Canuckjammer

Fantastic detailed reviews and great pics!  Thanks for doing this review!

How much are smoothies?

could anyone confirm that they’re included in premium package but not classic package?

31 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

It is crazy windy up top!

 

Thanks for sharing!  Monday night leaving Vancouver is in the height of the storm.  Should be interesting!

29 minutes ago, adoris said:

I had that experience with Princess years ago…I am elite and everyone else around me was getting good offers on cruises but none for me.  (I’m a solo cruiser and that doesn’t help either…I don’t think they like solo cruisers)!  I would phone and enquire and Princess would say it’s the luck of the draw!  I started cruising other cruise lines and haven’t cruised with Princess since.

I agree, they don’t like us solo travellers!  Fewer and fewer perks for elite.  I board Royal tomorrow here in Vancouver.  Had hoped to get deal to have started cruise on Saturday from Seattle but that was going to be over $800 for 2 nights solo, plus getting to Seattle.  The balcony cabin I have for 7 nights to Honolulu was still available for the 2 nights from Seattle.  I certainly couldn’t justify that much for 2 extra nights.  Princess has no loyalty to longtime cruisers anymore (35+cruises on princess)

I sent in email just under 2 weeks ago and received automated email that they received it.  Credit was applied to my account today for a Sept cruise.

seems to be showing pricing and availability again!

On Getaway Sept 23rd!

On 10/18/2019 at 12:32 AM, Jayayeff said:

If this is your first visit to Dubai and you want to sightsee during your time here I personally would not recommend Dubai Marina as it’s quite a distance from many of the popular sites.  If by Jumeirah Beach you mean AirBnB properties in the Jumeirah Beach Residences development, they are in the same Dubai Marina location, just some of the JBR ones overlook the beach/sea....  If you prefer a ‘residence’ as opposed to regular hotel accommodation then there are many Hotel Apartments managed by established hotel companies that are not as far out as Dubai Marina.... It really depends what you want to do with your time as to which location would be best but just to give you an idea of distance - the Marina area is a good 45 minutes by car or Metro from the Creek and ‘Old Dubai’....

 

Anne..

Thanks Anne, Now I'm reconsidering and looking at DoubleTree by Hilton Business Bay.  Would that be walking distance to Burj Khalifa, Fountains & Mall?

I'll be travelling solo late January for 2-3 nights pre-cruise and am looking at AirBnb.  Would the area near Jumeirah Beach or Marina be a good choice?  Are there any specific areas to avoid?  Thanks in advance for advice.  Maureen

Thanks so much for this wonderful photo review of BI cruise! I just booked Royal Princess 12 day BI cruise with Dublin overnight for mid May. Your review has been most helpful in some ideas of what to do at each port.

An update. I've been at this Airbnb in Red Hook for 3 nights now, cruise is tomorrow. It's literally a 5 minute walk to cruise terminal and the South Brooklyn ferry (to wall st). This has been great for me! Red Hook is an interesting area!

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If the B&B is truly near the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, you should have no trouble just using the ferry to travel back & forth between Red Hook and Manhattan.

The B61 bus might be useful in some situations, but with the new ferry, you no longer have to rely on the bus-subway combination to get back & forth between RH & Manhattan. Going over to the BCT from Manhattan, I used to have to take a subway to Borough Hall (Brooklyn), then walk a couple of blocks to catch the B61 bus (and vice versa for the trip back to Manhattan). Believe me, taking the ferry is far more pleasant.

 

If you want to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, take the Wall Street-bound ferry and get off at the DUMBO stop, which is right next to the Brooklyn end of the bridge.

 

Last month I took the ferry over to Red Hook just to give the trip a test run. While I was in Red Hook, I walked from the ferry slip (adjacent to the Brooklyn Terminal) to the waterfront beyond the foot of Van Brunt Street (just past the Fairway Market), a distance of about a mile. I must confess I was quite surprised at how extensively the area (or at least this section of Van Brunt Street) has been rehabilitated/ gentrified in just the past few years, with attractive restaurants, boutiques, art galleries, and so forth. Five years ago I would have been rather hesitant to suggest that anyone should stay in this area; now I would say that it looks like quite an intriguing option.

Thanks for the info! Yes I think the ferry is a more fun & scenic way to travel around than the subway. My BnB is near Van Brunt & Wolcott.

Sounds like you have a plan!

Staying at a B&B sounds interesting. Could you post back with the name? When you get back, we'd love to hear about your experiences using the ferry for 4 days to sightsee. I really enjoyed my ferry experience in Vancouver.

 

Sounds like you might also enjoy the High Line - https://www.timeout.com/newyork/parks/highline

 

Here's the Brooklyn bus map - http://web.mta.info/nyct/maps/busbkln.pdf

 

B61 schedule - http://web.mta.info/nyct/bus/schedule/bkln/b061cur.pdf

Thanks for the bus map & B61 schedule. I've already printed the ferry schedules!

The AirBnB is listed as Sunny, private room Red Hook. I liked the photos and reviews.

I'll post a review about Red Hook and use of ferry after trip.

:)Wow, Thanks for all the responses! I think I'll do the connecting overnight flight to LGA. That also gets me to NY in time to make use of arrival day as well. Then I'll do the direct flight home from EWR after cruise. I'll book the Princess tour of NY with drop off at EWR. That also makes good use of last day in NY. Even taking earlier connecting flights home doesn't get me back to Vancouver earlier than 2130.

I choose the BnB in Red Hook for several reasons. It's very close to cruise terminal, has tons of great, positive reviews and $65Cdn X 4 nights nights is much better than Manhattan hotel prices. I'm planning to use the new ferry into Manhattan more than subway and plan to use the blue bicycles along waterfront areas. Will walk across Brooklyn bridge at least once. Get up to a Yankees game 1 evening.

I need to get a route map & schedule for that B61 bus!

Thanks again for all the responses!

I've booked a BnB in Red Hook for 4 nights before cruise and trying to decipher between which airport to fly into from Vancouver. Choice is daytime direct flight to EWR arrive 1700 or overnight via Toronto arriving LGA 1030. Which will have easier & cheaper transportation options to Red Hook?

Thank you Terry for the wonderful detailed post and photos of Norway & ship! I've just booked on Crown Princess for June 2017 Southampton to North Cape. I'm just starting researching for what do in each port. Unfortunately the roll call for my departure doesn't seem to have many group excursions planned and since I'm travelling solo that will leave me mostly with ship excursions which I'm not a fan of.

I haven't stayed there. It would be about a 5 min walk from either Yaletown or City Centre stop on Canada Line which is 25 minute ride from airport. Would be about 15 min walk to cruise terminal or short taxi ride.

Thanks for that info! I'll try the $2 bus on my cruise next week. Local buses are always more fun than taxis!

I booked an Interior guarantee for my upcoming Royal cruise and have luckily been upgraded to a balcony! I'm fine with whatever the size of the balcony! It will be a nice place to enjoy my morning breakfast and evening drink!

I just received my cabin assignment for Royal Mar 29 departure. I booked the cheapest IF guarantee last fall. Today I received a notice that I had been upgraded to an IA on Riviera Deck. I knew it was too much to hope for an upgrade to Balcony!

I just received cabin assignment for Mar 29 departure on Royal. Booked IF guarantee and got upgraded to IA! I guess it was too much to hope for an upgrade to balcony!

A motto I learned a long time ago...Any day at sea is better than a day at work!

The Royal Princess will be in St Thomas on Easter Sunday. I've heard rumour that everything will be closed. Can anyone advise on this?

Will it be difficult getting taxis to/from beaches or will roads and beaches be overly crowded since that's where all locals are going?

Will be visiting Grenada on Friday, April 3 (Good Friday & my birthday). Will the spice market be open that day? What about other shops/services?

We'll be docking in Livorno tomorrow.