AKman2495

Not exactly the case. In-transit/back-to-back passengers have the option of either going off ship on their own anytime before their immigration/customs check (this would be if they intend to spend the day in port) or they can wait for the scheduled meeting time to do immigration/customs altogether and get right back on the ship. In case one, they cannot reboard until general boarding has begun. In case two, they are last ones off and first ones right back on.

To put it in your words, not exactly...In transit passengers going off on their own or on a ship's tour (when they offer them) leave the ship and go through the immigration/customs check at that time-like anyone else who may be leaving. Then, when they return, they enter like any other passengers, but they do not have to check in again.

Ship's tours often return after boarding has begun so they simply go through the security check and head right for the ship

We were in skywalkers lounge for one spillway from Houston. that was interesting. First of all, it was dead quiet. Second, leaving Houston, the ship has to pivot in place. Sitting at the back of skywalkers, toy can look down over the pier-that's how close the ship is when it first turns to leave.After that, it is an interesting view as you put distance between you and the shore.

Another thing to consider is your flights to departure port. My flights to Anchorage were brutal. I would never do that again. EM

Ha! We who live here have to do that anytime we want to fly anyplace!

Alaska is our final frontier and people in AK dress for the out of doors..

Well, at least when we're outdoors we do...indoors, professionals dress professionally (suits, ties, the whole works).

Off course, off hours tend to be as casual as anyplace else...

 

Who cares? Wear what makes you comfortable in other parts of the ship. Most passengers do. Only a select small group would think otherwise. And yuo will probably never meet them.

 

And they will thank you for that!

Yeah, I have never had a problem finding it on Princess.

I agree with Pam. While a minority (but I have seen a lot of men in tuxes on cruises) wear full dinner dress. the majority do wear dark suits and ties.

Despite what some say, informality does not reign on Princess.

The latest we were on the ship was about 10:15. we were in the last group to leave. On good thing about being almost the last to leave is that you have little problem finding your bags and getting through customs.

Just off the Regal last week and had traditional dining. The ship is so large there are a lot of people who want anytime at 6 - 7 pm which had long lines. They were giving out those electronic pagers because there were too many people in line.

The 6-7 pm slot is the busiest on any ship. It usually means getting a pager and waiting on whatever ship you are on.

I have to respectfully disagree with Pam that Princess tour participants are entitled to priority.

Two things...First of all, personally, if I wanted a day ashore, I would not plan on leaving around 11am. but that's me.

Perhaps if you arrived earlier you could have gotten a seat on one of the first tenders.

I know when we took a beach day at Princess cays we got there early and we on the first tenner to go-elites and Princess tours included.

Second...Sorry, but the reality is that Princess sponsors the tours and thy do get priority. Tours meet in a separate area at a specific time and are led directly to the tenders-no tickets needed.

That is a fact of life. Whether or not they should be is another question. IMHO, since I prefer ship's tours, I say of course they should get priority!

Wich is the best choice anytime or seated diner? We reserved on the regal, n'est march...

 

Thank you

Just so you know, you do get to sit down in anytime dining;)

We have always gone with anytime dining. We are always willing to share a table, but we like to accommodate the staff.

Anytime is like a juggling act for the staff-where to put people...tables for 2 vs. sharing. etc. It can be an adventure because you never know where you will sit or with whom you will eat.

On longer cruises, you get to know the head waiters and they know what you like and try to accommodate you.

On the last cruise, we saw a party of 10 just walk into the dining room. I asked and they said that it was a group that had set up a standing reservation so they had the same table every night at the some time.

I prefer anytime because it allows you to be flexible in eating. Many times we eat before 6 to get to the 8:30 show. Other times we go to the early show and eat later.

With anytime, it's no problem....

We were there last year and we went to Rock Sound and we saw the church you are talking about. We did't see anybody there, though.

Apparently, there were no services on that Sunday. So, even if you got there, there arena guarantees there will be a mass.

It is also possible that they do have mass, but in the morning, before they start tendering....

If you wish to tip a performer, then it is appropriate for you. Who makes the rule if something is appropriate or not?:)

This is the culture of 2015. Apparently, anything goes anymore. As for who makes the rules, it is society. In the old days people had certain ettiquete conventions-like wearing proper clothing, how to wear hats, etc., etc., etc.

Now, apparently people have abandoned any sense of propriety as the person asked "Who makes the rule if something is appropriate or not?" the answer is you do. As long as you want to do it, just do it!

I pack most of my meds in daily pill packs (little tiny zip lock bags). I have never had a problem at any TSA checkpoint or anyplace else for that matter with my meds.

That's even better. Imagine the look on their face when you tell them the last time you saw Bob he was in your bed, and you're going back to the cabin to go to bed and since he is lost you need another replacement fast. lol

Now that's funny!

I'm curious why anyone cares what it is called? Call it hot chocolate if you want.:):D

Right! So when you get into port and the captain, or whomever gets on the PA and says "Make sure you bring your hot chocolate when you leave the ship people will wonder. Besides, you can't beep a hot chocolate....

Hello fellow cruisers! My first time posting so I apologize if I'm doing smth wrong. We're sailing on Regal Princess on 11/22 from FLL, it's our first time on board Regal and with that itinerary (Princess Cays, St Martin, St Thomas) but we've cruised before with RCI. I have a few questions about the ship and ports. ! adult 2 kids.

 

1. Anything specific I need to know about the ship? Any unique spots, tricks, etc will be appreciated

2. Do I need to reserve in advance any onboard shows?

3. Princess Cays-the place is big; any good spots on the beach with calm waters? Any other info, feel free...

4. St Martin/St Thomas- we want to stay on the beach and possibly do some minor sightseeing. Need recommendations for a good beach, free or not and best sightseeing options, nothing too long.

 

Thank you all in advance!!!!!!

You can find out a lot by checking out the Princess board at: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

As for your questions, I have been on the Royal, which is the Regal's sister ship. It is a great ship and you should like it.

You cannot reserve onboard shows. Princess has shows scheduled at different times in the same evening to give you flexibility. I usually get to the theater 20 minutes ahead of time to get a good seat. By 10 minutes ahead, it may be difficult to get 3 seats together.

Princess Cays has two sides to the right of the tenders is the "clamshell" side, this has a quiet beach and lots of clamshells. It has a food building and a restroom nearby. To the left, is the longer side, which is usually the more active side with the paddle boats etc.

St. Martin and ASt. Thomas have some good beaches. I'd advise checking out the port forums for the best info. Also, Google beaches on St.. Martin for example and you can find a lot of info from this site.

Good luck with the cruise and enjoy!

 

long gone are the days of streamers and throngs of people waving buh bye on shore. closest we got was waving to a couple who were getting married on the Warship parked next pier over.

Actually, in Vancouver at Canada Place, there is a two-tier walk way. Passengers enter through the lower secure area. The upper level is open to the public. On a nice weekend day, hundreds-if not thousands of people show up there. When ships are leaving, thy line the pier and wave and shout like the old days-no streamers though....

If you spend beneath the duty free exemption limit on total of ALL purchases made while outside U.S., all you need to enter is the total amount of ALL purchases.

 

If you spend over your duty free exemption or have used your exemption within the last 30 days, you must list each item and the price you paid for it.

 

Some things may not be assessed a duty amount but CBP will determine that.

The worst thing you can do is not make a full and complete honest declaration. That can get you in a world of trouble.

That's true. On all the trips we've taken, we've always declared below the exemption and didn't list anything. No problems at all with that.

Also, you will get that 4 page disembark guide, which explains everything, including breakfast times.

On the last page is a list of all the groups (typically by color but walk offs have no color) and the times for meeting.

For example on our last cruise, there were three walk off groups: A, B, and C.

They met in three different locations at 7:00 for A, 7:15 for B and 7:20 for C.

Disembarkation can only begin when the ship is cleared, so these are meet times, not disembark times. In the meeting locations, they have crew that will tell you you are cleared to leave.

It's easy.

I will add that formal nights on TA tend to be more formal. We just did a TA back and formal nights were dressy for men.

Hi All

 

On my Emerald cruise we had flights and transfers booked through Princess,

 

Now the flight in front of mine out of Edinburgh went direct to Barcelona but

 

Princess sent me on the next one which went via London and straight into

 

heavy fog, landing in fog so thick that you could not see anything was an

 

experience, however being stuck for hours with sailing time approaching can

 

become stressful we were happy Princess would wait, and sure enough we had

 

the best checkin ever as we were in the last little group to board, seeing only a

 

handful of cards behind the only check in person left in the big hall was an odd

 

feeling.

 

So we boarded after muster, so my question is how late have you boarded,

 

how late do you think Princess would wait for a person with there own

 

transfers compared to a Princess transfer, now coming from UK our booking

 

gives us many rights, so if ship had sailed we were not worried, as Princess

 

would have to look after us.

 

 

yours Shogun

I have never been later than 1:30 pm or so. And that was off a Princess airport/tour while on a B2B.

However, I was on the Crown last year and we delayed sailing out of FLL for almost 1 hour while waiting on 6 passengers. The captain kept us informed of their progress and finally, we hear an announcement for them to report immediately for a special muster drill, just prior to sailing.

That estimate of 150 passengers is for the beginning of the cruise. By the end, it is down to no more than 90;)

Actually, in most cases, tenders carry 90 passengers when being used a tenders. When they are used a life boats it says you can cram in 150 people.

FWIW...

We've cruise RCCL, CCL, NCL and X. Loved them all, Favorite as a couple was Celebrity Century (with RCCL's Oasis a close second). With the Kiddos, loved the Voyager class.

 

What can we look forward to on the CB?

Favorite things for DW and I:

Nice formal dinners

Good shows

Adult pool and or hot tub

Quiet and Private Balcony

Good slots in the Casino

Decent price on beer package a plus

 

Our kids always like easy access food and bingo. It's been tough to get either interested in the teen clubs and now DS is 18.

OK...Despite what you may hear, formal nights on Princess are still mostly formal. You'll see probably 85-90% of men in suits or tuxes. As for food, we've always enjoyed the food in the Princess MDRs. We are not big foodies, but what they serve tastes good-and you can have as much as you want.

The shows are good-but not great. The comics are great and some of the magic shows they put on are very good too. If you're looking for ultra broadway-you will be disappointed. But is you want to have some fun., enjoy.

They do have an adult pool in the stern called the Terrace pool. It is a small pool, but refreshing. It is also a nice area to lounge.

We don't do balconies, but from what I hear they can be quiet or noisy. You'll see what I mean from the other comments.

The slots in the Casino are fun. They have a nice variety. I tend to do better than DW, but she does have fun. Lots of lots with bonus games. You can do well-and maybe even great. On the last cruise I pulled a few hundred from more than one machine. I also saw a woman hit for over $1200.

As for beer packages, I have no idea.

Enjoy the cruise

I have used Princess transfers several times. In Vancouver the Princess rep took us to a taxi and sent us to our hotel (the Pan Pacific), access to the ship was an escalator).

In Houston, we had a luxury SUV transfer us tour hotel. The next day we went to the ship by tour bus and did not have to handle our bags until we go to the stateroom.

In FLL, we stayed at a hotel near the pier with no Princess transfers and took the hotel shuttle ($8 a head), which worked out well.

In London, we had a driver and a Mercedes Benz car take us to the hotel. When we departed for the port, they had a tour bus and again we didn't have to handle our bags until we arrived in our stateroom.

All in all, Princes transfers have been comfortable, convenient and affordable.