Lynniepoo

The shrimp salad is delicious. They also have a mushroom and spinach salad that is TO DIE FOR.

We love eating at the IC - we go there in the morning for a breakfast sandwich. Yummy, filling, and helps keep the portion sizes to a minimum!

Geranium is closed for Summer Holiday from July 8 to August 1.

 

 

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I'm actually happy (it's SO expensive) and sad (it looked delicious) at the same time! :)

Hello,

DH and I are going to be in Copenhagen later this month, and we are thinking about living it up and dining at Geranium, a 3 Michelin star restaurant there.

I went to their website to look at the menu, but all I see is several tasting menus without details as to what they are.

Before we try and get a reservation, can anyone give us feedback on what the tasting menus include (i.e., is the wine included in the price), and any other info?

Thank you!

When I have mailed customerrelations@princesscruises.com I have gotten excellent results - including phone replies. It can make a difference which email address you use.

I emailed them on a Sunday and got a call the next day! I have to agree, they were the bomb. :)

my question is, can you still buy the card once on the ship or do you have to pre-purchase? I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but DH and I love our coffee and don't want a nasty surprise1

What a fun thread!! It took me a whole cup of coffee to get through it.

 

By the way, I've just put on a fresh pot and your all invited to stop by for a cup, (no punches required).

we'll be right there. :D

I can just about guarantee that in a week I get five to ten spam calls on my cell phone. Not answering does not mean you won't end up paying roaming charges. In some cases (and from what I've read, it depends on the roaming carrier), letting a call go to voicemail (which is what happens when you don't answer) will get you charged twice - once for routing the call to your phone while roaming and then a second charge for it being routed back to your home carrier's voice mail system. I have no desire to pay $12 ($6/minute is my cruise ship roaming rate as well) to ignore some spammer.

 

 

If you want to make sure there are no roaming charges while on the ship, then put it in airplane mode.

I am pretty sure you can disable the phone's ability to roam. And airplane mode is still the easy answer - for me, I have to stay connected for work so I will use Princess@sea while on the ship, then I'll connect to my carrier (Verizon) while out in port. Verizon's travel pass is only $10/24 hour period (check availability).

Your comment reminded me of our final onboard printout that was left in our mail box outside our cabin door. I took it in the cabin and started to look it over! My eye balls about popped out of my head! $1,000 spent at the spa, $2,000 bar bill. I never used the spa and never drank any booze from any bar. Looked at the cabin number and they put it in the wrong mail box. I guess it's nothing for people to get a final bill like that.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but on our first cruise our bill was over $3K. Yes, $3K, and we bought a bunch of junk we never used again, along with trips to the spa and everything else.

Our bill on our last cruise was around $9. I guess that's why they target first timers!

I posted on another board as well, but we have a Northern Europe cruise in July and I called Princess about internet issues, because I need to have some access to work while on board. They said no one had reported any issues with the internet. Final payment will be happening any day now, and I'm not sure what we'll do (but we better decide quick!)

I just contacted Princess (explaining this post to them) asked them if the internet issues would be fixed by my trip in late July to Copenhagen. I explained that spotty is okay and to be expected on satellite internet, but I cannot be out of touch for 11 days. They told me they have no record of any internet issues on the Regal. SAY WHAT?....

Too stunned to process. :confused:

We were on the Regal in December and the internet was super fast and always connected..of course, this was in the Caribbean so maybe it's different.

We are on the Regal again in July, and I really hope that the issues are resolved. I need reliable internet in one form or another to keep in touch at work.

 

We did not have to bring an old cruise card to use on our Royal cruise. The cabin steward already had an old cruise card in the slot when we first embarked.

LOL! I hope you took it with you for next time :). We each keep one tucked in with our travel "stuff."

Here's an open secret: Ocean Medallion is not for the pax's benefit. It's for the

ship's benefit... Turn lights off when there's no one there (including in the cabin

bathrooms), noticing in real-time long lineups (whether at the Trident Grill or

outside the Princess Theater restrooms), tracking down SOLAS drill no-shows

or B2B'ers who stay aboard when they're zeroing the ship, ...

People figured out really fast to bring an old cruise card with them and stick in the light switch thing, LOL.

Up until our most recent cruise our OBC has always gone completely toward the gratuities. We haven't had enough to have any left over. Our most recent cruise was different in that we had $800 in OBC and the gratuities were only $378. Most unusual for us. I put a $200 on my card in the casino and managed to turn it into $150. (Yep, that's how gambling works for me. :rolleyes:) The last day I cashed out in the casino and we ended up with a final bill of $14.89 and $150 in my pocket. To top things off we had booked our return airfare using "miles" plus a whopping $11.20. We took a move over on one of the flights and received $800 in airline credit. (Supposed to receive another $400 via email but not holding my breath.) So... $150 "profit" on the cruise and at least $800 "profit" on the flights. Most unusual for us but a very pleasant change to be sure. :D

Masterful! Nicely done.:)

IMO anyone who decides to remove the few benjamin's gratuity is a low-life and probably also stiffs the waiters in restaurants who all work hard to serve us. I wonder how they would feel if the situation was reversed and they were the ones not getting the gratuity remembering that their pay is low and they work 24x7.

 

I remember the days when we were given envelopes for gratuity for each crew member that directly served us. I welcomed the much simpler all inclusive gratuity.

I don't completely agree. Yes, cruise staff work really hard for long hours. For that reason, we choose to leave the auto-tip on and our cash tips (on top of the auto) are based on quality of service.

That said (and I'm ready for the flames!) I understand why people choose to do otherwise. I think that staff know what they are signing up for and what is required of them, and should try to meet those expectations (UNLESS the person is a complete wackadoodle who expects their steward (or any staff member) to be at their service with unreasonable expectations and stiff a tip if they don't get it. That is inexcusable).

Hi donswife,

I can’t say for sure. I was talking with the Captain of The Duck Boat and boy she is really good looking.

No i’m not talking about the duck boat. :D

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

just fuggedaboutit! :D

So on Friday afternoon the FedEx truck arrived and delivered our Ocean Medallions for our Regal Crossing on April 15. Very attractive box included engraved medallions with our names, ship, and date. Included was a nice note thanking us for being Pilots on the upcoming cruise. There were no instructions anywhere to be found.

 

On one of the inserts were pictures of six different apps that can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple App Store. The first app in Ocean Ready and is where you expedite the boarding process by entering all your information, including passport info, etc. I downloaded the app and my frustrations began. I could not for the life of me figure out the sign-in. It asked for your Ocean Credentials. As you will remember, there were no instructions included in the box. I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out the sign in and also searching google to see if I could learn any additional information. I must say all this effort was for naught so I called the Princess number for assistance. The young lady told me she would transfer me to the Medallion help desk. I held the line and finally got a message saying they were either closed or there was no one to help me. Not giving up that easy, I called back to the Princess number and insisted I needed to talk with someone. She was very polite and asked if she could put me on hold and see if she could locate someone to help. After several minutes, she connected me to a very nice young man and the frustration continued to build. He finally admitted the Ocean Ready is having severe problems but he would do his best to help me sign in. He told me the Ocean Ready app is required to use the other 5 apps. After about 30 minutes of him telling me exactly what to do with no positive results, he finally told me he could not help.

 

With my frustration at a high level and after wasting now about three hours, I told him I would just throw all this medallion stuff in the trash can. He did chuckle a little and said I understand. Never did he say the technology was not ready for deployment and I asked him this question several times. He did say that we should bring the medallions with us on the 15th as maybe something would be working by then.

 

So my question --- has anyone used the Medallions or any of the six apps available to make your life and cruise easier? I admit I am not very high tech, but this is ridiculous. I would love to hear any thoughts or comments. I am sure I will get flamed for this note but I really am frustrated. Maybe I will Come Home New from the cruise but I am surely leaving home feeling old and frustrated.

 

 

So no

The roll out of this built up a lot of anticipation with no payoff. I totally understand why you are frustrated. I don't get why Princess didn't test this with a control group before telling the world about it.

My 2nd ***** cruise is coming up this July, and we were not in the test group either time. At first I was disappointed, but now I'm kind of happy.

The good thing about ***** is that if you are platinum or elite, you will get free internet access (one per person/device), and the speeds were pretty decent.

I'm sorry you are having a bad experience, but please don':)t let it ruin your cruise.

I too have stayed at Hollywood Beach Marriott. Nice hotel and good location

in love with the bar right on the beach!:D

Hello All!

 

It is time for me to book a reservation for two nights at a Ft. Lauderdale Hotel. We are now booked for a 49 day Caribbean and South America cruise on Feb 2nd of 2019, on the Royal Princess (YEAH!)

 

Our favorite hotel to stay in Ft. Lauderdale has always been the Embassy Suites on 17th and Front Street. We love everything about it...the pool area, the big complimentary breakfast, and the manager's cocktail hour. It is also fairly close to a lot of shops.

 

So, I am ready to make a reservation and before I do, I go check out the most recent reviews. I do this knowing that things "can change".

 

To my disappointment, I find the most recent reviews gave the hotel bad marks. Apparently some found their rooms to be dirty and even some found that the sheets had not been changed or the room cleaned!!

 

I have no idea if the manager for the ES has changed, but we have always enjoyed our stays there.

 

Oh, the big worrisome mentioned by TripAdvisor's peeps is that there are often big parties held in the atrium area. Loud booming and rattling music until well past 11:30 p.m. that actually shook the window of the room of one reviewer. Another complained (on a different date) of not being able to sleep due to the atrium racket!

 

I am looking for a hotel close to the cruise terminal and one that has enjoyable amenities.

 

And have any of you been at the ES lately? Are these reviews just "exceptions" or the rule now?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Arwen

The last two times we've sailed out of FLL, we stayed at the Hollywood Beach Marriott, and would stay there again. It's right on the beach (with direct beach access), and about a 15 minute cab ride from the cruise terminal.

It's an older hotel, but IMO well kept up and with friendly staff.

art auctions on cruise ships are NOT going to offer rare art or investment pieces. Those pieces would be in museums or in auction houses under very strict controls, not sitting out where they could be damaged by liquids, light, humidity, etc.

 

Do a search on these board about art auctions; you will find that some people are pleased with their purchases but many are not. As I have stated in a previous thread on this subject, the auction people get A LOT less friendly when I asked for certificates of provenance - a sure sign that something was amiss.

 

My degree is in Art History, I write the arts and cultural calendar for my local public radio station so I have some empirical knowledge in this area and thus never purchase "art" aboard cruise ships for the lack of provenance documents and because I support local artists in my own metro area.

Learn something new everyday! Thanks for the info! :D

Just back from a week long Western Caribbean cruise with the Regal Princess. Had a great week because of the company, there were six of us all there for Spring Break from California. Great times and memories with the girls, but some not so happy thoughts about the ship.

Embarkation was delayed due to Coast Guard inspection and we had been given notification of that. The employees both at the check in counter and to direct people onto the ship were some of the most unfriendly I have ever seen for Princess. Not a great start to the cruise!

We were in a balcony cabin E203. Ok on size, the beds were split into a twin. For two females, we have learned to bring some wire hangers as there are never enough and we just throw away at the end of the cruise. This was my 4th Princess cruise and second year in a row on the Regal. The room stank like fish! When I complained, our room steward said he would have the carpet cleaned in the morning. Not sure if this was ever done, the smell was still there at the end of the week. I smelled one of the pillows and it was bad and did get that replaced immediately. The mattress was rock hard! We had adjoining balconies with E201 and E125. The balcony on E125 was wider and much better than ours. Would get that cabin if I could next time. No complaints about cabin steward kept our ice bucket filled and gave us two Patters every night.

Disappointed in room service for breakfast, there is basically nothing you can order. I used to order eggs, sausage and toast and now all you can get is Danish, croissant, and a breakfast sandwich with Canadian bacon. We had anytime dining and were able to make that work for us except the service was so extremely slow every night with very little interaction with the servers. We tried to engage but I just think they are completely overworked. It took us over 20 minutes to get bar service and coffee on two separate nights. Food was almost the exact same as last year and would love to see some new items changed out. Obviously I did not starve and could always find something. I did find the lobster tail to be of good flavor this sailing, along with the Beef Wellington. The buffet is the buffet and just find bites of things that I like. The international Café had amazing treats every day, but again the service staff was very unfriendly. Also disappointed that the Pub Lunch no longer includes shrimp and chips. Seems like they just keep taking away more and more!

Did excursions both with Princess and outside of Princess and had fun on all. Did a bike tour of Princess Cays and that was worth every penny, something different to do.

Overall, again, amazing cruise because of the company and cannot complain to be on vacation, but so disappointing about the level of service almost everywhere on the ship. Not just the Princess employees, so many angry people on board, makes me very sad. Overall, not the best cruise ever and one of the most disappointing, but it will definitely not stop me from cruising.

Please feel free to ask away!!!

we were on the Regal back in December and we also thought there was a large percentage of seriously unfriendly staff. There are always a few, that's just life, but it seemed like WAY more than what we were accustomed to. They might be overworked (I could never keep up) so we don't get too upset about it, but it can be a bit of a bummer.

If you are on an Ocean Medallion preview cruise, Elite and Platinum have unlimited internet access for one device (per person). For non-platinum/Elite, they offer a per day/per device plan that seems to be available for pre-purchase in the cruise personalizer.

I plan on using the travel pass ($10/day) for our Baltic Cruise coming in July, because I need it for work. My boss has used this plan also and loved it.

I called Verizon to make sure that the countries I would be in are part of the travel pass plan (they are). Like mentioned above, if you use call/text/data, it will begin a 24 hour period of usage that costs $10. I figure if I use it for each port (7 out of 11 days) that's a bargain.

Yes' date=' I'm that compulsive person and look at my cruises almost every day...and the price of my fall cruise went down by $300 pp today. We will lose some perks, but even with that will save $100 pp. We had a good deal to begin with and I honestly didn't think it could get any better.[/quote']

 

Do you check the Princess website for prices, or is there any other venue (i.e., cruise compete)? I check cruise compete about every month or so, and the prices for our cruise in July have gone down about $1500 (total) since we booked. (!!)

We got ours on the ship and they just charged our onboard account. That was for doing shore excursions during the cruise, not land vacations before or after. We hold Canadian passports - not sure if that makes a difference.

 

 

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We are US passport holders and it worked exactly the same - we had a Princess excursion, Princess charged our on board account and gave us the paperwork on the ship.