Boiler Cruiser

My DW and I are on a cruise to Norway on the Caribbean Princess later this year, which includes an overnight stop in Alta, Norway.

 

There are excursions for the first day (and evening), but no excursions available for day 2, even though we do not leave until late at night.

 

Have any of you had experience with Princess and this port?  Will there be excursions available to day 2?  If so, when will we be able to sign up for them.

 

Thanks.

For those who have cruised on both Carnival and Princess, can you tell me what the difference is between the Princess Mini Suite and Carnival's Suites?  Does Carnival have an equivalent accomodation to the Princess Mini Suite?

I have not been on a Carnival Cruise, but I have been on several Princess Cruises.

 

Princess has drink packages, as well as combo packages, such as their Premium and Plus Packages that include more than just drinks. 

 

Does Carnival have drink packages that include wine, beer and liquor?  Do they have packages that include Wifi, Specialty Meals, etc.?

 

How much do they cost?

 

Thanks.

I have been asked to give advice about cruising in Alaska, since I have had the wonderful experience.  But I would like to know what others have to share on the subject.

 

What advice would you give someone who is looking forward to booking their first Alaska cruise?

 

What should they consider when choosing a cruise line?  What kind of accommodations?  Should they do a cruise tour for their first cruise to Alaska, or just the cruise itself?

 

What time of year is best for booking an Alaska cruise?

 

Any other advice or recommendations?

I just noticed on the Princess website that when booking a cruise, you are no longer given the option of choosing the Premium Package, only the Plus Package. 

 

Is that a new wrinkle?  Is the Premier Package no longer available?  If not, what is the reason(s) it was eliminated?

On 12/7/2023 at 8:55 AM, STREETKING said:

We have booked a 16-day Hawaiian cruise sailing in January 2025. I would like to start making payments but wasn't sure if I should do this or wait for the final payment date. Is there any disadvantage to starting to prepay before final payment ?

Won't Princess only provide a "refund" in the form of a cruise credit is you pay early and decide not to go for any reason?

On 11/23/2023 at 3:33 PM, beg3yrs said:

We did this itinerary in 2022 on the Island Princess and we're going to do it again on the Emerald Princess in 2025. Yes, for us it was that good!

 

IIRC, excursions in Alta were available for both days the whole time. That said, I just took a look at our excursions for 2025 and see exactly what you do for 2024. Only excursions for the first day are listed. In 2022 unless it was a late night or overnight excursion, the second day pretty much offered similar excursions to the first day.

 

BTW, sailing out that late was amazing. The Northern Lights put on quite an amazing show as they were the backdrop to all the islands of the channel. Stay up, it's worth it.

beg3yrs...

 

Saw your cruise history and your note about your first cruise.  My dad was in the Army, and when we returned from Hawaii in 1962 (I was 11 years old), we took the Lurline to San Francisco.  I have great memories of that trip.

 

When I went back to Hawaii this year on the Royal, I saw the berth we left from in Honolulu!

My DW and I are booked on the Caribbean Princess in September, 2024 going up the coast of Norway, hoping the see the Northern Lights in Alta, and enjoy cruising the fjord-laden coast.

 

Our stop in Alta, Norway is an overnight stop.  We arrive on the first day at 11AM.  On that day, we have an excursion booked to hopefully see the northern lights, which goes from 8:30PM to 11:30PM. 

 

The ship does not leave Alta until 11PM on day 2.  There is no listings of any excursions for day 2.  Is this like some Honolulu itineraries, where they don't list any day 2 excursions, until close to the embarkation date?

 

Does anyone have experience with this Norway itinerary?  Any comments would be appreciated.

 

 

 

 

My wife and are going to  be on a Caribbean cruise that includes a day at Princess Cay in the Bahamas.  We have the Princess Premier Package.

 

When we are at Princess Cay, will the Premier Package apply to our drinks (beer, cocktails, etc.)?

 

What other benefits might we get with the Premier Package (and being Platinum level) while we are at the Princess Cay?

I was on the Royal Princess recently and saw that they had a cocktail hour for Captain's Club Elite and Platinum members in the Vista Lounge before dinner.

 

Do they have the same thing on older ships, such as the Caribbean Princess and the Emerald Princess, among others?  If so, where?  Is it available every evening?

My wife and I had an experience on our recent cruise to Hawaii that resulted in the tour taking much longer than expected. 

 

Our bus driver fancied himself a painter, so at selected stops as we drove around Oahu, he would work on his painting while waiting for us at various stops.  Between stops he drove the bus (a full sized one) faster than expected, leaving us with little time to take in the sights as we drove by.  For example, we drove by the Bonzai Pipeline beaches and Sunset Beach, (a sight I REALLY wanted to see) as well as drove through Haleiwa so fast we did not get more than a glimpse of the sand and water, as well as the town.

 

At places like that Dole Pineapple Plantation (where, by the way, we were not able to buy fresh sliced pineapple), he stopped for more than 20 minutes longer than he needed to just so he would have time to finish his painting before driving back to Honolulu (driving fast again).  By this time, not being able to see much because of his driving speed, we were all wondering when we would get back to the ship.

 

As a result, we were the last tour back to the ship about 40 minutes late, about 10 minutes before that ship was scheduled to leave.  Needless to say, the ship's officers and the Excursion Coordinator were not at all happy.  They asked us to quick foot it to get on board.

 

What about the painting, you ask?  He gave the painting (a not very good beach scene) to one of our fellow passengers as they got off the bus.  That was why he was so fired up to finish it.

 

Has anyone had a similar experience?

I would not buy travel insurance for a cruise from the cruise line itself.  For me, it's like inviting the umpire to make the rules and enforce them.  In an insurance situation, you want a fully neutral party to make the judgement about what is covered and what is not.

 

I always buy my travel insurance from a third party, such as Allianz.  Such a company has no connection to the cruise line or the airline.  They also provide much better coverage for medical (beyond and in addition to Medicare).  They also cover pre-existing conditions.

 

Third party insurance also covers hotel, transportation (including airfare) and provides coverage if anything goes awry during your entire trip.

 

For this reason, I recommend highly that you get third party travel insurance, NOT the insurance offered by the cruise line.  Your TA will have a number of options.  Mine has been Allianz for a number of years, which I get from my TA.

On 8/19/2023 at 3:18 PM, david63 said:

Unless you want something on the drinks list that they offer you in those venues

If you have Princess Premier or Princess Plus, you can order any drink (cocktail or wine, e.g.) at Sabatini's or the Crown Grill and it will be covered to the extent of what plan you have.  As far as drinks are concerned, specialty restaurants don't have different rules for charging.

I have seen a number of questions recently about the Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages.  For those that did not see my original post some months ago, I thought I would share it again.

 

My wife and I bought the Princess Premier Package on our 15-day cruise to Hawaii in March on the Royal Princess.  Before and during our cruise we heard much about the Premier Package, and I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts about it.

 

 

Overall, it had many benefits for my wife and I, and, in the end, we saved a lot more money than the added cost of the Package.

 

 

Medallion Class Experience

 

 

When we first got on the ship, the Medallion app had issues on each of phones.  Not the same issues, however.  We went to the Internet Café, and the personnel there were very helpful, and got the app on each of our phones running like clockwork. 

We were advised that the tech’s in the Internet Café, were finding that many of the issues guests were having with their Medallion app when they first got on the ship happened because they did not update their app after their last cruise.  Running the update on my wife’s phone was all she needed.  So, before our next cruise, we will run an update of our app’s and I expect all will be well.

 

 

Premier Beverage Package

 

 

This is the part of the Premier Package that everyone is interested in and seems to talk about most.

My wife and I appreciated having the Premier Beverage Package very much.  She and I each drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day, not including the Café Mocha or Cappuccino we enjoy from time to time.

  We also drink a couple of beers with lunch, or a soda.

 

Where the Premier Beverage Package really paid off for us was for liquor and wine.  We enjoy a couple of drinks before dinner, and usually, we had a glass of wine with dinner.  We also had a drink of two during the evening, as well.

 

The Premier Beverage Package allowed us to get premium brands of bourbon, scotch and gin that we would not be able to get, even at home, otherwise.  The $20 and under allowance per drink helped with this very much.

 

This all worked for us, but if you are not a person who is looking to drink high-end cocktails, more than the average amount of coffee each day, specialty drinks from Good Spirits at Sea, the Premier Beverage Package may deserve a second thought.

 

By the way, the bar waiters and those at the International Cage and in the restaurants, all knew were had the Premier Package, just from “reading” our medallions.

 

 

Wifi

 

 

The Wifi allowance with the Premier Package was well worth it.  While we did not have 4 devices each, we did have 4 between us.  Having Wifi available 24 hours a day, was a convenience that paid for itself handsomely.

  If you have more than 1 device each, or if you are a family traveling with kids, the Wifi portion will pay for itself.

 

 

Crew Appreciation

 

 

It goes without says, I think, that not having to pay the per diem gratuity out of pocket is a definite plus.

 

 

2 Specialy Meals

 

 

 

We really enjoyed this feature.  My wife and I enjoy going to the Crown Grill or Sabatini’s (especially now with the new menu), so having 2 included was very nice.

 

By the way, on this last cruise (March, 2023), we learned that Sabatini’s had just rolled out it’s new menu.  It was a very nice improvement over the prior menu…a nice variety of entrees and choices for salads, sides and desserts.

 

 

The Photo Package

 

 

 

To be honest, the Photo Package was not anything to get excited about.  True, you were able to get 3 prints (we got 3 8x10’s), but the only plus was that we were able to download all the portrait photos of us taken on the cruise, which we will get printed ourselves (no need to wait for the photo staff to get around to doing it for us).

 

 

Princess Prizes

 

 

 

Princess Prizes was a bit of fun, but seemed gimmicky.  For me, it was like someone bought a number of lottery tickets for me, with the same long odds of winning anything.

 

 

Premium Desserts

 

 

 

It was nice to be able to get a dish of ice cream, or an ice cream sundae at Gelato’s, but the so-called Premium desserts where oversized, over decorated (with sugary décor), and over the top.  I saw one or two people get the big elaborate sundaes, but other than that, regular dishes of ice cream seemed most popular.

 

 

Reserved Theater Seating

 

 

 

In the “fine print”, they note that Reserved Theater Seating in the Princess Theater is only available for what they call production shows.  Since on our 15 day cruise, there were only 3 shows that fell into this category, Reserved Theater Seating was not the perk that Princess makes it out to be, IMHO.

 

 

Unlimited Juice Bar

 

 

 

I felt taken in by this item on the Princess Premier Package.  The juices offered were veggie juices and fruit/ grasses juices, which I would have only had an interest in if it were a dietary necessity.  I was expecting some premium juices, such as papaya, guava, or some special fruit blends, but no such luck.  I was very disappointed.

 

 

Fitness Classes

 

 

 

My wife and I did not participate in the fitness classes.

 

 

Final Thought

 

 

 

I do a spreadsheet budget for each cruise we go on.  So, knowing what we usually would spend on liquor, beer, coffee and other drinks, as well as knowing what we would have spent on the crew gratuity and Wifi, this plan was ideal for us.  On this cruise, we saved easily a few thousand dollars.

 

 

Do your own calculations, and see if it is right for you.

 

On 8/15/2023 at 8:12 PM, nursemom23 said:

First time cruiser on Princess. Would love to hear your thoughts on whether or not Princess Plus is worth purchasing? Thanks!

My wife and I appreciated having the Premier Beverage Package very much.  She and I each drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day, not including the Café Mocha or Cappuccino we enjoy from time to time.

We also drink a couple of beers with lunch, or a soda.

Where the Premier Beverage Package really paid off for us was for liquor and wine.  We enjoy a couple of drinks before dinner, and usually, we had a glass of wine with dinner.  We also had a drink of two during the evening, as well.

The Premier Beverage Package allowed us to get premium brands of bourbon, scotch and gin that we would not be able to get, even at home, otherwise.  The $20 and under allowance per drink helped with this very much.

This all worked for us, but if you are not a person who is looking to drink high-end cocktails, more than the average amount of coffee each day, specialty drinks from Good Spirits at Sea, the Premier Beverage Package may deserve a second thought.

By the way, the bar waiters and those at the International Cage and in the restaurants, all knew were had the Premier Package, just from “reading” our medallions.

2 hours ago, Scirocco Breeze said:

I've never bothered with speciality dining before but our next cruise is for our anniversary so we have booked 1 evening speciality dining. This is probably a really stupid question but my brain insists I ask....does our drink package still count at that meal, or will drinks cost extra too? 

If you are on the Princess Plus or Princess Premier package, the drinks at Sabatini's or Crown Grill will be covered.  It's the same as in any dining room on board.

2 hours ago, CLM0928 said:

Aug 11th - To start Embarkation was super easy!  We were picked up at Inn at Market by taxi at 10:45 and were on the boat and watching safety video by 11:20.  We were green lane and have to say it was extremely fast and run very smoothly.

 

We were/are in A428 with an extended balcony and the room is perfect for the 2 of us.  Nice size and plenty of space. The larger balcony was a plus.  Our room steward was amazing.

 

Food - Ok, I had read several posts saying the food was not the best and I must agree.  We have done Disney and Carnival and this was below both of those.  The buffet was ok but seemed less than what I would expect from Princess.  Crown Grill seemed to be a waste of money to me as the steaks were not as we had ordered and very under cooked.    We did love our dinner at Sabatinis, everything was delicious.  We were on reserve class and had lunch and dinner in the Concerto Dining room and again .. was not impressed.  Lunch was cold by the time we received our order.  Room service was nice option.  We did burgers and fries and they were much better than what we had in dining room.  We did not not do Alfredos but did have pizza by the pool and that was very good.  Intl Cafe was very good and the desserts are to die for .. highly recommend!

 

Lastly,  the internet was very spotty and if you want to stream tv shows ours would freeze continually.  My husband had issues “swapping” between phone and tablet (andriod) but I had no issues with mine (apple).  We had to go on the the medallion app and switch devices on there so both devices must have the medallion app loaded and signed in.

 

 

You mentioned spotty internet and streaming of tv shows while on board.  If you were in Alaskan waters at that time, especially in the coastal passage, geography is definitely NOT your friend.  My wife and I never got good cell service in the lower part of Alaska because the towers are few and far between (literally) and the mountains block radio, TV and microwave signals.

 

Spotty is a kind word for internet, radio, TV and phone service in the coastal passage.

4 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We cruise out of SF quite often and are going in a few days.  So, if there are any updates, I will come back here to post about them.  
With that being said, the way it usually works in the port of SF, or at least at Pier 27, there is no priority given for the security line.  Once you get through security, you will be directed to the green lane or blue lane for check in.  The green lane check in stands are in the middle of the room and are there for those that have their medallions.  The blue lane check in is against the wall and are for those that have to pick up their medallions at the port.  Sometimes, the blue line moves faster than the green line and vice versa.  
Anyway, once you go through check in, you are guided to a specific area to be seated if they haven’t cleared the ship for boarding yet.  There is a small seating area for elite and suite passengers that has a table set up with juice, water, coffee, tea and danishes.  
When the ship is cleared for boarding, those on a B2B are let back on first.  The passengers in full suites go next, if there are any special groups, such as wedding parties, etc., they go next and then elite status passengers are allowed to board.  Boarding usually begins around 11:00 AM but could be later depending upon delays from the previous cruise.  We usually get to the port between 10:45 and 11:15 AM are usually have no or very little wait in that lounge area once we’ve passed through all the steps above.  
If you’re at Pier 35, which I don’t think you will be, all bets are off!  I avoid cruises that leave out of Pier 35 at all costs.  
 

My DW and I boarded the Royal out of Pier 27 in March.

 

Based on our experience, here's an observation (bit of advice)...know that SF is very short of cabs. 

 

Also, Pier 27 gets VERY congested at embarkation, since there is little room for the cabs to move and position themselves to drop of fares.  Also, the traffic minders will stop and cab and "ask" the passengers to get out before getting close to the luggage handlers.  We had to walk about 50 yards with all of our luggage.

 

Moral of the story...the earlier you get there, the better off you are, even if it means sitting in the terminal for an additional 30-60 minutes.

 

My wife and I have 2 cruises coming up, one on the Emerald Princess and one on the Caribbean Princess.  We have opted for the Princess Premier Package, which has worked out very well for us in the past.

 

I can find little information on the Princess website about what "casual dining" venues are available on the Emerald Princess & Caribbean Princess ships.  I can find a listing for other ships, but not for these 2.

 

Can you tell me what "casual dining" venues are available on Emerald Princess and Caribbean Princess?

My wife and I were on the Royal Princess to Hawaii out of San Francisco earlier this year and Alfredo's was free.  We had lunch there and we were not charged. 

20 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It might help to get an answer if you shared the date/itinerary so that others can see what's going on.

For example, when we took a recent cruise to Hawaii, we were in Honolulu for an overnight.  When initially signing up for excursions, we could only sign up for excursions on the first day.  None were available for the second day.

 

Then, about 6 weeks before the cruise, excursions for the second day were made available.

 

Is this how it always works?

I have noticed that the itineraries of our upcoming cruises on Princess include 2 day (overnight) port calls. 

 

I have noticed that there is an opportunity to sign up for excursions on the first day in port.  There are, however, no excursion sign-ups available for the second day.  And the ship does not leave until the evening of the second day.

 

Does that mean that there are only excursions for the first of the 2 days?  Do excursion sign-up opportunities for the second day come later?

 

What can I expect in a situation like this?

 

Thanks.

7 hours ago, frogandtoad said:

I also took the Paeskatun excursion in October of 2022 and we weren't able to see the lights due to the clouds.  Also, there were places that we needed a flashlight or the flashlight app on our phone to walk without tripping over something - it was really dark in some places.  We also did an excursion, not through the ship, where we drove out to various places to see the lights and that turned out very well to see the lights.  Having done both, my preference would be to do the chase. 

 

I also agree with the previous poster - if you have a newer phone it takes really good pictures.  Our older phones and older camera did not work well. 

What do you mean by "the chase"?

Sd63,

 

Since we never know the specifics of activity schedules on a particular cruise until we see the first Princess Patter, once we get on the ship, all anyone can do is approximate when they would like to, or will be able to sit down to eat in the restaurants.

 

I suggest that you choose a convenient time that you would like to eat on a day with no, or few, scheduled evening activities.  For my wife and I, that time is either 6:20PM or 6:40PM.  I then make a reservation for us (always a table for 2), on the Medallion App, for each evening of the cruise at those times.  That way I know I will not get stuck eating too early or too late on most days. 

 

Also, since the shows start at 8PM or 10PM usually, I know we have a time that allows us to choose which performance we want to go to (if we choose to go to a show that night).

 

If there turns out to be a conflict (and this has happened occasionally), such as wanting to eat at Sabatini's or the Crown Grille, you can simply cancel that reservation on the Medallion App at any time. 

 

You can make your reservations for Sabatini's and the Crown Grille on the Medallion App, as well.

 

The other thing to remember is that there are usually 2 or 3 main dining rooms on the ship.  Make you reservation on the Medallion App for the restaurant you want.

 

I hope this helps.

3 hours ago, MJC said:

There was a very active roll call from this itinerary in 2022 with lots of good information. We are doing it this year and that thread has been a wonderful resource.

Could you please give me the dates of the cruise and the ship?  Thanks.