Cruiser411

I pre-booked shore excursions for Japan in July and Canada/New England in October. Today, all the excursions for Canada/New England have been removed from my reservations. The excursions for Japan still remain and are accompanied with this statement: "Pay before you sail, or pay later onboard. You have the option to pay for shore excursions in advance of your cruise. If you wait, we will add the charges to your onboard account which is settled at the end of the cruise." I tried to again reserve the shore excursions for Canada/New England as I had done about a month ago. Now, I must pay in advance or wait and take a chance on booking once on board. I will have quite a bit of onboard credit, which I had planned to use for excursion payments. I have free gratuities, so would have some problem in spending the credit. Anyone know why there is this difference in policy between the two cruises?

Hmmm... I believe they've updated their system so that you can use OBC to pay for shore excursions.

Although we have enjoyed a number of cruises on both the Royal and Regal, your space ratio contention is disputable. For instance, "Passenger space ratio (gross tonnage per passenger) is achieved by diving the gross tonnage by the number of passengers (lower birth capacity including solo cabins) (Gross tonnage is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume)". Here are the pertinent numbers from Berlitz:

 

 

Royal 39.6, Regal 39.6, Ruby 36.4, Diamond 42.8, Sapphire 43.3, Golden 41.4, Grand 41.8, Star 41.8, Caribbean 36.2, Pacific 44.1 and Coral 46.4.

 

 

However, Cruise Mapper has a different take on it: "The ship's "space ratio" (by definition) is the enclosed space (measured in ft3/cubic feet) per passenger. A ship of 45,000 GT (gross tonnage) with capacity 1,000 passengers will have a space ratio 45 (or 45ft3=45000/1000). So if your ship has generally smaller cabins but very large public spaces, she will have a higher space ratio, and the higher the space ratio number, the more guests will enjoy a sense of spaciousness on board." http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/761-cruise-ship-passenger-capacity-ratings

 

 

For what its worth, we definitely witness much greater public space availability on the Pacific and Coral than when on other vessels in the Princess fleet.

FWIW, Cruise Mapper is where I got that information...

maybe the political climate in the world is a factor... seems Princess timing is off.

I would be so bold as to suggest its spot on the mark.:evilsmile:

Yes, I think the political climate is the reason that Majestic is being based in Sydney for part of the year. And as far as I can see, there will be four ships based in Australia during Summer 2018-19; Majestic, Golden, Sun and Sea.

Some of my more memorable cruises have been on ships that were <2500 pax -- More intimate, better service, less queuing from embarkation to disembarking to everything in-between, greater public space-to-passenger ratios, simply better quality overall.

 

 

Interestingly, the Royal-class ships have the best public space-to-passenger ratio in the Princess fleet... :cool:

Princess has recently sold out cruises sailing round the Horn between FLL and LA so she doesn't need to fit through the Canal. The Crown is shifting from West Coast to FLL so she would presumably replace the Royal. We thoroughly enjoyed the Regal and would be glad if we don't need to wait until late 2019 or later to get a Royal class ship on the West Coast [emoji2]

 

 

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I would agree with this. She probably won't reposition through the Canal... she'll take over the South American run. And then on to the West Coast and probably Alaska too.

Hi - our son surprised us by getting time to attend our upcoming Alaska cruise. We did get him a cabin but want to try for a Club Class unit. Our final payment date is soon and I was wondering do many people cancel around that time? I do not have a TA, we book online directly with Princess. And since this is Alaska do people cancel less? Thanks in advance for any information.

It is said that the average cabin will turnover 8 times before sailing, so yes, you do have a good chance that someone will cancel before final payment. TA's also have to give up group space that is not selling at that time, so you should see cabins become available right around your final payment.

Princess isn't listening. Princess doesn't care what you think. It's their company brand logo on the side of their ships. If you don't like it you have one of two choices:

 

1) Close your eyes when you walk past it.

 

2) Pick another cruise line.

 

And despite what "poll" you throw up on Cruise Critic "some people" will love it, "some people" don't care", and "some people" hate it. "Some people" will continue to beat this dead horse for years to come (rolls eyes).

 

Yesterday I spent several hours in an art museum that displays giant floor-sized "installation art" trying to wonder who/why/what. I don't live in that museum. Just visit it. Last weekend I was enjoying the amazing Cleveland Museum of Art which runs from traditional to contemporary and everything in between. Some of the art I tried to make sense of. Some I just looked at and walked away. I don't live there. I just visited.

 

When I cruise Crown Princess in September she'll most likely have that whale, monster, Sea Witch, mustache, art, not art, blasphemy, nightmare, what where they thinking, I like it, I hate it, I'm sailing Celebrity from now on, OMG "thing"painted on the bow of the ship.

 

I probably won't give it much more thought than what it took me to write this post.

 

:cool:

Well said...

I read about the price reduction on another thread about the Sabatini's menu. However that also resulted in a one selection per course limit and an extra $10 per additional pasta or entrée. While the limit might not affect most passengers, some skip a course & instead want two selections from another course.

 

Since it's just being changed this month on the Caribbean & Grand, it'll probably be awhile before we know how stringently they'll enforce the one selection per course limit. And like some other Princess procedures, it may vary by ship or crewmember.

True. I know my son likes to get a filet mignon and a ribeye at the Crown Grill. :p But when you think about it, I think it's a good thing. You couldn't go into a fine restaurant and order everything off the menu. That Princess did this in the past doesn't mean it's sustainable.

Has anyone noticed that the surcharge for Sabatini's has gone down to $25 on Caribbean Princess? :)

http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/sabatinis-trattoria/sabatinis-trattoria-main-menu.pdf

I can't figure out how to upload a pic to CC that doesn't exist online, so I'll just tell you that I used some photo editing software and simply filled in the white area from the top of the sea witch to the bottom along the very front of the ship and then colored in those two white specs that look like eyes and it looks a lot better. At least it looks less threatening.

 

Disclaimer: I never got higher than a 'C' in Art in my life.

But then, doesn't it look like a giant blue mustache?

FWIW, any art can look bad from different angles. The new livery is meant to be most pleasing from the side.

She is old and beat up.

Have you been on board since the drydock?

Hi all, we just returned from a cruise with the Ruby princess. My mom fell in the theater. She was coming out and towards the end the rails are sticking out so she hurt herself. At first we didn't even go to the doctor or reported it because I thought it's no big thing and she will be ok. Long story short she didn't get any better we went to see the doctor and did the accident report. I wanted to send a letter to the company as our cruise was truly ruined. This happened on day one of the cruise these rails are truly can be dangerous. Any of you can give me an Emil address? I would truly appreciate it.

If you need to pursue this... then customerrelations@princesscruises.com

Another unhappy cruiser with a question - has the cancellation time frame changed as well?

 

 

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No...

It's a rorschach test... :p

I would daresay that the Majestic is a one-off for Princess. Many of her design elements don't translate well for Western passengers and I would expect that the next Royal-class ship will ditch many of them. The successful elements will stay such as the covered pool.

Currently they are allowing OBC. Written statement still says that OBC cannot be used. Will be interesting to see if they change the language to match, or if at some point they switch the procedure to match the language and stop accepting OBC. If they stop accepting OBC then Princess loses one of their main competitive advantage and at that point other lines become more cost effective options.

Since they just changed their system to allow OBC to be used up-front, I'd say that this option is here to stay. It's probably not available on every ship/itinerary yet so that may be the reason why the language hasn't changed in the statement.

Hi - My parents are scheduled to sail on 4/8 on the Ruby Princess. I just received an email about check-in times based on cabin location. This is something new (to me) as they didn't receive this type of check-in info on their Alaska cruise last June. My question is...they are in a guaranteed category BB cabin and the cabin has not yet been assigned. What time should they arrive? Here are the times listed:

 

1:00p - Dolphin & Riviera Decks

1:30p - Caribe & Aloha Decks

2:00p - Emerald & Lida Decks

2:30p - Baja & Plaza Decks

 

From what I can tell, category BB is on Baja and Aloha (deck 11 & 12).

I've always been told to arrive as early as possible. If you arrive earlier than the time listed, will they not check you in?

 

Also - if they do not receive a cabin assignment before the sail date, how does their luggage get to their cabin? The luggage tag just says "to be assigned". They normally leave their luggage with one of the people outside the port. Since they don't have a cabin assignment, do they have to bring their luggage inside when they check-in?

 

Thanks!

Progressive check-in has been the norm for a few years now. I would wager that they got notified last year, but didn't see it.

It's really just a suggestion to help ease early crowding. They can just show up whenever they want and they won't have to wait till their designated time to board.

From what I understand, the porters should have a list of the cabins that have been assigned close to sailing.

Add World Fresh Market Place. Have no idea what this is.

The "Horizon Court" on the Majestic is called the World Fresh Market Place, so this must be an updated name for the buffet.

Just off the Caribbean Princess and was able to speak to restaurant management about some of the new and upcoming renovations.

 

The entire Horizon Court and Cafe Carib are being gutted. Cafe Carib will become two for pay restaurants..breakfast..lunch..and dinner.

The Horizon Court buffet is going to be redesigned to accommodate more people for eating. A totally new food station and new sitting area. All small wall partitions will be gone as well as bulky chairs and tables. They need to put all of us people who will not pay extra for breakfast somewhere.

 

Sabatini's will be updated but still an Italian restaurant..not sure if they are taking away part of The Wheelhouse for an extended Sabatini's .

 

Part of the Island Dining Room (window area on the starboard side) will be for the Club Class. Feels like they are going back to First class, Second class and Steerage...

 

A lot of new carpeting in public places..giving the old girl @ 13, a "face lift".

 

What is desperately needed is plumbing renovation. Cabin toilets that don't flush or constantly flush and overflow, shower water issues (no cold water for two days..or no hot water for two days). Since I am cruising the Caribbean again I asked about the plumbing and was told there was already 45 plumbers on board. I met two who fixed the pipes (in the ceiling) outside my cabin.

 

The air conditioning on the ship worked great in all public areas and I can say my room was delightfully cool at night.

 

Had a great cruise and excited to see all the changes next year...also hoping no one pays for breakfast, and lunch at the two new restaurants and Princess re thinks charging.

Hmmm... I would think that breakfast and lunch would be complimentary with dinner at a "nominal" charge.

We want to go to Alaska next year and we are debating which cruise line would be best for Alaska? We been on Princess,Celebrity and RCCL Any help would be appreciated!:D

If you want to go to Glacier Bay, then your choices are limited to Princess, HAL and Norwegian. IMO, you should go with a cruisetour and see more of Alaska. Princess and HAL are best positioned for that.

Does anyone know what is in all the white space shown on the deck plan for Emerald Deck on the Star Princess?

The forward areas are crew areas. Their gym is in that area. Aft sections are engineering areas. I believe a lot of the air-conditioning plants are in this area. We've stayed on Emerald before and haven't noticed any extra noise from those sections...

I read a story somewhere of a HAL ship that was calling at a Swedish port last summer and had to call off tendering operations early due to a sudden change in the weather. The ship wasn't even able to retrieve the tenders and several hundred passengers will still ashore. HAL chartered some local coaches to take the passengers to Copenhagen by road to meet the ship which was due to dock there that evening and the tenders returned to the harbour to refuel and then made the voyage to Copenhagen in convoy under their own power. I presume that there were enough passengers not on board the ship to allow it to set sail without a full complment of lifeboats.

A few years back, a sudden storm came up and stranded a Princess excursion in Haines, Alaska. Golden Princess was in Skagway and had to sail. Princess put everyone up in a hotel for the night and then transported them to the next port.

As for the HAL ship sailing without tenders, there are plenty of life rafts on board cruise ships that would be able to handle the passengers aboard.

Why don't they offer the ability to pay in either currency like other cruise lines....?!

The website detects what country you're visiting it from and presents you with the local currency. You'd have to call and they can manually change the currency and give you a quote.

They often block off quite a few cabins when there are segments of embarkation - i.e. embarking in CPH, Warnemunde, STP. They hold back cabins for people to book at those embarkation ports. They usually release them after final payment time and then you can move to any available cabin. Of course, there's no guarantee you'll get what you want and those embarkation ports could have so many people that the cabins are actually, really booked. Maybe you can waitlist the cabin you want?

This is exactly what happens. Cruise lines, when they have "logical" voyages (ie. two or more voyages that are sold as one cruise), have to allocate space to the logical and space to the other voyages as well. If you have a good TA, they may be able to negotiate the release of space for what you want.

what is the time frame for cancelling a reserved (but NOT paid for) ship excursion? can i still cancel the excursion if i change my mind once i get on the ship?

Be aware that if the excursion involves airplanes/helicopters, you usually have to cancel on the first or second day. Check with the shore excursion desk to find out your options.

The deck plans don't show a mdr, does it have another name?

Province on deck 6 and Bordeaux on deck 5. Both are amidships.