DTW Cruiser

Welcome back to Princess, Pia! I started reading your reviews when I first joined CC and missed your experience and input when you moved on.

My sincerest condolences on your loss! May you feel the peace that comes from a lifetime of blessings shared together.

I will enjoy following your comments again, wishing you blue skies and smooth seas!

Elaine

Easy. In November the sun is always south when you are in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, on a westbound sailing the sun will be on the port side most of the trip.

Thank you! We weren’t even sure how to “google” that info! Pathetic, I know! 😂😂

Elaine

Port Side!!

Thank you!!

Elaine

I'm on a westbound in November '19 actually starting in Rome at the end of October and on for 25 days to FLL. I also have Caribe portside balcony and deliberately chose it. The weather could never be too hot for me at that time of year. Then again, I see you are from Michigan and I'm from South Florida. That might make a difference.

Thank you for your input, Pia! I value your opinion as I read many of your comments on the Princess Boards when I joined CC!

We have always booked Portside cabins, but were surprised when our balcony was so hot on our last TA. It was not a Caribe balcony. We think the covered area will help, but had to wonder if Starboard would be more comfortable. I think your words “deliberately chose” gave us our answer!

Thank you again!

Elaine

Yes, you are correct! It was a westbound! Sorry for my error!

We are torn because we wonder if we’ll miss the sunsets on the Starboard side of the ship. On the Caribe Deck, half of our balcony would be covered so wonder if that would give us a little shade on the Portside? Any thoughts??

My husband and I are considering taking a TA in early November and are wondering which side of the ship to book. On our last (and only) eastbound TA from Barcelona, which was in early October, we had a Portside balcony and found it too hot to enjoy in the afternoon. Will the sun still be on the same side of the ship in early November? Should we consider a Starboard balcony this time??

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience and advice!

Elaine

We’ve never seen steamers, but they do have decent irons that seem to get a good amount of use,

They require you to wear closed toe shoes (I think because the appetizer portion of the dinner is in the galley). Make sure you are prepared. We felt it was a special dining experience.

Plan it for the day you are sailing thru Glacier Bay. The scenery is spectacular and you’ll enjoy it whether you are on your balcony or inside your cabin! The food is delicious and very special...usually crab quiche, fresh fruit, pastries and I believe Mimosas. If you have any allergies, make sure you arrange for alternatives with the Room Service line in advance. Enjoy!!

Thank you all for your input!

Elaine

Thank you so much, Barbara!!

Does anyone have an idea when we might expect Princess to open booking 2020 dates for Australia & NZ sailings? We are amazed at how quickly the land tours filled for 2019 and are not optimistic that we will clear the waitlist for the land tour much before final payment is due, which is just too late to book good flights and tours in our opinion.

Thank you for any insight you might share!

Elaine

And only handicap staterooms have doors large enough to allow a motorized scooter in to the room.

Actually, that's not true. The rental company can tell you the width of the scooter and Princess can tell you the width of your specific cabin door. They definitely can fit thru a standard cabin door depending of the width of each. It's very important to check both measurements out ahead of time!

I had a scooter in my balcony cabin on the Crown Princess in August and it worked out just fine. Although it is required that you inform Princess ahead of time and you must store it in your cabin when not in use. That does take up a bit of space but you can work it out. It's definitely easier if you have a handicap accessible cabin, but that is not always possible and doesn't mean you can't make this work.

Good Luck

Elaine

We just stayed there in August and were very pleased with our experience. We reserved an Executive King room which included full breakfast as well as access to the Concierge Lounge. Lovely on both counts! The hotel is actually attached to Victoria Station (train station) but you wouldn't know that from the quiet lobby. Highly recommend for central location, too!

Belize is a tender port. When you exit your tender, you'll be along a dock with shops and lots of bars and restaurants. Many have free wifi and all have beautiful water views! You can't go wrong with any of them! Enjoy!

They did not have them on Emerald Princess last October. Sorry!

On the Emerald Princess last month, we purchased quarters at the Passenger Service Desk. They were pre-counted and in an envelope in $10 amounts same as a roll of quarters. There was also a change machine in the laundry room. So you really don't have to travel with the weight of rolls of quarters unless you choose to.

:)

Elaine

We didn't find the water to be rocky at all! Sandy bottom from the beach area near the ship. We loved it and spent all our time in the water as it was a hot day. Hope that helps you!

:)

Elaine

Love the ideas of an umbrella! You might consider also bringing a small battery operated hand held fan. I found some at Walmart that also held water to mist yourself. It was only the size of the palm of your hand and had a handy belt clip.

When I passed them out to our group, our older teens politely thanked me but I could tell they didn't think they'd need them. But when we were melting in Pompeii, everyone gratefully used theirs! And many in our tour group asked where they could get one!!

Very port intensive but memorable itinerary...just go prepared to cope with the sun and heat!

:)

Elaine

Thank you for a very interesting and thorough review!

:)

Elaine

If you have a Costco membership, check their rates. I got a full size car (Alamo) for 1 night FLL-MIA $38.00 total.

Thanks for the reminder to go thru Costco! It saved us $25 for the same two day rental that we made directly with Alamo today! Great idea!

:)

Elaine

Arthur sold his place (or turned it over or whatever) late last year. It reopened as the Barefoot Cantina toward the end of the year. But I have seen any reviews or remarks on it since the first week they reopened.

 

There is the Crew Bar and another place along the way to Jack's, if the Barefoot isn't open. And if those don't grab your fancy, you're over halfway to Jack's, might as well keep walking.

Thanks for the current info!

:)

Elaine

Does anyone know if Local Village Bar is still open? we were there in 2012 and loved it, there in October 2013 and it seemed closed down. We have a stop this October and really would love to go again rather than go all the way down to Jacks Shack.

Sorry, I didn't see this post before asking our questions! Any current info, though, will still be appreciated!

:)

Elaine

We're looking for updated information about the beach bars on Grand Turk for our October cruise stop. Everything posted here seems to be from 2012.

Does anyone know if the Local Village Bar is still there or did it change names to Barefoot Cabana? How is the food and does it still have free wifi? Is it still good or do you recommend walking down to Jack's?

Help please!

:)

Elaine

Thanks for the informative review! We are in the process of booking cabins on the Breeze but noticed that there are "spas" on the Promenade Deck above some of the balcony cabins. Did you happen to notice them?

We are wondering if it's a noisy location? And if we would hear the noise on the balconies directly below them? Any advice? Thanks in advance!

:)

Elaine