EllieinNJ

Great review.  Looking forward to more.

On 8/2/2023 at 10:50 AM, TaraLynne said:

I don't know if I ever said, tbh, but we were in 6455. The ONLY night it was a problem was the night before Cabo because we needed to go to bed earlier than we usually would for the early morning the next day...still, I wouldn't book a room over that bar again myself.

I took a look at the deck plans.  We are in a balcony above cabins on the port side but not too far from the Havana bar.  You seemed to be on the starboard side in an inside directly above.

I'd like to purchase a gift card for a deposit.  My travel agent says they may not accept them for deposits.  Anyone know?

I understand that if you book an excursion with their credit card it takes 10% off the excursion.  I am trying to book one excursion.  I entered the credit card info but I haven't placed the order yet.  Will the 10% come off after I place the order?

I can't remember if you said which cabin # you were in but now you got me a little worried.  We are in cabin #6452 that is above the Havana area.  We usually don't go to bed before 11-12 so hope it won't be noisy.

We picked E417 on the Enchanted Princess.  Can the people walking on the promenade deck see you if you are sitting on your balcony?

So for my next cruise 4 coffees a day for 14 days is $104.  That's quite an increase from the $36 coffee card.

I've never had a connecting room but I've heard that you can hear most every word in the next cabin.

Thanks everyone for your responses.  I guess I watch too much TV.  I had visions of us being pulled out of buses because of our Jewish sounding last names and being charged with various crimes.😁  We just got new passports so no previous stamps.

I am considering one for next year.  Are they safe for Americans, especially those of the Jewish faith?

We are frequent cruisers but only cruise Princess (Ruby) about once every two years.  We do not get any packages because we do not drink alcohol often but we always got the coffee card because we are big coffee drinkers.

We were disappointed when they did away with the coffee card in February.  It was nice to have specialty coffees but not totally necessary but we do so need to have the fresh brewed coffee.  I figure it would add about $60 more to our 14 night Enchanted cruise next year.

When we were on the Enchanted last year we discovered Gigi's.  We had their pizza twice and it was good.  But we also liked the pizza at the pool deck.  What we loved about Gigi's is their tiramisu which we got most nights of those 14 nights.  So much better than what the IC has. Will still probably get it again a few nights at the a la carte price if they still have it.

It was nice having the medallions sent to our home but if we have to pick them up at the pier it is not a deal breaker, just a little inconvenience.  We never order room service so a non entity to us.

Will this stop us from cruising Princess?  No.   If we see a good price on a good itinerary we are in.

22 hours ago, TaraLynne said:

I would say similar, though Rhythm isn't about showing you a culture, it's more of a fun (and at times funNY) show.

 

That said, when was the last time you went to a luau? My husband and I were on Maui in 2022 and couldn't find a decently-reviewed luau for less than $180 per person...I want to say the one I went to on Kauai in 2015 cost around $150 but that was also 8 years ago 😕

Wow.  Didn't know the prices raised so high.  We were there in 2010.  Paid $65pp including hotel pickup in Honolulu and about $95pp through the ship in Oahu.  

We had Jody as our CD on our Enchanted cruise last November.  She is wonderful 

Can you say that Rhythm is better than an Hawaiian luau?  We went to two luaus when we were in Hawaii and they were less that half price of Rhythm.  $165pp is quite steep.

On 7/25/2023 at 4:01 PM, nwcruiselover said:

Don't be surprised if you get to your cabin and find that your sail & sign card for the cruise has your old VIFP level. That happened to me on the cruise where I became diamond.  I opened the envelope and there was a platinum card instead.  Guest Services solved the the problem quickly.

Same for me.  On the 5th day in on our back to back cruise on the Pride last month we were turning gold from red.  On turnaround day we were still issued red cards.  Went to guest services and it seemed they reluctantly changed our cards.  We did not have any drink packages so wanted the free drink after 5pm on the last night for gold+ members.  We ordered two pina colada in the theater.  They said mine was covered but my husband's wasn't.  It was still early so he went to guest services and they gave him a paper voucher to cover it.  After our drinks came they charged me $1.88 because I went over the cost but his voucher covered everything.  Go figure.

Now when I get emails from Carnival it still says we are red but when I sign in it says we are gold.

We did the Pontoon Lagoon excursion last year on the RC Oasis and it was one of the most boring excursions we were ever on.   We also thought it was in a swamp but it was in a large open portion of water.  All we saw were some birds, some fancy houses and some dolphins.  A waste of time and money.

14 minutes ago, Capt_BJ said:

these places usually have a drop box for the keys for an an after hours return ..... then you can taxi/uber back to the ship . . . .

Unfortunately Budget does not.  We checked.

9 hours ago, trbarton said:

I have done this before but my T/A handled everything.  I never had to fill anything out. 
 

Can’t your T/A do this as mine has done before?

 

Tom🤔

My TA says they need a SIGNED copy from the cruiser.  I sent mine in last Tuesday but still hasn't been processed yet.

On 7/19/2023 at 6:44 PM, Bruin Steve said:

Assuming you are talking about the weekend of April 19/20...That is the "Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach"...

https://www.gplb.com/

Even if you had booked a hotel early, the prices would have been highly inflated...and even this far ahead of the event, hotels are typically sold out.

 

So, assuming your cruise dates are cut in stone, don't worry about it.  Stay somewhere else in the area and, unless you are going to the race, just stay out of Long Beach until it's time to get on your ship.

 

Where you stay depends on what you want to do, what airport you are using...and how much time you have.  If you are just, say, flying into LAX the day before, killing time relaxing withourt need to do any sightseeing and just heading to your ship Monday morning...and you are concerned with transportation costs and logistics, I wouldn't bother passing Long Beach to head to Seal Beach or Huntington Beach and backtracking by Uber...

 

I'd stay in between LAX and Long Beach--Look at El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance (Collectively, "the South Bay")...Plenty of hotels, areas are safe, restaurant choices, etc. and you are doing no extra mileage by Uber or anything, just splitting your ride in two...

 

I'd consider Seal Beach/Huntington Beach only if I were flying into SNA or LGB...and, if one of those and just relaxing, I'd consider staying near those airports (though normally, I'd highly recommend NOT and staying in Downtown Long Beach.  Your weekend, you simply don't have that choice.  And even LGB hotels are bound to fill fast for that weekend!)

Yep.  That is our weekend.  We are doing the Carnival Radiance from Monday to Friday and then the Carnival Panorama from Sat to Sat.  Since I first posted we decided to visit our daughter in San Francisco first, then rent a car and drive to Long Beach.  Yes. I know, a 6 hour+ drive.  I wound up booking a motel on the beach in Sunset Beach since we have the rental car and then turn it in the morning of the first cruise.  The Friday between cruises we booked the Cove Hotel.  May change to the Queen Mary when those dates show up.  Now only bookable through Dec. 2023.

I have a rental reserved with Budget for a Friday Oct 27th.  We are also at terminal 10 and don't get in until 1pm.  By the time we get off the ship, take a shuttle and get the car probably won't be until after 2 if we are lucky and everything is on time.  The car has to be returned by closing, 6pm.  All this doesn't seem feasible so I think we are going to cancel this rental car.

I like the lamb chops and 7 layer cake in Cagney's.

I've just booked my 5th Princess cruise on the Enchanted for next year.  We are not alcohol drinkers but big coffee drinkers and always purchased the coffee cards.  I know they no longer have them.  Is our only alternative to pay full price for every brewed coffee at the International Cafe?

I have one of those portable tents that you can set up in 5 minutes.  Are they allowed on Ocean Cay?

There were two posts on Cruise Deck plans, one saying it is not obstructed but another video shows some kind of poles in front.  It is above GiGis.  Anyone stay in this cabin recently or has a recent photo?

I need a certain weekend next April but it seems there is something doing in Long Beach because most of the downtown hotels are already booked.  I do not want to go into the Signal Hill or airport area.  I found a few nice hotels in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach.  Are these too far away?  My cruise leaves on a Monday.  How much do you think an Uber or Lyft might cost?