lovevacadays

Unless you book one of the standard balconies on the "hump." We were in D424 on Royal and the balcony was more than 65 square feet. We could have had 4 to 6 persons on the balcony with plenty of room.

Our cabin of choice on the Royal class! Loved it on the Regal and have it booked for two Royal cruises. It is more money but so worth it.

I have read live from threads on the world cruise and/or cruises that cruise the area this ship sailed in. It seems this is not an uncommon practice for this particular portion of the journey. Safety first. And, some research on the cruise you are booking might have prepared passengers.

Thank you for the photos! Don't know why after cruising Princess so many times I still like looking at pictures of food. Makes me look forward to my next cruise :):):)

Thanks for your suggestion of having the clamshell prereserved in case we don't want to get off on the first tenders!

Have a great day at Princess Cays. It's a nice day. I wanted to let you know that prereserving will insure you have a clamshell. If location is important to you, such as a good view of the ocean, getting off earlier helps with that. One time I got off late. My friend stayed onboard. My clamshell was behind tons of other clamshells. Not much of a view. I liked it for shade but found a lounger as well with a completely unblocked oceanview.

I'm looking forward to following along on your thread. I do want to try Celebrity at some point.

Was that the first time you met your sister?

Seriously???

When we sailed on the Regal the passenger corridors where closed off, so no access to your cabin regardless until 1

Sorry this happened to you. It wasn't our experience when we cruised the Regal. We were on before noon and our cabins were ready. We dropped our carryons and away we went to eat.

Happy it all worked out. I like the email confirmations too even when it's in my Personalizer. :):):)

I started cruising with Princess back in 1997. I missed the crab legs every time. I didn't know about the seafood buffet so I must have missed it every time. Sure wish I would have known. :):)

Our TA is a big box store distributor. We used to use a small brick and mortar TA but the perks were better this way. In the past I simply evaluated cost advantages.

You can find a TA that gives you great pricing and perks and doesn't charge you change or cancellation fees. :):)

We did this several years ago. The tenders on Princess ran until about midnight. There are several restaurants and bars open late. I know it's touristy but we went back to Cabo Wabo in the evening and had a great time. Probably something your son would enjoy. Be prepared for crowds. Given that, we met up with some fellow cruisers and had a great time.

Just saw this thread. I am not on any cruises to St Croix anytime soon. I lived there for a short time back in 1990. Yes, a long time ago. :) At the time there was a Chart House on a pier. Across the bay was a little "island". Does that ring a bell with you? I am thinking of a land vacation in San Juan and St Croix. Just starting to plan some things. Is that area across the bay still there? We enjoyed it and enjoyed the music and food provided.

Go for it! Drake thinks the tour company is good. I lived in St Croix for a month many, many years ago. I enjoyed our hike in the rain forest. I wish I was there right now. I love St Croix and it will always hold a special place in my heart. :hearteyes::hearteyes:

This is probably good for me. :D:):) I always get the surf and turf and come out so full! I know I should control what I eat :):):) I will go with just steak and be happy.

We loved the Norman Love desserts that were in the MDR. No cost and oh so good.

I love San Juan. It's a shame your stay is so short. I would research breakfast places and have breakfast. Then I would go to El Morro Fort. We loved it. We walked there as we wanted to see the different neighborhoods along the way. After, we went to the main shopping area and enjoyed walking around. This was many years ago with my husband. Back then the shops had little Dixie cups of alcohol at their entrance. They were free. Needless to say, we felt very happy. :) One of the very best port days I have had.

Xcaret is amazing. I'm not sure if I would try it on a one day cruise excursion. But, if you do I would suggest you do some research so you know what you want to do while you are there.

I haven't been in cabins below the Vista lounge. I will say this, it's doubtful you will hear much noise. This lounge wasn't used that much for activities that were loud. On the Regal and Royal the entertainment is much more lively in the Atrium.

I think it depends on what is important to you. I've cruised the Crown twice and loved it both times. I've cruised the Regal once in one of the larger bump out balconies. On the Regal or Royal I would only book an inside to pay less or a larger bump out balcony cabin. I don't want to pay for a tiny balcony. If I'm getting a balcony I'm going to enjoy it. :):) We have two Royal cruises booked in the same bump out cabin we had on the Regal.

Perhaps post what else is important to you on a cruise.

I do like the aft area outside the buffet better on the Crown than the Regal. It's nice on the Regal but love it more on the Grand Class ships. Love the Atrium and all it's venues and the buffet better on the Regal than the Crown. I'm really never disappointed on either class of ship. I feel extremely blessed that I can cruise.

You can do it, one of the original passengers has to stay on the booking, you can change the other one, no problem.

This was my experience. I did it once and had no problem since I was still on the booking. I didn't have to rebook.

Thank you for the review. I haven't cruised one of the small ships but I do see that many people who cruise as often as you do really like the small ship experience. I say give it a try once and see what you think. :):)

This was our first NCL cruise, but we only cruised RCI for a number of years until we decided to go out of our comfort zone and try others. We tried Carnival two years ago, and did not enjoy it as much, and just tried NCL, and we enjoyed it. One thing I have found is that there are cheerleaders on the threads for each of the various lines, and they will tell you that they only like XYZ Cruise Line. However, you will never know until you try it yourself. I would happily book a cruise on either NCL or RCI again. I know that some time in the future we will be doing an Alaska cruise - and it will probably be time for us to look at Princess or Holland America.

 

As to it being crowded -- we found the buffet overly noisy and crowded. The Atrium was as well. For other food venues - either arrive during the earlier or later hours to avoid the crowds. Unfortunately the weather did dot agree with us for our cruise, so the pool area was always pretty empty.

Thank you. I appreciate your response.

Everyone is different so you can't base your future judgement on people's past experiences. Only you will know if you like cruising on NCL or not and you may get 2 different experiences on 2 different sailings. With that said, my first cruise was on NCL 10 years ago and I have only ever sailed NCL since .. so to each his own. As for the Getaway, since the Breakaway is the sister ship, my family prefers the mega ships after sailing the Dawn and Gem. The atrium is loud during events and since it's in the middle of the ship, is quite busy when there's an activity but when there isn't, there is plenty of seating and enjoyable to relax and people watch. If you want a quiet area, go to the library -- it is always quiet there. There are also loungers in a lot of public places where people walk and is very quiet as well. And BTW, we will be on the Getaway on this itinerary in 3 weeks, woohoo.

Thanks for the info. I don't think I will go to the library if I want quiet. I've cruised 19 times and never had to go to the library on a ship to get quiet time. But' maybe that is NCL. Sorry for asking a question I thought was reasonable.

They might enjoy the glass bottom boats that take you out to the arches. You don't have to book through the cruise line. There are plenty of vendors along the boardwalk offering this. Don't pay more than 10.00 a piece. Walk away from anyone who states a higher price. The further along the boardwalk you go the better pricing you might get.

Thank you for your review. We are considering a cruise on the Getaway. To be honest, I've seen posts on my cruise line of choice from people who say they would never cruise NCL again. I'm not too sure if we will book.

My question is about your comment about the ship being crowded and noisy. How crowded and noisy? Are there spots on the ship to get away from the crowds and noise? How is it in the atrium area?