cruisinsince75

4 minutes ago, Cabunit said:

Although it isn't foolproof, a way to get an idea of what side the bed is on in a cabin that is on the outside of the ship is to use the fire door locations on the deck plans.  The two rules are:

1.  Bathrooms are in pairs - back to back.

2.  Bathrooms don't back against fire walls (where the fire doors are).

 

So the first cabin aft of a fire wall will have the bathroom to the aft of the door.  The second cabin will have the bathroom forward of the door.  By working aft in pairs you can get a good guess as to where the bathroom is located and, therefore, where the bed is located.

 

There are exceptions to this, so pictures will help to confirm.

 

Cheers!

Thanks!  I checked it out and our stateroom has the door on the right, which matched what we had already seen off the pictures.  

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

I have found that in most suites the side of the bed closest to the bathroom is also where the desk is with the electrical outlets. Therefore I bring an extension cord

Yes, I should have said stateroom instead of suite.  We are in a MS on our upcoming Regal cruise and unfortunately the desk is on the opposite wall with no outlet on or behind the nightstand.  

8 hours ago, BDevilCruiser said:

Helps that I’m a side sleeper typically facing the machine.

 

 

 

Me too!  Always lay on my left side facing the machine.  Because my wife wants to be on the side closest to the bathroom, I choose staterooms where the bed is positioned on the left wall as you enter.  Unfortunately, Princess deck plans don't show what side the door is on, so I look for pictures of the suite I am looking to book.

On 5/4/2024 at 4:15 PM, phabric said:

I saw the Eclipse on April 8, 2024, just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

Same here in Dallas.  Looks like an interesting cruise.  Our 55th anniversary is the day after the eclipse, so anxious to see the pricing.

6 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

We were on Regal in January and they had the Nolan Ryan beef.  We ate at the CG one night and it was very good.  We had the surf and turf, so filets with the upcharge for lobster.  We enjoyed it a lot and the couple at the table next to us remarked on our meals and said they looked so good they were making another reservation to come back later in the week and have what we were having 🙂  

 

Having said that we are getting ready to cruise to Alaska in 3 weeks on Sapphire and haven't made any specialty dining reservations.  We usually do CG and Sabatini's (in this case would be Sterling Steakhouse on Sapphire) but decided with the busy port days and higher prices for specialty dining, we're skipping it this time.  Honestly for the pricing I think the Ultimate Balcony Dining is the way to go now as you get more for your money vs specialty dining.

Thanks Paula!  Enjoy your Alaska cruise!

3 hours ago, cr01s13r3 said:

Across many lines, including specialty restaurants, I've never had a steak at sea that rivaled the quality I regularly get on land. The closest was at the now-defunct The Grill by Thomas Keller. I think part of the problem is that ships can't use open flame to cook due to fire and safety regulations. And if they're using induction or radiant heated flat grill/griddle, I guess they can't get as hot as in a land-based commercial kitchen. So you can't really get a steak cooked in the same manner as you would at a steakhouse, either grilled above an open flame or cooked or finished in a salamander or intensely hot broiler.

I am disappointed that Seabourn did away with the Grill by TK, but after our last experience there, I noticed it had slipped dramatically. 

I can get steakhouse quality at home, but I have to cheat a bit  to accomplish it.  I sous vide the steak first for at least one hour at 130 degrees F, then finish off searing in a cast iron skillet 30-45 second on each side while basting with butter.  Rest 5 minutes and serve.  Now I'm hungry!!! 🤪

13 hours ago, suzyed said:

I feel like it varies from ship to ship and one visit to another.  We always enjoy the steakhouse but last fall when we went to CG on the Regal it was the BEST meal ever! Everything was perfectly cooked, the service was stellar and I even aded the lobster tail to my meal....soooo good!! 
Looking forward to the Bayou Cafe on the Coral in June and also trying Rudi's for the first time and oh yeah, the 360 Experience!  

We are on the Regal this coming Fall.  Do you recall if the beef was from Nolan Ryan's ranch?  I know they announced it in December for sailings out of Galveston. https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2023/12/princess-cruises-brings-the-ranch-to-the-high-seas-with-goodstock-by-nolan-ryan

3 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

Yes, you are right.  We always book our specialty restaurants prior to our cruise to ensure a reservation.  With Premier we get two included and the rest we pay for when we make the reservations.  For our upcoming on Enchanted we have Crown Grill first night, three at the Catch, two at Sabatini’s and back to Crown Grill.  All reserved and paid for.  Works well for us.

Same here!

We are in a MS on our upcoming Regal cruise.  I'm going to try writing in Eggs Benedict.  If that doesn't work, the next time write in poached egg, bacon, and english muffins with 🤪a side of hollandaise sauce.

16 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

No.  

 

• Items brought on board the vessel and not supplied by the Company containing any kind of heating element, such as but not limited to: immersion heaters, heating blankets, flat irons, water heaters, coffee machines with heating / hot plates, etc.

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

That list is hilarious. 

No Handcuffs. Come on people, that is what duct-tape is for!🤪

No Water Heaters.    

What about if you check it as luggage?  😁

57 minutes ago, villageidit said:

I didn't find any of these threads until after I booked and joined the roll call for the Emerald cruise.

We were booked on Celebrity on a TA crossing years back.  The way I found out there was a problem was on the Roll Call.  We all posted our stateroom #'s on the roll call and someone posted the same exact cabin # as us. 😮 We were originally booked on a 7 night Caribbean cruise, but the ships schedule changed and was to leave Barcelona now on the same day our cruise was to begin.  They offered our deposit back, or keep the booking and take the 14 day crossing for what we paid for the 7 day Caribbean.  Then they offered the folks that were originally  booked on the TA for two weeks earlier, a refund or, transfer to the new one with an OBC and a future cruise credit.  What a mess.  We were refunded our deposit and given a future cruise credit that we never got to use.  

41 minutes ago, telecheck said:

 

True, I frequently receive comped or heavily discounted cruises also. For instance, today, upon signing into my Princess account, I noticed the $99 16-day Iceland/Greenland and $49 Alaska with Glacier Bay cruises. Are these deals too good to be true? I'm starting to doubt because I can't determine if they're legitimate or just a system glitch. There's no indication that they're casino deals either. While I'm tempted by the Iceland/Greenland cruise, I'm hesitant to book it now. I don't want to receive an email days later claiming it was an error, making it a hassle to cancel. When I booked the Barcelona cruise last Wednesday, I even called Princess, and they confirmed my booking was valid. We all know what happened afterward.

 

 

I'm not seeing those when I log in.  Worst that can happen is find out it was a mistake and they refund you the deposit.

On 4/30/2024 at 3:03 AM, Ombud said:

No and factor in that they tend to do 6 pours per bottle so you can factor that in the when determining costs. 

 

FWIW Kim Crawford Chardonnay is A$18 per glass. 6×18=A$108+18%. For a A$22 bottle. 

 

BUT my bottles tend to be a lot more (I just used KC as an example as it was the one I took to our roll call wine sharing event). I usually carryon 3+ and am prepared to pay corkage 

 

If they are squeezing 6 glasses out of a 750 mil (25.36 oz) that is some serious nickel and diming.  Guess I'm a lush.  At home it only gets me 4. 

17 hours ago, artvlay said:

I was told not to use ATMs in an airport as they charge higher fees and exchange rates.

Is this correct?

In Europe ATMs are called Bancomats.  At airports use one only from an actual Bank and not one attached to a currency exchange.  Use your debit card and not a credit card.  The exchange rate will be calculated by your bank and you will pay a small foreign transaction fee (generally 1-3%).  

At stores and restaurants, I always use my credit card that has no foreign transaction fees

19 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Get a CVP if you don't use a travel agent. Book another cruise before the expiration using the FCDs. Then when the booking you want is available, ask the CVP to cancel the old booking and transfer the FCD to the new one. This has worked in the past, but I haven't tried it recently - so no guarantees.

That was exactly what I was going suggest.  I have also done that in the past, but not recently.

19 hours ago, mustgo said:

Thanks for your answer. Seriously thinking about giving up cruising. We have had a good run

Both my wife and I require the use of scooters.  The ones we have are made by Travelscoot,  www.travelscoot.com  The width is only 21.5" and fits through all standard size stateroom doors.  It is also collapsible and lightweight.  Might be an option for you to consider.  

We have booked an accessible mini-suite on the Regal for November because my wife had a stroke.  She is able to walk just fine, but cannot bend her leg in order to get into a bathtub/shower combo.  

We found out that our MA mini stateroom was more expensive than a standard mini MB, but weren't charged the additional, because there are no MB staterooms that are accessible.

17 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

The cruise terminal in Barcelona where Princess ships dock is the Adossat Quay Cruise Terminal where there are five terminals - A, B, C, D and E. The Adossat Quay Terminal is about 2km from the end of Las Ramblas. There is a port shuttle for a cost that goes from near the end of Las Ramblas to the terminals at Adossat or you can get a taxi there. Either check which terminal your ship is leaving from or you will be able to see the ships once you get to the Quay and you can tell your taxi driver that you want to stop at the Princess ship.

 

The World Trade Centre Terminal at the foot of Las Ramblas is only for small ships and Princess ships are too large to dock there.

 

We stayed at the Eurostar Gran Marina at the WTC twice.  1st time was for our Royal Caribbean cruise that departed from Adossat.  2nd time was on Silversea that departed from the WTC South Terminal.  That was really nice to be able to walk from our hotel room directly to the terminal.  Also, there is a port shuttle to take you to Arossat from the WTC.  

Here is a map of the port

https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/transport/cruise-port/map-of-barcelona-port.html

1 hour ago, antsp said:

90210

And for phone number 867-5309. 🤪

1 minute ago, skynight said:

Normally if you have a late Princess bus transfer that is on the way the ship will adjust the sailing time to allow for this. I have seen it many times. 

This cruise was on HAL.  Not sure why they didn't in this case.  

21 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I just did a search using Google Chrome and it looked the same as usual to me.  

Me too!

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Not likely. The deadline to file the manifest is 60 minutes before sailing. 90 minutes provides a small buffer. Just plan on arriving a few hours before sailing and don't cut it so close.

And those 60 minutes before the ship sails is FIRM.  Years ago people heading to FLL via DFW the day before our cruise got stranded due to a tornado touchdown.  Our flight the day of the cruise was delayed taking off and we nearly missed our cruise.  We ran and caught a cab and made it just before the cutoff.  Those that were on our flight that had bus transfers did not.  

11 hours ago, cr2000 said:

Exactly, he's just wrong. It was not related to weather, it was clearly some type of compliance and/or technical issue that prevented the ship from entering Kotor. I tend to think it's simply the ships physical size (would be the largest to ever enter the Bay of Kotor) though there has been speculation that it's tender related - possibly due to a ballast issue with the ship effecting water height and tendering operations.

 

And while I don't think Princess has deliberately misled passengers, I do think they didn't do ANY homework when adding that port to the itinerary - much like they have screwed up many other areas of the ships launch. And worse, I suspect they now know they won't call on Kotor but aren't pulling it from posted itineraries just yet because that could effect summer bookings.

There was only one small 1200 ton ship scheduled to call on Kotor on the 11th, so overcrowding doesn't appear to be the issue.  

Mistakes can happen.  Shoot, we even had one cruise with Silversea that had an itinerary change that we weren't notified about until we boarded the ship.  Apparently, someone had miscalculated the distance between ports and some had to be dropped and others added to keep the ship on schedule.  That was interesting.  I would have hated to be working at the excursion desk onboard.

Maybe the port made the decision and just informed Princess or there was some technical reason that Princess had to call it off.  

23 hours ago, Amy G said:

The Sun is also supposed to be there on July 8th.  It is still showing up on our itinerary, I hope it does not change.

Sorry, I missed that one.  I hope everyone that is booked on the Sun makes it to Kotor.  It is a gorgeous port.

I think a murder mystery on a cruise would be fun.  Years ago my wife and I wrote and directed a couple of mysteries for a small group of friends where each had a part to play.  One was Murder on the Mauritania and the other was Hijinx in the Hindenburg.  We gave the actors crazy names like Senator Phillip Buster and textiles heiress Polly Esther.  It was a blast.