Sea Princess to be Australia based from 2011/12 Season

[Dorset Cruiser]

P&O have doubled up capacity from Barbados (Ventura + Azura). They are even offering (not a very good deal in my opinion) where you book and it will be either of the ships within a certain timeframe and get a couple of hundred quid off. So I would imagine that is our lot on the charter flights to Barbados. I also spotted American Airlines are the preferred Princess for the Miami/Fort Lauderdale embarkations not BA but Manchester in addition to London departure is offered.

 

 

We flew AA to Miami to join Ruby Princess last year - it was dreadful:eek:

[chigley]

We flew AA to Miami to join Ruby Princess last year - it was dreadful:eek:

 

Our Ruby 10 nighter felt too short after going all that way. We did BA Newcastle to London, Virgin to Miami and it was a right pain. The flight had some of the rudest (UK) passengers I have ever come across. The poor flight crew. The mess left on the plane cabin floor was unbelievable. Then the Miami immigration experience. The extra sea days to get down to the islands not my cup of tea either.

[Dorset Cruiser]

The AA flight was direct to Miami from Heathrow so we had no complaints there. Our complaints were concerning the condition of the plane, the attitudes of the staff and the horrendous food on offer (quite the worst we have encountered in many, many flights). The only redeeming feature of the flight out was that the plane was half empty and we had three complete rows of five seats between 6 adults and 2 children, so we could spread out. The flight back to London was another matter with a fully loaded plane, and a lot of turbulence. They were unable to do a breakfast service for economy passengers due to this turbulence but we were amazed to see that they were able to offer a breakfast service to business and first class passengers:rolleyes:

 

Once we reached Miami we could not fault Princess Cruises. We were taken to a very nice hotel for an overnight stay and then transferred to Fort Lauderdale. The actual cruise was wonderful, with the exception of the weather which was a bit dire in places, but that was just luck of the draw.

 

We also sailed through Immigration at Miami for a change with hardly any queuing.

[chigley]

Yes to be fair about the immigration procedure. It was the same very silly set of passengers who were causing the tension in the inspection hall. Many were still using their mobile phones and had not bothered to fill out their forms. You have had about 8-9 hours to have a proper go at doing this. Also when directed to join a queue for a desk but stand at the glass wall until called seemed difficult for some.