coops14

Ooooo thank you for the pictures, we will have to try that on our next cruise

Thank you so much for your replies. This is why cruise critic is so good. We are still newbies at the Cruise game, but we have well and truly got the Cruise bug and learning so much from this site. Cheers

You can leave anytime you like.

When we opted for carrying our suitcase ourselves off the ship in March this year, we were give a very early time.... 6.30am.

We were told to met in the casino at that time, which we did and were off the ship ten minutes later.

Could we have ignored the instructions given to us and left later,as long as we were out of our cabin by 8am.

Many thanks for any advice

We opted for self disembark on our recent ABC cruise. We had to meet at the casino at 6:20am and we were off the ship by 6:30am! We will definitely rethink if self disembark is for us in the future, due to the early time.

Following your trip report with amazing photos, I almost feel I am there. This cruise is on our bucket list....one day

We had two butter balls on our recent ABC cruise on our table for two.

Run up when you board at the sanctuary.

We were on the Crown last week. I ran up to the Sanctuary as soon as we boarded, before going to our cabin, but we were advised that all the sun beds in the shade were fully booked. Only the sun beds in the full sun were left. We were very disappointed, as we only wanted to experience an half day there.

Just a few thoughts on my recent cruise.

 

The ship was in good shape. I was a little concerned about sailing the week before dry dock. There were no issues with this. Food was good at every venue we visited. Davinci, Michelangelo, Crown grill, Horizon Court, and International cafe.

 

 

Crew was pleasant and helpful. Some we spoke with were excited to be going home. Our room steward was very efficient. Sometimes he would clean the room in less than 30 minutes.

 

Some things I have seen complaints about here:

No steak on anytime menu. While the steak has been replaced by a burger, There was a beef dish every night on the main menu. These included Prime rib, Beef wellington, Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, Filet and prawns and a NY strip steak. All of these were tasty.

 

Wait for anytime dining.

 

If we went around 7 to 7:30 there was a short wait. Just enough time to have a drink at Vines. However too short too get my tapas! :loudcry::loudcry::loudcry:

 

We did the Sanctuary for 2 days and it was nice. There was a guy in a thong though! Talk about dress code issues! LOL

 

 

 

Islands were nice. Although Cpt Morgan pushed me off a tour boat in Bonaire! ;) ( Inside Joke) lol

 

:loudcry: :loudcry:

We were on this cruise and we had concerns about being the last cruise before dry dock, but we found the ship in good shape.

We agree with the comments about the food, great food....on a diet now!

We tried to book the Sanctuary as soon as we boarded, even before going to our cabin, but we were advised that all the sun beds in the shade area were fully booked. When we were walked passed The Sanctuary throughout our cruise, it only ever looked half full. We only wanted to book one afternoon to experience it, maybe other passengers had booked the entire cruise, and only went to the Sanctuary for part of their cruise?

We really enjoyed this cruise and booked another cruise for next year to Alaska on the Grand, but after reading many reviews about the Grand, we are not sure we have made the right choice..... we will keep reading 😎

Very interesting pictures, looking forward to see the pictures when completed. We were on the last ABC cruise before dry dock. We were located towards the front of the ship and didn’t hear any of the noises experienced by passengers located towards the back of the ship. We were pleasantly surprised with the condition of the ship, as we were the last cruise before dry dock. Thanks again

Not at all, anyone can book it. I meant that as Elites we boarded first, so we made it to the Sanctuary before everyone else. The earlier you go, the bigger the choice of loungers. Sea days especially can get full.

 

Enjoy!

Steve.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Steve. We are being met at Miami Airport, the day before our cruise and staying in a hotel overnight, then being taken to the port the next day. This has all been arranged by Princess Cruises, not sure if we have made the right choice, the last time we arranged everything ourselves. So, not sure what time we will arrive at the Port.

So, once on board, should I go to the Sanctuary or visit our cabin first? It would be lovely to experience the Sanctuary.

 

Many thanks

Linda

Thank you for your quick reply. We are Elite, so will make a bee line when we board. We booked a window suite, so a designated outside space would be nice.

Loved reading your blog, especially from the cold, rainy UK. We will be taking our second cruise in March and would like to experience the Sanctuary, maybe for an afternoon. However, can we only book if we had Elite status?

Many thanks

The cards can be purchased by calling or faxing Princess using the product code that you find on the Gifts & Services page of the Princess website. Or, if you booked through a TA, they can order them for you. A voucher will be left in your cabin when you board, which you can exchange for the card at the first venue you approach for a drink.

Thank you, we have phoned Princess and bought the drinks package.

Thanks for your help

Thanks so much for producing this, it has been very helpful, especially as this is our first cruise.

I have worked out, it will be better for me to purchase the package and my husband who does not drink much alcohol will purchase a coffee card and a soda and more card.

Thanks again

Now does anyone know how we purchase these cards before the cruise or are we better to wait until we board the ship. I dont fancy waiting in long queues once we have boarded to buy these cards.

Day 8: Aruba. One of our roll call members set up a day sail with the Tranquila. It was a short hike to the dock through the hot, hot, hot streets. We were already starting to appreciate that we would be on the water today. Captain Anthony and mate Duane made us right at home and we sailed/motored to the southern end of the island and enjoyed swimming and snorkeling time away from the crowded tourist spots, beautiful water, lots of fish. After a lunch of homemade soup and sandwiches and drinks including rum punch we sailed back to home port. It was a great day. Thanks Dave!

 

The Coral Princess was in port with us today. We followed her out to sea just as the sun was setting.

Really enjoying your trip reports. We are sailing on the Royal this month. This is our first ever cruise, but have a feeling it wont be our last.

We saw the Royal and Coral on the Aruba webcam. .... looks fantastic,

We are staying in a deluxe balcony cabin too.

Thanks for writing :)

Thanks for your help. I feel better now I know the routine

Having read another post about the spa and the high pressure sales tactics, we are wondering whether to cancel.

My DH is useless at saying no and we feel the price of the message is enough without them trying to pressure us into buying products we don't want.

The booking states, arrive 30 mins early to relax...should it read....arrive 30 mins early so we can pressure you into buying products you don't really want!

Hi

My DH and I have booked a massage each and on the booking it states

We encourage you to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled treatment so you may unwind in our relaxation area and/or The Enclave*, to begin your Lotus Spa experience.

Extra charges apply for the Enclave.

Does anyone know how much the extra charges are? And are they worth it?

Also what is in the relaxation area? And how does this differ to the Enclave?

Thanks for your help

Princess sent me a survey today to see what I knew of and thought about the Cruise ship programme, I think it might have hit a nerve with them!

 

Basic questions, had I heard about the show, did I watch all episodes, what was the cruise line:rolleyes:, would it influence me cruising in the future and would it make me more inclined to cruise Princess and a comments box at the end.

 

Anyone else get it?

We haven't received anything from Princess, did they send it by email?

Princess just need to read the comments on here to find out the views of the public

Hi bilco

They are going to broadcast the show throughout the ship on disembarkation day to speed up getting us of the ship

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

Ha ha ha Shogun, this made me laugh out loud....

The programme was truly terrible. It did not show the crew in a professional light at all. My parents watched the first ten minutes of the programme to see the ship their family were travelling on and they had to switch it off.

Shogun, we have just watched the last episode of this dreadful series. After watching the first one, we did seriously think about cancelling our cruise.

We were not expecting passengers to be bragging about having a food fight with the Captain and where to stand to receive free drinks.

We were really looking forward to seeing more of the Royal.

Not sure what Princess was thinking, but we are glad there are no more episodes!

Love the video, with so much information too. Thanks for posting :)

Hi there

There are two post cruise excursions which we like the look of. One on Carrie B, then onto Olas, then drops us and our luggage off at Miami Airport, total tour 4 hours.

The second one, is a tour of Miami, Ocean drive etc with two hours on our own to explore, then dropped off at the airport again, total tour 5 hours.

Sorry for sketchy details but I am unable to access the Princess website, I keep receiving an error message.

My question is, has anyone taken these excursions and would they recommend them.

Our flight does not leave Miami airport until 10:30pm, so we are looking for something to do that day and also take care of our luggage too.

Thanks for your help

I was looking forward to trying Alfredo's on the Royal, however if they start charging after I have booked my cruise, we will not be going there :(

I know it's only $10 but it's the principle and unfortunately I feel it's the beginning of many more charges....

We are on anytime dinning, can we go to the MDR for breakfast?

Wow, thank you so much, this is exactly what we were looking for.

Can you take any of the food and or drink from the restaurants or bars and take them back to your room. or is it room service only?

Also, if we would like a bottle of wine in our room, how do we arrange that?

Thanks again