catugirl

We were on Silhouette last year in AQ. One night we didn't see anything on Blu's dessert menu that appealed to us, so the waiter asked what we would like that was not on the menu. We told him we like creme brulee, so he said, "No problem, I'll get you both one." So he trotted off to MDR and came back with two creme brulees. They are so accommodating in Blu that you shouldn't have a problem, from time to time, asking for something that's on the MDR menu. By the way, they do serve lobster in Blu once during the cruise, and it's wonderful.

Anyone have any recent menus from Blu? Will be in AQ on Reflection later this year.

You just hit the jackpot! You will not be sorry you lost that OBC. Aqua Class is amazing, and you will be spoiled forever. We can't cruise X without being in Aqua Class.

Great job on the review, Heather. I've come close to booking a cruise on Summit a few times, but I've never seen a really comprehensive review of her until yours. Thank you. Now I wouldn't hesitate at booking a cruise on Summit.

With this in mind, how many tapas can each person order in Qsine?

Are you sure about your comment regarding the specialty restaurants? I haven't cruised on X yet, but my experience on most ships is that your limited to one entree at the specialty restaurants yet may order as much as you want from the other categories.

DH and I have ordered more than one entree in Blu. I assume it's the same in the other specialty restaurants.

This video is my worst nightmare. Our roughest seas were on a Panama Canal cruise after we had passed into the Pacific Ocean. We had 62 knot winds and we were really rocking, but it only lasted about four hours. It was our first cruise, and we thought we were going to die! On our Southern Caribbean cruise last month we had one rough night (about nine hours) when we got zero sleep because of significant rocking (coupled with the constant vibration from being in an aft cabin. Yuck!

DH and I did this same cruise on Silhouette in January, 2013. We loved everything about it. This is a very lovely ship with a great crew. We were in Aqua Class and ate in Blu, which we really enjoyed. Loved the Solarium with its serene, relaxing atmosphere. Loved the heated loungers in the Persian Garden. Loved the wonderful bathroom in our cabin with the glass-enclosed shower and updated decor. Enjoyed the shows and lounge entertainment. The only things that bothered us a little were the expensive costs for specialty restaurants and for alcoholic beverages on the ship. All-in-all a wonderful vacation.

DH and I just returned from a cruise on Crown Princess (our second with Princess). We've also cruised AQ on Celebrity Silhouette. On Princess we loved their much cheaper drink prices and specialty restaurant prices. We didn't like that Princess only has two specialty restaurants. The decor is better on Celebrity. Service is great on both lines. Loved Aqua Class on Celebrity and being able to eat in wonderful Blu. On Princess you have to book a suite to receive similar amenities. Food in MDR is better on Princess and less chaotic. Food in specialty restaurants is a little better on Celebrity. IMHO, entertainment is good on both lines. You can't go wrong on either line, but X is a slightly better fit for us.

Have a wonderful time on your respective cruises. I'm envious. We're ready to go back! Oh, I forgot to mention, don't miss Patrick Murray (ventriloquist) and his buddy Matilda, if they're still there. We liked him so much we saw him twice on our cruise (two different shows). He's very talented and extremely funny. There was also a magician/comedian Chris James, who was very and got the audience involved. Tom Franek was packing them in Crooners Bar. We could never find a seat, but he seemed to have a good show. Also enjoyed the group Cinnamon in Wheelhouse Bar (good dance music). Didn't attend any big production shows (not our thing), but they seemed to be well-attended. "Horse" racing was lots of fun, as well as Bingo. Crown Princess is terrific!

I know there has been a lot of negativity surrounding Crown Princess. DH and I just cruised on her Jan. 11-18, and I can honestly say that whatever problems there were are resolved. I had read there were A/C issues, as well as toilet issues. We did not experience either of these and never heard any other passengers complaining about any issues either. Everything worked perfectly in our aft suite. Our cabin steward Freddie was the best we've ever had. We ate in every food venue onboard and never had anything but a great meal. We had wonderful service from all the crew except Passenger Services, all of whom never smiled and were very short with us.

We learned one thing from the cruise. We don't do well in aft cabins. Don't get me wrong. It was great sitting on the balcony watching sailaways from the ports and just watching the ship's wake at sea. What we didn't like is you could feel every movement plus constant vibration. Guess next time we'll go back to midship.

We're getting ready to cruise on Sat. I tend to be seasick and have never found anything that didn't have side effects. The patch caused disorientation, short- term memory loss and a "high" feeling. Bonine (taken at night) makes me drowsy. The sea bands didn't work. This time I've got ginger chews, different sea bands, Quease Ease inhaler and Bonine and some weird homeopathic pills my friendly neighborhood health food store recommended! I figure I'll try the ginger chews and a half Bonine and then add the inhaler if needed. If all else fails, I'll try the homeopathic pills and sea bands. Sorry if this is overkill, but on our cruise last January I was mildly nauseous the whole cruise with Bonine and the sea bands!

Thanks so much for the information.

Thanks, Hosts Andy, Mitchell and Laura. I never have understood the snarky comments on CC. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but to verbally attack others over cruising issues is uncalled for. We're talking about vacations, not life-or-death issues.

For those of you who have done the Southern Caribbean itinerary recently, which nights are formal nights? Which one is lobster night? If we want to do specialty restaurants a couple of nights, do we go straight to those restaurants when we board and make reservations or do we call to make reservations? We haven't cruised on Princess for four years, and that time someone else in our party took care of all this.

Also, I've been reading lots of complaints about a/c issues and toilet issues on Crown. If we were to experience these issues, who do we call to have it repaired?

Sorry for the stupid questions.

We did our full transit in January, 2010. The price of the cruise was high. Couldn't believe how hot and humid it was (90 degrees with probably 90% humidity). When we had left home for the cruise, it was 19 degrees! On the other hand, the Panama Canal was such an amazing and interesting sight that price and temps were so worth it.

Thanks, Pam and Astro Flyer for the information. It was very helpful.

Beth

We haven't cruised on Princess since 2010, and we have some questions about our upcoming January cruise on Crown Princess.

1. We will be in a full suite for the first time, and I understand we will have a mini-bar set up. What (and how many of each) are generally included in a mini-bar set up?

2. On our 2010 cruise we were allowed to purchase a bottle of wine in the MDR, and they would keep it for us for the next evening if we didn't finish it in one meal. Is that still the case? If so, can we also do that in Vines? If we purchase a bottle in Vines, would we be allowed to finish it in the MDR?

3. Since we are in a suite and our sailaway is at 4:00, what time would you suggest we arrive at the port? Approximately what time will be allowed onboard?

4. We noticed there is an Elite Lounge with complimentary hors d-oeuvres. Is this every day? Are they open all day or just at certain times in the evening? Are any drinks included?

I'd call and make sure your booking matches your passport.

Good luck with that. I tried to call Princess today with a question about an upcoming cruise and was on hold for 30 minutes. I finally gave up!

The huge one for me is the miniscule shower with that pesky shower curtain that sticks to you, along with no place to shave your legs. I would prefer a couple of feet be taken away from the cabin and added to the shower, along with a shower door and a ledge for shaving.

My DH has good luck with the patch and has no side effects. I, on the other hand, had bizarre side effects with the patch. The first and only time I wore the patch we were cruising with 7 other people and we only knew 1 of them prior to the cruise. The patch made me feel totally high, and I said some strange (and later, embarrassing) things to our cruising companions. I also had a loss of short-term memory and was disoriented. The only thing I could figure that might be causing those symptoms was the patch. So I took off the patch and the symptoms disappeared.

The wrist bands are not effective at all for me. "Non-drowsy" Bonine works well for me for seasickness but makes me sleepy (can't believe they label it as "non-drowsy"). I need to find another remedy other than this.

Are ginger capsules effective alone, or is it better to use them in conjunction with another method?

I've noticed that on all of our cruises, our bed was placed so that we were cruising backwards. That motion really bothers me. Has anyone requested to have the bed placement switched?

Your tours sound great! Did you book the excursions through your cruise ship or on your own? If on your own, which tour operators did you go with.

We booked excursions through RCCL. We were on Radiance of the Seas. It seemed to be a fairly old ship, so I'm not even sure she is still sailing. But I'm sure whatever ship is doing that itinerary has similar excursions. The excursions were amazing, and it is always a comfort to us to know the ship will not leave without us.

Thanks for all the great advice. We will be driving from our relatives' house in central FL on Jan. 11th, so we won't need a hotel, but I am printing out your advice regarding hotels that include cruise parking in the price of the room for future reference.

Based on all your advice, I think we will park at the port. Park Safe FLL looks like a good option if we weren't so nervous about relinquishing our car keys to strangers for a week! At our home airport, the offsite airport parking includes covered parking and is inexpensive and you take your keys with you. That's what we were hoping for in FLL. :( The port parking is expensive, but it looks like it's the best option for us, at least the one that's within our comfort zone. Thanks again.

Beth

We were on X Silhouette in Jan. Such a beautiful ship! We were in Aqua Class, so we were assigned to Blu for breakfast and dinner. Food was incredible. Aqua Class also offered many of the amenities of Princess suite passengers. Service overall was great. It was a very upscale and sophisticated shipboard experience.

On the other hand, Princess has impeccable service, great food and less expensive prices for specialty restaurants and for alcohol. We found the entertainment to be comparable with Celebrity. The photos Royal Princess are quite stunning.

In other words, these two cruise lines are the best IMHO, and you will love either one.

We have only needed to park at Port Everglades once, and we used Park N Go. We were able to keep our car keys and had no issues; however, when I Google that company now, I notice that during high volume times, they will keep your keys and valet your car. A few reviews mention that when they returned from their cruises, someone had gone through their belongings in their cars. There were also bad reviews for most of the other parking companies. We're considering parking at the port, but how do we know at which pier our ship (Crown Princess) will be docked at embarkation? Also, can you reserve a space before embarkation day? If the ship docks at a different pier for disembarkation, does Port Everglades have a free shuttle to transport you to the parking deck at the original pier? I really hate having to spend $15 per day for parking, but our options seem to be very limited. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.