cruisinsince75

Back to the topic at hand.  

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9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

So, why couldn't the OP arrive at FCO by 9:30am?  Just need pre-arranged limo services from Civi port.

 

I Agee!  45 minutes to the airport,  hour max.  Should give ample time.

2 hours ago, shiner6 said:

I think we might be in the same situation. Our first TA is to Rome in November also. I  booked another TA from Barcelona to Florida in February.  So, today I stated looking for advice and found this thread. I always take a homemade first aid kit. I do not wear makeup (I have makeup tattoos) lol!  Our hair products are in bar form (they work really well).  Since we limit ourselves to one carryon and 1backpack, we also limit our clothing to mostly Merino wool which can be worn multiple times between laundering. A great site is called Wool & Prince. I take a few silk scarves and jewelry to dress up with. Hope this helps!

I think you are on the same cruise as us, except a year earlier.  Rome to FLL on the New Statendam?

What ship are you on in February 2025?  

We also have done TA's both ways and prefer westbound for added hours and shorter flight home.  As for the pills it has never been an issue for us to use small snack ziplocks for our meds and we take photos of each prescription and place the photo in each of the bags.

14 hours ago, LyssaWorthy said:

I’m usually ok with a cane, but I didn’t want to take any chances on the ship, so we got this rolling walker with a seat to rest on.  It folds pretty easily.

 

That is what my wife uses at home and it is just fine.  However on large ships that require a lot of walking we use our mobility scooters and stay midship.  

6 hours ago, SamFaniam said:

For our Regal cruise out of Galveston, the boarding time is 10:30 - 2:00.  If we are not planning to try and reserve the Sanctuary, are there any other advantages to boarding early? I assume the staterooms will not be available at 10:30.  We generally prefer to board when staterooms are available so we can drop out carry-ons off right away and not have to drag them around. We have a reserved parking space, so not concerned about that. 

We will be on the Regal in November.  From what I've read 10:30 to 12:00 is the worst.  We too will park in the Express parking lot.  The plan for us, is to drop off our luggage with the porters about 11:30, drive next door to the Express parking and ride our scooters back to check-in.  Hopefully our stateroom will be available.  Then head to the MDR for lunch.

On the parking, did you go online and reserve it yet?  If not you probably want to do that.  FYI, check the port schedule for departure and arrival.  Ours are pier 28 for both.  Recently however, somebody posted that they left from 28 but disembarked at 25.  Disney sometimes operates out of 28 which is next to the express lot.

Our November cruise on the Regal in a Mini didn't change.  However, the Premier package is now less money than the Plus.  Leads me to believe they are still monkeying with the numbers.

Sorry, I had it confused with Steamers! 

I don't get it. I thought Crab Shack is a casual dining venue on other ships and covered under Plus and Premier packages?  Are you saying as a pop up venue on Regal it isn't covered?  It's the same exact menu!

2 hours ago, Elizabeth K. said:

 

My suggestion is to go to the Princess website and create an account. You can then locate your future sailing and enter your preferences on the Cruise Personalizer. Hope this helps.

You can either down load the app and do it there or simply scroll down on the Cruise Personalizer page and choose to do the web version instead of the app.  I find the web version is easier to manage. 

We went with Premier package, since my DW usually drinks Champagne and that is covered with Premier.  I also like some of the reds that are on both packages, so I figured I can try some different wines from different regions than what I normally drink.  I like more of a full body wine.  I also loathe signing chits.

3 hours ago, nanarena said:

We have stayed at the Galvez and Doubletree. They had shuttles to the ship with a relatively small fee.

 

Same for the Moody Gardens Hotel.  

19 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I'm not sure of the percentages but there are quite a few who choose to skip it. It's not the best beach day, so why bother when you've got the ship almost to yourself with the same lunch served at the buffet, without the flies. 

Liked "without the flies".

1 hour ago, Srbucket said:

Hi all, 

Thanks you for taking the time to help me with this question. Fairly new cruiser here, it will be my 4th. I consider the crew access doors to be where crew goes in and out for luggage, room service, room cleaning, and those types of activities. We will be sailing on the Ruby Princess room D408. Thank you again. 

Looks like a great location.  Mid ship, close to mid ship elevators.  It does have white space across the hall, but impossible to tell if there are crew doors near you.  I will say however, we have been next to crew doors on other ships and it was never an issue.

15 minutes ago, PalmHarborCruiser said:

I am also feeling the pain of trying to get information from the 800 number. Not only are they impossible to understand they have 15 people behind them talking at the same time making it even more difficult to understand them. So I did as suggest and requested a CVP, this isn't any better. Same hard to understand individual with a zillion people talking behind them, I'm am so beyond frustrated at this point.

I had a similar experience with customer service line.  Had to ask them several times to repeat what they were saying.  Ultimately, I was told that my booking could not be re-fared.  Same happened on chat.  Finally got a CVP and he got it all sorted out.

On 2/13/2024 at 11:57 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Yep...Carnival cards are "Carnival only".  Get the Princess cards for Princess cruises.  (We've done so MANY times and saved a TON.)

 

With the exception of the deposit, I have fully paid 2 cruises now with gift cards.

 

OK, I am really ignorant on this.  How do you do this and how much do you save?

On 2/12/2024 at 4:54 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

And here's a very important note!  If you even *think* that you may be using wifi calling at any time (EVER!) just set it up NOW.  Do it and test it at home.  Some carriers *seem* to have a special provisioning method that *may* not work if attempted on a ship.  There is absolutely NO downside to leaving wifi calling enable ALL THE TIME!  I do...I've never had any issues and if you happen to need it on board...well, you're all set up.

 

To test at home.  Turn on wifi calling

Turn on airplane mode

Make a call or two...have someone call your number...send some texts.

 

Learn something new everyday!  

38 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Didn't Azamara buy Princess' Pacific Princess and call it Quest?  So sad to hear this news.  Pandemic caused me to miss my booked sailing on the Pacific Princess.

Yes they did buy the formerly R-class Pacific Princess, but it is the AZ Onward.  The Quest and Journey were the R-class original ships to sail as Azamara ships under the Celebrity umbrella.  They just recently acquired a fourth Renaissance ship from P&O and it is called the Pursuit.     

59 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

There are 3 dining rooms available...not sure why @cruisinsince75 says only 2 are available to book.  Perhaps just another app glitch (if they were trying to do so via the app.)  You *should* be able to book all 3 (assuming there is an open time slot...)

I did mine on the web version and only got the two options to reserve for our November cruise.  Checked it just now on the old app version and all three options are there.  Very weird.  

On 2/11/2024 at 2:05 PM, NavyVeteran said:

I don't have experience with your specific group. DW always goes to the knitting group on board. On one cruise, they didn't have it scheduled. She asked at Guest Services, and it was scheduled within two days. I believe it would probably be the same for any other group.

If you ask at Guest Services, you may want to request a specific location - or at least not to schedule you at a bar that is open during your meeting.

On one of our Silversea cruises, it was in a bar, but no bartender.  Our friend wandered in to get a drink and all the liquor was pushed to one side, which he thought was strange.  Since the cruise was all inclusive, he figured it to be a self service bar.  So he poured himself a drink.  He saw a group there and asked if anyone else wanted one, and they looked at him oddly  Later that day, he told us what happened and then asked, BTW what is Friends of Bill W?  He had no idea.

The only two that I have found for the Regal that you can book ahead are the Concerto and Symphony.  

Neither one are private.  They are not covered and the cabin up above can look down to yours.  They do have two loungers.  

Is one better than the other?  Also which one if any are easier to navigate?  My wife and I both require the use of mobility scooters, so a more secluded area that is easy to get to is a real plus.  On Seabourn it was a breeze.  We had a table that was by the back entrance to the dining room and could park our scooters very close to our table.

Sorry, just to correct my mistake, on Princess it is called EZ check.  It is Luggage Direct on Holland and Luggage Valet on Celebrity