cheeseclan Posted August 13, 2018 #1 Share Posted August 13, 2018 We just came back from the Aug 2 British Isles cruise RT Dover on the Pacific Princess. We had an ABSOLUTELY wonderful time. I can truly say that this was one of the best cruises we have done with Princess out of our 30+ cruises with them. We got to LHR and took the National Express bus to Victoria Coach station and then walked the block to our hotel. The next day we took our private hire taxi, Twelve Transfers to Dover. Our driver was there 10 minutes early and took us in a nice van on the 2 hour drive to Dover. I would highly recommend them as they were easy to contact and book with online. For the 3 of us with 3 checked bags and 3 hand bags was 130 GBP. Embarkation was a breeze. It only took us 10 minutes to drop off the luggage, check in and walk onto the ship. We then dropped off our backpacks in the cabin and went to lunch in the MDR. This was the first cruise we had club class and we loved it. The only reason I booked this for us was because it was only $100 more total and I jumped on the offer. Yes I did tip the staff in the MDR CC extra since they did on outstanding job for us! We had dinner in the MDR 6 of the 8 nights. The first night we went to Sabatinis and had great food served by Anastasia, a waiter we have had on prior cruises. She was great as usual. The 6 nights in the MDR we were served great food by a wonderful waiter named Menino and his assistant Emanuel. They were some of the best waiters we have ever had. The head waiter, Laszlo served us some great dishes prepared table side. The young lady who seats you, Kathy was the most pleasant person we have ever dealt with. I would book CC again if it was a good deal like the one we got on this cruise!!! The ship refresh was great. Lighter colors throughout, which we loved. The ship is going in for another big dry dock next year to have MUTS put in and also to have some work done on the engines. From what we were told, Pacific Princess will be around for at least 2 to 3 more years. They do know that people like the small ship so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she stays around for quite some time. The entire staff was extremely friendly. Our cabin steward, Jefte did a great job and took care of us. He always had a smile on his face. Lindsay the future cruise consultant/captains circle rocked. She took care of the FCD purchases immediately upon getting them. She also took care of getting our son, who is an elite member too, at our table for the most traveled luncheon. We got to sit with the chief engineer which was right up my sons alley! She also told us that the stickers we get for each cruise are no longer going to be placed in the stateroom. You must get them from the CC person or the front desk. Our Captain, Andrea Spinardi did a great job in keeping us up to date on weather etc. One day our head waiter had to pull the smoke alarm because someone had extinguished their cigarette inappropriately in the smoking area and the smoke was coming into the dining room. It was taken care of immediately by the fire team. Someone had placed some plastic trash in the cigarette disposal container and it started burning. The Captain told us what was going on, what had gone on and that all was okay. Great job!! We liked all the port stops and only did a tour with Princess in Wales. Of course the Tattoo was the big stop for us. We booked the Amber package directly through the tattoo site. We had a great meal in the Whiskey Experience before hand and then we were walked to our seats. They were in section 7 facing the castle. The BEST!!! As far as the entertainment: the production shows were ok. The comedian, Doug Funk was not good IMHO. We actually walked out of the show. The singer Shane was awesome. We saw both of his shows and were very impressed. Neil the CD did a great job and loved talking to the passengers to get our feedback. Disembarkation was easy except for the meeting times on the patter list were off by 10 minutes which did cause some confusion. People were concerned that they would miss the Princess buses to LHR, but no one did. The bus drive was a little less than 2 hours and was worth the $. Overall this cruise was AMAZING!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted August 13, 2018 #2 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Great review! Thanks for taking the time to write one. :) Doug Funk has been around a long time. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewgood Posted August 13, 2018 #3 Share Posted August 13, 2018 I enjoyed reading your review. Looks like I'm going to have to find a cruise to do on the Pacific Princess. Passengers seem to love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riclop Posted August 13, 2018 #4 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Thanks for your report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CA Posted August 13, 2018 #5 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Great review. Thank you. A lot of people are hesitant to book the Pacific Princess because they think a bigger, newer ship is better. IMHO, you’ll have a great cruise experience on the PP. I’m having a hard time visualizing where they’ll put MUTS. The pool area isn’t that big and there isn’t a large viewing area. I’d hate to be relaxing in the quiet atmosphere of the Library only to have MUTS blasting either beneath it or across the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseclan Posted August 13, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted August 13, 2018 They said there is room to put the MUTS screen outside but it will be a much smaller screen. Will see what it looks like.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky TGO Posted August 13, 2018 #7 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Thanks for your review. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron the Rev Posted August 13, 2018 #8 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Best ship of the fleet:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiserkenn Posted August 13, 2018 #9 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Thanks so much. It was nice to hear that they had a Most Travelled luncheon. Sounded wonderful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastBay Cruisers Posted August 13, 2018 #10 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Thank you for your review ! The Pacific Princess is such a well-loved ship. I really enjoyed your mentions of all the wonderful crew members who served you. - EBC:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamomo Posted August 13, 2018 #11 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Great review. Thank you. A lot of people are hesitant to book the Pacific Princess because they think a bigger, newer ship is better. IMHO, you’ll have a great cruise experience on the PP. I’m having a hard time visualizing where they’ll put MUTS. The pool area isn’t that big and there isn’t a large viewing area. I’d hate to be relaxing in the quiet atmosphere of the Library only to have MUTS blasting either beneath it or across the way. Perish the thought that a hulking MUTS screen and noisy sound system would be added.to the Pacific. The areas of serenity normally found on her would be ruined. If the P&Q of the beautiful and unique library is destroyed, it would be a true travesty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseclan Posted August 14, 2018 Author #12 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Thanks so much. It was nice to hear that they had a Most Travelled luncheon. Sounded wonderful! The FC director Lindsay said that this was the first luncheon in quite a few cruises. She had no idea why the captain picked this one. I was happy that they had it and that we were invited😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby3334 Posted August 14, 2018 #13 Share Posted August 14, 2018 My favorite ship as well.....I have been on it about 6x Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Woobstr112G Posted August 14, 2018 #14 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Thanks for taking the time to post your review......:):):) Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseclan Posted August 15, 2018 Author #15 Share Posted August 15, 2018 I almost forgot to tell you all about the taxi driver we hired while in Edinburgh. His name was Tony Beattie and he is a great young man. He owns the business himself and works very hard. He would email me back immediately no matter what time of day or night it was. His taxi held 6 people. The price from the Rosyth pier to Edinburgh Castle was 40 GBP no matter if there was 1 or 6 in the vehicle. There were 5 of us going into the city. We made a time and place to meet after the Tattoo. He was there waiting. It was another 40 GBP back to the ship. The next day we took the free shuttle into Dunfermline. It is an awesome little town that has the Robert the Bruce Abbey and Carnegie’s birthplace. We called Tony to see if he would take us back to the ship but show us the sites on the way. He came right away and took us on a 2 hour tour. It was fabulous. The cost was 35 GBP and was well worth it. If anyone wants to contact him here is his email: tonybeattie79@hotmail.co.uk Tell him Debbie sent you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted August 15, 2018 #16 Share Posted August 15, 2018 I almost forgot to tell you all about the taxi driver we hired while in Edinburgh. His name was Tony Beattie and he is a great young man. He owns the business himself and works very hard. He would email me back immediately no matter what time of day or night it was.His taxi held 6 people. The price from the Rosyth pier to Edinburgh Castle was 40 GBP no matter if there was 1 or 6 in the vehicle. There were 5 of us going into the city. We made a time and place to meet after the Tattoo. He was there waiting. It was another 40 GBP back to the ship. The next day we took the free shuttle into Dunfermline. It is an awesome little town that has the Robert the Bruce Abbey and Carnegie’s birthplace. We called Tony to see if he would take us back to the ship but show us the sites on the way. He came right away and took us on a 2 hour tour. It was fabulous. The cost was 35 GBP and was well worth it. If anyone wants to contact him here is his email: tonybeattie79@hotmail.co.uk Tell him Debbie sent you! Nice thanks! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisequeen4ever Posted August 20, 2018 #17 Share Posted August 20, 2018 That’s cool they’re going to put MUTS on the Pacific! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micahs Grandad Posted August 20, 2018 #18 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Thanks for the review. We are doing our first one on the PP in December and most people love the ship. Smallest ship for us by a huge factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevintheIrishDJ Posted August 20, 2018 #19 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Thanks for the review. We are doing our first one on the PP in December and most people love the ship. Smallest ship for us by a huge factor. Which cruise? We will be on the Dec. 22 cruise. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted August 20, 2018 #20 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Thanks for posting your review. We have not sailed on the Pacific Princess yet. We almost did last year, but then a much better price came along for the Caribbean Princess and we went on that cruise instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoalwater Posted August 20, 2018 #21 Share Posted August 20, 2018 ......The next day we took the free shuttle into Dunfermline. It is an awesome little town that has the Robert the Bruce Abbey and Carnegie’s birthplace....... Isn't Dunfirmline a wonderful little town. We enjoyed our one day visit there instead of heading into Edinburgh for our third visit. Nice manageable museum, the old castle and Carnegie's bitrthplace and museum. One of our sons is on faculty at Carnegie Mellon Univ. in Pittsburgh, and we presented him with a nice photo of AC's birthplace for his office and of course....a Carnegie tartan tie for faculty meetings :D. A great easy alternative for those who don't want to trek into the big city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micahs Grandad Posted August 20, 2018 #22 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Which cruise? We will be on the Dec. 22 cruise. :D We will be on the TA just before yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spikesgirl Posted August 20, 2018 #23 Share Posted August 20, 2018 We just came back from the Aug 2 British Isles cruise RT Dover on the Pacific Princess. We had an ABSOLUTELY wonderful time. I can truly say that this was one of the best cruises we have done with Princess out of our 30+ cruises with them. We got to LHR and took the National Express bus to Victoria Coach station and then walked the block to our hotel. The next day we took our private hire taxi, Twelve Transfers to Dover. Our driver was there 10 minutes early and took us in a nice van on the 2 hour drive to Dover. I would highly recommend them as they were easy to contact and book with online. For the 3 of us with 3 checked bags and 3 hand bags was 130 GBP. Embarkation was a breeze. It only took us 10 minutes to drop off the luggage, check in and walk onto the ship. We then dropped off our backpacks in the cabin and went to lunch in the MDR. This was the first cruise we had club class and we loved it. The only reason I booked this for us was because it was only $100 more total and I jumped on the offer. Yes I did tip the staff in the MDR CC extra since they did on outstanding job for us! We had dinner in the MDR 6 of the 8 nights. The first night we went to Sabatinis and had great food served by Anastasia, a waiter we have had on prior cruises. She was great as usual. The 6 nights in the MDR we were served great food by a wonderful waiter named Menino and his assistant Emanuel. They were some of the best waiters we have ever had. The head waiter, Laszlo served us some great dishes prepared table side. The young lady who seats you, Kathy was the most pleasant person we have ever dealt with. I would book CC again if it was a good deal like the one we got on this cruise!!! The ship refresh was great. Lighter colors throughout, which we loved. The ship is going in for another big dry dock next year to have MUTS put in and also to have some work done on the engines. From what we were told, Pacific Princess will be around for at least 2 to 3 more years. They do know that people like the small ship so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she stays around for quite some time. The entire staff was extremely friendly. Our cabin steward, Jefte did a great job and took care of us. He always had a smile on his face. Lindsay the future cruise consultant/captains circle rocked. She took care of the FCD purchases immediately upon getting them. She also took care of getting our son, who is an elite member too, at our table for the most traveled luncheon. We got to sit with the chief engineer which was right up my sons alley! She also told us that the stickers we get for each cruise are no longer going to be placed in the stateroom. You must get them from the CC person or the front desk. Our Captain, Andrea Spinardi did a great job in keeping us up to date on weather etc. One day our head waiter had to pull the smoke alarm because someone had extinguished their cigarette inappropriately in the smoking area and the smoke was coming into the dining room. It was taken care of immediately by the fire team. Someone had placed some plastic trash in the cigarette disposal container and it started burning. The Captain told us what was going on, what had gone on and that all was okay. Great job!! We liked all the port stops and only did a tour with Princess in Wales. Of course the Tattoo was the big stop for us. We booked the Amber package directly through the tattoo site. We had a great meal in the Whiskey Experience before hand and then we were walked to our seats. They were in section 7 facing the castle. The BEST!!! As far as the entertainment: the production shows were ok. The comedian, Doug Funk was not good IMHO. We actually walked out of the show. The singer Shane was awesome. We saw both of his shows and were very impressed. Neil the CD did a great job and loved talking to the passengers to get our feedback. Disembarkation was easy except for the meeting times on the patter list were off by 10 minutes which did cause some confusion. People were concerned that they would miss the Princess buses to LHR, but no one did. The bus drive was a little less than 2 hours and was worth the $. Overall this cruise was AMAZING!!! Thanks so very much for this great review. PP is our favorite ship and I hope that she will continue to be part of the Princess line for a good long time. Can you tell me if Oscar (Matre'd hotel) was on board? It's great that you enjoy the CC so much. Our upcoming cruise will be the first time with the option, so we are looking forward to it. Glad you had such a great trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chamima Posted August 20, 2018 #24 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Thanks so very much for this great review. PP is our favorite ship and I hope that she will continue to be part of the Princess line for a good long time. Can you tell me if Oscar (Matre'd hotel) was on board? It's great that you enjoy the CC so much. Our upcoming cruise will be the first time with the option, so we are looking forward to it. Glad you had such a great trip! Thanks for your review. She is also a favorite of ours. I'm also curious about Oscar. He is a wonderful Maitre D'. He appears to be joking around a lot but in reality runs a really good dining room. I, for one, am happy about the MUTS. There's nothing I like more than laying on a deck chair with a cozy blanket watching a movie under the stars (or maybe napping a little . ;)) Did the person who told you about the addition happen to say when it would happen? I can't find any openings in her schedule for the next year or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevintheIrishDJ Posted August 20, 2018 #25 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Thanks for your review.She is also a favorite of ours. I'm also curious about Oscar. He is a wonderful Maitre D'. He appears to be joking around a lot but in reality runs a really good dining room. I, for one, am happy about the MUTS. There's nothing I like more than laying on a deck chair with a cozy blanket watching a movie under the stars (or maybe napping a little . ;)) Did the person who told you about the addition happen to say when it would happen? I can't find any openings in her schedule for the next year or so. Last year, Oscar was not on the Pacific Princess. Word is he has been given a promotion to a larger ship. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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