pris993

We stopped going to the MDR when the Ruby Princess was a new ship, which is some time ago. Have not had any problems with Noro or Covid because we wash our own hands constantly and we avoid public restrooms. Either we are very lucky, or may be it is a myth that the buffet is a big risk for noro and covid. Maybe our own simple hygiene practices have kept us healthy. We do room service for breakfast but do eat at the buffet for lunch and dinner. Obviously we all want to stay healthy.

Our requests are simple no doubt, but they made us happy at the time. If I want steak, escargot I go to the Crown Grill, we were talking about the buffet. Before my dh developed dementia, we eat at the Crown Grill most nights and we could make special requests there too. For many years in the MDR we actually ordered off menu. Ships offer many options. My point is the staff are wonderful, they will try to please guests if at all possible. No harm in asking for what you like. Glad you are satisfied with the MDR.

Think you have never asked. Princess staff have responded to special requests I have made a number of times. For example, I have asked for simply things like chopped raw onions, walnuts, fresh watermelon when they were not on the buffet. What I have found is if they can get it they will. As I stated on my recent Royal cruise at Christmas time, I asked for another older of fresh fish and chips and the staff responded they would do if I waited 15 minutes. When we were on a Coral cruise in 2019, we wanted fish and chips the last night in the buffet asked the head chef the night before and he did for us. Another time I remember at lunch time on the Grand, I wanted tuna fish sandwiches for my husband. Asked the head chef and me made for me. I guess you have never asked. These are not unusual requests but they were things we wanted and asked. It pays to ask for what you want.

Since the pandemic, the buffet in the evening is not as good as it was in the past. We did a 15 day cruise to Hawaii over Christmas and New Years. Eat at buffet for lunch and dinner because my dh has dementia. We have enjoyed the buffet on cruises before the pandemic, like you say, if we go early since daylight can enjoy sea views. On the December cruise, even on the holidays, selection in the buffet at night was very disappointing. We were on the Royal Princess. Staff in the buffet were very responsive to special requests. My DH only eats fish and chips primarily, one night fish out was very dry looking and I knew would be too hard for him to eat. Asked the staff at the buffet if they would prefer some fresh ones and gladly did. If my dh did not have dementia I would try buffet and Crown Grill, MDR is not what it use to be either, that is another reason we stopped doing the MDR in the first place. Happy cruising.

Who are travelers using to go to and from the port of Southampton now? Understand Smiths from the airport no longer in business.

It may have been blocked because passengers complained.

We are going on our 31st Princess cruise next week, none of the benefits mean much to us anymore, the service and staff are what keeps us coming back.

only one mini bar per couple married or not. LOL

Best way to figure this out is goggle a map of LHR terminals. LHR is a very large airport. I often look at airport terminal maps if I do not know the airport, very helpful.

This is not new, I recall seeing the smoking area walking the promenade deck for years. Maybe Princess has more crew that smoke.

Agree, we always booked the best quality cabin we could afford. I recall we went on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise, in late l980s, we paid $3500 pp for a limited view cabin, no balcony. Now days I can book a mini suite for that price. I buy the plus drink package, covers what we want to drink relative to alcohol, coffee, water on board. Really can't complain.

if you buy the drink package, you get coffee from IC for no extra charge.

one year ahead.

Only 7 day for Mexico when I looked. I will be on board in December will check out what deals are offered on board bookings. Thanks for clarifying, I had only one destination in mind.

Just got notice on this deal, only for 7 day cruises, not worth my effort to do a 7 day. Hope they provide more options would book if 10 day to Mexico out of San Francisco offered.

I have done Mediterranean cruises on Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, HAL and NCL in the past 10 years. Suggest you stick with a cruise line you know or one of the mainstream lines mentioned above. If you have a travel agent, you might explore ideas with that resource. When I plan a cruise, I always consider what airlines I might use to get to and from, so I have a good idea of what air travel with be involved. Do go at least 2 days in advance of boarding the ship, allows time to adjust if you have delays. Try to book nonstop flights if possible and on only one carrier if you can't do nonstop, less problems and less chance of missing luggage. Look at itineraries that interest you and simply pick one and go. Mediterranean is amazing and you can't go wrong on any cruise. Have fun planning, come back and ask more questions if you want later. If you need hotels, book yourself, don't book through cruise line, you can do better price wise. I agree for a first-time cruise to the Mediterranean, the port of Barcelona is very easy to get to and from the port and airport.

We have been cruising since the early 1980s. Did not actually shop around per say, but we have cruised 9 different lines over the years. We picked cruises by itineraries mostly. We also use to like to check out new ship designs. We have 60+ cruises, we lost count in the last 20 years. At this point we cruised the most on Princess. Just turned out that way, going on our 31st cruise on Princess in two weeks. But we also cruised on Celebrity, HAL, Cunard, Crystal, RCCL, NCL and a few lines no longer around. Variety is the spice of life. Decide on what interests you.

On my last cruise, I asked CS to print a statement for my cabin, both me and DH accounts I thought were linked before we boarded, using one credit card in my name. CS told me I did not have access to my DH account, I told them the credit card covering both accounts was in my name and then they linked them. No problem from that point on. This thread makes me think I should check again after I board in 2 weeks. For some reason things done on the app don't cross over to the on-board system entirely.

Okay, did not mean to offend you. You are right, unacceptable behavior.

Pardon me, I did not mean to imply you were saying needing a walker is an excuse for being demanding. I was saying regarding of reason for needing a walker, no reason to be demanding.

Some folks use a walker because they can't stand for long periods and walker provides a seat, regardless, no reason to be demanding.

I am planning on having a friend pick us up after a cruise in SF in a few weeks. Would like to know how it is going, any worse case scenarios? Want to plan ahead to avoid problems if we can. Thanks.

Thanks for you post. We will be cruising on deck 12 in two weeks, "note to self", on last day, leave cabin early, take elevator to where we need to get off the ship. I usually do this because we are old and have carryons, my dh has dementia and does not always behave well in public. Next cruise I will be cruising with my DH plus my sister who has a walker, we are all on deck 12 because we got rebooked by Princess from the Ruby to the Royal. Usually, we are deck 9 in mini suite. By the way I have had my own encounter with a very rude old man at Customer Service who cut in front of me at the elite station. He was so rude to me and the Customer Service person, when I pointed out he was not next in line, that I told the CS person, take care of him. I wanted him out of my sight. This was also on the last day of the cruise, I guess the crazies come out on that day. Good luck cruising

We are elite on both Princess and Celebrity. We always book a mini suite on Princess, which does have a sofa by the way, and CC class on Celebrity. We started booking Celebrity in the early 1990s, actually preferred the older ships to their newer ships. Feel the same way about Princess, like Grand class over Royal class, that being said, the newer Celebrity ships and the Royal class on Princess are very similar. One main difference is Princess does not have the lounge over the bow of their ships, wish Princess had this feature. We prefer Princess over Celebrity because Princess has always gone way out of the way to please passengers in the MDR, allowing for off menu orders, ordered one night in advance. We have cruised 9 different lines over the years, by far Princess has always done a better job and consistently in meeting our meal need requests. Celebrity, HAL, and Cunard which we have cruised in the past 10 years, not as well. The personal attention of staff on board Princess for us just came off as more attention. We do like the Crown Grill on Princess, it is a steak house. We did eat at Blu on one cruise on Celebrity, while not a steak house, similar. On Princess we only pay for the Grill when we go. We are doing a 15 day on the Royal Princess to Hawaii out of San Francisco this December this year. We did a 12 day some years ago on Celebrity, where we flew to Hawaii, went around the islands and then went to Vancouver. At the time this was a welcome choice since we wanted to do a cruise around Hawaii and wanted to visit Vancouver. Not sure what Celebrity is doing these days. Princess also has cruises out of LA to Hawaii. Believe HAL does cruises to Hawaii out of San Diego. I see another response here recommends NCL. I did only 3 cruises on NCL over the years. We went to Egypt a few years back on an NCL ship that use to be in Hawaii. We got a very good deal because of political unrest in Egypt at the time. When we went, we knew NCL was no way comparable to Princess or Celebrity. We went with our eyes open, first day on board, we went to the MDR for lunch and dinner. That was the last day, the remainder of the 11-day cruise we enjoyed the buffet which was adequate for us, did salads and sandwiches, which we made ourselves from the salad bar which was pretty good. The hot food items even on the buffet were more like comfort foods which did not appeal to us. We decided to skip the MDR because, no set seating and we had to ask 3 times for everything at both lunch and dinner that first day. Even had to ask 3 times for the check for the drinks before we left. Staff would say yes and disappear. Not the service we were used to on Princess, Celebrity, Hal or Cunard. Food was not that impressive either. The one bright spot was the cabin was comfortable and more comparable to what we were used to booking. Would we ever cruise NCL again, maybe if we found a great deal. Considering what we paid, we felt we got our money's worth. The Princess Sanctuary is similar to Celebrity peaceful pool area but on Princess you pay extra for that area. I never use because I am not really a pool deck cruiser. With a mini suite I enjoy my balcony instead. But I must say on the Royal class ships the balcony is more limited, I prefer the balcony on the Grand, Crown and Ruby which have much more space and these ships also have a promenade deck which I like, which both Princess and Celebrity newer ships have done away with this area. On the Grand, Crown and Ruby, there is an AFT pool which is more quiet area, which I would use if I wanted to take a swim. Nice bar at the AFT pool area as well on these ships. Hope this info is helpful to you. Happy cruising.

Over past 40 years have cruised on 9 different lines and the most on Princess.