DaisyRose

My first and last Aqua class cabin coming up in 2016. Don't know how many more Celebrity cruises I will book, if any. Other lines have also made some disappointing changes. Starting to rethink cruising as my vacation of choice. Glad I've already been to many of the places I wanted to see. However, they should not be allowed to take away perks that were listed when you booked. If they must make changes, make them for future bookings. Makes me feel that I don't trust Celebrity, and don't want to do business with them in the future.

Well, some people seem to think that Princess wants you to eat in a specialty restaurant that serves it. I know it might seem crazy to avoid a cruise line over onion soup, but on a recent Celebrity cruise, it was on the always available menu. Other things being equal, like price and itinerary, I would lean towards booking Celebrity. I find it strange that some ships are saying it's been taken off the menu, but others have reported having it offered on their cruise.

I have never made a special request to the dining room of a ship. However, on any future cruises I take with Princess, I will ask at the beginning of the cruise if it is going to be offered. If not, I will see if I can make a special request. I don't like to do that, because I think the kitchen staff works so hard, and I don't like to make extra work for them. But, if enough people make that request, maybe they will put it back on the menus.

There was some discussion about the crudites served in Blu. Is that instead of bread and rolls? My first Aqua Class cruise is in 2016. We enjoy the breads and rolls in the MDR. Will be get them in Blu?

When a guest books expecting certain perks that are listed, I think it is unethical to remove those perks before guests sail. I'm so glad I've been to most of the places I've wanted to visit. Not sure how many more cruises I'll be taking, considering escalating prices and fewer and fewer benefits. Land based trips are sounding more appealing to me.

We were also on this 15 night transatlantic cruise. Although a couple of times they did run out of dishes/silverware in the buffet, they were replenished shortly. It did not seem like a big deal to walk to the next area to get what we needed; we never had to go further than the next area. We also noticed a delay in serving food/opening buffet areas at beginning of a meal period. We weren't in a rush, so it didn't really bother us, but did wonder why they were sometimes pretty late in opening up a buffet food area. Did walk past the cigar smoker in the morning, just walked over on the other side to avoid it, but agree, smokers should be in a more "outdoor" type area. We did not sit in the pool area, we enjoy other areas of the ship more, so can't comment on that too much.

We got a comment card a few days into the cruise, so it was probably your stateroom steward that just didn't give it out, or perhaps they only give them to a portion of the ship?

As for food in the MDR, everything we ordered was outstanding, especially the seafood. We did not get anything we didn't enjoy. But food is subjective, so what one person really enjoys another might feel is practically inedible. We were in Select Dining, and had no problems getting a table, but that was because we always went around opening time at 6 p.m. Perhaps part of the problem is that they took some space away from the MDR for Blu and Luminae. Cruiselines sometimes don't make the dining rooms large enough for the number of people onboard.

I really agree about the "overpriced" onboard prices of things, and it is one of my greatest sources of dissatisfaction overall when cruising. Other cruiselines overcharge for onboard purchases as well. I really dislike being ripped off. So, as others have stated, we bring an assortment of health aides so we don't have to pay those prices. Other examples: stateroom bar, $3.50 plus 18% gratuity for a can of soda that is not even 12 ounces. Or, a cup of tea at Cafe Al Bacio $4.50 plus 18% gratuity. Really??? We did not have any soda or tea because of those prices. My DH also caught a cold on this cruise, but we had our Dayquil/Nyquil. I would have been pretty angry if we had to pay $17.99 for it. A little markup, Ok, but that much? I don't understand why cruiselines think it's OK to overcharge their guests with such inflated prices. There was a big push to book another cruise while onboard. We did not. Not sure of my future with Celebrity.

What we really liked about this cruise was the size of the ship. Most of the time, public areas were not too crowded. Considering this was an older ship, we thought it was in good condition. The only thing we did see was quite a bit of rust on our balcony. We have been on S class ships and love their beauty and amenities, but bigger and more crowded than we like. Overall, for us, we really enjoyed this cruise. I'm sorry the OP did not have as good a cruise as we did.

For me, it's disappointing if they alternate menus, because there really is no way of knowing which week will offer the items that are your favorites. What I do know is that up until this year, every cruise I took, most of which were 7 night cruises, they always offered onion soup one night during the cruise. For those of you who really enjoy the onion soup, if it is not offered on your cruise, please mention it on the electronic survey you receive after the cruise. I do think it is a favorite of many, so if enough people mention it, maybe they will reconsider and bring it back one night on each cruise.

CCruisequeen, yes, sometimes looking forward to a favorite food actually encourages you to book a cruise! My other favorite is the eggplant parmesan, I've never had such good eggplant parmesan in any other restaurant. Thankfully, they still offered that on Italian night on this cruise. I had heard about the warm chocolate melting cake on Carnival. Once, I needed a "getaway" and saw a great deal on a Carnival cruise I could drive to. I have read many negative comments about Carnival, and wanted to give it a try. I had the warm chocolate melting cake on 5 of the 8 nights onboard. It really was delicious. And I discovered that I really liked Carnival! So, you never know how even one food can make someone's decision to book a cruise!

Well, I guess it's a big deal to those who really enjoy it. When it's been served in the past, I always saw many people enjoying it. I am not interested in going to the Crown Grill and paying $25 per person to get onion soup. I think they are taking the "special" out of cruising. Murphey, if they specially make the onion soup for you "upon request" do you tip someone? If so, who, and how much?

I just got off of the Crown Princess (Oct 10 - 17, 2015 - California Coast). Each day I waited patiently for my favorite, French Onion Soup. On the last day of the cruise, it STILL was not on the menu! I asked someone who works in the kitchen. He said there is no onion soup on this cruise, there is no French night. Well, I don't think there was ever a French night, but there has always been French Onion soup served on one night of the cruise. I am so disappointed - I look forward to that as one of my favorites on Princess cruises! Can anyone who has recently been on a 7 night cruise write back as to which ship you were on and whether or not baked onion soup was ever served? I am SO disappointed! I hope it is not a fleet-wide decision.

Speaking of food, I ate in the main dining room (Anytime) 6 of the 7 nights, and bananas foster and cherries jubilee were also not served on the nights I was there. It's possible that one of them was served the night I didn't go to the main dining room, but I know they would not serve both on the same night, so at least one of those special deserts was also not served on this cruise. (Interestingly, one night DH went up to the buffet to get a cup of tea, and they were making bananas foster at the buffet). Again, very disappointed. Have you had these deserts served in the main dining room on recent 7 night cruises?

I'm wondering, if you purchase a coffee card upon embarking, would you have to pay sales tax? On my last couple cruises when I purchased a cocktail, I was charged local sales tax. This happened both while docked, and after sailaway; I guess we were still in the "local waters." If I thought I'd also have to pay sales tax, that would be a reason to pre purchase before getting onboard.

I was on the Oct 10 sailing of the Crown, and yes, they did have the platinum/elite cocktail party on 6 nights in Skywalkers from 5-7 p.m. The only notice about it was a card in the stateroom listing the drink and snacks that would be served each night.

As for the Magic to Do show, I thought it was nice, but not great. I missed the more elaborate sets, costumes, and dancing that I have seen in other shows. Some of the magic was very good, but as someone else posted, I also thought some of the magic was basic. It's definitely worth seeing, but if you miss it, I would say, don't be too upset about it. Just my opinion.

I am very disappointed to hear that celebrities were on board on October 10. I did not see any of them, or hear anything about their presence. I would have loved to meet them, as I am a huge fan of the old Love Boat TV series.

Thanks for the tip. Always like to know when more cruises are released.

I have been trying to find a packing list for this trip with no success. (Some info in this thread has been helpful; thank you Jazzbeau). I even asked in the Future Cruise Consultant's office while onboard a different ship, and they could not find anything. Does anyone know where to find a packing list for this trip? Thank you.

Hello, I'm the OP. My cruise is May 8. Since my package has two hotel nights pre, and one hotel night post, I am looking to travel May 6 - 16. HawksFan74 has seen the same pricing I have seen; Over $1400 for the nonstop, and about $600 for the flight with one connection. It is so nice to see so many Cruise Critic friends trying to help me find flights. DH and I have to think thru how much we can spend and what we are comfortable with, but it's looking like the connection in Panama City will work best. It was great to hear the airport is not too large, easy to maneuver, and English will be understood. All these things are very helpful. Thank you again, everyone.

Well, thank you again to everyone for all this great information. We love the cruise experience, but the getting there and back home is never too much fun. We have a 10 night package with Celebrity that includes 2 nights in a Quito hotel before the flight to Galapagos, so we are hopeful that will be enough time even if there are flight delays. The package also includes transfers to/from the hotel/airport in Quito, so we would like to fly into Quito. Thanks for the tip about frequent airport closings at night time. As we continue our flight search, we will also try to find something that arrives in the afternoon - perhaps an overnight flight that originates the day before. We are trying different web sites, but not seeing some of the flights others have mentioned - only one nonstop from NY that is more than double the price of flights with one stop. This trip is already expensive enough, so we were hoping to keep the flight cost reasonable.

Connecting in Miami, Choice Air tells us 45 minutes is the legal connection time, so 51 minutes should be OK. We don't feel confident with that. Flights out of NY are frequently delayed, and we think we'd have to change from a domestic terminal to an international terminal, possibly having to go through security again. So, the 13 hour connection time sounds better to us than 51 minutes, but still not very desirable. We are leaning towards the Panama City connection unless we find something better, or a nonstop with a reasonable price. We still have time, so we are going to take a break from searching for flights, and then in another week or two try again. You never know what might change or pop up in the meantime. Thank you again to everyone for your comments, ideas, and suggestions. You have all been very helpful.

Az_Tchr - Thanks for the additional info on Copa. The only nonstop I saw out of NY was $1484 on Tame. This cruise is already pressing my budget before the flights. I will look into Copa, I would be comfortable with them since they are affiliated with United. $200 extra for a nonstop would be worth it as long as I can get it out of NY. On my searches, that nonstop was $900 per person more than the others. As for some of the other airlines, I am a bit uneasy about using an airline I never heard of. I thank you and Flames9 for the suggestions.

Thanks to you both for your ideas. Choice Air will not show any flights online, you must call. When we called, they offered us the same flights we had found on our own - 51 minutes or 13 hours to connect thru Miami. Out of NY, there is only 1 nonstop that is too expensive. I'll try to think of some other airlines that might not show up on the major search engines in case there is something else out there. I am leaning towards the Panama City connection, so if anyone has any info on the Panama City airport, I'd appreciate it. Or maybe I should spend a few days in Texas and then fly nonstop from there. Thanks again for your ideas.

Hello,

I'm hoping for some advice from my fellow Cruise Critic friends. We need a flight from New York JFK to Quito Ecuador in May for our Galapagos cruise on the Xpedition. There is one nonstop that is out of our budget; it is double the price of most other flights. We are seeing flights with connections in Miami with either 51 minutes or 13 hours to connect, neither is very desirable. There is a flight with a more reasonable connection time that connects in Panama City. I would prefer to connect in the US. Does anyone have any experience with connecting in Panama City? How big is the airport, and is the airport easy or difficult to get through? Also wondering about language and currency, will English and US dollars work there? Will we have to go through Immigration in both Panama and Ecuador? We are very unfamiliar with this part of the world, so any advice is very much appreciated. Thanks in Advance.

I have also used an agency that offered some nice extras, but lately I'm not too happy with them. And, they do charge a hefty cancellation fee which is a turnoff to me. Recently, my cruise went down $100 per person, so $200 total savings. When I asked the agent to refare it for me, she did. But she had to remove $150 on board credit the agency had given me for the booking. I know the extras they give you come out of their commission, and if your price is lower, their commission is lower. So I understand a reduction in the extras the agency gives you if the price goes down. I expected perhaps a $50 reduction in the onboard credit the agency gave me. But to loose $150 onboard credit because of a $200 price reduction? Seems excessive to me.

I think an agency can become too successful, and then they start offering less value, unpopular fees, and customer service declines. I've noticed what I think is a fairly good reduction in what my former agency offers, so I've looked for a new agency. For my most recent booking, I used an online site where you enter the information on the cruise you are interested in, and a number of agencies email quotes to you. I was really happy with what they offered me - quite a bit better than the agency I used to use, and no cancellation fee. I think I've found my new favorite agency.

Thank you again for such a great review with so many helpful hints. Sounds like you had a wonderful time; I can't wait for my trip to the Galapagos next year.

I have an old Open Passages Certificate that I purchased in October 2011. In August 2014 I used it for a deposit on a 15 night transatlantic cruise that sails in November 2015. Reading the certificate, it does not exclude transatlantics and shows $300 on board credit for a 15 night cruise. I asked my TA if she could see how much on board credit was on the booking from Celebrity. She told me $300. I'll know for sure in November when I get onboard.

Thank you for your response, Jazzbeau. Isn't it strange that the small gift shop on the Expedition does not sell anything with the blue footed boobies on it? I would think that would be a top seller! That is certainly what DH and I hope to get. You said there is plenty of time to shop on the last day. Do you mean that final day back in Quito? Are there lots of shops near the hotel to buy souvenirs?

Having done some research, I found that for US citizens, no visa is needed, only a passport. Also, that the US dollar is the official currency. Can you confirm that?

My final question is about vaccinations. From what I read on the CDC website, it appears that none are required, but hepatitis A and typhoid are recommended because you can get those diseases from contaminated food or water. I'm sure all food/water on the ship is fine, but I'm wondering about food/drinks for the three days we will be in Quito. Are any meals provided by the hotel? And for those that aren't, where did you eat, how did you know what was safe? Do you know if many people got the hepatitis A and typhoid shots before going to Ecuador? Thank you in advance for all your information.

Thanks so much for this great and helpful review. I am booked for the inner loop in May 2016. I have 2 questions: is there a gift shop on board where you could buy a few souvenirs - t shirt, hat, figurine of some of the wildlife you saw? Also, will this trip be OK for someone who can not swim and has never gone snorkeling? Thanks so much for all the information.

All of this makes me very sad. I already find Princess prices high, and to think they will intentionally keep supply low so they can keep prices high is disappointing. I already push my budget to be able to cruise. On my last cruise I definitely saw the "creep" of onboard prices, especially for drinks. I bought less because of it. I see last minute bookings, lower priced cruise lines, and land based trips in my future.

Thank you very much for the information. I'm not sure whether to go ahead and get the vaccine and travel to those spots, or better to avoid traveling to those spots. There are still many other places left on my bucket list!