pjrockman

Hi, FraudBroad.

Wonderful review. I tend to avoid reviews on this board, but you hooked me with your first post. Loved it all. We have two DDs that were 3 and 6 when my parents (in their 50's) took us on our first cruise on The Big Red Boat. That's when we caught the cruise bug. Since then we have taken many cruises together until my parents finally had to hang up their sailing hats several years ago in their late 70's due to their health. Daughters are in their 20's now and none of us would trade any of our many family cruises with "Nana and Pappy" for anything.

We still cruise and my parents are still anxious to hear our sea tales. Baltics is on our list for next year, so we appreciated your insight. We have two cruises scheduled on the Regal this year. She and the Royal are our faves. Amen to your comment on the central stairs already!!

One question as I am the one who responded to your casino credit thread that never was answered. Are the pre-purchased casino credits still delivered as vouchers in your cabin? That's what I prefer, as well. I love that 3 Card poker table and that is where we will meet if ever on a cruise together!

Thanks again and Safe Journeys. Paul

We have it and use it almost exclusively for Princess Cruises and related purchases such as casino credit, on board gifts and final cabin statements. I have attempted to review all of the redemptions and it seems that the most beneficial is the 'Free Cruise' category. The redemption for Free Cruises comes out to 4% at its maximum level. That is assuming that you use the card exclusively for Princess purchases for the 2x points. The maximum under that category is listed as $7,500 for 375,000 points. Again if those points were doubled because of all Princess purchases that equals 4% per Princess dollar spent (unless my math is fuzzy).

The next best is the $500 Statement Credit or OBC for 40,000 points which equals 2.5 percent for every Princess dollar spent (again if all 40,000 points were all 2x points for Princess purchases).

The other categories that I checked, like gift cards, on board gifts, etc. all come out lower.

Hope that helps. And hope that it is correct.

Safe Journeys. Paul

I don't know that I have ever seen so much made of so little on a thread on this forum.

But it is now up to 33 opinions out of 1.7 million making it a much more statistically significant 0.0019 % of annual Princess passengers. However, no where near the much more relevant Butter thread.

Better destroy the phone book just in case.

For what it is worth, we will still keep ours in the slot, so that we know that we are in the right place.

Paul

We are doing the vows renewal package on Royal next month for our 30th anniversary.

Congrats to all on their milestones. I just wanted to mention that DW and I renewed our vows on the Royal in January for our 30th Anniversary and it was beyond fantastic. The Captain, the Officers, the Crew and the many, many well wishes from our fellow passengers made this event (and cruise) very special to us. Captain Oliver never missed an opportunity to find us at events throughout the 10 day cruise to speak with us. Passengers would congratulate us even when they saw us in the various ports.

The Renewal Package is cheap for what you get. The hook is they do take a video and a shipload of Pics that they offer to you for purchase. It wasn't a hard sell and it was worth it to us. We felt that it was worth every penny and we would strongly recommend it for anyone's milestone Anniversary.

Congrats and Safe Journeys, Paul

Actually since we haven't heard from all of the 10's of thousands of people who cruise each year no one here knows what the majority wants or if they even care one way or the other. Lol

 

What will make the cruise lines make a definitive decision is if it becomes an issue of money OR if someone litigates a link between having personal info made public on the doors and a civil or criminal issue that occurs against a passenger/customer OR if the insurance companies and/or lawyers say don't do it for CYA purposes.

Actually, according to their website, there are approximately 1.7 Million passengers on Princess annually. This means that the 20 or so opinions on this thread represent 0.001 percent of Princess' annual passengers.

Paul

We like them. Also like the colors to get a feel of the breakdown of passengers on the type of the cruise that we are on. But, the kicker is that DW would get lost if they weren't there. (Just to be fair, I find myself glancing at it when I am putting my card in just to make sure...).

If I didn't like it, I would just take it out of the slot.

Safe Journeys, Paul

This is an older thread that I resisted, but....

I think there should be one more level achieved on your last cruise called the Eternity Level.

You will either get a Red Card or a White Card.

The White Card will be given to past cruisers that have always treated both Crew and Fellow Cruisers with courtesy and respect (even when it was challenging) and for those who truly felt blessed with the ability to cruise.

And, The Red Card will be given to....well, you get the idea.

I know, 'How Idealistic!'

Please take with tongue in cheek. Just my naive opinion. Also, I will resist responding to any goading!

As always, Safe Journeys, Paul

One other thing changed too. Complimentary Thermal Suite was a perk on all ships except Royal or Regal. Now they list that you do get a complimentary pass to the Enclave as a perk on those 2 ships.

 

I printed out an amenities list on 5/4/16 and the bottled water and luggage valet were there then. It's not right to publish something and then delete it shortly after - poor customer service! :cool:

Go-Bucks,

I noticed that, as well. However, I am thinking that is a typo, too. I've done the Enclave three times on the Royal/Regal and it is capacity controlled. If they did open it to suites, then they wouldn't be able to sell many other passes. Plus, it doesn't say The Enclave, as it is called on those ships. I am thinking that it is supposed to say that it is 'excluded on' the Royal and Regal, like it said before. Otherwise, why say it at all?

We will see, but I won't be surprised.

Safe Journeys. Paul

Really? I don't believe that this rises to Marie Antoinette's purported Declaration of 'Let Them Eat Cake' to the starving peasants in the street. I, for one, don't believe that I will go hungry because an extra 40(?) cabins on the Royal will get an extra entree. I don't envision the Horizon Court turning into an endless rice, bread and cheese line.

Unless in practice it doesn't work, I am in favor of testing changes.

Just my opinion. Paul

Not speaking for FraudBroad, but I have been following this as well and I also prefer the old way. I am hoping that it was just an errant post on another thread which said that the pre-purchased casino credits are now just added to your credits on your account. Buying casino credits (in advance) as I also just did on the Royal in January allowed me to pay for them in advance, while the slips that were in the cabin when boarded allowed me to keep track of how many I used each day. This also allowed me to keep track on how many I had left each day.

So, I believe the question is for anyone that has pre-purchased casino credits since January: Are they still delivered by credit slips/coupons in your cabin, or are they now just credited to your account.

I, for one, much prefer the credit slip delivery because of the reasons outlined in the above paragraph.

Thanks, Paul

Hi, 4olivers.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising. Our love of cruising started similarly. My mom and dad (nana and pappy) started taking both my family of four and my brother's family of five on cruises beginning with the Big Red Boat in 1995. We haven't stopped. Sadly, my mom and dad can't go anymore, but their cruise passion is a gift that they gave us.

We haven't been to Alaska yet, so I will just give you some observations and thoughts as they related to our combined families.

It was nice to spend time together, but after our first cruise, we started doing excursions as a smaller family unit. It was nice to tailor these times for 'specific' interests and as a 'timeout' from the bigger family unit.

My other comment is that two excursions per each port may be a bit ambitious. I suggest leaving some time for spontaneity. It's also nice to spend some time with the locals in every port.

In any event, do what works for you and then you will have a better idea of cruise life with every cruise you take!

One thing most will agree with is that there is nothing better than planning your first cruise and then the enjoyment of every new thing that you experience. I kind of envy you...until my next 'first' cruise in a couple of months!!

Finally, don't forget to relax.

Safe Journeys, Paul

Of course you could get it, you just need to pay for it. You can't buy a Lexus for the price of a KIA. When you eat at a restaurant at home do you want to get the filet mignon the next table ordered but pay for a hamburger? It's all about getting more for paying more, it's all around you in daily life, at the grocery store, at the clothing store, at restaurants.

And concerts including location and backstage passes; and, sporting events including club seating and dedicated bars, restaurants and buffets. It's all in what a person feels is worth extra money for them in any particular situation. It's the old 'cost' vs 'value' vs 'worth'. Those factors are different for everyone.

Just my opinion. Paul

Walking up the gangway....no, my breaking my pre-cruise diet with two slices at Pregos...no, getting to the cabin....no, sail away....no, watching DW with first umbrella drink...no, first dinner in the MDR....no, first sunset...no....well you get the picture; everything.

Although those first two Prego slices are hard to beat for me.

Safe Journeys, Paul

Anyone know the schedule for the Regal and Royal dry docks?

Cruise Deck Plans' list the following dry docks for both ships:

Royal: September 25- October 6, 2016; and,

Regal: April 17- April 29 2017.

Both seem confirmed by looking at gaps in their cruising schedule unless I missed something.

For the record, these are my favorite two ships and this has not bothered me at all. However, it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to provide the steps.

Hope that helps. Safe Journeys. Paul

They were heated on the Regal in 2014 and are advertised as being heated on the Princess website. I know that people have posted that they are not heated. There is no reason to have the tile beds if they are not heated and that is a major part of the experience IMHO. There were problems with the heating on several of the tile beds on the Sapphire several years ago. The problem was fixed within the day. If they are not working on the Regal, I would request that they fix them or refund the cost of the Enclave.

I've done the Enclave three times on the Royal. The first time in 2013, I swear that they were heated, which made sense. Why lie on hard tile if not heated? Felt good on two bad hips. The second time in 2014, they were not heated, so another lady and I asked and the spa folks said that they are not heated, because the room was so hot, the tile feels better cool? We did not agree. On the third trip last year, they still were not heated. They felt a lot better heated. Maybe it's different on the Regal.

Regarding rushing down to sign up, on the three Royal Cruises that I paid for the Enclave, the passes didn't sell out until the second day.

Hope that helps. Safe Journeys. Paul

Hey, Dave.

Glad you are well.

We are happy with the Royal Class news. DW and I have been on 4 Royal cruises and 2 Regal cruises since "The Great Thread". We also have another one planned on the Regal this winter!

Thanks for the news.

Paul

I've stayed in many places in Aruba where the resort is across the street. It is really a non issue to walk across the street to the bar and carry the drinks back to the chairs. That is such a narrow strip of beach that all of the resorts right there are across the street, and people carry the drinks across all of the time. We have actually had a closer walk to the beach from some of the across the street properties than when we have stayed ocean front in some of the larger properties. You'll see what I mean when you get there. No worries :)

Sounds good. We haven't been to Aruba and didn't know that I could go get the drinks and bring them to the chairs.

Thanks for all of your help, Hatteras51.

Paul

As you probably know, Passions is the name of one of the restaurants at Amsterdam Manor. They set up a romantic dinner on the beach at night. During the day, they just serve regular lunch food at the bar area. There is nothing special about that at all. They also own MVC. MVC has a great restaurant that also serves lunch. If I were you, I would just eat at MVC. Are you planning to take the bus to Arashi in the afternoon? If so, you could stop at the lighthouse first, and then continue on to Arashi. You can see the lighthouse from Arashi, if you'd rather not stop there. I think that it is a longer walk than it looks, but if you like to hike, it might not seem that far to you. It will be hot, walking from the lighthouse.

 

Nikky Beach is now called Reflextions. This is a great option for cruisers. You can find a lot of info on this site, and you can google it. That is in the Surfside Beach area. Aruba is in the process of developing the Surfside Beach area as a great, day destination. It will be tailored for cruisers, which will give them a great place to go, with chairs and facilities. It was coming along well the last time that I was there. I plan to check it out in a few weeks and will report back. Both Palm Beach and Eagle Beach can get congested with resort guests and locals, so Surfside Beach will be a great addition.

Thanks again, Hatteras.

Great. Then it is between Reflextions and MVC in the morning and then the bus to the lighthouse or Arashi in the afternoon. Heat and hikes don't bother us, unless the hike/trail is not well travelled or marked.

The only thing about MVC was that we didn't think that we could get bar service on the beach? DW likes an umbrella drink (or three) while laying on the beach!

Thanks, Paul

I'm not Arubalisa but Costa Linda is where we vacation. They do not rent chairs there to anyone. Costa Linda has very tight security along the beach, and I often seeing them running people off who aren't resort guests. Your best bet would be to go to MVC. They have a beautiful wide beach that is very quiet, with a bar, restaurant, and bathrooms just steps away, across the street. They have a good selection of palapas and plenty of shade. If I were going to Aruba for the day, that is where I would go. We vacation there every year.

Thanks, Hatteras51.

That is where we were leaning and walk up to eat at Passions. Although, I did review some older posts and came across Nikky Beach, which didn't look too crowded and it looks like some nice, cushy lounge chairs. Any thoughts?

Also, how about walking to the lighthouse from Arashi in the afternoon....possible?

Thanks again, Paul

Hey again, ArubaLisa.

Always appreciate your advice. We have changed our minds several times. Want quiet but with a handy bar and some shade, so Moomba seems out after seeing some crowded pics. So, then we thought near Passions, but have read that is where tours let out through the day. How about near Costa Linda. I haven't read much, but Beach looks nice and wide. Are you allowed to use the bars and restaurants there? Bus or Cab there?

Or should I stick around MVC and Amsterdam?

After the morning of beach in this area, will probably take bus to Arashi and can you walk to lighthouse from there? It doesn't look far, but I don't see any trails on the satellite aerials.

Thanks again, Paul

Thanks again, VibeGuy.

I hope Princess SHAREs it fleetwide.

Mangia.

You're getting argumentative at this point and I can't really understand why.

 

 

 

DH and I live in a major city and we dine out quite often and the SHARE menu looks fresh, modern, and much closer to restaurants opening now. We have enjoyed alternative restaurants on cruises and a carb-heavy three hour meal from Sabatini's does not appeal to us in the least. We can't eat that much food and my rear end starts hurting after hour two, no matter how padded a chair might be.

 

 

 

Thanks for the review VibeGuy. I'm hoping it will be on our Crown cruise next May, along with the Salty Dog. These concepts might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like variety and options and they have me excited to try new dishes!

Everything she said. :)

 

 

 

Thanks VibeGuy, this thread is very helpful. I'm looking forward to enjoying SHARE someday.

Everything they said!

Thanks again, VibeGuy. Right now your opinion is what counts for me, because you ate there and have explained the concept and food well enough for me to look forward to it.

Safe Journeys, Paul

Thank you, VibeGuy.

Looks great and we will sign up as soon as it is available on an upcoming cruise.

Paul

Is there that big of a difference between beaches on at Thomas and St. John? I want the softest, whitest sand I can find and don't mind going to the end of the earth to find it! Lol

You will get different opinions, but short answer no. Difference is in crowds. If you are the only ship in town, then hop a cab to Magens Bay. About $20 round trip. If a bunch of ships are in town, then you have to be a little creative like my above post to Trunk on St Johns, or other beaches on St. Thomas like Sapphire or Lindquist (as in the Direct TV commercial with the model and horse). All have powdery white sand and little to gentle waves and beautiful scenery.

Enjoy. Paul

To each his own. Got in port at 8:00. Got on the first taxi out to Red Hook which left when it was full at 8:20. It even stopped to let someone off at Iggies and we still made it on the 9:00 ferry to St John's Cruz Bay. Took another taxi to Trunk Bay and we were sitting on the beach in our choice of spots by 9:45. Took the 1:00 ferry back to Red Hook and taxied to Charlotte Amalie to shop before returning to ship. Total cost for two: $85 including tips.

I guess we could have missed the 9:00 ferry if something went wrong, but we would have just taken the next one. Same as the 1:00 one on the way back.

Hope that helps. Paul