goofy559

On the Grand recently it was spring water - Crystal Springs? Definitely not purified tap water.

Princess has coin laundries available, If you plan ahead and reduce your luggage load 40% or more. Lucky enough for longer cruise, three suitcases can be reduced to one. HOWEVER, they are popular and soap and change machine have tendency to run out. Pack a couple of soap pods and a stack of quarters.

No need to pack quarters any more as all the ships have now converted to a scan of your cruise card to pay for items. Bringing soap and dry sheets is a good plan as they are pricey on board.

We were on the Grand in February. Ordered a case of water and it was Crystal Geyser, neatly stacked on the table beside the fridge when we arrived in our cabin after an incredibly quick embarkation.

We've cruised with our daughter extensively. She has sailed Disney, RCCL, and Princess. Hands down Princess wins - as others have noted, the kids clubs were far less crowded, and offered more interesting activities.

She is now 19, but her opinion never wavered - once she was out of the Princess phase, she asked to sail on Princess......and asked never to go on RCCL again...

Also, I found that the staff on Princess loved to engage with little ones as they miss their own kids.

At the end of the day, you know your kids best, but, I can't see them not having a good time on the Regal. Also, one thing I didn't see mentioned was that on sea days they turned the fountain area into a play zone, allowing the kids to run through it.

Enjoy, no matter what you choose!!

My understanding is you must be 18. However, I could be wrong. ;)

 

 

 

I believe kids get credits for all of their cruises, but their status never actually changes until they turn 18. If I have that totally wrong, I'm sure someone that actually has kids will set the record straight. :D:D

This is correct. They accumulate credits and days until they turn 18. The number of cruises shows on their cruise card but the card will always be blue.

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Yes, us too! We are used to buying unlimited internet from Royal and Celebrity, so not sure what to do for this one. We are Platinum.

Assuming this is a 10 day cruise you will each get 250 free minutes. The best deal for additional minutes will be when you first log on. If you don’t take up the offer then it will not be available again. Can’t remember the price.

We were on the Royal over New Years and I had no trouble posting photos to Instagram and Facebook. I think my record was 5 photos in under a minute. I was pleasantly surprised

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No personal experience but I have read others put a bucket of ice in the fridge to make it cooler

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IMO, the best balconies on the Ruby are on the Caribe deck - balconies are substantially larger and are half covered half uncovered.

Excursions are posted and priced well before 75 days. Check your personalizer.

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We’ve never had any noise problems when booking cabins adjacent to elevator lobbies.

 

After researching cabin E436 on the Royal we decided to book that cabin. That’s located 4 decks lower than you & is located over the forward portion of Crooners. Based on feedback I received about any potential excessive noise issues it won’t be a problem.

 

And as posted, there are cabins above & below your location so there won’t be any noise from bands which are many decks away from your cabin.

We were just in this cabin on the Royal. Great location and no noise. We loved the slightly larger balcony

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https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2584797

Thanks for sharing that. We will be on the Grand next month. If they do this it will make us rethink trading in our mini bar for 2 cards.

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I just got off the Royal and there are no expiry dates on our coffee cards.

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The back-to-backers won afternoon trivia with another perfect score. The closest team to them had 17. We had 15. One of our teammates had gone over to the second place team. He told us one of the b2b team members had a 2-inch thick notebook of trivia questions and answers from all the cruises she had been on. I guess it pays in fabulous ship prizes to go to extremes.

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I've been on cruises with people like that - it is so annoying! And quite frankly, shouldn't be allowed - how is that different than googling??? I play trivia for the challenge (and the cheap ship prizes!!) what is to be gained by playing and winning by looking answers up in a book??? SMH

 

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now relative to this thread. i'm leaving on non stops from philly at 7 am then FLL at 1127 am. jetblue and they have cheaper bags then spirit and i do believe from my research that jetblue is a better choice than spirit anyway. i appreciate all the input and look forward to any other airport/flight advice.

i will buy princess transfers simply for the ease of it likely. but since you guys know more about this., how much would other transportation be exactly?

No need for Princess transfers - you can literally see the airport from the port. Either take a taxi or an uber. The cost for the two of you will be less than one princess transfer. Definitely do NOT use a transfer on the way to the airport after the cruise. They wait til the bus is full before leaving and that is time you don't have with an 11:30 flight. You will be assigned a time to disembark that coincides with your flight time. The taxis are plentiful at the pier.

But you will be in your car?????????????????

No - the OP is flying - he is referencing a previous cruise experience.

it sounds like the 2:40 flight would be what i need then. so since this is my thread let me ask a travel question. can you briefly type up what its like at the airport these days . use FLL as an example if you wish. i mean the little things like security and x ray and all that. in 1997 i dropped my luggage at the curb and went to the desk and checked in and sat there easy peasy. i have no clue what its like today out there.

 

more of a curiosity than what will prevent me from taking a trip.

Airport security is quite different than 20 years ago. No liquids of more than 3.4 oz may be in your carry-on. You can bring an empty water bottle and fill it on the other side. You must remove your shoes, belt, and everything from your pockets. Your carry on items will go through a scanner. This includes your cellphone, shoes, jacket, etc. If they don't know what something is, they will hand search your bag. If you have a pacemaker or a replaced knee or anything like that, let them know as the pacemaker can't go through the metal detector or scanner.

You may go through a traditional metal detector or it may be a full body scanner, depending on the terminal at FLL. The lines can be long, which is why everyone is recommending a flight after noon. You can print your boarding pass at the airport - no need to do it on the ship (although you can - they offer a small internet package to do it on the last day)

Most airlines (except southwest) charge for checked bags. Your credit card may give you a free first bag. Weight limit is 50lbs.

Pack a boatload of patience, have your photo ID (driver's licence) and boarding pass ready, and just follow the instructions. Your checked bag must be handed in 1hr before your flight departs, and you must be at the gate 30 min before I believe for a domestic flight.

Also, if you want to buy food on the plane, they only accept credit cards. You may bring any food purchased post-security on board with you.

Hope this helps!

The upper berths come from the ceiling and are virtually invisible unless you know what to look for. If they are selling it to sleep 4 it has an upper berth. I'm sure someone has a photo of what they look like when hidden.

We discovered the Pacific Princess earlier this year and just love it. So much in fact we are sailing on the Dec 22 14 night Caribbean sailing. Can someone tell me what to expect on this sailing regarding the formal night dress. How do most of the passengers dress for a warm weather journey. i.e tux or suit etc. What age demographic should we expect also?

Generally, the smaller ships have a higher standard of dress. They are sailed by passengers who can take longer journeys and enjoy how cruising used to be. We found that formal nights and casual nights had a "classier" for lack of a better word, vibe. As you know from sailing on her, everything is just a bit more elegant.

Enjoy!

Our experience on Martinique....they took our USD$$, no euros required, better yet we used our credit card, charged purchases in euros letting the bank do the conversion...saved about 15% over using USD.

Yes, Martinique will take USD but at a poor exchange rate. Either buy them in advance or use your CC as you noted.

I only use stemless for other beverages; Mai Tais, soda,

Kahlua and Cream, etc. NEVER wine! As said above, whatever

is on your hands does go through the glass and warms the wine.

A Sommelier said that you should never touch the bowl on the stem.

True enough....but on a rocking ship it would sure cut down on tippage!

The first time we tried to leave Vines with our glasses we too were stopped. The next day, we asked if we could take them if we promised to bring them back. They said ok, we brought them back after dinner and followed the same routine for the rest of our cruise.

Now, if only they had stemless wine glasses.....

Given the small amount of the refund, you may need to call Princess and see if it is forthcoming. They may need a nudge.

We are on the regal princess December 3 . As we have unlimited Internet access is only one person in the cabin allowed access.? My husband and I have iPads and separate email addresses

Why do you have unlimited internet access? Are you purchasing it? It is not a captain's circle or suite perk.

There are always bins of towels in the pool area that can be switched out. Only had one instance where they ran out (it rained and everyone scrambled for new ones)