sunshine nana

Blu on Equinox and Silly are very blue! On Connie, only the glasses are blue.

We started out with Princess 11 years ago, tried NCL to do Hawaii without crossing the Pacific and did 2 more with NCL until the MDR food and service became bad. Then we went back to Princess for several more years because we like their itineraries, mini-suites and prices. We tried Celebrity and love it, we have been in an S1 which is the closest in size to a Princess mini. Our last Celebrity cruise we had traditional early dining and loved it! We compared the menu each day with Blu and stuck with the MDR. Our two complimentary specialties were not as good as the MDR for service and food!

I think Celebrity's prices are too high now with not getting all three perks. We are going back to Princess for a mini, trying the Royal this time. We like to cruise to explore the world, but still be pampered and waited on each night.

Were you taken to Luminae for an embarkation lunch? Are they serving breakfast and lunch every day? Hope so, that's what we want.

Thanks for the update re: lunch for suites. It will impact our decision to book a suite again at the current prices without the beverage, free grats and OBC. We can go to the MDR for breakfast every day and lunch sea days without being in a suite. We were in a suite last year and had great service in the MDR for dinner along with the 2 specialties and the option of Blu. We really liked NCL's taking us directly to Cagneys for lunch as soon as we embarked and being able to eat lunch there everyday without going to the buffet and were hoping for a similar suite experience with Celebrity.

2009 Baltic from Copenhagen for $1800 including insurance for a Caribe mini with the huge balcony. I had been checking daily for several months and out of the blue got a call from Princess with the offer. Our best cruise out of 11.

We had done 2 previous Princess cruises, but then did 2 NCL's, so we had not been on Princess for 3 years. Also, the stock market had crashed and we were in the Great Recession. I would not want a repeat of that to get a good price!

I have to agree that not having a suite lunch and not breakfast every day is a disappointment. We are happy with MDR for breakfast on sea days and on our last Silly cruise the MDR was great for dinner also. We were in a Sky Suite and choose the MDR over Blu we had such a good waitstaff.

What is the advantage for Sky Suites over Aqua or even a balcony if there is not a suite restaurant for breakfast and lunch everyday? Also, we were looking forward especially to a quiet sit-down lunch on embarkation day! Although we enjoyed Michael's on our Connie cruise in an CS, with the beverage package, we did not use it much.

A suite on NCL has a small dining room (Cagneys) for breakfast and lunch everyday (including embarkation) and with the option of specialties for dinner, it is looking better than a Sky Suite on Celebrity and a better price than a CS.I don't like the idea of promising breakfast and lunch every day in the suite restaurant and then changing it after people have booked.

We liked our 2011 BK cruise so much on either the Crown or Emerald, that we wanted to go again as there was so much to see at each port. We were disappointed to see that only the Royal was doing that itinerary this year. We really enjoy our balcony on our mini-suite and as many have noted, the Royal balconies are tiny. We booked anyway and are all set for July. We are hoping the curtain around the bed will be a plus.

We ate dinner in Ocean Liners twice on our Connie Mar. 16 cruise. The food was wonderful, but we found that there were long delays between courses so that it took 2 and a half hours for dinner the first night. We wanted to be able to see shows etc., so we only went there once more.

We ate one time in Tuscan and the service was faster, but the atmosphere was noisy and DH's steak not that great.The other two nights we ate in Blu which was had great service, but the food was not as good as Ocean Liners.

Our first Sky Suite butler (Equinox) was great, he made the cruise special. The next one (Silly) was useless. Complain early if you are not getting what he should be doing for you.

As I recently said on another thread (princess), Ncl is a great choice for Hawaii if you do not want to spend many sea days (for me with motion sickness), fly to Hawaii and go on NCL around the islands. That was how we found NCL. We have been on 3 NCL cruises, Hawaii, and 2 Med cruises. Again, get a suite and eat in the specialties.

We have been on 5 great Princess cruises and have another one booked,but we flew to Hawaii and cruised around the islands on NCL because I knew I would get motion sickness crossing the Pacific (and DH would have been stir crazy with so many sea days). As long as you avoid the MDR with specialties or the buffet, it will be fine. Having an NCL suite is also great as you can eat in a small dining room for breakfast and lunch and have other perks.

The same happened to me for three weeks prior to our Mar. 16 Connie cruise. I finally gave up and we went without tags or check-in. It didn't seem to matter. I called Celebrity twice and spent a long time on hold both times. I also called Captain's Club and she could not help either. Why do they bother asking over and over for us to check in if it does not work?

Michael's club was very nice, but we would have spent more time there and I think others would have if we did not all have the drink package. We met some nice people there, but most times, it was pretty empty. It was great to go there as soon as we got on the ship. The staff was very nice and the snacks were excellent. We never went there in the morning as we like eating a bigger breakfast in the MDR.

We were chosen for the Captain's dinner in Ocean Liner and it was very nice. Because we had traditional dining at 6 pm and our table was eliminated by the new suite dining room, we were given complimentary dinners at either specialty for each night. We choose to start with Oceans, then Tuscan etc. The wedding party pushed us out of Tuscan on Thursday and the concierge who was very nice was not able to get us in there for Friday which surprised us. We ended up at Blu both Thursday and Friday which was ok., but not the same.

The Celebrity Suite was a treat, but I would not pay the extra to have it again. We have been very happy with S1's and would be able to eat all meals in the new suite dining room. Michael's club would not be worth the extra cost to us.

We walked right on and were taken to Michael's club where we had very good appetizers and any drink we wanted. After a while, we went to the buffet to avoid the later crowds. Our bags were delivered very quickly once we went to our room. Our butler was busy with the PH etc. and the 40 person wedding party, so we found our own cabin once they were ready.

For disembarkation, we had special VIP tags on the luggage we put out the night before. The ship was late in getting in. Self-disembarkation didn't start until 7:30 and there was a long line. We were able to eat breakfast in Blu which was great for avoiding the buffet.

We went to Michael's and waited. There was a pecking order. The first family escorted off left first , then another group, I was anxious to get off, so the concierge led us and a few others off about 8:30. He took us all the way thru the customs. He led us and asked people in line to let us by. Some asked why we were getting off ahead and they were told we were in "Michael's club" If I had it to do over, I would have taken all our luggage off ourselves and not gone to Michael's. We did not have a plane to catch, so the delay did not matter, but I did not like waiting around.

We did not take pictures of the cabin, but the online views are accurate. The tub was a problem. I put a towel over the controls on the edge and sat on that to get in and out safely.

We did not eat dinner in the MDR, but our breakfasts and lunches were fine. The new suite restaurants was not open yet, but the workmen were inside the walls working on our whole cruise. For that reason, we were given 3 complimentary dinners, two in Oceans and one in Tuscan. We were supposed to eat in Tuscan again, but it was closed for a wedding reception on Thurs. and when we found out and tried to move the reservation to Friday, we were told it was full. We ate in Blu instead where the service was very good even though it was full.

The new suite restaurant should be open soon.The food in Oceans was great, but there was a long wait between courses, so the meal took over 2 hours.

We just returned from a 5 day Constellation cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. We had a great time with good food, service and no problems. I wrote a review, but if anyone has questions, I would be happy to help. We were in a CS and this time had a very good butler and Michael's club crew. We ate in the MDR, Ocean Liners, Tuscan Grill, the buffet and Blu.

Does anyone know the name of the butler for the CS on Deck 8? Thanks

Where is the T-pool on Connie? I can't find it on the deck diagram. Thanks.

I have been trying for 3 weeks to do the pre-cruise check-in.Each time I would get the info in and then everything would disappear and a picture of the ship would come on and it said they would be right back.... Finally I called the Captain's Club and after a 43 minute hold, she said we didn't have to check in, we could do it on ship. Then I said, "you must have heard how bad the web site is" and she said I was the first one to complain....Anyway, I will wait until we board to check in.

The May 1 cruise on the Grand was chartered after we booked and made hotel and train reservations around the cruise. Then later the charter was also canceled. Many people upset. Long thread on this. Beware. Don't count on any Princess cruise until final payment.

We were able to print our passes for Delta the night before. The trip to the airport is not that long and they don't open the line more than 3 hours before your flight, so if you get there by 8:30, you will be ok. It is confusing when you first disembark. Be sure to have a phone that works and a number to call of your driver.

Have checked Princess? They have the best itinerary for Alaska. It would be almost as nice as Celebrity and way nicer (food, service etc.) than NCL unless you are getting a suite on NCL.Of course Princess is not offering the 123.

Thanks! I don't know why so many flights leave there at 11:30 when many will be flying post cruise.

I can get a reasonable deal that goes from LHR at 11:30 am to JFK. Will Princess let us use a transfer if the flight leaves before noon? Has anyone made a flight that early? Thanks

We had a Princess cruise canceled for May after we had bought our return train tickets. At least we had not bought our plane tickets yet to Vancouver. We were able to cancel our hotel rooms. Princess said they would give us a whopping $15. I still don't know how to access that money! I learned not to trust them until just before final payment! I'm sorry for you.