Denali2003

Great! Thank you. Yes, it was free on the Emerald in 2012. It was an "activity" listed in the Patter. We really enjoyed it. Had no idea that the back of the theatre went from deck 5 to deck 10.

A question for those who were on the TA. Do you know if the Princess Theatre had a Back Stage Tour? When we were on the Emerald for a TA, they did. We will be on the Regal in Oct for a TA and was hoping they would have one. They are quite interesting and fun. You get to meet the cast and have a Q & A session prior to the tour.

Wish I knew how to knit :( The A&C they had on the Emerald was making greeting cards with scrapbook supplies. Sad to see the ceramics go. On TAs that's the perfect time to do them - plenty of sea days to complete and put in kiln.

Another question about the Royal: The Enclave - who used it? How much was it? How long can you stay in there? What can you use / have access to?

Thank you for all your help! :D

Hello. Did you happen to notice if there were any arts & crafts during the sea days? The TA we did on the Emerald in 2012 did. Was wondering if the Royal & Regal will. We will be on the westbound TA on the Regal in Oct 2014.

HI All

 

The Royal Princess is the new flag ship of the fleet,

 

its not The Crown, The Sea or any other Princess ship

 

its the Royal, she is an amazing ship, with the finest crew hand picked

 

from across the fleet, those who love the Princess product will feel at

 

right at home on the Royal but with new things to find and experience,

 

sure this not the same as ....or they do it different on the....

 

so what this the Royal, enjoy, experience and relax.

 

You are on a Princess ship, now only the casino paid out more.

 

 

 

yours Shogun

Forgot to mention the new evening menu options at the Trident Grill

On the 2nd preview cruise, we tried the Texas BBQ Brisket (served on a bun) one night and the chilli the next night.

Hi :) DH & I are booked on Regal in Oct 2014. Since the Royal & Regal are sister ships they will be exactly the same.

Here is what I'm looking forward to:

* The pumps for shampoo & body wash

* Hand held shower head!!!!! :D

* Sofas by Outriggers and the fact that they are covered!

* New Décor. We like Princess but after a while the ships all look the same.

* Bellini's

* Alfredo's. This is new to me. Haven't been on a ship that has it.

* New Horizon Court

* Awesome news about being able to use your room key to get tokens to do your laundry!! Now we don't have to pack rolls of quarters. (We are taking a 17 day TA - will NEED to do laundry;))

There's absolutely no reason why you should be paying $2,500 to fly from Nashville to Venice and back, even if you were to do it this year.

Good thing I am starting now to find things and budget - give me time to do a lot of research. ;)

WOW - there is a lot of information on here. I will admit that I did not understand most of it. I do understand that there are risks in booking through the cruise line.

Here is our scenario:

Flying from Nashville to Venice (Oct 2014). I have looked on line at ALL domestic carriers and the cost is approx. $5,000 for 2 people (with this year's rates). :eek: Then I checked Iceland Air. However, they only leave out of a few places in the USA. One of which is Boston. We can take SW to Boston - hop on Iceland Air to Milan (they don't go to Venice) then take a train from Milan to Venice. Even with all of that, we are saving almost $3,000 in total airfare.

Now, I talked to Princess - they can't really give me a price for next year. Those prices don't come out until Dec 2013. Someone did give me a price for the same time THIS year -- it is MUCH cheaper. It included flying from Nashville to Venice - then Ft. Lauderdale to Nashville. We would go 2 days prior to the cruise leaving.

They didn't say anything about HAVING to get the hotel package in order to get the flight package. I did ask them about their hotels and they are expensive -- $500 per night. That's a bit much. I have done SO MUCH research on line for hotels in Venice and I KNOW I can do much better for less $$.

So, with all of that - is it still a good idea to go with the cruise line? If not, then we will have the take the long way around - to save $3,000 is worth it.

Someone said I should check out this board regarding getting air through the cruise line. Not sure what I should be looking for.

We are taking a TA from Venice, Italy to Ft. Lauderdale. Arranging airfare on our own has been complicated and expensive. So I decided to call Princess and ask them. Their rates are AWESOME! I was told (on another thread) to beware and to check here.

What should I be aware of? Complaints? Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks! :)

Fairfield is not in an area that you would walk around and go to restaurants really. Rustic Inn is a reasonable walking distance and these are only a very short cab ride away:

My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, The Field (I love it there), Tropical Acres, and Royal India.

 

The taxi prices that you asked about are per taxi.

This is only our 2nd time going to FLL the day before. The last time we stayed at the Rodeway Inn. Won't do that again. I thought it was nasty. You also needed a car to go anywhere. Thankfully some people we were cruising with had rented a car.

Thank all of you for the info on the taxis. We will definitely be taking a taxi to the airport. The ship's shuttle service is WAY too expensive (for the short distance it is to the airport).

Hello. There will be 4 of us staying at the Fairfield Inn in Daria Beach, FL the night before our cruise.

Has anyone ever stayed there? Are there restaurants within walking distance to the hotel?

Also, I've been glancing at this thread and I think I saw where it's approx $20-$25 for a taxi ride from the pier to the airport. Is this correct? Is that per person or per taxi?

Thank you for your help. :)

Sleep Inn Dania Fl should be under $150. Has both air and cruise port shuttles, restaurant across street, as well as a Publix supermarket. In addition there is a Walgreens next door.

Hello. We will be cruising out of Port Everglades. We are looking for a hotel that has: free shuttle from airport and to the port (or shuttle to the port for $5 or less per person). free breakfast. Clean, under $150 a night.

Do you know of any? Also needs to be within walking distance to stores and restaurants.

Thank you

Hello. I would assume that the service charge that is included is the 15% gratiuity. Is this correct?

For those who just took a cruise - how much was the Coke Card? I saw somewhere on Princess' site (now I can't find it again) that the Coke Card is now $5.18. Does that include the 15% gratituity? Thanks! :)