robbinsca

Brooklyn last year on the Caribbean Princess up to Quebec City.

Like the OP we are light drinkers. I wouldn’t consider getting the drink package on Celebrity. I am such a lightweight that the last time I had 4 drinks in a single day was back during my time living in the fraternity house. $65 (even $30) a day for just liquor doesn’t float my boat.
 

My DW likes to have the soda package on Royal and NCL, but I just drink the Iced Tea and Lemonade. NCL does charge a daily “free drinks” gratuity that is more than I would spend on drinks.

The one exception I make is for the Princess Plus package. $60 a day not only gets you “only” 15 alcoholic drinks, (maybe 2 for me) but also unlimited sodas, bottled water, juices, but also WiFi and gratuities and a couple of other items. That package does give you your money’s worth IMHO.

Me personally, I never miss the Future Cruise presentations. After 20 years of cruising I know what is out there, but I still like to be tempted…

Seems strange to say, but between DW and I we have 4 cruises in the next 13 months ( one sisters cruise without me). We usually only go about once every 18 months, but….

We only booked one on Princess out of the four because of the difficulty choosing a cabin. Royal and Celebrity will be seeing the income instead. We like Princess, but don’t trust guarantee cabins.

And if you buy it on board you can use your OBC to pay for it. Purchase in advance and it hits your credit card directly.

I recommend getting on the port ( um, left since you are on land) on the way up. The narration is the same both directions, but your interest level is better earlier in the journey. That side has a much better view.

if you are getting a Salmon Bake out of the $30 I would go that way.

We will also be there in September. It should be beautiful.

I am with KarateMom. Renting a car is easy, and the trunk becomes your luggage storage space. Maybe it is because we are both from California and just like having a car at our disposal at all times. 🤓

Recommend the Granville Island Market and Stanley Park for stops in town.

DW doesn’t drink alcohol, but Diet Coke is another story altogether. I will have, at most, two drinks a day. That being said Plus works for us. Free water bottles on your way out for the day in the Caribbean would otherwise be $4 each, Internet and gratuities being included takes 2/3rds of the sting of the $60 p/d cost alone.

On NCL I decline the “free” drink package because of the 18% gratuity added still costing me hundreds of dollars. My wife gets the soda package on other lines but I simply drink the lemonade and tea because I am a dedicated cheapskate….but I still get Plus on Princess….🤓

Be prepared for some cold weather. You probably won’t spend a lot of time in the pool.
 

If you take the train in Skagway sit on the left side on the way up the mountain. It will sync up the commentary with a better view.

We have been through Vancouver several times, but not on Princess. There is a very convenient (IMHO) below ground dropoff area. I would imagine there would not be something different for Princess.

13 hours ago, SCX22 said:

Planks is gross.  You really can't do proper BBQ on a cruise ship.  Chefs rely on liquid smoke and a sickeningly sweet BBQ sauce to make the meat seem like BBQ.  The meat is baked and then charred a bit on the grill.  The best part of the menu is the banana pudding dessert.  Just my opinion.

I love smoking meat at hime and was really looking forward to having Planks onboard. I agree, the taste was chemical rather than true smoke and the meal was greasy all the way through. Not making that mistake again.

My comparisons are for multiple lines, not just Princess. Crown Grille was my Princess experience.

The quality of the food is consistently better in the Specialty restaurants. The beef seems to be a prime cut rather than choice. You can “upgrade” in the MDR and get a filet for a lower price than going to the Specialty restaurant- and that was the higher quality. That was a nice option.

We have probably dined at SD 20 times, and I have been very happy with 18-19 of them. The MDR foods have devolved from Prime Rib to Meat Loaf. I crave at least one REALLY special dinner each cruise.

Many thanks to all who have helped. You have provided great insights and been kind to this rookie! Definitely need the extra time outside the actual river cruise…the advertisements make it all sound much closer together.

The only differences we really noticed was a luncheon on embarkation day in the MDR that felt a little special, and access to Concierge that I really only used once or twice. The Concierge Class was a special deal on that cruise so we took it- otherwise a balcony would be just fine.

We have lots of Ocean cruises under our belts but have not ventured on to a river cruise, so my question is going to sound like the ones I answer about ocean cruises.

I have ancestral villages near both Neuschwanstein Castle and Bratislava. If I am going all the way over to that region I don’t want to miss the opportunity to visit my forebears home areas. I realize they may be separate trips- can’t decide which to prioritize.

i understand that the river cruises offer included tours, but am I able to rent a car, or hire a local guide, that would allow me to visit those villages and then return to the longboat? All the commentary I am reading here on CC only talks about taking the ship tour or simply walking around town.

Or do I need to go a few days early and travel down and back before/after the cruise?

TIA

10 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Tonight was our third and last Evening Chic Night.  I had the Creamy Salmon Rillette (photo), Creamy Smoked Tomato Bisque (forgot to take a photo), and the Broiled Lobster Tail (photo of a poorly plated one.

 

 

 

 

My wife, who isn't a lobster fan, ordered a lobster tail to go with her Duck A L'Orange so I could have a second lobster tail to avoid the fee.

I do that all the time for my wife, but she also gets surf and turf and I get her steak.

My favorite memory was from pre-COVID. Can’t remember which line, but we discovered they were serving the “lobster” in the buffet so we went up there and got two, then had two more a couple hours later in the MDR. No, she doesn’t usually have two dinners but when lobster is available….🤓

35 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

This is also very interesting. How long did it take from mention to promotion? If it was during the same cruise, this would be the height of mixed emotions for me, assuming I wasn't in AQ.

 

It's also telling that Celebrity thinks that moving to the AQ is a promotion, and at least some moves there are based on merit.

My SIL was on the ship two weeks later. We had told her to look for Samantha and try to get her table at dinner. She found her in the buffet one morning as she said that she had been moved.

8 hours ago, the penguins said:

Be honest. The survey differentiates between “service” and “quality”. If you mark the staff are good marking the qyss as quality poor has no affect on the staff.

If the quality is poor or excellent we tell the Maitre D on the day.

Good staff reports help with promotions (we had an outstanding Assistant Waiter who we spoke to the Manager about. A few days later the Manager came back and told us he had checked the person’s assessments, watched their performance for 2 days and they had now been offered a place on a training course to be a  Waiter - The Assistant Waiter was on tears when she found out. 

We also mentioned the level of service from an Asst Waiter to Celebrity and she was promoted from the MDR to the Aqua Clas dining area.

2 minutes ago, doghog said:

Celebrity's AI packages (CBP and PBP) no longer includes gratuities.  

Correct, that is one of the advantages to Plus in my mind.

23 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

If anyone onboard could check for me at any of the bars or a few of the bars. Do they have diet Dr Pepper or regular Dr Pepper. My opinion is they do not ,but trying to take an informal poll on the subject. Maybe it is a new thing onboard or varies from ship to ship?
Thanks.

I can’t live without my Dr so I bring a 12 pack aboard (allowed by Princess). It should be available at a grocery store near the dock. DW would do the same if Diet Coke were not available onboard.🤓

Tried Princess for the first time last year and we were generally pleased. The Plus program is $60 a day, but gave the impression of being all inclusive. Celebrity onboard charges for the same things (drinks, wifi and gratuities) seem much, much higher. 
 

Princess entertainment was problematic- you needed to arrive 15-20 minutes before the show to get a seat. It seemed to be a little more “highbrow” with operatic performances and such. Celebrity used public spaces that overflowed into walkways for games and the showrooms were more of a Broadway/ Rock Concert style.

The Princess OV cabin seemed really small. There was not enough room between the bed and the side wall to fit a little nightstand on both sides. Our last Celebrity cruise was in a Concierge Class cabin so it was inherently nicer, but even that was a great deal on an older ship and the cabin price was less than Princess’s OV.

Celebrity’s service was a little better, and they offered reserved dining times at large group tables- which DW and I both like. Princess had better quality food outside the MDR and the specialty dining prices were more reasonable. Our friends won a free Specialty dinner on Celebrity, and while it was truly a special setting it was not worth our expense to join them.

Overall- I am happy to spend time on either one. I used to be a NCL guy but my choices would be either of these lines over NCL now.

I spent a number of years in Customer Service front line management. I have no hesitation in giving brutally honest feedback. If you don’t think their Managers coach them to solicit positive reviews with sympathy votes you are a bit naive. The Managers benefit from those ratings too.

Customer Service Management knows that the most useful feedback is the ones that have a variety of ratings. The “smile sheets” that give all good or all bad ratings are ignored. The value is in the comments from the honest reviews that offer specific examples in the comments.

I once told NCL Jewel that I didn’t appreciate the Buffet Officer telling me that “you must work at Taco Bell” when I questioned the two protein choices for tacos being chili or fajitas. Haven’t sailed on that ship since, though I really like their itineraries.

57 minutes ago, RSF Cruiser said:

We are booked on the Oct 19 CA Coastal cruise on the Discovery. Originally the itinerary included San Francisco, I think it was Monterey, San Diego, and Ensenada. The schedule changed and Monterey was changed to Catalina. When I check excursions, none are listed for Catalina, yet there are excursions for the other ports. 
 

This same itinerary is on Oct 5 and April 12, but again, no excursions for Catalina. For the November 2 and March 29 sailings, the Discovery is staying two days in San Francisco - no Catalina. 
 

Does anyone have any “insider” information about the October CA Coastal cruises? Are there plans to drop Catalina and they just haven’t told us?

Monterey must have been dropped due to their concerns about too many cruise ships visiting. Catalina is really not a port that you need ship excursions for. It is a tiny town with just a few touristy things to do. There are a couple of glass bottom boats/ semi-submersibles type things. You can rent (cash only) a golf cart to toddle around in, you can visit the shops or hang out in the beach.

8 minutes ago, ChemistBabe said:

We are now 39 days out from our trip and I have been unable to make any dinner reservations.

(I have been trying for about two weeks now.)

 

I get an error message on the app.  I've tried using the web version with no success either.

 

Any advice?

 

Thanks!

I find the Princess App to be very unfriendly to users. One obstacle I had was getting my payment method entered properly. Until I was able to do that I was blocked from many features. You might want to check to see if that registered properly.

My issue was that DW was listed as primary passenger, and there is no link to add me as an authorized user, just what looks like a notes page. Poorly designed!

15 hours ago, Browneis1 said:

Anyone joining?     
Who has the clothing needs down ?????

So excited 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will be joining you. Have been to Alaska multiple times, but these dates are a lot different. We always bring layers, but we have been very lucky and had sunshine each time in the past…..crossing our fingers….