New to Princess and Pacific Princess

[sandm]

As the title states we are new to Princess but have cruised CCL, RCCL, NCL, Disney and Celebrity. We are excited about our first Princess cruise and about our first small ship. We are taking our 2 kids( ages 17,19), parents and in-laws June 2012 the Holy Land cruise. Tell me about Pacific Princess.

We are in a PS 6003. The kids in 6005 and the grandparents are in 2 Obs views down the hall. I know, I know 6th floor at front of the ship is not ideal but we really like having an adjoining room with the kids. It's like a 2 BR/2BA suite.

Does the PH get a free mini bar set up or is this just OS? Is the Cabaret Bar open before dinner so we can bring drinks back to to room? Would my kids be able to sit in the lounge with us and have a soda or are we restricted to our room.

I've read so many wonderful things about the thermal suites does the Pacific Princess these?

I haven't been able to find many pictures of the Pacific Princess let alone a Penthouse suite. I have searched on google and webshots. I have seen the ones on cruisedeckplansdotcom. Any photos or links to some would be appreciated.

Lastly, I saw the Pacific Princess has a jogging track for my early morning run on deck 10 woohoo!

Do any of the other Princess ships have one? It doesn't appear to be the case on the Princess website. This could be a deal breaker for us on future cruises on Princess ships.

Looking forward to our cruise next summer.

[Pia1913]

As the title states we are new to Princess but have cruised CCL, RCCL, NCL, Disney and Celebrity. We are excited about our first Princess cruise and about our first small ship. We are taking our 2 kids( ages 17,19), parents and in-laws June 2012 the Holy Land cruise. Tell me about Pacific Princess.

We are in a PS 6003. The kids in 6005 and the grandparents are in 2 Obs views down the hall. I know, I know 6th floor at front of the ship is not ideal but we really like having an adjoining room with the kids. It's like a 2 BR/2BA suite.

Does the PH get a free mini bar set up or is this just OS? Is the Cabaret Bar open before dinner so we can bring drinks back to to room? Would my kids be able to sit in the lounge with us and have a soda or are we restricted to our room.

I've read so many wonderful things about the thermal suites does the Pacific Princess these?

I haven't been able to find many pictures of the Pacific Princess let alone a Penthouse suite. I have searched on google and webshots. I have seen the ones on cruisedeckplansdotcom. Any photos or links to some would be appreciated.

Lastly, I saw the Pacific Princess has a jogging track for my early morning run on deck 10 woohoo!

Do any of the other Princess ships have one? It doesn't appear to be the case on the Princess website. This could be a deal breaker for us on future cruises on Princess ships.

Looking forward to our cruise next summer.

 

All full suites get complimentary mini bar setup. Cabaret Lounge is an open venue; all shows are there. There is no age restriction.

[cathi]

All the small ships have the jogging/walking track on deck 10. Haven't been on any of the larger Princess ships lately but most have a "jogging" track.

The Cabaret bar is usually only open when there is something going on in the lounge but there is a bar near the casino and another outside the MDR. You won't find a lot of kids on this ship but there is no restriction as to which bar they can be in. They just can't be served drinks.

Enjoy!

[Toto2Kansas]

As the title states we are new to Princess but have cruised CCL, RCCL, NCL, Disney and Celebrity. We are excited about our first Princess cruise and about our first small ship. We are taking our 2 kids( ages 17,19), parents and in-laws June 2012 the Holy Land cruise. Tell me about Pacific Princess.

We are in a PS 6003. The kids in 6005 and the grandparents are in 2 Obs views down the hall. I know, I know 6th floor at front of the ship is not ideal but we really like having an adjoining room with the kids. It's like a 2 BR/2BA suite.

Does the PH get a free mini bar set up or is this just OS? Is the Cabaret Bar open before dinner so we can bring drinks back to to room? Would my kids be able to sit in the lounge with us and have a soda or are we restricted to our room.

I've read so many wonderful things about the thermal suites does the Pacific Princess these?

I haven't been able to find many pictures of the Pacific Princess let alone a Penthouse suite. I have searched on google and webshots. I have seen the ones on cruisedeckplansdotcom. Any photos or links to some would be appreciated.

Lastly, I saw the Pacific Princess has a jogging track for my early morning run on deck 10 woohoo!

Do any of the other Princess ships have one? It doesn't appear to be the case on the Princess website. This could be a deal breaker for us on future cruises on Princess ships.

Looking forward to our cruise next summer.

Sandm-We absolutely love the smaller ships, but not all do. Not trying to play them down but the one thing your older teens will find is very little to do onboard unless there are others to 'hang out with' on your sailing. There are no teen clubs, no discos, etc, such as the larger ships offer. Normally, there are very few kids onboard these ships, pre-teen, teen or late teen. The passengers onboard these ships are usually a bit on the older side (depending on the itineary of course, but for longer and more exotic cruises, you will be lucky if there are a dozen kids of any age sailing with you). The ship has one small pool and a few lounges. Your kids can join you in any lounge with you, no problem there.

In a PH you will have ALL the full suite benefits, including the one time mini bar set up. You will also be able to have breakfast at Sabatinis each morning (except on disembarkation morning). The one problem you might have there is that it is for full suite passengers only, no guests are allowed. So, that might run into a slight problem with the teens (but then teens usually sleep in anyway, so that might not be a problem at all). ;)

The smaller ships are great IMHO, as it isn't far from anywhere and you can walk from forward to aft in 5-10 minutes. You will get to know the crew, and they you much easier than the larger ships.

We have sailed in OS suites for 21 days on the Pacific and 22 days on the Royal (just before she left the fleet), and they are the best way to go on this class of ship. Love the bath and a half the OS and PH suites offer.

There are no thermal suites on the smaller ships though, sorry.

If you think everything scaled down, everything, from the buffet to the casino, you will be prepared for your small ship experience. Enjoy!

[Pia1913]

Sandm-We absolutely love the smaller ships, but not all do. Not trying to play them down but the one thing your older teens will find is very little to do onboard unless there are others to 'hang out with' on your sailing. There are no teen clubs, no discos, etc, such as the larger ships offer. Normally, there are very few kids onboard these ships, pre-teen, teen or late teen. The passengers onboard these ships are usually a bit on the older side (depending on the itineary of course, but for longer and more exotic cruises, you will be lucky if there are a dozen kids of any age sailing with you). The ship has one small pool and a few lounges. Your kids can join you in any lounge with you, no problem there.

In a PH you will have ALL the full suite benefits, including the one time mini bar set up. You will also be able to have breakfast at Sabatinis each morning (except on disembarkation morning). The one problem you might have there is that it is for full suite passengers only, no guests are allowed. So, that might run into a slight problem with the teens (but then teens usually sleep in anyway, so that might not be a problem at all). ;)

The smaller ships are great IMHO, as it isn't far from anywhere and you can walk from forward to aft in 5-10 minutes. You will get to know the crew, and they you much easier than the larger ships.

We have sailed in OS suites for 21 days on the Pacific and 22 days on the Royal (just before she left the fleet), and they are the best way to go on this class of ship. Love the bath and a half the OS and PH suites offer.

There are no thermal suites on the smaller ships though, sorry.

If you think everything scaled down, everything, from the buffet to the casino, you will be prepared for your small ship experience. Enjoy!

 

Right now we are preparing for our 59 day small ship(s) experiences. What do you mean it takes 5-10 minutes? I've always said you can get "from here to there" in two. Guess I walk faster. :D

 

Our first one is on the Ocean which is still wide open. The suites are all open as well as some minis. I would love the fairy to take me from my lowly balcony and whoosh us into a full suite. Ah.........that's what dreams are made of. ;)

[Toto2Kansas]

Right now we are preparing for our 59 day small ship(s) experiences. What do you mean it takes 5-10 minutes? I've always said you can get "from here to there" in two. Guess I walk faster. :D

 

Our first one is on the Ocean which is still wide open. The suites are all open as well as some minis. I would love the fairy to take me from my lowly balcony and whoosh us into a full suite. Ah.........that's what dreams are made of. ;)

5-10 minutes, if you stop for a quick lunch on the way Pia. lol I didn't want to scare the OP too much with the timeframe in there. :)

[Pia1913]

5-10 minutes, if you stop for a quick lunch on the way Pia. lol I didn't want to scare the OP too much with the timeframe in there. :)

 

:D:D We're looking forward to getting back on the babies. It's been a few years. I wonder if anything has changed. Only thing I'm interested in knowing is if they added any treadmills and whether they have added individual tv's in front of them instead of the big one overhead.

[BigTimeCruiser]

:D:D We're looking forward to getting back on the babies. It's been a few years. I wonder if anything has changed. Only thing I'm interested in knowing is if they added any treadmills and whether they have added individual tv's in front of them instead of the big one overhead.

When we were on earlier this year they had added treadmills--all have TVs.:):)

[sandm]

Thank you for your prompt responses.

Tot2Kansas, No problem about the kids and discos. When its just us and the grandparents the kids prefer to just hang with us and their grandparents. It is very port intensive so its usually early to bed for all of us then rest and reading and working out on sea days.

 

We figured we wouldn't be using Sabatinis for breakfast since both the kids and the grandparents are not in suites. Maybe next time we can get suites for everyone.

 

Cathi, I must not be reading the deck plans right on Princess website. On the Grand and Caribbean I don't see a jogging track unless you mean the

Sun deck. There are staterooms below so I would never use this to run early mornings so as not to disturb those below. The promenade deck doesn't seem to go all the way around plus again, there are staterooms below.

 

The Ruby and Diamond have the promenade with no cabins below but it doesn't appear to go all the way around.

I will certainly enjoy running on the Pacific Princess. An early morning run is one of my most favorite things to do when we cruise.

 

We are looking forward to the small ship. We've been on some of RCCL larger ships and find them too big. We really enjoyed Celebrity Century which was smaller then most ships we've been on and are excited to go even smaller.

Thanks for all the info.

[caribill]

Is the Cabaret Bar open before dinner so we can bring drinks back to to room?

 

The bar in the Cabaret Lounge will not be open except just before and during shows. However, the Club Bar on deck 5, the Casino bar on deck 5 and the bar at the entrance to the buffet on deck 9 will be open and you can bring the drinks back to your room if you wish.

 

I haven't been able to find many pictures of the Pacific Princess let alone a Penthouse suite.

 

The Ocean Princess (formerly the Tahitian Pricness) is a twin of the Pacific Princess. For pictures of that ship, you can go to http://fp.caribill.com/ Sorry, no Penthouse suite pictures.

 

 

See above in red

[Pia1913]

When we were on earlier this year they had added treadmills--all have TVs.:):)

 

Hubby is now ecstatic. With me I either watch or read my Kindle. Now I know to take our headphones.

[Tiffany's mom]

We did this same cruise in May really enjoyed it. The Pacific is like the ship were when we started cruise europe. Not the big bells and whistles like todays cruise ships. The service was excellent and we found the staff very friendly. Did a b2b for 23 days aboard. There was a 17 older girl with her mother and they had a great time. They were on a private tour that we booked for northern part of Israel. If you are going to Egypt we had a great of overnight private tour. The guide was wonderful and we got to see so much more and about half the cost of the ships tour. Stayed in the same Hotel as Princess tour. The tour was booked by a fellow passenger that was a travel agent that put private tours together, so he knew this guide. We had a driver, armed guard and guide, felt very safe. The name of the guide is Alex City Tours, he has a web site.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Pam

[Pam in CA]

Here's a review by John Heald about the Pacific Princess: http://johnhealdsblog.com/2008/06/25/pacific-princessa-day-onboard-a-5-star-country-inn/

 

Also, here's a link to info on the old/new Royal Princess, which was a sister ship to the Pacific: http://beyondships.com/Princess-RP-Tour-1.html

[sandm]

I am so excited to get so much information. Thank you all.

Caribill, Thanks for the link . They are great photos. Even though it is a sister ship it is beautiful. I can see Princess small ships are classy and elegant. Perfect for us with it's quiet nooks to enjoy. There were even photos of the running track, workout area and laundry room. Wonderful Photos.

 

Tiffany's mom, thanks for the tour suggestions. I still debate what we will do. Three of the grandparents are either in their 80's or a little limited on how far they can walk. I will look up Alex City tour.

 

Pam, I knew I could count on you. You are a wealth of information here on Princess boards. I appreciate your links to the photos and John Heald's blog. I enjoy his humor and all he has to offer.