RickEk

So, does that mean that they don't use fresh vegetables? It all adds up to compost, when cooking with fresh foods. I hope they just don't use frozen everything, and reconstituted stuff.

Yes, the vegetables are fresh. The point is that they are reducing one aspect of the biodegradable waste that eventually gets flushed into the ocean. Across the fleet that equates to a significant amount of waste that is not being generated.

And, btw, the water onboard is better than most bottled water (it's desalinated and purified onboard). We never buy the bottled water because the tap water is perfectly fine.

Really, coffee made from syrup. That is pathetic. Does it taste awful?

How hard is it to brew coffee? I jut made a cup myself.

I am hoping that we can just drink what they have free on the ship, and not have them upsell us to specialty bottled waters, and specialty coffees. Are they trying to make that impossible? We don't have infinite money to spend. I am not that picky, but want at least a decent cup of coffee, it doesn't have to be starbucks.

It's not the difficulty of brewing coffee from beans, it's the used grounds that are an issue. By limiting brewed coffee from beans to a few bars and the IC (or similar venue), they are limiting the amount of grounds that would have to be stored and disposed of at a later time. Personally, I don't find the MDR coffee objectionable, but then, I don't drink much coffee... YMMV

Ok- I know coffee, should be liquid. Wondering what you mean by liquid coffee?

We will be cruising on the Golden in a few weeks for the first time.

They mean coffee that is brewed from a syrup instead of from beans.

Can I take/use my own snorkel equipment on a ship's shore excursion or must I use the equipment provided by the tour operator?

I believe that most tour operators would allow you to use your own equipment. I've seen folks bring their own...

I am guessing she did before Red Hook was built. She did Caribbean sailings from NY and also Bermuda sailings.

Nope... Google is a wonderful thing. :) Caribbean Princess was originally built for the Caribbean trade. She spent her inaugural season there (2004-2005). For 2005-2006, she spent the summer in the Caribbean and then offered Eastern/Western itineraries for 2006-2007 season. She next spent the summer in the Caribbean for 2007, always from FLL. (Crown Princess was sailing from New York for 2007). For 2008, CB sailed from San Juan and Crown Princess from New York. It wasn't until 2009 (like I surmised above) that she started sailing from New York. So no, she never homeported in Manhattan, only in Red Hook.

And, btw, Red Hook opened in 2006.

As Compozer mentions, she has docked in Manhattan. Does that qualify for the OP's requirements?

I rang Princess and they told me they couldn't transfer the booking over to themselves as my contract is with my TA.

 

Looks like I would need to cancel with my TA and book again direct with Princess. Lesson learned!

The laws must be different in the US. Here, as long as the cruise isn't paid in full, you have the right to transfer the booking to whomever you wish. It might involve paperwork, but it's do-able.

If so, she will be joining a very exclusive "club" this October 11th, sailing from Cape Liberty.

 

To my knowledge, she will be only the second cruise ship to have ever sailed from all of the Port of New York's three (Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ), cruise ship terminal's...the other being the Queen Mary 2.

 

That Sunday will be a busy one at New York...The QM2 will be at Brooklyn, the AIDADiva and AIDALuna as well as the NCL Breakaway and the Carnival Splendor, will be at Manhattan. I'm surprised the CP didn't use Brooklyn, as in the past, Princess usually gets preference at Brooklyn over Cunard. I don't think either the CP or the QM2 could use pier 92 in Manhattan, if indeed they even use that one for ships anymore, other than some smaller ones....

FYI, technically, CB is Caribbean Princess' abbreviation.

We sailed on her twice from Red Hook... in 2009 and 2011. Not sure if she ever used Manhattan as her homeport 'cause I think that 2009 was her first season sailing from New York.

The Elite Lounge was added during the dry dock. What can you tell us about it and where is it located and are they serving food there?

 

Will you having any photos to post when you get back especially of the areas that were changed in the dry dock? People are wanting to see photos of the work that was done.

 

Thanks for all of your work posting information for everyone!

 

Tom

As far as I know, the Elite/Suite/Platinum lounge is held in Skywalkers from 5pm-7pm. It's not a separate room...

Can anyone currently on the Coral tell me if they have been showing the NHL playoffs? We leave 6/10 and that night is game 4. Would love to be able to root for the Lightning on board.

Well, I'm not on Coral Princess currently, but in my experience (last year and in 2012) they have shown the NHL playoffs and Finals on MUTS and in selected venues on Alaskan voyages. Talk to the CD once onboard and see if they can arrange it. Might be difficult for an embarkation day though...

Is there are a self/serve laundrette on the Crown. :confused::confused::confused:

All Princess ships have self-serve laundries.

Whenever there is a flight change I call the airline directly & they have always modified our flights to a better option for us including rerouting.

 

Computers make flight changes & don't always provide us with the best alternative. I regularly check my flights as airlines are inconsistent with making flight change notifications. I'd skip the middlemen (Princess & TA) who may not be able to modify my flights and instead call the airline who can give me my best alternative flight option.

Exactly. As a consolidator, Princess' hands are basically tied if someone is within the 45-day time period for Flexible flights. If they make the change, then fees must be paid because it would literally be a cancel and rebook. Always go to the airline directly for changes like this.

As an aside, I booked flights from LAX to SFO a couple of days ago and flights were significantly cheaper through eZAir. The Flexible fares were cheaper than the Restricted fares for the same flights, so I'm very pleased. :)

She is chartered during the summer months and sails out of Singapore...

From what I understand, it's a lifejacket issue. BTW, OP, you can also waitlist a child and hope for the best.

We were on the Royal Princess for 10 nights in March 2015. There was no organized bridge with an ACBL in teacher/leader. This practice has ended! In my opinion, we do not need an organized group for a 7-night or less cruise, but for longer ones it is necessary. Cruise staff have told us that Princess has found that there is not enough interest being shown in that activity. Who are they kidding - especially when attendance is almost non-existent (usually less than 5 or 10 on a ship with over 3,000 passengers) at MANY actiivities - book club, napkin folding, mask (or such) making, sometimes pop choir, karaoke (sp?), etc., etc. On our Royal cruise, it was advertised in the Patter that there would be a passenger hosted session daily in the afternoons. It turned out that the passenger was a 90+year old woman (most traveled Princess passenger on the cruise) who did not know how to set up a game, keep score, have rotations, etc., etc. It was ridiculous to advertise this activity with this woman leading. There are many wonderful cruise companies that still offer a GOOD game for pleasure or points.

The difference is that Princess has to pay a bridge director (free cabin). Those other activities basically don't cost them anything. If bridge players move on to other lines, I guess that's okay, because Princess will be able to sell those cabins anyway. Seems to me that it's a purely economic decision.

A couple of weeks ago I found a deal on the Princess website that was too good to pass up and I booked it right then and there. I used my FCC to hold my room and a one hundred dollar deposit was required for the person traveling with me. Then this week I called Princess and asked if they would transfer the booking to my TA. The representative said that since I had already made a deposit I would have to send an email in to the princess revenue department requesting that the booking get transferred. I sent the email asking them to move the booking and am still waiting to hear whether they will...

 

My question for those of you who have transferred a booking to your TA does this sound right or should I call and see if a different rep can do it on the phone? My TA said she had never heard of having to put the request in writing before... thoughts?

That's the official policy when there is money on a booking. Have your TA call and see if they can expedite since you've sent an email...

Agreed. It is good and drinkable but certainly not the best out there. Princess and Sierra Nevada need to hook up.....:):):)

 

Bob

Howzabout Princess and Stone Brewery...? :)

Princess should have a Boston-style Tea Party & throw overboard Dos Equis. Replace it with Negra Modelo.

I like Dos Equis Amber... just be glad they offer Dos Equis, they used to sell Corona :p

Do any of the ships (esp. Emerald) have a piano that one might play?

Talk to the CD... you have nothing to lose. :)

I have gotten special permission to be able to run bridge on 89 day cruise sept 22 . This has several segments. I need help in letting the princess bridge world know about this. I have been a bridge director on princess previously for over 70 cruises. This may be the break thru we are looking for . I need help in publicity.

Welcome to cruise critic! Make sure you post this information on the roll call for the cruise: http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2044791

The OP may actually want to start a new thread here too concerning availability of bridge on that voyage.

Hello everyone !

 

Last year for my first princess cruise I lucked out and got a great promo deal, $50 deposit/pp and obc. I am curious does anyone know if and when they do something like that? Has there been a pattern? Not that I can't do the full deposit, but any thing to secure that room helps.

 

Thanks in advance

I really think that reduced deposits are used on cruises that they are wanting to push. And many times, those deposits are non-refundable. Definitely, next time you sail, buy a Future Cruise Deposit and you won't have to worry about waiting for a reduced deposit promotion.

Just saw this online...

The Seawitch IPA won a Bronze medal at the New York International Beer Competition. :)

https://www.nyibeercompetition.com/2015-winners/

I agree that it's good to start getting feedback, but the one from the T/A didn't include the extra 200+ passengers from the additional 110 cabins. Since every cruise is different, and everyone experiences (and tolerates) the affects of 'crowd control' differently, it may take this entire Mediterranean season to come to any decent conclusion on how the conversion impacts the various entertainment and dining venues in Island Princess. It's a 'wait and see' game now.

 

;)

One thing that I think that bears repeating is that Princess has severely limited upper berths on Island Princess, so if they're not selling as many upper berths, then 200+ people might (I do say might) not make much of an impact.

I see April 2016 is the last listed sailing out of Houston. Is the Princess contract over at that port? Maybe they didn't make any money sailing out of there? Anyone know?

Yeah, I think they had a three year contract. Houston basically gave them money to use the port. But, as we've seen, it may have been more trouble than not, ergo the decision to not renew.

The official list:

Sun-Class

Coral-Class

Grand-Class

Gem Class

Caribbean-Class

Royal-Class

Small Ships

The differences in some cabin configurations are probably because once construction began there were some structural problems that necessitated that the original plans be changed. Hopefully Princess will post the revised deck plans soon.

I just booked D727 on Island Princess for the 16 November 2016 Panama cruise out of LA. They calling it an obstruction. I can't see the obstruction. There is no images for it on the site for obstructed cabins.

It appears that the window looks out the side of the ship, with a railing outside the window. That's probably what's termed the obstruction.