meals in La Terrazza for the rest of the cruise because we were always rushing for either morning or afternoon zodiac landings.

Also, a number of us were seen wearing our slippers for breakfast knowing that our boots were in the mudroom downstairs, lol.

I also recommend the expedition ships,  perhaps the Cloud to Antarctica. There you will see gorgeous and pristine scenery and will be offered several 5-mile hikes onshore, some with 400 to 500 ft elevation gain. You can also kayak if you like.

We booked a Veranda Suite and hubby used it quite a bit to run out and get photos.

Also used SS Air but my TA had to call to get the routing changed with longer layovers (an hour is too short when flying in December).

The day we arrived, the bus picked us up at the airport, then gave us a tour around the city before we all went to lunch (grilled lamb and chicken), before a short drive to the pier.

The Charter flight from Santiago to Ushaiua was brutal,  we all had to leave the hotel by 330 am, but a complimentary continental breakfast was available at the hotel. There was also an open bar evening reception.

We did return to Ushaiua a day early, had the morning to ourselves,  and were offered 3 different activities for the afternoon:   bird watching with the ornithologist, a trip to Tierra del Fuego National Park, or hike up the mountains.

I used a CVP in the past to book a full suite. While they could add/change promotions such as 3 For Free, or Sip and Sail, they did not discount the fare one bit. My TA now discounts up front about 10% and we can also add/change promotions. 10% adds up when you are booking Full Suites. On other cruise lines where discounting the fare is not allowed,  we just get a rebate check the week of sailing. So far $3k, 2k, 4k depending on the cruise.

Book a full suite and the sheets will be changed everyday.

That is the "upgraded turndown service" as stated in the Princess suite brochure. 

We sailed on the Cloud on 12/22/2018 .

After eating lunch at their designated restaurant,  we were told that we could NOT just walk over to the pier to board because it is a working pier,  think loading and unloading container ships. We had to get back on the bus to get through the gate to board.

However. I did talk to a passenger who had arrived on her own 3 days early. She said that they also gave her grief about entering the port on foot,  but they finally let her through.

Just now, Paulchili said:

We are Elite as well but my recollection is that the same day service required a charge; complimentary was next day. IIRC, there are two boxes on the bottom of the sheet - same day (for a fee) or next day (for free).

Either my memory is failing me or things have changed - will check next time we cruise Princess.

Ok, I am getting old, lol. Same day is a full suite benefit, so you are correct.

7 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Which cruise line is that?

We are "Elite" on Princess and get complimentary unlimited same day laundry, out by 9am, returned that evening on hangers (underwear in a paper bag). Only having 3 bags on a 20-day Oceania cruise will be a challenge, lol. Now on Silversea, it requires 100 days or a large suite, but people in the normal suites (not the large owner's, grand suites) had free use of their laundry facilities (we did 3 loads on our Antarctica cruise).

We have sailed in 7 suites on Princess, Premium, 5 Penthouse,  and an Owner's suite on the Pacific. I  liked the additional space and the complimentary same day laundry and breakfast in the Crown Grill or Sabatini's. Club Class dining was nice but not great.

Until now we had nothing to compare to. But we just returned from a 15-night cruise to Antarctica on Silversea Cloud. Our cabin was the size of a mini on Princess, but it came with the services of a butler and a room steward. Per diem was $3200 per day so it was more than our suites on Princess, but the attentive service, quality of the food, and the all inclusiveness (including unlimited Internet) was far superior to Princess.

We were not in a large enough suite for the complimentary laundry, but the ship offered free use of their laundry room and provided the soap and dryer sheets.

Filet mignon was on the room service menu, and since my hubby didn't like the "fancy dishes" (he is a meat and potatoes man), he had filet mignon almost every night.

I really enjoyed the Maine lobster tails but did not eat any of the Russian caviar,  or frog legs.

We have a New Zealand cruise on the Majestic (ph suite) coming up in May. We were so impressed with Silversea that we booked an 18-night to Far East Russia, the islands of the Bering Sea, and the western islands of Alaska, such as Kodiak, Dutch Harbor. The cruise starts in Sewart (have been their on the Princess Voyage of the Glacier cruises) and ends in Nome. This time our Medallion Suite will get us complimentary laundry and dinner at the officers table if we want.

So for those of you who want to experience another cruiseline, try Silversea.

Also, Antarctica is scenic beauty at its finest, like Alaska on steroids ... and you get to walk in penguin poop if you go ashore in the zodiacs, but they were so cute, saw 6 different varieties.

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

3 bags  max during the  cruise  of 20 items per bag

keep in mind they say a 3 day turnaround  so make sure you keep something to wear  😉

We booked a PH suite. Does a pair of socks count as 2 or 1 item. Our cruise is 20 days long so we will have to space it out.

No, the wait in line for AA to open for bad dropoff didn't occur until 1830.

So most of stood in line for two hours waiting for them to open.

No SS tours or lounge offered.

Also AA decided to check all packs on the jetway (after Security screening)  and made all of us dump our water.

Several pax were upset since they juat purchased water post security.

Oh, and the LATAM flight landed out on the tarmac, we had to walk down portable stairs to catch buses to the terminal. Baggage claim wasn't ready for us, so we stood outside for about 20 minutes before they would open the door for us. LATAM did not transfer luggage.

LATAM entertainment is an app you load on your phone/tablet to watch on your device while onboard.

At Ushaiua airport returning to Santiago.

This time LATAM was weighing carryon bags (18 lbs max).

I saw agents putting luggage tags on carryon bags belonging to passengers ahead of us in line.

Off the ship at 0800, checked bags taken from the ship and loaded directly on the plane.

Same seat assignments as when we flew down here. Boarding at 1010.

Checkin A-K on the left, and L-Z on the right.

Fantastic cruise with beautiful weather.

Yes it is a true Charter flight with a separate checkin counter at the airport just for SS pax. They weighed our checkin bags, but not our carryons.

We left the hotel at 0330 for a 0650 flight that boarded at 0605 am (looking at our boarding pass right now).

We arrived in Ushaiua,  had a bus tour around the city, then SS fed us lunch at a local restaurant.  Back on the bus to the pier (even though walking distance from the restaurant). Boarded the Cloud at about 1330, suites were ready on deck 7, don't know about decks 4 through 6.

They did not check weights on the Charter flight to Ushaiua. 

We brought our own boots so I can't comment on the onboard boot selection. I did see a young girl in the zodiac who was wearing boots that were too large for her, but she was a child, not an adult.

We are on the Cloud in Antarctica right now. We were at the Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center in Ushuaia. They hosted an open bar and small bites reception the evening of arrival, also Continental breakfast the wee hours of the next morning so that we could leave for the airport at 3:30 am for the LATAM Charter flight to Ushuaia. When we arrived there, it was a bus ride around town to see the sights, then lunch (lamb) at a local restaurant. We then boarded the ship after lunch.

We are spending tonight at Deception Island inside the caldera, landings again tomorrow morning for more hiking, then leaving at 2pm to arrive back a day early in Ushuaia (more favorable weather in Drake Passage than waiting for a later departure). It was rocking and rolling a bit coming over here.

We were broken into 6 zodiac groups,  each taking turns going first (not always a good thing because the earliest landings started at 7am. 

We are on the Cloud right now. The Captain's Welcome dinner was "Casually Elegant".

I saw a mixture of men in sport coats, to dress shirts with or without ties, to polo shirts, to blue jeans. Didn't see tuxes on the men or gowns on the women. I just wore a black top (no sequins) and black pants.

Captain decided to bypass Bleaker and Sea Lion islands originally scheduled on 12/26 so that we could traverse Drake's Passage starting tomorrow afternoon (after a stop in Stanley in the morning of 12/25) ahead of more adverse conditions on 12/27.

How was the WiFi Internet access on the ship?

When we were above the Arctic Circle for 8 days on a different cruiseline, it was rather spotty.

Thank you very much

Too late already bought ours a year ago.

Will pack socks and underwear in them to save space.

How have passengers been dressing for dinner?

Great, the Star has a Thermal suite which is complimentary for suite passengers, while the Grand does not.

I was getting tired of the Grand too.

Northwest Coastal on the Grand in March 2020 then that's it for us.

Does anyone know which Airlines thatvRegent uses from SFO or LAX to Papeete Tahiti.

We have cruised in French Polynesia before and used Air Tahiti Nui which is my preferred airline. We are in Concierge so we get one night pre-hotel. 

If we decide to book our own air, are transfers included to the hotel and then to the port?

Thanks

What about the women? We have 15 nights on the Cloud boarding on December 22nd.

Are black slacks and various solid color tops ok? 

And for the first/last nights would a black sequined top be ok, or over dressing?

We will be onboard for Christmas and New Years and wonder if that changes anything. 

Thanks for any advice.