Grannycb

Is the 60 day look back specifically for the travelers, or does it include immediate family members at home? For instance: If an immediate family member at home becomes ill or injured and you need to leave the cruise, does the insurance look at their health for 90 days previous? We've always purchased insurances that covers preexisting condition, but it would be good to know what happens in this other instance.

I asked that question. The answer was so the wait staff would know our names and give more personalized service. Also, it was to help identify wait staff performance.

I wish Princess would have a full range of itineraries out of NY. We loved sailing out of NY on a transatlantic a few years ago. Wouldn't it be nice to add Bermuda, a decent New England/Canada cruise, as well as Caribbean and Bahamas cruises? We'd definitely be taking more cruises on Princess.

Added, Charleston would make a big difference for us. Love that city as a cruise port.

We sent a letter of appreciation for the wonderful time we had on Grandeur a few years back. It was the perfect cruise with wonderful attention to detail. We wanted to let the head office know how well everyone had done to make our vacation a success. It was a surprise to get a phone call thanking us. They listen to what we have to say, both the good and bad.

What is the location on the ship? Have you looked for your cabin number in reviews? Try Googling something like best cabins on your ship. You might look at: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cabin-reviews/?src=nav

It's a great place to start reading about cabins.

Glad you picked Anthem. Radiance class ships seem crowded in public areas, especially on longer cruises.

The Anthem goes to Spain and Canary Islands, Explorer goes to Russia, Finland, etc. The only thing that concerns me as well is the Anthem balcony would be obstructed view and I think it has only a 55ft balcony. Obviously there's not way to see what an obstructed view looks like as the boat isn't built yet.

 

I do think it would be kinda cool to be on the fourth or fifth cruise of a new ship.

Went to look up the different itineraries but didn't see any Explorer cruises to Russia. Did you mean Brilliance?

If you are going to Northern Europe it doesn't really matter what ship you take. The cruise will be so port intensive that you won't have time or energy to enjoy much on the ship. Having been on both the Northern Europe and Canary Islands itineraries, I'd pick the Northern Europe.

If budget is a major factor, know the Northern Europe itinerary will cost significantly more for shore excursions.

Let me make sure I understand this. I log on to the Internet, use whatever number of minutes I need, then DH can pick up his iPad and log into the same account. My session would end and his would continue using minutes until he signs off. Is that correct? Is this for unlimited package only or can it also be used for the set number of minutes?

Thanks. This could come in handy.

The least was -$50 this summer on Carnival. The most was on a Princess transatlantic that ended in Venice. Lots of $$$$ for shore excursions. That was before I learned about booking independently. Usually break even on RCCL when considering OBC from various sources and paying for shore excursions in advance..

Have you read reviews here on CC? Have a look: http://www.cruisecritic.com/ruby-princess-deck-plans/dp/?ShipID=443&deck=14 click on your state room category and a list of reviews pops up. It's a great tool.

You could also Google 'best cabins on Ruby Princess' to see what pops up.

Are lobster claws still served at Cafe Carib on formal nights? Loved those claws!

Perhaps the biggest deviation in itineraries for us was on a transatlantic from FL to the Med. in 2010. We made an unscheduled stop in Bermuda to take a critically ill passenger and family off the ship. The captain made up the extra time and got us to Gibraltar on schedule.

Thank goodness the cruise lines do things like that to save lives.

Is there free soft ice-cream on the ship too?

Here's our cruise history. There's no pattern. Factors are: Itinerary, Price, & Availability.

Sitmar

HAL

RCCL

RCCL

RCCL

American

Princess

Princess

Princess

RCCL

Princess

Princess

Carnival

RCCL

Princess

RCCL

RCCL

RCCL

RCCL

RCCL

Princess

Princess

Princess

RCCL

RCCL

RCCL

Princess

Carnival

Princess

Princess

Carnival

Celebrity

RCCL

Princess

RCCL

Celebrity

RCCL

Celebrity

RCCL

Celebrity

Carnival

Princess

Carnival

RCCL

RCCL

Added: We've enjoyed all the cruises for their variety.

Wow..Thanks so much for all the answers. Made everything a bit easier to book a room. Still a bit intimidated going on such a HUGE ship but looks like fun. Where would we be without Cruise Critic !! :D

Just curious, what type of cabin did you decide on getting? Were there any determing factors?

I'm still second guessing if deck 8 was a good call for us. Will there be noise from Central Park? Guess we'll find out once on the ship.

We did the 7 day round trip as our first Alaska cruise in an inside cabin. It was booked last minute and saved $$$. The dark cabin was perfect for sleeping.

We also did a 7 day north bound B2B with a 7 day south bound, also last minute. The advantage of this was the cost of flights was much less. It gave us the opportunity to do different shore excursions at each port. This was also in an inside cabin, although I wished we could have switched to OV.

I'm hoping we can get back a third time to do the land portion. It will also be booked about a week or two before the cruise. The pricing is so much better. I would try for an OV, but if the savings was great enough, I'd go back for another inside cabin. The view from the balconies is too restricting, and I'd want to be up on deck to take in the complete splendor.

Just saw the timing question. We went on the first cruise in May and thought it was spectacular. We also went on one in September. It was still pretty, but nothing like the May cruise. The weather was colder but the mountains were all cover with snow and the glaciers were calving in May.

I was just saying the same thing on another thread. We like to see what's happening and then decide what we feel like doing. This scheduling everything isn't my idea of a relaxing vacation.

It's been happening for years. We are on a social media where we here about it more easily.

We went with a basic ocean view, midship deck 8. I like to sit watching the water. It's so calming. There is so much to do around the ship that a place to have down time is important. Everyone is different. Just thought I'd add my two cents.

The thought of booking shows when we don't know what else is happening around the ship is a little intimidating. Normally we decide what we want to do in the moment. Not too sure if I like planning so far in advance.

Honey from Bermuda.

I would suggest the helipad at night. It's dark, which makes for a beautiful starry sky, and often deserted. Sometimes you even see shooting stars.

Hands down this is my favorite of all the ideas listed. IMHO, a proposal should be a private occasion. The last night of the cruise would be the perfect time.

What a wonderful review! I'm seriously thinking our week long cruise isn't going to be long enough to see and do everything on the ship. Maybe we will have to skip going onshore at the ports.

How are the pools?

NO!!!! Half the fun of cruising is the research and anticipation. Take that away and I'm not going to be a happy camper.

In regards to switching from a ES to GTY, yes, it is possible. Keeping the same cabin when doing this is "not". I tried this recently when calling Carnival and they said no. I kept my "known" cabin. And for $20/person, I wouldn't do it unless they cabin is a 1A or a 4A.

We did it, and other people on our sailing did it. We booked an obstructed balcony ES, went to guarantee and were assigned an extended balcony deck 5 forward. The price dropped, we went back into the pool and were assigned a deck 8 toward aft. The price dropped and we were assigned a deck 8 midship extended balcony. The price dropped yet again but we stayed in the midship cabin instead of taking more OBC.

My rule of thumb is to call and ask.

The seas were very rough, outside doors were closed to passengers, on our Sept. 2012 cruise. The weather was cool, not cold. Loved everything we saw, including two nights of northern lights as we left Iceland.

I certainly would not do it. Maybe one of the folding sunshades for $15.00 or so, but not much more. Even better, find a shade tree. There are still some around. IMO

Was there last week. The folding sunshades are not $26.