Just Back Today from CB-Eastern

[Cruisin4eva]

Sunluva-
I know what you mean... been to Meagan's Bay a few times. We feel the need for something new. Sapphire looks real nice. I think it's between there and Morningstar. I have to say again, your pics are great...thanks so much for sharing!!

[mariakitty]

How long is the Sunny Liston tour? There are two different tours we are considering, and I would like to do both if possible. ;)

[Cruisin4eva]

Sunluva7 and mdmom7,
I just read the "review" written by jks5679... it's hard to believe she was on the same ship as you two!!! Isn't that funny?? I guess it's all about going into EVERY cruise with a possitive attitude. My sailing on the CP in Oct will be my 15th cruise (8 of which have been with Princess)... never walked off a ship unhappy. We are going to be traveling with our very good friends that have never cruised before. I keep telling them... "you make what you want of the cruise". When people come home so unhappy that they can spit nails... I just can't relate. It should never get to that point. Oh well, I am happy you both had a great time. We are counting down our days until we sail. It's very exciting for me because this is a first for the CP!! She looks absolutley beautiful. Thanks for listening :)

[sunluva7]

[quote name='mariakitty']How long is the Sunny Liston tour? There are two different tours we are considering, and I would like to do both if possible. ;)[/QUOTE]
It depends how early you want to roll out of bed. :D Sunny will give you a choice of pick-up time: 9:00, 10:00 or 11:00, dpending upon how much time you want shopping, as he takes you downtown first. We were picked up at 10:00 and he picked us up at 12:30, I think, for the rest of the tour. We were back at the ship by 4:00 p.m.

Cruisin4eva: I read that review, too, and asked myself the same question - were they on the same cruise? :confused: Some folks go into a new situation with certain expectations and then are disappointed when those expectations fall short. If you do all the research you can, especially if it's your first cruise, you know what to expect, and then won't be so disappointed when something doesn't quite turn out as planned. Then again, some people just like to complain for the sake of complaining. ;) Just be positive and tell yourself it's your vacation and you're going to have a great time, no matter what!

[mariakitty]

I read that other review was pretty shocked! I have this theory that many people hold a cruise vacation to a much higher standard than a land holiday. Maybe it's the price (which I think usually beats a land vacation when you consider it's transport, lodging, food and activities). It seems that those who are just fine with a week in a hotel somewhere, doing much of what they want on their own, have these ultra-high expectations from a cruise that offers so many activities and dining choices. I have loved every cruise I have been on, none of which were perfect, but then what is? Unless I was scrubbing dishes in the galley, I will always have a great time cruising. :)

[cruzbabe]

[quote name='mariakitty']I read that other review was pretty shocked! I have this theory that many people hold a cruise vacation to a much higher standard than a land holiday. Maybe it's the price (which I think usually beats a land vacation when you consider it's transport, lodging, food and activities). It seems that those who are just fine with a week in a hotel somewhere, doing much of what they want on their own, have these ultra-high expectations from a cruise that offers so many activities and dining choices. I have loved every cruise I have been on, none of which were perfect, but then what is? Unless I was scrubbing dishes in the galley, I will always have a great time cruising. :)[/QUOTE]
I totally agree with you! This applies to the food as well where it sounds like some of these people eat gourmet every day and then the food on the cruise is not up to par with their every day gourmet diet.

[dbcruzin]

[quote name='cruzbabe']I totally agree with you! This applies to the food as well where it sounds like some of these people eat gourmet every day and then the food on the cruise is not up to par with their every day gourmet diet.[/QUOTE]

I too was on the 8/6 cruise on the CP. I haven't read the review some of you are speaking of, and believe it or not I sometimes eat at McDonalds, Applebees, etc. That being noted, I have to say I can't remember the overall quality of the food being as poor on any cruise I have taken. The best food we had was in Caribe late at night and for dinner after we finally gave up on the dinning room. However, did this ruin my cruies? Absolutely not!!!! My theory is always that if you didn't enjoy a cruise, you better check your pulse.....you may have expired!:D

Hiya mdmomof7.....certainly enjoyed the company and conversation of you and your DH. Glad you also had a good time and will be forever addicted to cruising.:)

[Lillykat]

I haven't gotten to post my review yet - I want to do it sometime this week but it has been very busy with my DH's grandfather in the hospital, as well as many other obligations. I just finished uploading my photos last night.

Dbcruizen - see we had heard for so long that there was no comparison between Celebrity and Princess (we are elite cc with Celebrity) so we went with low expectations to just lay by the pool and have some good drinks. Well we were extremely pleased with the cruise. So happy we did an open booking but are going to book the Crown for November of 2006. We had some minor problems with our room steward cancelling some of the items that I paid for in advance saying we didn't pay for them when the purser confirmed that we had, that were surprises for DH, when we were entitled to it (another issue for another post, another day). We were pleased at how Princess handled it and it certainly didn't put a damper on our cruise.

Food related - See I rather had a different opinion. Living on LI I go a few times a year to some of the top NYC restaurants - Gotham bar and grill, Chanterelle, Danielle, and Jean George. I absolutely do NOT expect to find anything like that on my cruise. They have simply way too many people to cook for - so I see cruise food more along the lines of caterering food.

Now I have taken 1 NCL and a number of Celebrity so this is what I have to compare it to. Honestly, I don't remember the food on the NCL so it had to have been fine. Now we love Celebrity - but like anything - some items are hit and miss - food sometimes not cooked right - or item not as good as the year before - but overall for cruise food - I thought it was very good.

I would say the buffet food was horrible. Breakfasts were ok to good and I could easily find something good (omlettes etc) to eat, but lunches were pretty bad. Now having said that there were always salad or something I could find to make me happy. Grill food - the hamburgers were simply not hamburgers. This was commented on to us numerous times. They did not look or taste like burgers. Some commented they more resembled that of a sausage patty. However, the pizza was quite good. We enjoyed the dining room lunch better than the buffet.

Dining room food was actually pretty good. Was it a top NYC restaurant food no, but as I said it is more like caterering food. Some items were not as good as celebrity, others were much better. The escargot was the same, soups not quite as good, entrees - my meat was always cooked exactly the way I requested, souffles were excellent.

[basketsiam]

I guess I'll have to admit that my husband Dan and I did have some expectations regarding both the food and the service in the dining rooms on Princess, and no, we weren't expecting a five star restaurant. Quite honestly, we expected that the food and service would be better on Princess than on Carnival, and it was not. Carnival's selections in the dining room and their real hamburgers from the grill (not processed meat) wins hands down.

[sunluva7]

After your description of the burgers when I saw you at Outriggers, I never did try one. In fact, the only thing I remember anyone trying from the grill was the hot dog my youngest didn't like. Pizza was king in our family!

We also did an open booking, not until summer of 2007 (unless I manage to sneak another in before then). For our 30th anniversary, we may also try the Crown. So you can let me know how you liked it. :)

[Karrde]

[quote name='sunluva7']
The majority of the photos were taken with my husband's digital SLR, which he bought just a few months ago. The remaining few (horses on the beach) were taken by me with a plain old 35 mm - No easy task on the horse, because of the constant up and down trotting in the saddle. :)
[/QUOTE]

So which camera took the underwater shots... and how? I've got a digital and an older film SLR, and would love to do some unerwater shots, but just have no clue how to acheive them. Yours turned out so clear....

[mdmomof7]

Hi dbcruzin and basketsiam (Longaberger? :)), I was wondering when I'd see you on this thread! It sure is tough to be back home. The kids were glad we had a good time but they don't want to hear about this becoming an annual institution. Too bad. They can have us all the other 51 weeks, but we're not waiting another 20 years for the next cruise! Though I admit January is a bit soon for the next one! lol! Guess we'll have to figure out something really good for them all when dd is on winter break from college. But I don't think I could watch all 7 on a cruise and get anything but stressed from it! lol!!!

About the food, dh and I do not frequent gourmet restaurants on a regular basis, but we do have a nearby favorite historic inn that serves elegant french cuisine. We like good food and seek out out our favorite restaurants, mostly in Little Italy in Baltimore. We did not have a problem with the dining rooms. We ordered something different if we didn't like our choices and all but one of our PC waiters was attentive to what we did and didn't eat and suggested something else. Like Lillykat we found the lunches blah and only went twice for the entrees. The fresh fruit was always that and we snacked on that. But we tended to stay up LATE, till the wee hours of the AM and therefore eat breakfast later in the AM, 10ish, so we were usually quite full from breakfast and didn't need lunch. We never did try the DRs for lunch and only once for breakfast. I saw the burgers and never touched them. Blech! I didn't think the pizza was that good either, but I'm picky about my pizza. Dh said it was fine w/ him and admittedly my piece did look like it had sat too long. :eek: I did not like the late night Cafe Caribe except on the last two nights when we finally realized we had to sit in the somewhat poorly marked (by opera house style ropes) bistro area where you could order off a menu.

Still a great cruise and I was so full anyway, it was a good thing I didn't like the food any better!

Oh, we had very good service from most of the PC waiters, especially in the Palm, to the left of the main entrance in area 128. Yes, there was one stressed out waiter one night in the Coral DR and he was barely keeping his smile stuck on but he did. And then there was a crazy 3 stooges type team we had Wed. night but we didn't care because we met some terrific people at the table for two next to us and we hit it off talking so it was a net plus.

I'd cruise Princess again because of the elegant atmosphere, attentive service and immaculate facilities. Also, our room steward was personable and efficient and we were just in a plebeian obstructed view cabin on the Emerald Deck and not in a mini-suite or higher.

[sunluva7]

[quote name='Karrde']So which camera took the underwater shots... and how? I've got a digital and an older film SLR, and would love to do some unerwater shots, but just have no clue how to acheive them. Yours turned out so clear....[/QUOTE]
Sorry - neglected to mention the underwater shots because I just added them to the album 2 days ago... The underwater shots were taken with a Fuji disposable water camera. These cameras are cheap, and I've always had good luck getting good photos with these, although I find it is a bit difficult to see through the viewfinder while I have the mask on, the the fish just won't stop and pose they way I'd like... :rolleyes: But I always manage to get a few good pictures.

[Karrde]

[quote name='sunluva7']The underwater shots were taken with a Fuji disposable water camera. These cameras are cheap, and I've always had good luck getting good photos with these, [/QUOTE]

Nice... you get those stateside or on the boat? I don't think I've ever seen them... not that I look too hard at disposables nowadays.

[sunluva7]

[quote name='Karrde']Nice... you get those stateside or on the boat? I don't think I've ever seen them... not that I look too hard at disposables nowadays.[/QUOTE]
We bought them at Wal-mart before the cruise, but they have them everywhere, including the ship. Reminder - they need to be packed in a carry-on, not checked luggage.

[RM]

Buy them at home they are about 1/2 the price. We love the Fuji underwater cameras. Used it in Aruba and the pictures were out of this world. Tried the Kodak at the same time and the Fuji did a better job.

[teflonjeff]

I'll post this on other boards too. Does anyone know if tea, water, punch and juice are available around the clock self serve? They were on out last curise, Carnival Destiny. Seems trivial, but it's really not. If there not available, we'll either bring soft drinks on board or buy the card.

Thanks,
Teflonjeff

[mdmomof7]

;)
From the Quick Reference Dining Guide of my 8/6/05 cruise:

Horizon Court and Cafe Caribe are open 24 hrs as follows:

Pastries and Beverages 4-10AM in Cafe Caribe
Breakfast Buffet 6-11:30AM in Horizon Court
Luncheon Buffet 11:30AM -4:30PM in Horizon Court
Light Snack Buffet 4:30-6:30PM Horizon Court
Dinner Buffet 5:30-11PM Cafe Caribe
Bistro (dinner menu ordering) 11PM-4AM Cafe Caribe

Trident Grill and Prego Pizzeria Lido Deck
11AM - midnight

Scoops Ice Cream Lido Deck
11AM - 5:30PM and 7-10:30PM

Hope this helps. :)