jasbo49

As Cheryl said, the starboard Emerald minis are quiet. The Club Fusion stage that makes the noise is way aft on the port side. You can see it on the deck plans.

Jim

55 minutes ago, PoohUnderstands said:

Should you do this if you are flying in 1 or 2 days early before your cruise, or only if you fly in the day of your cruise?

Also, should you do this if you don't have Princess transfers?

 

Pooh

I don't mean to step in for the gentleman from Colorado, but I always put on the Princess luggage tags before going to the airport. I see no downside. If my bag ends up circling some carousel in Hong Kong, someone can pick it up and see, "oh, this bag is supposed to be in Rome in two days.

Jim

Do you really want to have your car in NYC when you cruise ends in FLL?

Jim

I'm pretty sure both are available at most bars. However, Crown Royal is available through room service at $23.60 for a 375 ml bottle.

Jim

On 7/7/2019 at 8:59 PM, aprilsp88 said:

Hi,

 

Our cruise will end in Brooklyn cruise terminal. Will we be able to see Manhattan skylight and status of liberty sailing in?

 

Also, if we book an early evening flight, will we be able to visit some landmarks? Is it worth the hassle? We don't want to stay overnight or take cruiseline tour.

 

Thanks,

April

We cruised into Brooklyn a few Septembers ago to end a Transatlantic. We came in early, sometime around dawn, and I remember seeing the Statue of Liberty for sure, but that's because we were fairly close to it. I'm not sure the Manhattan skyline was that visible, but it might depend on time of day and how close you are.

Jim

When I call room service to order gin, I often ask for a few lime wedges too. That way I can use the tonic in the mini bar and make G&Ts. I'll bet you could get olives that way too or ask for a few at a bar.

And to be honest, I don't think it would be a problem to just fill one of those little 3 oz. fluid bottles with vermouth. I think it's technically against the rules, but they're just not going to make an issue of it. It's like going 2 mph over the speed limit.

Jim

Deleted. Sorry.

3 hours ago, Colorado Coasty said:

At the risk of having this reply pulled as it was when I suggested it in the past, I have found that a small 3-4 oz plastic spray bottle of vermouth packed with my toiletries makes the perfect dry martini. A quick spray or two and you are all set.

Either that or go to the Churchill-style martini, in which one merely glances at the vermouth bottle.

Jim

I believe this is a case where the Platinum benefit (the internet minutes come with Platinum status with no bump for Elite) is actually forfeited when buying the package. If so, these prices and discussions you're seeing apply to a first-timer as well as a long-time Princess cruiser.

Hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Jim

2 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Just returned from our Royal cruise that had medallions --- now what?  Don't want to keep them, how do you dispose of them since they have our names on them?

Fridge magnet.

25 minutes ago, camper49 said:

What is the difference between deluxe balcony & premium deluxe balcony?

Location. There are lots of deluxe balconies,  but just a few in premium locations. 

Jim

It all depends on the cruise.

If it's a long one or one with a lot of sea days, I'll always go for the mini-suite. We like the extra interior space if we're going to be spending some time "at home." But be aware that mini-suites don't automatically come with upsized balconies on the Royal class ships. Most minis have the same 9 by 4 balconies that the typical balcony cabin has.

If it's a short one or port-intensive, the interior space isn't so important to us. If you can score one of the aft balconies with a larger balcony, that's the way I'd go for a short cruise.

Jim

1 hour ago, tillys mom said:

I’m delighted we’re going to have on demand, but I enjoy a good MUTTS movie and wondered what they were showing.

I hope you have good enough weather to enjoy evenings up on deck. On our June 6-18 cruise there weren't many nights when MUTS seemed doable. You may get a few good nights at the beginning and end, but during the middle when you're cresting Scotland,  you might welcome an indoor flick or two.

Jim

If you're musically inclined at all, you might want to look into joining the Princess Pop Choir. They have rehearsals most sea days and a performance toward the end. Actually, on a cruise so long, they might have two sessions. That always gives me something to kind of build days around.

Also, there's a chance the Hawaiian Ambassadors program may join you for the last week of your cruise. If so, that means ukulele lessons and crafts and hula and so on.

Jim

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Good to know. 

So the new TV's (flat screens) I take it too?

When was that?

The TVs were installed during the spring 2018 dry dock, but the on-demand system was a surprise to us on our June 6 BI cruise.

Jim

1 hour ago, nattie said:

 

I have to give another shout out to Alexander and Martin (entertainment director) for organizing Princess Rock Orchestra. It was quite an event! Showband and both resident bands played a set in the piazza with Rock hits. It was 4 people deep “standing room only” event that was absolutely AWESOME! I hope this event will get exported to other ships in the fleet.

 

This sounds like a fun event. I hope it does get picked up by other ships in the fleet. I'll bet the musicians enjoy it too, having another outlet for their talents with a just-for-fun feel.

Jim

1 minute ago, dcruisers said:

W are more forward with cabins above and below- which we prefer.

Thank you !

All's well, then.

Jim

I didn't take notes, so probably won't try a full review. But I'll tell you our June 6 12-nighter out of Southampton had a lot more negatives than most of our cruises. This probably won't apply to the majority of British Isles cruises, but is an example of what can (and did) happen on one.

We missed our first port, Guernsey, due to weather. Even though this is reputedly one of the most-missed ports, it got some people off to a griping start early in the cruise. To me, the worst part of this was the captain coming onto the loudspeakers in every cabin at 6:30 a.m. to announce we were skipping Guernsey. OK, maybe he needed to make an announcement, but he didn't need to go on 5 minutes about it when lots of people just wanted to go back to sleep. But wait, 15 minutes later he was back, blaring over the speakers above our bed that another ship was turning around too, so he must have made the right call. A captain who brags when he's right does not inspire confidence.

More damaging to us than missing Guernsey was arriving 6-7 hours late to Dublin. Because of a mechanical problem that developed sailing into port at Cobh, we were super late leaving there. Arriving late in Dublin meant that instead of a full day, will all its possibilities, we were limited to a rainy late afternoon/evening. People who had excursions, whether Princess or independent, were just our of luck.

So late out of Dublin meant late into Liverpool. Our Princess tour was switched from morning to afternoon, but at least it wasn't scotched.

All this time, we're having good meals and good service, a little bit of entertainment. So we're not thinking "what a crummy cruise," but are noticing that even things that can't be avoided can still pile up to make a trip sag a bit.

Then I think a few things that could be avoided started to nag at us. The Internet was abysmal. Worst I've experienced. Some people claimed they were unable to connect for two days. The TVs were also down for a day or so.

The Princess Theater, on the nights that didn't feature the big production shows, had the saddest acts we've seen, embarrassingly bad comics, a "funky fiddler," a vocal impressionist.

A couple of Wheelhouse acts, Phillippa Cookman and Jezzebelle (sorry if I misspelled these but sheesh) provided the only decent entertainment we saw.

So plenty of stuff went right, and I still thought we got decent value for our buck. But in the expectations game, Princess lost on this one. I looked at our roll call today and saw quite a bit of after-buzz from unhappy cruisers. I guess you'll find some of them submitting reviews.

We had a pretty good cruise, but when I opened the post-cruise survey and they asked me how likely, from 1-10, I'd be to recommend Princess to a friend, I found myself filling in a 5. Never did that before.

Jim

The issues with the Marina deck are more related to what's above you on the Lido deck. You don't say where on Marina your new cabins are. Up front you'll have cabins overhead, which is good. At mid-ship you'd have the pool area and chairs and tables that are moved about and can cause a ruckus on the deck below. More aft, it's the buffet, where carpeted floors will dull the noises.

As to decks and motion, I don't find there's nearly as much difference between decks as there is in getting a cabin way toward the bow. The aft has motion too.

Jim

I don't see any reason why you would lose your deposit.

The big thing is you would certainly have to pay the new price to get the new offer. I'm not sure when you booked or the fare, but if the price has increased, then whatever benefits you get on the English 3 for free will come at that cost.

We booked the Enchanted's November transatlantic back last fall, also with no promo because it was just released. The cost has gone through the roof since I booked and, if I could even get the same cabin, it would be well over $1,200 pp increase, so I'm just ignoring the Sip and Sail promo that's available because it would cost us so much more to refare/rebook, whatever.

Jim

Big question is when. If you leave in a few days, I'd be worried. If its a month or so, not at all. Just keep calling Princess  

Jim

49 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

What?

It's the tropics. I lived there for 2 years and have taken many PC cruises. It is that way 99% of the time.  😳

Absolutely true. But I wanted the OP to know the heat and humidity in the Canal Zone is more than just numbers. We were just miserable most of the time we were outside. 

People who say, "don't worry about a balcony, you want to be out in the open decks for the passage" are living in a different world than we are. A balcony is a great place to retreat from the heat but still see.

We live in Oregon, but in the south,  where it gets into the 100s every year. But the Canal Zone was stifling.

Jim

I understand wanting to take a canal cruise. But be keenly aware that this could be the hottest, most humid trip you'll ever take.

We went in December 2015 (FLL-LAX), and the heat from Aruba to Cartagena to Panama was brutal. It finally broke when we hit the West Coast and found some air movement.

Jim

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

The reason I asked is because we’re in our mid 60s and have gotten totally bored with the production entertainment HAL has offered over the past few years and have started booking Celebrity and Princess cruises. We have definitely been impressed by the recent X cruises we've been on and are looking forward to our upcoming Princess cruises. Most Princess cruisers we’ve noticed on CC still give Princess high marks for their entertainment value. So when you spoke badly of them, I was just curious. 

Important to note: I am not badmouthing Princess entertainment in general,  just this cruise, and just the filler-type shows in the Princess Theater.

Jim

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, which ship were you on, how long was the cruise and what specifically was so bad about the evening production shows?

Most of this is explained in post 18 of this thread.

It was the Crown's 12-night BI cruise. The production shows were OK, but every other night in the Princess Theater (at least the ones we attended) was just amateurish filler stuff. Two comics who weren't funny, etc.

We didn't have a yodeler or flea circus, but they would have fit right in.

Jim