New to Princess

[gardenbunny]

Hello everyone. There are 4 of us (2 couples) taking a first time trip on Princess Feb 6, 2012 Eastern Carribbean on Emerald Princess. We booked in as a Guaranteed balcony and category is listed as "BG" - deck 11 forward, I think.

I have only sailed with Cunard (8 trips).

We loved the trip itinerary since it is going to Barbados and Antigua, 2 ports I have never visited.

Friends have told us we would probably like Princess so we are giving it a try.

Would appreciate any general info about the ship and the cabin category - hoping we may get an upgrade, but booked as guaranteed since we did not know anything about the ship. Thanks.

[caribill]

Welcome to Princess.

 

First, about the guarantee. You will be assigned cabins in the category you booked or a higher category, based on the whim of the upgrade fairy. The assignment could occur anytime friom today until you reach the pier for embarkation, but will most likely occur before the week before the cruise.

 

There are only four cabins in the category you booked (BG), so there is a good chance you will receive an upgrade. If you get upgraded, the chances are it will be to another balcony category (BF, BE, BD, BC, BB, BA). BF, for example, is just a couple of feet away from BG.

 

The differences between the categories are basically location (Princess considers high up a better location and that center of the ship is better than fore or aft) and the size of the balcony and how much the balcony is covered. The inside sizes of balcony cabins are essentially the same.

 

The Emerald Princess is a great ship. Just a couple of tips:

 

a) If you are seeking a quiet place to relax during the day, the Adagio Lounge (aft, deck 16) and Skywalker's Lounge (aft, deck 18) are good places for that.

 

b) Deck 6 aft only has the traditional fixed seating dining room. You can only get to that dining room from the aft elevators or the aft stairway. You cannot get to it from elsewhere on the ship on deck 5 or 6.

 

c) Conversely, you cannot get to the atrium areas of decks 6 and 5 from deck 6 at the aft. Must go up to deck 7 and then walk forward.

 

d) You can pick from traditional dining (at about either 6 PM or 8:15 PM) or anytime dining. In the latter you pick when you want to go to either one of the anytime restaurants between about 5:30 PM and 10 PM. If it is busy when you arrive, you may need to wait a little, just as when you show up at a popular restaurant at home.

 

e) The menus and the dress code are identical for the traditional and anytime dining rooms. Princess is less formal than Cunard. On a ten day cruise, there will probably be two formal evenings (dark suitsw or a tux suggested for men) and the rest will be smart casual (no jacket or tie required).

 

f) If you book shore excursions in advance on Princess, you do not pay for them at the time of booking. The cost will be on your stateroom account.

 

g) The International Cafe in the Atrium on deck 5 is a great place for a quick, delicious snack. No charge for food except for gelato (3 scoops for $1.50).

 

To learn more about the Princess experience, I suggest you go to Princess.com and download the "Cruise Answer Book." If will answer many of the questions that you may have. (see lower right at http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/prepare.jsp )

 

You may also want to join the roll call for your voyage. You can find it at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1357502

[Wormy53]

We have been looking at early Caribbean itineraries for 2012 and I think you have chosen a good one. (I also like HAL's Noordam and Oceania's Marina) This has a good amount of ports and sea days. For cabins- when you book a guarantee - you never know where you will be. If you really like a bigger balcony, then Caribe deck is where you want to be. No balcony cabin is bad.

 

I love Princess for their fresh-water pools, MUTS, casual elegance, reasonable priced drinks, Sabatini's, anytime dining, homemade pasta and soufflés, and just overall excellence. What's not to like?!!!:D

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is a great ship

[wizard-of-roz]

Princess pizza......the best on the high seas.

Have a wonderful cruise.

[Mom33]

The itinerary is excellent! The Emerald is a lovely ship. :)

[gardenbunny]

Thank you all so much. Great info and glad to hear good things about Emerald. When my sister saw the trip the first thng I asked was which ship and then went straight to CC reviews. They were excellent.

That said, I have been on CC long enough to know how personal cruise reviews can be! What one loves, another may not. But looked at from the overall point of view, sounds good.

When we booked the new Queen Vic sailing out of Southampton in Dec, we did the guarantee in the category with very few rooms and did get an upgrade. It was a winter cruise so no need for a balcony, and our upgrade kept us in ocean view but middle of ship.

As soon as I wrote this thread, I remembered the roll calls so I have started there also.

Thanks again. Looking forward to trying Princess.