davy jones

Doesn't the Skyway Bridge limit the size of the ships sailing from Tampa?

Thanks. I was thinking about getting a waterproof air tag holder, but it probably isn't necessary.

1. Is the Princess medallion waterproof? (If I put it in a zippered pocket in my swim trunks, will it survive a dip in the ocean?) 2. Is the Princess medallion reusable? (Can it be reused on your next Princess cruise?)

There is some truth to that. Princess is using the medallion system to expedite check ins.

We are sailing Grand in both directions this summer and considering excursion options. Could you share your excursion decisions? Since there will be two stops at each port, we will do an excursion day and an explore the port day.

I was able to book an excursion using the Princess OBC. I also have OBC from TA that is not accessible at this time.

Does Princess allow you to book excursions online using OBC?

In general, lower decks are less prone to motion than higher decks. I believe that the cabin size is similar to a standard balcony. You could get some noise from night time parties on deck 6.

Thanks. This is good to know.

We have booked our first B2B to Alaska. We included Princess Plus. Do the fitness classes and casual meal included in Princess Plus reset for the second leg?

Refresh my memory. Is that the one who sings Sinatra tunes?

On smaller ships with one MDR, they sing and dance at the fixed dining times (usually dessert). That may not align very well with the time that you arrived and may result in slower service.

We like to go to dinner around 6:30 to 7:00 PM, so we prefer MTD. That said, our next cruise is a larger family cruise so we booked early seating because of the larger party with children.

Per US law, any ship that leaves a US port and stops at a non US port must go through the immigration process upon arrival in a US port. It is similar to the process on debarkation day. All passengers must leave the ship and clear immigration. They can not reboard until all passengers have cleared immigration. The problems occur because some passengers ignore the requirement and stay onboard until they are tracked down to go through immigration, leaving thousands of passengers to wait in the terminal until they finally arrive. I have experienced this in Miami on MSC and Royal. The MSC experience, while chaotic was far better than the clueless Royal process, where the passengers could not begin to reboard until almost 2 PM. You can get taxis into Miami and there could be shore excursions available. Your best bet on these days is to disembark, go into town and do your thing until after lunch and return to the ship.

Will the lane be able to accommodate his bowling ball? Some lanes at sea are not full size.

True. MSC pretty much showed all NFL games in the room. Much more than any other line that I have been on. I imagine that Sunday's game will be pretty much everywhere that has a TV.

On a B2B, you have to go through an embarkation day mid cruise. US ports will require you to disembark and clear customs in FLL and you can not reboard until everyone has disembarked. It is also another embarkation day, with the usual first day bottlenecks and muster drill. Because of the turnaround day, 14 day sailings can offer more and different ports than a B2B. Princess Plus does add an interesting dynamic. Since it is two sailings, you should get the specialty meal benefits on each, doubling the benefit.

I am not a mariner, but I suspect that a wind blowing to port or starboard presents more problems than a wind blowing to forward or aft. The side of the ship would act as a giant sail pushing the ship toward the edge of the channel.

They will adjust prices based on demand. If bookings are slow, prices will drop to fill the ship. If booking are active, prices are adjusted to maximize income. Therefore, it is hard to predict. Often prices will be adjusted after final payment, due to cancellations. Check then.

Meraviglia. The water park and ropes course were small compared to the newer ships on the other 3 mass market lines. (At least I thought so when passing by.

The previous post was our experience with easy plus. Some brand spirits are included in easy plus. I suggest that you check the bar menus to see if easy plus works for you.

We sailed MSC out of NYC on a 10 day in the fall. It worked for us and we would go again on a similar cruise at the right price. Some of what I say may not be applicable to you, since you will be travelling with children. We sail as a couple, typically off season to avoid the peak season crowds. Most of our cruises these days are in the 10 to 14 day range, which tend to be less crowded. We don't need many of the bells and whistles of some large lines and will retreat to our balcony if it is crowded on sea days. We had the Fantastica experience and purposely chose an "obstructed view" balcony because it was beneath the pool deck overhang, thus insuring shade at all times of the day. Here are my general comments about our cruise. 1. We did not see many of the reported issues like crowding and difficulty getting drinks. That may be due to our sailing which also had a number of travel agents. 2. We prefer to choose our dining time, but did not want to pay the Aurea premium to get it because we weren't interested in the other features. We made do with early seating. 3. Overall, we found the food to be pretty good. It not on a level with Celebrity, Holland, or Princess, but definitely better than our recent Royal sailings. 4. The entertainment was generally good. It tends to be production shows and travelling headliners. Don't expect Broadway type shows on some other lines. Note that reservations are advised for many shows. Daily activities were pretty typical for a mass market line. (Side note. Trivia prizes are better than average. I won a bottle of bubbly for a trivia game. Others won t-shirts, backpacks and other branded items larger and more useful than a key chain) 5. The ships are beautiful and our cabin was well maintained. 6. The often offered Easy-plus drink package works well for us as we tend to soft drinks with an occasional beer or boat drink.. Upgraded coffees available at many bars. 7. The ship was not overly crowded, but I did see the potential for it during peak season sailings. 8. We found the service to be acceptable. Dining room service varied day to day. Cabin steward was fine and customer service followed up on a problem that we had. There were youth programs and a small water park, but there were not many children on board and the majority were preschool. There may be better kid options.

Been there on both HAL and Carnival. Imo, it has the best beach of the private islands that I have been to. There are plenty of free loungers. The further that you walk down the beach, the less crowed it will be. HAL serves a better lunch than Carnival. Down side is that you have to tender to the island.

Are there loungers and umbrellas by the pool?

Mine is Yuengling lager. If you walk into a bar where I live and ask for a lager, that is what you will be given. I like it better than Sam. It is available on MSC, but I haven't seen it on any other cruise line.