Megamixer

That makes sense; I don't believe we were ever up in the balcony.

We too were on this Christmas cruise, although not in a suite. We had an outside cabin on Deck 5 which might have been a wise choice. We only had gentle rocking the last two nights. This was supposed to be a "family cruise" for us, two daughters, two granddaughters and an ex-wife 😱. Unfortunately one daughter and granddaughter and the ex-wife were unable to make it out of Nashville because of the storms and cold weather. I had become disillusioned in the past with NCL but we booked this cruise anyway since it was leaving out of San Diego and were able to drive. I was pleasantly surprised. I've never sailed on the Jewel but I've been on the Sun and the Dawn which are similar ships. The refurb was excellent; I especially like the new bathrooms and the entire ship seemed new. Our cabin steward was excellent. I won't say much about the food because I'm such a plain and picky eater it's not fair to the chefs. (Give me a steak and fries or baked potato and I'm happy) I will say one big disappointment in the dining room and Cagney's was the French Onion soup. It's my favorite "have every night on a cruise" and I'm not sure what NCL does. It was like a bowl of soup with a large crouton covered in dehydrated cheese thrown on top? No soft stringy cheese. We ate in the buffet during the last part of the cruise. I thought the food was as good there as the main dining room and our daughter is vegetarian and she liked being able to stroll around and pick and choose. I enjoyed all of the shows except the first one that felt like I was watching "Dancing With The Stars" with no commercials. The comedian (Landry) was excellent and I think the Cirque show was the best aerialist act I've ever seen on a cruise ship. YVR, you mentioned the Haven seats were all taken. Where were they? I'm used to seeing seats near the front blocked off or with a sign for suite guests and don't recall seeing that anywhere this cruise. I was looking forward to the Velvet show and wasn't sure what happened. If you noticed the first few nights of the cruise the advertised show in the Dailey didn't match what was in the theater. It was a good cruise and we took advantage of the Cruise Next deposit that gave us $250 back we intend to use on the Sun's transatlantic back to NYC in April from Portugal.

We picked 9-9:30 while checking in this morning also. I've never seen a check in time earlier than 11:00.

My husband and I are also booked on this cruise, along with our two daughters, two granddaughters and the ex-wife 0)

From experience - it will depend on the ship's internet service. I've used wifi calling on three cruises: RCL's Anthem (newer ship) to the eastern Caribbean had great internet and calling was like being at home. On The Grandeur (from Barbados to Galveston) the wifi calling wasn't so good; a lag and static. Their internet wasn't great. Recently on the Caribbean Princess from NY to Quebec I gave up on trying wifi calling. I had no problems with texting which we used mostly to check on our animals at home.

We saw pictures and I'd love to visit during December.

Yes the luggage was sent directly to the hotel but we also paid for all transfers. Did you book your hotel thru Princess or independently. I just looked at where your hotel is. You will want to get a cab because it's not very far but it's not an easy walk. Uphill and lots of steps.

Update: The cruise was good right to the end. We ate at the Crown Grill on the last formal night. Delicious Ribeye steak and black & blue soup. Disembarking was a breeze. Our luggage was tagged and out out the night before and was sent straight to our hotel room. We stayed over one night at the Fairmont. That hotel is a trip of its own. Beautiful with impeccable service. My only regret is that we didn't book B2B roundtrip from NY.

On our first cruise together, my DH and I were on an NCL ship doing the Western Caribbean. The Grand Princess followed us around all the ports and each time we looked at her we'd say, "I want to go on that ship." Now 20 years later, we are on our first Princess cruise. Since then, we've taken multiple cruises on NCL, HAL and RCL. There's been several threads and reviews on this ship, the Caribbean Princes and I wanted to get my two cents in. We arrived in NYC a day early and stayed at the Midtown Hilton in Manhattan. (All of this was booked through a personal travel agent and we typically always get the cruise package or hotels, flights, cruise and transfers.) The night before flying out, our phones started "dinging" at 9:20 pm with alerts from American Airlines that the first leg of our flight had been cancelled. (Panic!!!) We were pleasantly surprised that the AA app gave us a list of alternate flights and we were rebooked in 10 minutes and arrived in NYC only 90 minutes later than originally scheduled. The next morning our transfer to the ship was over an hour late. Reading posts about the previous cruise I think there was a problem with the bus company. Everyone seems to be suffering from lack of employees these days. Regardless, once we arrived at the port, we were checked in and on the ship in 15 minutes. The ship: This is an older ship but in excellent shape. We're in a balcony cabin, 343 on the Baja deck. I don't know what was done during the 2018 refurbishing but our cabin is in excellent condition. The bed is one of the more comfortable I've had while cruising. The shower is small but adequate and like what's on most ships built during the period. The only negative thing I can say about the cabin is the lack of outlets. There are only 2 right by the desk. We knew this and brought a multi-outlet/usb plug but even that's hard to use because of a light switch right by the outlet. We've still been able to keep 2 phones, 2 tablets, 2 watches, a portable keyboard and camera batteries charged. All of the public spaces are the same; clean, well maintained and pleasant to look at. I really like the main theater as there are no columns here and there to obstruct views. We've arrived early for most shows and were able to sit near the front. I don't recall the theater ever being completely full. The Wheelhouse Bar is a different story. This seems to be typical on all ships, they can't handle the crowds for some of the activities. It's best to get there early, especially since many of the activities are one right after the other and not everyone vacates. Entertainment: There has been plenty from music to games to shows. We've seen 2 out of 3 main shows so far and they've been good to very good; cruise ship entertainment. The best shows far and above the rest (for us) have been the two comedians. They weren't just good, they were 'good good' <winks at Don Friesen> We saw Friesen twice and I wish he had another show. Internet: The internet hasn't been the "fastest at sea" but it's worked, more or less. It seems to be better than on the previous sailing but we also aren't as far north and there are about 1000 less passengers. I've been able to do email, Facebook, send text with pics attached and read the Washington Post. I even downloaded a couple TV shows to watch before going to sleep at night. Disconnecting and reconnecting to the ship's access points seems to help I learned on past cruises. Food: The food has been the least favorite part of the cruise. It's not been "bad" just unpleasing. Food is a very subjective and even more so with me. I'm a very plain, basic meat and starch type eater. We've only eaten in the main dining room 3 nights, mainly because nothing appealed to us. If I have to 'Google' what's on the menu then I know I most likely won't eat it. We are also "traditional" diners and that isn't offered on Princess anymore. We did have set reservations for every night but that doesn't guarantee you the same table and/or server. It seems very easy to set aside one dining room (there are 3 on this ship) or a portion of a dining room for fixed seating. We have eaten most breakfasts in the buffet. Compared to the two RCL cruises we've taken this year the buffet seems to be about half the size but I've found plenty to eat. The bacon has been excellent. I don't know what was up with it, but the bacon on the two earlier cruises tasted old and very strong. (Can you tell I like my bacon?) Then there's the International Cafe. Unless you go to the buffet (which uses concentrate instant), I've only found 2 other places to grab a cup of coffee and you have to pay extra for both. If you want a cookie and a cup of coffee, you have to go down to deck 5 to the international cafe, pay for the coffee but you get a free cookie? Not that that has broken me, we've only got 2 more days left and I've still to use all my onboard credit, but still... It's been a great cruise. We love the ship, the crew isn't just excellent, they're 'excellent excellent' and the ports are all new to us. We picked this cruise and cruise line because we wanted to visit Quebec City and not many ships offer that. We aren't loyal cruisers to any line but I think we'll probably stick with Royal Caribbean when booking in the future. At least for now they're still offering a strip steak every night in the dining room. Princess and HAL both have stopped that. Of course with all that complaining about not having traditional dining - we are booked on the NCL Jewel for a Christmas cruise with the family. So here we go again 🙂

We embarked the day you disembarked. You getting off the ship late explains why the bus was over an hour late picking us up from the hotel. So far the internet for me has been slow but workable. I'm able to stream security cameras from home and upload pics to FB and via text. (We've yet to reach Boston though) We have so far found this ship lovely. Reminds me of cruise ships from the 80s and 90s before the big Vegas hotel type redesigns! I just miss traditional dining.

I will make sure our wait person knows the first night. (Unless they're horrible, then I'll ask for another 😂) I realize having to eat at a certain time each night with 'strangers' was a big complaint, but it's so easy to have both. The same amount of people will be eating regardless; if 40% of the passengers want traditional dining, fine, seat them 1st or 2nd and the remaining tables can go for walk ins.

I'm in the Medallion app now and having trouble. We're not particular so much about place and time but enjoy having the same wait staff every night. If I book the same night and time for the cruise will it be at the same table?

We've yet to sail on our Princess cruise but I'm starting to think it's a Carnival Corp thing. We enjoyed Holland America in the past but have noticed a difference in our last 2 cruises. I am less than happy about Princess not having traditional dining but we picked our upcoming cruise because it ends in Quebec City.

Thank you for this thread; it's been fun and informative to read and I'm sure it was a pain at times with the slow internet. We will be arriving in NYC Tuesday to take your place on the ship Wednesday.

It'll be nice to be in a different climate for a change. We sailed out of Newark this past January. People laughed at me but I kept talking about how exciting it was standing outside waiting to get in the port in the snow! Hopefully you're not up in the areas near Phoenix that are flooding. We live in the Santa Rita foothills with no washes near our house.

No, excuse me, I went to the Princess website and read about the different packages and options. This is the exact wording: Unlimited and Affordable Internet Choose from one-device or four-device packages, starting at just $9.99 USD when you purchase pre-cruise through the MedallionClass app. Platinum and Elite guests get an exclusive discount of 50% off.* *Discount will be applied on board in the form of an onboard credit. https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ocean-medallion/medallionnet/

I read something earlier about this and went to Princess to see how much I paid for one device at the time not realizing that it pertained to those of Elite status. I noticed while reading underneath the 50% off for Elites it said you would receive the 50% off with an OBC.

https://rapidtestandtrace.com/ The above link is for their website. It says they cover travel for Canada but only specifies for "Americas". You could ask them. I have used them once and it was quick and easy.

Yikes about the internet. Hopefully it will be better next cruise which will stay a bit further south. I usually monitor cameras inside and around the house while cruising because we have 3 dogs that a neighbor comes by and visits several times a day. Plus I like getting the notifications if someone is in the driveway or at the front door. Still sounds like you're having a good trip.

This thread got quiet! Did the internet go down?

We did that same excursion this past spring on an RCL repositioning from Barbados to Galveston. THE best excursion! Canoes driven by these guys?

Thanks all for answering. I think I better replace some warm weather things for cool weather clothes. We live in southern AZ and unlike the snowbirds that wear shorts all winter, I'm usually all wrapped up and cold when it gets down to 50. I just looked at pictures from an Alaskan cruise that was the last of the season and I was wearing mostly flannel shirts with a light jacket 😔.

We will be getting onboard on the 31st when you arrive back in NY. I realize you're going a bit further north than we will be but can you give me an idea about clothing for going ashore. Is it warm enough to be comfortable in shorts or should I pack more jeans and long sleeved shirts. I looked at temps for all out ports (yesterday) and the highs and lows were low to mid 70's during the day and low 50's at night.

Just to re-verify so I won't experience a bad surprise at the port; the proctored antigen test offered by Rapid Test and Trace online ARE accepted by Princess? Is this correct? The website claims good for travel to Canada and on cruises. I already did a "test run" with them and it was simple, easy and quick. https://rapidtestandtrace.com

That's a good question 🙂 They're banded together in a drawer now. Once I wanted to do a shadow box with the key card and the little ship magnet we also get above it. But that was before I had so many. Now it's just a matter of "I've always done it." Sort of like keeping several thousand vinyl albums because I've had them for so long even though for the most part they've all been digitized.