RLK33853

Princess Cays is included in the package.

Extremely well said Keith. Wealth and/or choices aren't just about how much money an individual has. Everyone has their own style - cruising along with many of the other things in life that are important to them. Ray

A big thank you to everyone for their thoughts and viewpoints. We really appreciate the differences, similarities, and the commonalities from each person's style of cruising. Keep them coming!!! Ray and Ann

Hit and miss, but yes, we have been able to do this. Depends on the bartender. We usually develop a relationship with the bartenders at Crooners, but any bar that has your choice of wine would do. Good luck. It is certainly way easier to get the bottle when going to the dining room.

Thanks for the review. Do you know who the Maitre"d is?

Further info if you like snorkeling. On Dravuni Island, instead of snorkeling by the dock with everyone else (yes we have seen some turtles and small fish, etc),hike up to the top of their "mountain" (big hill), and then proceed across the width of the island on a footpath. We have snorkeled all over the world and this was the best day ever. You will see maybe 10 other people. We were out for probably 3 hours and each minute was more amazing than the last. Huge fan coral which is pristine. Giant clams, you name it. Ever color of coral. Since no one goes to the other side of the island it is untouched paradise.

Thanks everyone. We pulled the trigger today and Crystal will be the first of our trial cruises next April/May. We do the Athens to Rome on Symphony, disembark, get on the Silversea Whisper, disembark, and end with a Viking Jupiter cruise. All of them look like they have things they do well - now we can see which suits our style best moving forward. Like LouChamp said, we are done with the mainstream lines and hopefully we will find our new home on the oceans of the world! I will say that the Crystal board is WAY more positive and helpful than some of the others on Cruise Critic. That in itself is a plus. So bear with us - we will no doubt have lots of specific questions before we sail in April. Thank you Ray and Ann

Thanks very much for the comparison.

Thanks everyone for all your responses - they are greatly appreciated. Keep them coming. Keith - you mentioned the fitness centre, how good is it on the Symphony? We spend at least an hour a day in the gym if it is well equipped. Ann likes ellipticals and bikes. I spend time on the weights, and/or the elliptical (we used to use the treadmills but after years of abuse our knees say - not a chance!). Ray and Ann

Morning Just a question to anyone who has travelled recently with PG. What type of documents, luggage tags, etc did you receive pre-cruise? We leave in 3 weeks and all we have received are paper copies of a Boarding Pass, and documents we have already provided electronically (health questionnaire, etc). Another cruiser had previously mentioned that they expected the attached. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Thanks very much Keith. Excellent overview!

Hello Everyone Quick question - what is the website that shows cabin layouts and has photos of the ship, cabins, etc. I tried to search for it but can't find it. thanks

Hello Everyone - we have a couple of questions about Crystal. We are currently booked on Symphony next April/May in the Mediterranean. We are experienced mainstream cruisers (50 + cruises on Princess, plus other lines) who have decided to try various upscale lines hoping to find a new home. Mainstream lines are now nickel and diming worse than ever, loyalty perks are being taken away, plus service and food quality continue to deteriorate. Just a bit of background about ourselves - mid sixties, very active, usually stay in mini-suites or full suites, enjoy good food and the dining experience, like exploring new places, spend two to three months a year travelling (usually on cruises but have also done extensive land trips in Africa, South America and Australia), and have made life long friends around the world doing so. We have used these boards extensively and value the advice we have received over the years. Hopefully you can assist over the next while with our Crystal questions. By way of information regarding our Mediterranean comparison cruise line adventure next April/May, we are starting with the Athens to Rome 14 night cruise on the Symphony. We disembark, fly to Venice to get on an 8 day Silversea from Venice to Rome, then fly back to Venice to do a 7 day Viking Ocean from Venice to Rome, ending with 4 days in Tuscany. We are also booked on Paul Gauguin next month - hopefully we will find a new cruise line that meets our expectations. First off, why do you prefer Crystal? Second question concerns the included wines. My wife enjoys crisp clean whites in the afternoon, and nice full bodied reds in the evening, preferably Australian blends or Shiraz. Our question regarding wines, are the included wines of decent quality or should we expect to purchase optional ones? Thank you in advance. Crystal looks to be a good fit for us in the future. We have 7 months before we board and want to be as informed as we can be. Any other advice, or tips and tricks will be appreciated. Thank you Ray and Ann

Thanks for the tip!

Get to know the staff in the lounge and within reason they will try to accommodate you.

Princess has slowly pushed many loyal cruisers away with their current policies and takeaways. Like others have mentioned, we have 500 nights and over the past several years we have decided to try other lines due to Princess's lack of loyalty in return. It appears that Princess would rather have new bodies on board than those who have spent years achieving the upper levels of loyalty. Will we still cruise with Princess, probably - if the itinerary is right. In reality we have booked four other lines over the next six months, including Viking to see if they are a better fit for us.

We are on the Whisper next May, right after drydock. Any idea what they are doing while in drydock?

Just a quick question regarding dining reservations. We are now less than 2 months out and I understand that evening meals at L'Etoile are "anytime dining" - no reservations required. My question concerns La Veranda and La Grill. Can you make reservations prior to boarding? If so, how? If not, what is the most expedient method once on board. Especially interested in how to get sunset reservations for La Grill on the evening we are in Bora Bora (as has been discussed by others). Thanks

Our Travel Agent pushed this on our behalf. I have to say though that she is phenomenal - she is the owner of a boutique type Cruse Only agency that she took over from her parents. Thus with over 50 years in the cruise business, they have personal connections to reps of various cruise lines - which I am sure helped/sped up the process.

Positive Outcome/Resolution Just providing an update regarding our missing refundable OBC. Received a call last evening from a Princess Onboard Experience Support Specialist (Customer Service Representative) who informed me she wanted to clear my issue up. Apologized for the six months it took for the issue to get to her, and then said she was looking at my February final account and confirmed that Princess had sent out a cheque in the wrong amount. To resolve the discrepancy she asked if I wanted a new cheque or could she just give me the missing OBC for my next cruise. This seemed to be the simpler method so I agreed and the matter was settled. Of interest was that she also said that she would be giving both myself AND my wife the OBC. I looked today and she was true to her word - she doubled the missing funds - with the missing amount in my name, as well as the missing amount in my wife's name. Moral to the story - keep asking for your issues to be resolved; include your documentation; and be polite. Although it took a long time, it was nice to see that Princess took the issue seriously and resolved it.

Excellent review. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

Linda and Michelle Ann and myself would be interested in Ato's tour that day. Do you have any more information other than what is on TripAdvisor? You can reach me at rlk33853@hotmail.com Thanks Ray and Ann

We had a similar issue in February. We were on B2B cruises and had refundable $100 on each leg. I checked with the front desk after the 1st leg, plus prior to leaving the ship on the second leg, and was assured that each $100 would be paid out = $200. Fast forward 6 weeks and we received a cheque for $116??? Not sure how $200 ended up being $116 - I could see $100, but not a random number like $116. Our travel agent has escalated this issue on 3 different occasions without any kind of reasonable explanation. We are on our fourth back and forth with them at present. This was our 46 Princess cruise and we have never experienced anything like this.

Just a note of warning from our experience in renewing this week. When my wife went to renew her NEXUS this week, the the top website she was referred to by Google, looked totally legitimate but wanted $125 processing fee. We knew this wasn't correct and looked at the URL - https://nexus-card.com/renew-your-nexus-card.php?gclid=CjwKCAjw8symBhAqEiwAaTA__PG0mUf5YKASY6hP68oy9lhhcHSoCAiOOTp2EO-GYrNQ6h_fG-f-9BoCk0oQAvD_BwE You should be going to https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov which is the real site. Not saying the other site is a scam, but I certainly wouldn't want some third party to have all my personal information, nor pay them so that they can forward my application to DHS. At the very bottom of their page they do have a disclaimer, but who reads that far.

Good luck with your flights. Enjoy your cruise and hopefully when you return you can gives those of us who are waiting for our upcoming cruise a review of your experience. Happy Cruising.