LewesBeach

I've been looking at pictures, & can't determine - Are the loungers all on 1 level on the Coral/Island?

The last 2 cruises, they added 15% gratuity to the bill so I no longer tip. Should I?

Whether it is quick or not depends on how many folks are doing the B2B. On our February B2B on the Ruby Princess over 800 passengers were doing the B2B. The process was long and annoying - no one can return to the ship until the last passengers are off - they needed to be hunted down - and the 'turn around area' had seating for only 1/2 of the passengers. Everyone else had to stand in line after clearing immigration. We met in the MDR around 9:30 and it was well after 11 before we were back on the ship.

 

I recommend finding out how many passengers are doing the B2B. If it is a large number, that would be the perfect morning to go into Fort Lauderdale on your own or take one of the ship's tours (we live north of Fort Lauderdale so we weren't interested in doing that).

 

Agreed, we were on several B2Bs where people did not read the info, just assumed they didn't have to disembark. Every single time, we've had to wait until they located the missing passengers & escorted them off the ship. Lots of unhappy cruisers standing around waiting. Bring a book or e-reader just in case. Next time in FLL, we'll get off & do the InterCoastal waterway HOHO cruise for a couple hours.

Probably poor reviews from those comparing her to other Princess ships. Having done the Royal Maiden TA last October, I am not a fan of this design ship - BUT - these are things I loved that were different from other Princess ships:

1. The ship wide intranet is wonderful! You can check your folio anytime, check the daily Patter for events, and browse the Princess website for free - all from your phone or wifi enabled tablet

2. The Piazza is huge and really glamorous, great place in the evening to see and be seen. 3. The aft area outside Horizon court has comfortable seating & beautiful views - lots of amateur photographers here for sunrise/sunset pis.

4. The on demand TV selection of movies, tv shows, and educational programs is great. I watched the first season of House of Cards.

5. Nice outdoor seating area with rattan cushioned furniture hidden (until others find it) deck 7 starboard behind Facets.

We were on for 18 days & possibly came away with a different perspective than someone doing a shorter cruise. But it really is a beautiful ship and you will have a great cruise.

Mine is still odd too. It shows "You have 7 saved cruises" on the link on MyPrincess page, but when I click on it, there are only 3 that appear and I can check prices for them without losing them. For a while there were none shown, but strangely when I went to search for each cruise manually and clicked on the faded "Saved to My Princess" for each individually, that cruise would reappear on my saved cruises page. I did that about a week ago and it's been working fine for the 3, but it's weird that would fix the problem. I never did try to recover the other 4.

 

Hallelujah! I did what you said and I recovered all my lost ones. Do a new search, click details, then click on the greyed out "saved to My Princess", it turns blue, then I clicked on it to save, and it worked!! Now I can start price checking for upcoming cruises. Thanks so much for your idea!!

Just spent the whole morning on the phone with 3 different Princess Reps. I have 4 saved cruises that are not showing up and I cannot re-save them. I CAN save new ones. After helping me trouble shoot everything on my end, they finally determined that it was NOT my computer. Apparently they are still having problems. I explained that i needed to see them to monitor pricing. Don't know how widespread the problem is, and if or when it will get fixed.

Hello Theo! How is the Royal site coming along? I sent you a pic of my angled balcony obstructed view E411. Just curious how many pics you have received from the Royal? You provide a great service to cruisers!

Berni

Here is a website dedicated to obstructed view cabins. https://sites.google.com/site/cabinviewbyrenmar/home

Never:

Done Bingo, Chefs Table, UBD, UST, got called up onstage, reserved a chair for 5 hours, missed the ship.

I've availed myself of just about everything else at least once!

From a previous post:

ackage Details: Princess Cruises' package costs $49 per day, plus a 15 percent gratuity per person, and includes all cocktails, spirits, beer and glasses of wine less than $10. Also, all nonalcoholic drinks served in cans or bottles, as well as mocktails and shakes are included, as are all coffee, tea, espresso and specialty drinks and any food items such as crepes and gelato included with the coffee card. Each purchaser of the package also receives a 40 percent discount on all bottled wine less than $100.

 

Fine Print: Princess cruisers may purchase the package on seven-night or longer cruises. All passengers traveling in the same stateroom do not have to purchase the package.

So I am going on a B2B next week on the Ruby and plan on bring on 4 bottles of wine. Wife and I get 2 free and we will pay the fee on the second two. The cruise was booked as a 9 day but it could have been a 4 and a 5. Princess customer service says I will only be checked in once so I cannot bring on more wine.

 

Thanks for the assistance.

 

Pretty sure Princess Customer Service is wrong. On B2Bs you must exit the ship with your old cruise card on turn-around day, then re-board with your new cruise card - same as a new cruise, then you are entitled to 2 more bottles. So many people booked a 9 day on the Ruby in Feb and thought they didn't have to exit the ship on turn-around day. Princess does NOT do a good job of explaining this to people ahead of time.

I usually go to pool in the morning & hang out for 1 hour watching a few chairs I'm interested in. If no one shows up in 1 hr 15 minutes, I pick one, toss the towel, & the seat is mine. I tell a pool attendant what I'm doing if I can find one. I've been fortunate no one has yet to come back and challenge me - but I won't give it up if they ever do.

Ok that makes sense. Thx!!!

I'm just curious. I've seen this question asked many, many times on threads, and I do understand needing to know how MANY formal nights there are. But why do I need to know which days they are? What am I missing?

Thanks for the info!!

We are doing a full transit of the Panama Canal Jan 2015 - first time on the Island.

1. Is the aft pool only for Sanctuary guests?

2. Do you get noise in the Sanctuary from the teen center?

3. Has anyone stayed in the aft cabins on Emerald deck? They look covered and are much larger than reg balconies.

4. I remember reading the Sanctuary day rate going thru the Canal was more expensive? Is it worth it for the views?

5. With no Skywalkers, where do they hold the Elite/Platinum cocktail party?

Thank you for your help.

Berni

The interned minutes are great. We never use our minutes up as we both get the 150.

We haven't gone to the appetizer / drink hour for platinum/ elite. We might have to check it out. Do they allow guests? We have another person traveling with us that isn't plat

 

Platinum/Elite Lounge is for Platinum/Elite passengers. If they allowed everyone to bring guests there would not be enough seating. As it is, there are already some times when there are too many people and not enough seats. That said, I don't recall them ever carding people.

Many people (including us) are very picky about the category and location of our cabin on TAs, so tend to book as soon as they open up. We booked a month ago for a Sept 2015 London-NY, & our category is already waitlisted. In our experience, prices have generally gone up for popular (ie: mid-ship) rooms. But if you are flexible, you can usually get a deal. The other consideration is airfare. Booking early with Princess Air can often get you a direct flight, whereas booking at the last minute may get a less desirable flight with connections.

It's at your own risk...we've taken food off MANY times and never given it a second thought. On 17 cruises I've never seen anyone who cared and have certainly never seen dogs. I've also never heard from anyone who actually got "caught" or received any sort of fine...I think the stories are life Big Foot: talked about but not substantiated.

 

Cozumel. Feb 2014. I saw with my own eyes. Armed guards checking backpacks & throwing away sandwiches, bananas, pastries, etc. Huge trash can full of confiscated perishables. This, despite clear shore instructions not to take food from the ship. Yes, the rules are always for someone else!

There is no dry cleaning per se on any Princess ship crew or passenger.

 

I'm not yet Elite, but curious, there is NO dry cleaning? It's only laundry services? Would make a difference in what I would pack. Thx for any clarification on this.

Some Princess Elite pax bring every piece of clothing they own with them on the cruise in order to send it out and get it all cleaned for free.

 

Others bring just a few pieces of clothing and a dozen non-elite relatives along, and send in all the dirty clothing from all their relatives for cleaning.

 

How do you propose that Princess "police the laundry situation better" ??

Truth Serum injections?

Lie Detector tests?

Check dirty undies for names written on them?

 

1 suggestion was posted earlier: pre-printed bar coded bag tags delivered to your cabin the first day, same as shore excursion tix. X amount of bag tags per cabin based on number of cruising days. When they're gone, so is your free laundry. If you want to waste them on other people clothes, fine. It will control the total amount going into the laundry on a cruise.

I have never seen a show age restricted on Princess.

 

There was an "Adults Only" comedian on the Ruby in Feb. First time I ever saw that. I didn't go, but heard a lot of people say they walked out. Never saw it advertised again.

Another thread addressed the laundry situation. One lady took winter coats on and had them dry cleaned & bragged about it - Ridiculous!!! I too was on that Royal TA, & I believe there are many people not on CC who do not realize the precarious position the free laundry perk is in, and will continue to abuse the system. And with more people reaching Elite, something will have to be changed eventually. Pre-printed bag tags were discussed: Bar coded w cabin # and name, delivered to your room on the first day like shore excursion tix. The number of tags depends on the length of the cruise and when they're gone, no more laundry.

If you book a guarantee, you really can't decline an upgrade as you basically told them you would take any cabin of that category or higher. You can often trade a cabin for another cabin in the same category.

 

Understood, that makes sense. Thx!!

We booked a GTY window suite on the Caribbean Princess (they would not let you pick a cabin). Since I booked, that category S7, is now showing on the website as "sold out", & is waitlisted" according to the Princess rep. What r my chances of getting an upgrade now that the S7 Suites are waitlisted? And can I decline an upgrade if I get one?