Griller

As an Irishman but only  a tourist in Dublin I would want to see at least Dublin Castle, not really a castle like Cinderellas but the seat of British oppression BITD, lots of history there, 

Kilmainham Jail, where many patriots were imprisoned and murdered before Ireland was a free nation

Where the Princess Shuttle lets you off in Merrion Sq there is a park with an Oscar Wilde statue, and also the Irish National Memorial to fallen Irishmen with an eternal flame in a glass and granite pyramid, its where I have attended the Remembrance Day Ceremony  on occasion. if it happens to co-incide with your visit you will hear the commands to the soldiers given in Irish as the Last Post (like Taps) is blown and the flags lowered.

The General Post Office where the 1916 siege was, and in front of it the impressive new 390ft Spire of Dublin  where the statue of Nelson stood until it was blown up a bit and dismantled. Watch for pickpockets particularly in this area.

I suppose you have to go see the bronze sculpture of Molly Malone on St Stephens Green

The Halfpenny Bridge across the Liffey

The  Collins Barracks Museum where you can learn a lot of Irish history. Its very impressive.

https://www.museum.ie/Decorative-Arts-History/History-Architecture

I suppose the Guinness brewery where you don't actually see the  porter being brewed but you see how is used to be brewed. It looks like an oil refinery now where they actually do it.

The Book of Kells

All around you as you walk in the city center the most untouched British Georgian architecture in the British isles due to Ireland being neutral in  WW2  while Georgian cities in England were both bombed and had their antique iron railings cut down for scrapmetal to make tanks.

There is a good day of sightseeing just in those places.

One thing about the HOHO bus in Dublin - it only goes one way round, its a long slow trip round and they are not always as frequent as they say they should be, or are full when they come. Can be stressful.

So you have to plan your journey carefully, for example you need to book your tour online of Kilmainham Jail well in advance and get there at the correct time. We got off the bus there and wanted to go in but they told us the next available tour was in 4 hours, and that meant we could not get back there on the HOHO in time unless we missed out on seeing everything else.

But you can go to the Collins Barracks museum anytime ( very interesting, its free and no reservations required)

I just hope you don't get the same green bus driver we had ( Mick) who tried to do a comedy act with a heavy exaggerated Irish accent  and sang very very badly the whole time on our way back. Americans love it apparently.  I would have paid him to stop singing.

Br prepared to pay heavily for food and drink in Dublin, its not a cheap place compared to the rest of Ireland.

I have not been on Wind Spirit but you can get adapters cheaply at Poundland which will convert various ways. Yes, for 1 pound. Worth taking a couple, one for US and one for European. Of course to use the US one your devices will have to be able to work on 110volt, the adapters don't change the voltage just the pin fit,  but with the European its the same voltage as the Lake District.

I just read on our 2nd Feb 2019  Royal rollcall that if you book the premium Medallionet  in advance you can upgrade to 2 simultaneous devices for $20 once on board.

Hope it works out like that for us.

6 hours ago, satxdiver said:

Many loungers are available but most in the intense sun on a sandy beach which reflects the sun very well.  The lounge chairs are free available to the first one that gets there.  The clam shells are small and solid construction so no air flow which an a hot Bermuda day can be stifling as already mentioned.  So the decision is yours as to what you want and what you are willing to pay.  

Bermuda????????

I have cruised with many Japanese passengers, the first cruise I was on with many of them was on QE2, a popular ship after it was used for accommodation at the Olympics in Japan BITD, they just loved the ship and cruised on it frequently afterwards. Very polite and friendly, often with little or no English though. Incredibly well dressed on formal nights in traditional Japanese fashions. Menus were specially printed for them.

My more recent experiences are with ethnically Chinese passengers from US Canada and China, they have been as much as 30% or more of total passengers on some Princess ships and they seem to like it, they often seem to travel in family or other groups.

It must be easy to book for them, and maybe Princess have targeted them in marketing.

Yes it does affect the whole cruise experience for other passengers, one positive way is that Princess provide great authentic Chinese food in the buffet for them, and as we love that we benefit from it.

Like any group they can be very noisy, and due to cultural differences they can appear rude and pushy to Westerners who are not used to it. And often they don't  follow ship rules and guidelines, possibly due to not understanding them.

It can be overwhelming if you like a quiet cruise.

As we have both travelled in China and I lived there for extended periods - and we have 2 adopted Chinese children we are probably less affected by it than some passengers.

On ‎1‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 12:19 PM, milepig said:

There's a lot packed in there.

 

I am very happy to see the increase in pax from countries other than the US and Canada. One ongoing complaint I've had is the almost total lack of diversity and I almost felt like I hadn't left America. I don't fully understand "lack of capacity" and not working on marketing is Asia. They already work with one firm that has a lot of experience in that area.

 

 

Quote

 

Having travelled often on a line which has many Asian passengers I think you should be careful what you wish for.

We were just on a WS ship and there were at least Americans, Anglo and Francophone Canadians, Australians, British, Israeli, Irish and German passengers.

It was good, we seemed to have common values and co-existed harmoniously.

7 minutes ago, compozer said:

That is why I just put rude people in my comment

 

Lot of snowflakes around this time of year.

I find the rude people also seem to ignore the multi-lingual notices about not ramming their water bottle up the water and juice dispensers to refill them in the buffet thus contaminating them with who knows what.

Probably wouldn't notice them so much otherwise.

It is interesting, and if he succeeds in getting the high income folk on board then he better smarten up a few facets of the operation or they won't be back.

2 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

Yes, everyone here is right... 

And, Coral, I would agree.

 

There can always be several different smaller factors at play.

But, my biggest point is that, currently,  (and not everyone might be aware) Princess is implementing these new menus, recipes, food supplies, and overall system of dining and service.   This is not just a variable.  This is ongoing, from the top, fleet-wide.

 

This is what I experienced just recently on the REGAL,  (which had generally gotten better reviews for food and dining)

We had an excellent experience on our previous cruise before this one.

We are not new to Princess...  or wanting to bash Princess.

Just state the facts.

 

This is not just,  well, maybe some better staff in the kitchen....

These are real, and significant, changes  ( i.e. CUTBACKS) that are coming from the top, and going fleet wide.

Just like the new changes in wine and beer and drink menus, that are to be rolled out.

 

I think it is very important for Princess to hear this feedback.

I think it is very important for upcoming cruisers...  especially those, like us, with any expectations based on a positive previous experience, to hear this.

 

I have been cruising Princess for a long time now, and over 70 cruises and I would say that the last 10 cruises have seen a marked deterioration in food quality, menu choice and service.

The worst we had was Crown a couple of years ago, we will never sail on Crown again, even Pacific went downhill, the crew did the best they could with what they were sent but it was noticeably not as good as before.

However only 4 months ago we were on Regal and it was wonderful, so there seems to be the odd exception, I wish I knew how to forecast the great cruises ahead of time.

We are just about to go on Royal for 49 days, I so hope it will be OK, we don't have unrealistic expectations, and we didn't pay much for the cruise for various reasons but others will have paid at least double even for an inside or much much more for a balcony or suite and I hope they don't get to feel cheated by the accountants back in Santa Clarita buying the cheapest cuts.

I know I am a Carnival stockholder, quite a bit more than the nominal 100 shares, and I like the dividend but I need to feel it was honestly earned.with a value for money and good cruise experience for the passengers.

Never had an actual ticket nor boarding pass nor luggage tags from Windstar.

Once they have our money they seem to ignore us, both before and after the cruise.

I've been waiting a month or so since our last cruise now for a reply to my questions and comments.

Not holding my breath.

Why does one need drinking straws at all?

I don't think waxing plastic straws makes them biodegradable by the way.

BITD when I was a kid and we had free school milk in 7 ounce glass bottles we were given paper straws. They worked fine.

Until Maggie Thatcher " Milk Snatcher" took it away from the kids.

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 8:12 PM, MRGACRUZR said:

This is an excerpt from a Windstar Press Release on 5/2/2018:

"Beverage Packages: Less Restrictive & More Affordable for Longer Sailings
Beyond the wine enhancements, improved offerings for beer and spirits has also been a priority as Windstar is now offering lower daily prices for any beverage package to guests sailing 14-day and longer, back-to-back Star Collector Voyages."

 

Has anyone been able to take advantage of the "lower daily prices" on a Star Collector Voyage? 

The customer service agents don't seem to be familiar with any reduced prices for Star Collector cruises.

We were on a 20 day recently and they offered $5 a day off. Big deal.

7 minutes ago, livinforcruisin said:

Absolutely Tom.  The other difficulty we had was with our Princess Account, you know your cruise history etc.  In there we keep track of our future cruise credits but once Princess had paid the money back to Barclaycard the FCC information was deleted from our history. There was no record of it at all, unlike when you have used a FCC to book a cruise that stays in your cruise history.  We've been cruising now for a fair number of years, but it is true to say that you really never stop learning the little twists and turns that come your way with the systems and processes in operation.  Princess were amazingly patient throughout the whole process.

Why do you keep on getting FCC? Do you cancel  cruises and claim on Princess insurance to get them?

Or do you mean FCD - future cruise deposits?

On ‎10‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 1:07 PM, MrsKC08 said:

My understanding is that if you don't use it you lose it! So even if it expired and you never booked, then you lose the deposit paid.

I've never had one that I haven't used, so I don't know.

Your understanding is 100% incorrect

Although the OP used FCC - an incorrect name for the Future Cruise Deposit it was totally clear from the post that it was one of those he was due a refund for.

And these are refundable after two years if not used.

If you are a US citizen the photo should be 413 x 531 pixels. And less than 700kb. And a JPG renamed to a JPEG.

I just applied for a Brazil E Visa for someone and got it in 2 days with no problem. or query about photo.

Easy as long as you can use Photoshop to produce the exact photo they want.

I did mine at 72 dpi to keep file size low. It was taken indoors with an old  cellphone against a white background with even lighting.

No glasses, no shadows, no highlighted areas, properly in focus, 5% of photo should be border height above head, shoulders showing but not torso below top of armpit.

Worked for me.

8 minutes ago, wripro said:

Take this as lesson learned and don't fill out any more questionnaires.

I so much want to like Windstar but sometimes they don't make it easy.

When we embarked in Lisbon this year the Wind Surf was docked just a few yards across the street from the metro (subway) station called Santa Apolonia and was an easy and cheap ride from the airport or in fact pretty much anywhere in Lisbon.

Embarkation began at 1pm. No point getting there earlier.

We have no preference for one side of the ship or the other and have never stayed in a hotel there as we flew in the day of departure.

As you are going West/East I think the sunrise and sunset will be fore and aft so port or starboard cabin would not make a difference.

I know you didn't ask this but we found the cheapest and best flight one way Lisbon/US to be with Norwegian airline.

Our other choice TAP seems expensive this April. And the checked bags are even more expensive on TAP. And they weigh your carryon.

Of course it depends where you intend flying back to, if you are going to in fact do it at all.

14 hours ago, susiesan said:

It is now a full 2 weeks since disembarking and still no survey. Windstar must not really want to know what their guests think after all the hoopla about " being sure to complete the survey you will receive within 7 days of your cruise". The longer it goes the more memory fades.

I meant to say that after emailing WS with various points and then filling in the survey several weeks ago I have received absolutely no answers to any of the questions or comments .

So what's the point of spending time filling in the survey anyway?

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 11:04 AM, oliveau said:

Unfortunately we had to disembark in Gran Canaria as we had to be back in UK on 2 December. The whole thing was complete stress & hassle, mitigated by the wonderful crew.

I'd now like to add that SD have acted very honourably, not only reimbursing the complete cost of the holiday [cruise, hotel, flights] but also our incidental expenses - [transport to & from airports, additional hotels etc]. No quibble from them whatever.

So well done SD for stepping up to the mark. You'll see us again.

Glad to hear that they have treated you well, we had the next Transatlantic booked on SD1and hearing about this problem we got a bit neurotic about it. SeaDream were not at all reassuring about what they would do if there were problems, they wouldn't even talk to us about it , so rather than take the risk and lose money on flights etc we just cancelled.

You'd  think with a small company like that and not getting enough bookings to fill ships on Transatlantics they might be a bit more responsive to booked passengers, but they just said Ok cancel if you want. Weren't bothered.

Our first and last attempt at booking on this line.

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 6:58 PM, minidonuts85 said:

Albiet not Windstar,  we just received an email today for a Celebrity cruise we disembarked on 12/7. I guess it depends on how busy they are but its taken two-weeks sometimes and then one day the next.

With Princess the survey is usually in your email as soon as you debark.

I've been on WindSurf for a few weeks and didn't really notice any semiformal dining evenings, and certainly no formal ones.

I dressed neatly, you might call it country club casual at most,  and wore closed toe shoes every night the same, but they weren't shiny heavy ones, just some black Skechers I wore most of the time.

Flipflops are kinda downmarket for dinner anywhere except on the beach aren't they?

In the whole 3 weeks of the last cruise I only saw one other passenger wear a tie, some men occasionally wore jackets but mostly it was really casual. Polo shirt or golf shirt or Hawaiian, but not T shirts or wifebeater shirts.

I tend to wear a nice shirt and tie  most nights but they aren't your grandads boring old tie, more fun ties as they tend to have Elvis or Mona Lisa or some other art on.

This is not a ship to dress up in really.

• We were on Wind Surf recently and did not receive one until I emailed head office with several minor comments and then they sent one.

4 hours ago, wripro said:

You should have handled the situation immediately by going to the Hotel Manager and complaining. I'm sure he would have had a quick word with Maria and you would have gotten any soft drink you wanted. I'm always surprised on these CC boards when I see people complaining here AFTER their cruises instead of doing something about their issues onboard.

I don't want a sneeze muffin or whatever the bartenders equivalent is.

I have read too many accounts of what they do to your drinks if you complain.

After we complained to the Hotel Manager about the new chef and the sirloin steak in the Amphora we made sure we did not eat in the Amphora again. It was only 3 nights and its no ordeal to eat in the other places.

I read that and was not sure whether something which is not a regular soda in a can or fountain beverage - like ginger beer in a bottle - would fall into the included category.

Anyway Maria wouldn't supply it without a charge,  we were already coping with other small problems on the voyage like flies in the cabin, flies on food in the buffet and flies on the Compass Rose scones and sandwiches,  bad water in the cabin, electrical problems in the cabin blowing up our devices, and then Bert the unfeasibly thin new Chef and the ultra thin sirloin steaks and not fresh squeezed OJ and no lobster at the deck BBQ.

We didn't want to get officially classed as serial complainers, but we felt like we were fast becoming in danger of that that so we did no more than mention these once to the crew and didn't keep complaining or take it to a higher level.

Maybe we should have? But I have known people banned from a cruiseline for complaining.

Don't get me wrong we did enjoy the cruise but there were those few small things which could have been sorted out but never were.