WEGL81

I posted my review here. I am home today and would be happy to answer any questions, especially about aft cabins as this was our first experience with this. We stayed in Baja B756 next to the vent (which had absolutely no effect on us)

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=261367

 

Overall, it was an awesome cruise with my only complaint being the vibration in our cabin the whole time. I understood the vibration while the thrusters were on during docking. But the constant engine vibration throughout the cruise made for some sleepless nights. We got used to it for the most part, but that's the only thing that prevented this cruise from being a perfect 10.

Do you have to show up for the 2nd muster drill if you are a b2b passenger?

 

No, B2B'ers are exempt from a 2nd muster drill. Basically, you are the last to leave the ship needing only your old cruise card, your new cruise card, your passport, and something to read for an hour. It only takes longer if a B2B'er thinks they don't have to get off of the ship. It does make for a relaxing afternoon, especially since the newbies have to go to muster and you don't.

Hmmm, this makes me worry a bit about my TA cruise on the Connie from 11/5 thru 11/21. I have no desire to be stranded in the middle of the Atlantic.

I am able to access from my iPad, but I just cannot "view reservation". If you go directly to the online check-in, that works. You can print your Express pass and all from there.

[quote name='MsSoCalCruiser']Pam, They must have a new chef because we had a wonderful experience in the MDR and in the buffet. I wasn't impressed with the cookies though. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give them a 3 and I'm sure most people here know that the cookies on Princess are a definite 10![/QUOTE]

I have to comment on the cookies, because, believe it or not, that is one measuring stick I use for cruise lines. I just came off the Caribbean Princess and also sailed on Sapphire last year. Earlier this year we took our first Celebrity cruise on the Constellation. Cookies on Princess are good and are better than RCCL by a long shot. However, cookies on the Constellation were out of this world good. Now, at first I didn't think this because the 1st day they only served gluten-free cookies, which tasted like cardboard. Then I noticed a non-gluten free cookie being served in Cafe Al Baccio (sp), which is X's equivalent to Princess' International cafe, and it was incredible. So I learned to look for the non-gluten free cookies from then on. I would rate them higher than Princess because they are fresh whereas (at least) the ones I had on CB were soft, but often somewhat stale.

There are also a lot of B2B'ers. We are doing a 5/4 B2B next week. I think one of the things that may have caught Princess a little off guard is the volume of people doing this. For us, it's a quicker way to Elite.

I've been on both (2 Princess with 3rd upcoming in a couple weeks and 3 RCCL). My personal opinions are: Princess seems to have less kid-friendly pool areas (Freedom class RCCL have splash zone pools). I don't have young kids so I can't speak to the kid programs. I've found the food to be of higher quality on Princess, but not by much. Buffet setup on RCCL is superior to Princess. Entertainment on RCCL is much superior to Princess (especially since you've been on Freedom and IOS and probably saw their ice show- Princess has nothing comparable). The Princess ships seem less crowded to me and a slightly older crowd than RCCL, but that just could be my impression from the itineraries I experienced.

Thanks for the live posting, geoherb. I really enjoyed reading your posts and now have a better idea of what to expect when we're on the CB in 2 weeks.

When I was on the Sapphire last year, the menus were different in the 3 dining rooms. We had anytime dining and rotated between the 3. The new offerings each night were the same between the dining rooms but the "get it any night" type of offerings were different. I'm not familiar with the CB dining but will be on her later this month. I also don't do fixed dining for that very reason- to get variety in menus and people.

You have to compare classes and ages of ships. If you like the M class Celebrity ships, compare them to, perhaps, the grand class on Princess.

 

We have sailed on Celebrity Summit and Caribbean Princess this year. My preference is the Summit, more for the lack of inside smoking venues, lounge chair comfort, and entertainment. That doesn't mean that we didn't like the Caribbean Princess. We did. Food and service were equal to Celebrity. As mentioned above, however, if you can book Aqua Class on Celebrity, nothing compares to the dining experience in Blu.

 

You touched on the two key differences that I experienced. We recently sailed on Celebrity Constellation on a 5 day and are booked in Aqua again for a TA in Nov. Blu was outstanding and much better than any MDR experience I ever had on Princess. The other is smoking, which Princess allows in the casino and X does not. When we we sailed on the Sappire last year the casino experience was severely dampened by smoking.

 

It all depends on what you like to do. I'd put the entertainment on X and Princess pretty equal except that X theaters are better equipped for the crowds. Neither of them will rival RCCL for entertainment. I like the buffet setup on X much better than Princess- they don't try to funnel you through a single line. So far I've found prices on both pretty equal, but highly depending on what ship/itinerary you're looking to do.

We did the Voyage of the Glaciers NB from Vancouver to Whittier last year. For our first cruise to Alaska it was awesome. We only had the day before the cruise in Vancouver, though, and wish we had planned more time there. We also flew from Florida so one way flights to Vancouver weren't too bad, but one way flights back from Fairbanks were steep and we had to arrive in Tampa the next day at that. We did the 14 day cruise tour. Unfortunately, it rained for the better part of our land tour so we missed out on a lot. I know you're only going for a week, but it takes a day to fly out there and another day to fly back. Haven't considered any RT just because we didn't want to spend time cruising back over areas we had already cruised on the way there. Another thing is if you do eventually decide to do a land tour, be prepared to spend a lot of time in busses going from one place to another. It all looks great when planning to go to 4 different lodges in a week long land tour until you realize you have to unpack anbd pack 4 times (plus your luggage gets beat to h***).

 

If we had it to do over again and knew the weather was going to be so bad on the land tour, we would've done a back-to-back Vancouver-Whittier inside passage. This kind of goes against our RT philosophy, but seeing Glacier Bay twice is not a bad thing.

"My happiness comes when I awake at the pre-cruise hotel the morning we board the ship. At that point, the work is behind us, the fun lies ahead. It's like Christmas morning and the first morning of summer vacation rolled into one. It's a wonderful feeling"

 

This sums it up perfectly....just perfectly!

 

Yesss! Like Christmas morning and the first morning of summer vacation as a kid. Excellent description.

WEGL81, on princess ships, there's no waiting. you go right to your stateroom when you embark.

 

Hmmm, when we went on the Sapphire last August we had to wait until 1 PM. We boarded around 11:30. Maybe different ships have different policies, but I distinctly recall having to head to the Horizon court to wait for the rooms to be ready.

Happiness for me is when you first step on board a new ship. Everything is new, no matter how old the boat is. Just walking through the ship for the first time and then they announce that rooms are ready. Being unpacked and heading out to explore some more, knowing that your entire vacation is in front of you. Man, what a feeling....41 days away for me.

Thanks for sharing. Am going on the CB in 6 weeks. Glad to hear you had a good time. We're doing a B2B but the last leg goes to Grand Turk. We're just doing the HOHO bus to look around the island. Wasn't really very much listed to do and your review confirms it. We'll have fun, though.

I'll add in my experience. I get motion sickness on thrill rides, especially those 3D simulations that try to make you think you're in motion. On our first cruise in 1987, I think, my DW and I wore the patch. Mine fell off when swimming somewhere and since I felt ok, I decided I didn't need it. That night I looked out the window at dinner and saw the horizon rising and falling. I started thinking "I hope I don't get seasick". Then it came on and man, was I sorry I didn't put on another patch. It took 4 or 5 hours before I was able to even lift my head.

 

So from then on, we've religiously worn the patch and I've never been sick. You know, the idea that it causes light sensitivity is incorrect. What occurs is that people touch the patch and then touch around their eyes before washing their hands. The scopalamine then gets into their eyes and dilates their pupils, which causes sensitivity to light. So if people are just careful and wash their hands, they won't experience any light sensitivity. Having said that, the part about dry mouth is correct. But would you rather have a dry mouth or be sea sick? Having been sea sick, I'll take a dry mouth everyday.

 

Having said all that, on our next cruise we're trying the sea bands. We'll have patches with us in case those don't work, along with Bonine, etc. The patches do affect our "enjoyment index" as I call it.

 

Whatever treatment you decide to go with, start it before you get on board. Prevention is much easier than recovery, believe me.

"The only food that was horrid, and I do mean horrid, was what was labeled in the warming tray as “Turkey Sausage.” Wow. I have no idea what was in this, but if I had to guess, I would say feathers, beak, and no other part of the turkey with which I am familiar. I am not one to spit out food, at least not unless there is an involuntary reflex reaction involved…(flashback to a bad Tequila episode in college :eek:)…, but this was a close call. I managed to get ‘er down. But it was a struggle."

 

Haha, I had the same experience, only one day 1. I saw that turkey sausage and thought- hey, I'll make one sacrifice for a healthier me. Not again, though. My other experience was with the scrambled eggs. While not uneatable, they weren't very good. We had breakfast in one of the MDR where I ordered scrambled eggs that were very good. There was no comparison.

"Honestly, I thought that we were on the USS Nimitz and that these puppies were going to land on the Sun Deck."

 

Great line. Planes were everywhere on this trip. You can see where they are vital to the locals.

Very nice and detailed review. It's fascinating to read someone else's experiences on the same exact cruise. I snapped many of those same pictures and think I must've been standing very close to you on sailaway day :)

 

My daughter saw those same Orcas on day 1. Living in Florida, she thought they were dolphins :). We never saw any. That first sea day was almost a waste from a picture standpoint. I got many of the same foggy landscape shots as you.

 

We were in D418 on the port side, probably 10 rooms down from you. Son and daughter were in D420.

 

I agree wholeheartedly on the entertainment venues, but note that the production shows were not up to par with other cruise lines (specifically RCCL) that I have been on. The stage in the Princess theater seems small. Shows were sparsely attended and for the first time in my cruising life I saw people get up and leave in the middle of a show.

 

I look forward to reading more of your review, and thanks for the pictures! The Orca ones will be priceless to my daughter.

We have a cheap shoe organizer that we hang on the bathroom door, for all those things that overflow the medicine cabinets. We also keep the shampoo, conditioner, shower soap in it since you can reach it from the shower and can't fall off the shelf onto the floor.

 

Same here. One of those plastic shoe organizers with about 20 or so pockets. Great for holding all the little stuff and keeping the desk clear.