JimmyVWine

I have completed 2 cruises on Caribbean Princess (both in the Caribbean) and I don't have anything bad to say about it. If one wants the shiniest, newest toy, this isn't it. But if one enjoys large balconies and many of the most popular venues that Princess offers such as: International Cafe Vines Crown Grill Sabatini's Explorer's Lounge Crooners Salty dog Grill (the free one on Lido) A forward viewing area above the bridge Skywalkers Then this ship is a good one for you. It also has wake-view cabins and suites as well as Window Suites. Honestly the features on this ship are top notch. The only negative is the age of the ship and honestly that really doesn't matter to me. I don't get freaked out if there are rust spots on my balcony or chipped varnish on the balcony railings.

I also had an issue that was sending me around in circles with the people at Princess, and finally one person with whom I spoke was very candid and said that the people who man the customer relations email box have "far more authority and ability to solve problems than the people who answer the phones." Direct quote.

Sort of. On Sun Princess, there are a number of Specialty Dining options and frankly, few of them follow the 1/1/1 model. For example, at Crown Grill, you could get a salad, and then a soup, and then a main, and then a dessert all within the cover charge. At Sabatini's, you can likewise get several courses before your main, but once you get to the main, it then follows the 1 main, 1 dessert model. At Butcher's Block, the menu is pre-set, and you get 6 different courses of meat, in differing portion sizes before you get to your one dessert. At Umai, neither the Teppanyaki nor the Hot Pot options really follow the 1/1/1 model. So the bottom line is that you will never get LESS than 1/1/1, but at many of the restaurants, you will actually get much more than 1/1/1.

I thought about it a little more and I'll bet the issue is with the CC Company and their security protocols. If you have never ordered before, and placed a multi-thousand dollar order, there might be a delay before the order can be confirmed as legitimate. For whatever reason, my Amex Optima Card rejects the purchase of AARP Gift Cards but my Amex Platinum Card does not. I have never bothered to contact Amex to figure out why.

Not really. It is bottles that would never be purchased in the first instance. So there is a teenie, tiny bit of savings here. Not to mention freeing up the crew-hours setting up the darn tower.

Different ship, but same itinerary. Here is my trip report.

A Champagne Tower the shape of the ones built on Princess ships contain approximately 650 glasses. In addition to the fact that the flow of Champagne can rarely reach the center glasses, at a rate of 12 glasses per bottle, it would take over 50 bottles to fill every glass. Plus, due to the inefficiency of the way the liquid flows, it's not like the glasses fill at an even rate with the 650th glass being filled without any spillage or overflow of the other glasses. So you are probably looking at a 30%-50% margin of error for overage. Who wants to stand around for the length of time it would take to pour 75 bottles? And by the time the 650th glass was filled, the first glasses would be warm. The stuff they are pouring is hard to choke down at a proper 45F. Once it gets to room temperature, it is best dumped into the nearest plant.

Every Princess gets something right. But to me, Sapphire bundles EVERYTHING that is right about other Princess ships into one ship.

Eagles in Alaska are as common as seagulls in most other places. These were taken from our balcony in Juneau.

That's where I am placing my money.

Well then, I guess you will have to hear from me before I hear from you! We pre-date the TA.

I once had to wait (breathlessly) for about 15 minutes. Most times it is 3 or 4. It is amazing how much anxiety there is in waiting for your $500 card to arrive, and then to actually get applied. There is no better feeling than seeing the notice on your Payment Summary that your $500 has been credited to your cruise fare! I too had an "insufficient funds" card one time and I am sad to report that it took 2 full months and the heavy lifting of a consumer advocate at AARP to get this resolved. But happy to report that it did get resolved.

This video does not show two sets of folding doors. At both the 30 second mark and the 43 second mark you can clearly see a two-panel sliding door between the cabin and the cabana. A folding door would have three panels as can be seen between the cabana and the balcony at the 37 second mark. Frankly, it wouldn't make sense to have two sets of folding doors as employing both sets at the same time would create a hurricane in the cabin. The main cabin area should always be closed off from the outside elements and wind.

Are you sailing in the European season or after it makes the TA? I would be anxious to hear your thoughts as our next cruise has us in a cabin just a couple of doors down from you in 5018. I checked again today and there is really no viable option for moving to a different type of Mini Suite (Regular, Reserve, or Reserve Cabana) or Mini Signature Suite, so I am going to avert my eyes and ears from negativity and try to go in with an open mind. We will be a family of 3 and it seems as if things are a bit more cramped than we are used to. I was pretty much counting on us using the Cabana quite a bit as our "extra space" but the furniture, or lack thereof, does not give me warm and fuzzies. I keep hoping that they didn't have time to finish the build-out and that the beautiful "L-Shaped" South Beach furniture is still coming!

If you look closely at the second photo, (the one showing the balcony furniture), you will see that behind the chairs on the deck floor there are clips to hold the doors in place once they are accordion-folded. So based on that photo, it appears that the glass doors between the balcony and the cabana definitely do fold open. The doors between the cabana and the cabin are a standard slider.

Thanks. I did see this in a different thread. So confusing.

Two different reviews that I have seen this week refer to the Sushi Specialty Restaurant as "Makato Ocean". But the Deck Plan shows it as being Kai Sushi. So which is it?

The admission fee is waived on Sundays: OPENING HOURS AND PRICES Ticket sales at the Visitors Reception Centre situated in the Parking area until 45' before the closing time. Last entrance to the castle: 30 minutes before the gates close. Tel. 971 735 065 ARPRIL to SEPTEMBER: Monday: CLOSED - Tuesday to Saturday: 10am. To 7pm. - Sundays and bank holidays: 10am. To 3pm. OCTOBER to MARCH: Monday: CLOSED - Tuesday to Saturday: 10am. To 6 pm. - Sundays and bank holidays: 10am. To 3pm. Notes: Closed: 25/12, 1/1, 1/5 and Easter Sunday. Visiting hours can be modified due to concerts or official events organized by the Palma City Council. PRICES 1. GENERAL 4€ 2. REDUCED FEE 2€ Pensioners, students, aged between 14 and 18, youth card, public institutions Certified cultural groups (3) 3. PALMA CITIZENS 2.50€ 4. TRAVEL AGENCIES: 2, 50 € (1) 5. FREE ADMISSION: Sundays Aged under 14 School groups and scholar groups with a tutor (2) Pensioners and disabled associations (3, 4) ICOM and professional educators and teachers (3) (1) Travel agencies tickets can be bought in advance to the Visitors Reception Centre situated in the parking place of the castle. Ext. 3935. (2) The group must present at the box office (Visitors Reception Centre) an original certificate with the name of pupils and teachers, stamped by their educational institution, to obtain free entrance tickets. (3) Accreditation required. (4) A minimum of 5 people is required for a group fee.

This has been a concern of mine since the first day that I saw the deck plan. On our very first Princess Cruise we dined at Sabatini's on Crown, which is all the way aft. The ship's vibration was so bad that our water and wine glasses shook throughout the meal as if a dinosaur from Jurassic Park was thundering toward us and we could detect the ship's movement far more than we cared for. Since that day we vowed to never stay in a cabin that far back and avoid dining venues in that area. On Sun, it looks like it is impossible to avoid that unless dining everywhere except the MDR.

Thanks.

Is there a Ho-Ho stop near where the ship docks, or do you have to take a bus into the city?

No! While this “Live” thread is great, one person’s observations are no substitute for a comprehensive thread. The ship has only been on ONE cruise so far. That’s no basis to shut down the main thread. If you don’t like the content, stop clicking on it!

Congratulations. Looks like the move over offers had the desired effect.

There is really no way to know in advance which bar will have what, but the brands you inquired about are very common so they should be widely available.

National Express bus service is easy, inexpensive and frequent. Once in Southampton you will probably want to take a short taxi ride from the bus terminal to the ship if you are arriving on the day of your departure.