capriccio

I always check our folios during a cruise. On our March cruise on the Enchanted Princess we had about $10 each of incorrect drink charges (we had Princess Plus) that Guest Services corrected for us immediately. We disembarked the Enchanted on March 20 and received our summary of final charges less than 24 hours later. The email was from noreply@princesscruises.com and titled Your Recent Journey aboard the Enchanted Princess.

There are recent threads on this (just check out the first few pages of the threads listing) including: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2850795-what-happens-in-quarantine/ https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2848763-anyone-been-quarantined/

Not to mention where would he/she store the stolen stuff? Small crew cabins are shared with at least one cabin mate.

And keep your ice bucket filled!

Our two children were born in Rome and the oldest was actually baptized in St. Peters. When she was a toddler we would go to the Square and she would chase the pigeons but showed no interest in entering the building.. When she was 3 1/2 and we would be leaving Rome in a couple of months I asked if she wanted to go inside and see all the beautiful decorations. She replied in the affirmative, I repeated the rules of expected behavior, and up the stairs we went and turned right towards the Pieta as we entered. There was a small group of tourists (this was in 1986 - there are never small groups inside now) admiring the statue and speaking quietly amongst themselves. We were whispering too until she said, in a loud 3 year old's voice, "But why is that man naked?" I was mortified and repeated "inside voice" while the tourists - who were a Canadian tour group understanding her comment perfectly - started laughing. Our art history lesson was cut short. She went back on her own at the age of 20 when living in London and told us she had used her inside voice with her friends and much appreciated the beauty of the statue.

This is a frequent question with totally subjective answers. Here is a similar recent thread:

@cruizergal70Did you miss this? Even if Viator didn't know when the ship was leaving, I would expect a local vendor to know that since his/her scheduling is dependent upon when ships will be in port. The information should be readily available on the port's information site or by calling the port authority. Offering an excursion that would be impossible to make is not an alternative.

Shuttle prices are per person; for OP and family that could be $40 or more. Uber, Lyft or a van taxi (same price as a sedan and probably more comfortable for a party of 4) would be cheaper.

Hyatt Place meets your list of 'like to have' and you can often save a sizable amount reserving through Value Trips but reservations are usually only taken for the current calendar year. Every year they say plan to open the upcoming year's reservations around the beginning of November. It is seldom that early. But if you make a reservation at Hyatt Place or anywhere else with no cancellation penalties now, you could cancel and book Hyatt Place through Value Trips when they open next year's bookings if you can save money.

Cruise Critic's Ports of Call boards are also an excellent source for local tour operators. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2-ports-of-call/

Good point! Our payment for our cancelled (by us) July 2 cruise was due April 2nd so mid August payments are due about now. And that leaves hardly any summer weeks (many schools start for teachers by mid August), Thanksgiving week and the Christmas-New Years period. It will be interesting to see how 'generous' Princess really is.

I said the same thing in a post yesterday that has disappeared. School and university staff have very defined vacation periods (summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas-New Years, Presidents Day Week in some parts of the country, and spring break which can vary slightly). Not surprisingly those are the cruising periods where demand is high and discounts low. It will be interesting to see if Princess includes them in the offer. If they don't IMHO the offer is just a PR stunt.

Answers to your questions, as best as I can remember 12 years later 😄 are in red. I also have fond memories of the small city of Parintins famous for its annual 3 day Boi Bumba folklore festival. The rest of the year a much condensed version is put on for cruise passengers. The costumes and dancing were enthralling.

My DB and SIL frequently cruise on Princess with only carry-ons if they don't need multiple layers of clothing (even to Alaska and Norway they only shared one mid sized checked bag). Princess has laundry rooms on each passenger cabin deck with multiple washers and dryers ($3 a load IIRC) and free irons and ironing boards. DB gets up early to work out in the gym and about every other day puts a load in the washer, changes it to the dryer as he returns to the cabin, and everything is done by the time he showers, dresses and has a bite for breakfast. We, on the other hand, have free laundry on Princess and travel with too much luggage as he keeps reminding me!

We did the same itinerary on the same ship with the same excursions (including Piranha fishing and eating) from FLL to Manaus in January 2010. It remains one of my favorites because it was so very different from any other.

It sounds like you are a student of history so it won't be disappointing but it is, as I find all battlefields, a sobering experience, We lived in Waterloo in the mid 90s and it was a massive field with a small museum containing a painting in the round and the Lion's mound with 200 or so steps to the statue at the top plus a farmhouse/battle headquarters building. I'm pretty sure the museum had a makeover and a major expansion before the 200th anniversary in 2015. If we ever get back to Belgium I would go again.

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candace Millard is a fantastic book about that time in Roosevelt's life and specifically that expedition. It is an amazing story and book.

Especially with the sunlight streaming in through the windows!

Princess had sommeliers when we started cruising with them in 2007 but by 2010 (or so) they were gone.

Next time you are in Bonaire (if there is a next time!), rent a golf cart from www.bonairecruisers.com and drive all around the island. We stopped at the Donkey Sanctuary because my husband loves donkeys (www.donkeysanctuary.org/) and made the entire tour of the island in about 6 hours.

We spent 10 days on the Enchanted Princess in March and enjoyed evening cocktails at the outdoor Wake View Bar all the way aft on the Lido Deck. It has great views especially for sail aways and it's right next door to the buffet if you want to make your own plate of appetizers.

According to the FAQs at www.jaxport.com/cruise. When does the cruise terminal open to embarking passengers? Embarking passengers should arrive at the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal during their scheduled arrival appointment window, reserved or received in advance through Carnival. Hopefully someone with experience departing from JAXPORT will respond as to whether that is enforced or not.

On the Caribbean Princess the first week in January it wasn't always an entree. I remember one night it was brushetta - not special and not an entree! There was also a risotto that we barely touched and when our servers asked why, I truthfully but politely said that I make better risotto (DH agreed). There may have been one or two very good dishes but not good enough to remember but that was okay because, on the whole, we were very pleased with the MDR menus and found something we liked each evening.

Op - Was this your 'full suite' specialty dinner perk? I've noticed that you mentioned being in a full suite in other threads.

We thought the MDR food (we didn't try any specialty restaurants) was much better on the Caribbean in January than the MDR food on the Enchanted in March. I really think it isn't old versus new ships but lots of other factors including: provisioning and supply chain issues, galley staffing, the number of passengers being served, and (as with any cruise) the the head chef.