Arzeena Posted August 20 #127951 Share Posted August 20 12 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said: Wawa's near me starting serving pumpkin spice coffee last week. I hate the thought of summer coming to an end but sure do love pumpkin spice coffees. I hear you! I like pumpkin spice too. Halloween stuff is on sale in my neck of the woods. Sam's Club is stuffed with Halloween decor already. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sea Dog Posted August 20 #127952 Share Posted August 20 I love fall. It’s my favorite time of year. Our anniversary is in October and then my two favorite holidays,Halloween and then my all time favorite, Christmas. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arzeena Posted August 20 #127953 Share Posted August 20 5 hours ago, h20skibum said: That would mean you would be on the sailing just before ours. Like Royal, it looks like they charge a hefty premium for the NYE sailing. I suppose that is their prime cruise time. Also I was hearing about their Premium drink packages and changes they made that passengers were complaining about. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare h20skibum Posted August 20 #127954 Share Posted August 20 10 hours ago, HBE4 said: But now some of my cruise friends are trying to lure me onto a NYE cruise aboard the Sun Princess, their newest mega-ship. If you do consider the Sun, this website has a lot of good information on it, although they have archived it now. https://britsonaship.com/sun-princess-latest-news/ I know I was scouring everything, to find information about the new ship. There have not been many reviews, probably because it is still in Europe. Just a couple of tips I have found. Stay away from the Cove balconies on deck 6. There have been reports that they close them at times, and people are not able to use their balcony. I have also read of noise complaints for people in deck 10 balconies on the sphere. Evidently, noise from the Piazza filters up to them. We are booked in a Category DA on the sphere on deck 11, and I haven’t heard of noise complaints there. Hopefully, I will do a LIVE from our cruise, with a comparison to Odyssey which is similar in size. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tree_skier Posted August 20 #127955 Share Posted August 20 3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said: Tonight is supposed to get into the 50's here and I think today is only going to make it to 70. I've spent just about the entire summer up in northern Oregon and the weather has been glorious. I had almost forgotten how glorious NW summers can be. We were home for two day and then I flew out to Mississippi for a couple of weeks. I got in last night. The temps are only in the low 90's but humidity is unreal! This is going to take some getting used to. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arzeena Posted August 20 #127956 Share Posted August 20 1 minute ago, h20skibum said: If you do consider the Sun, this website has a lot of good information on it, although they have archived it now. https://britsonaship.com/sun-princess-latest-news/ I know I was scouring everything, to find information about the new ship. There have not been many reviews, probably because it is still in Europe. Just a couple of tips I have found. Stay away from the Cove balconies on deck 6. There have been reports that they close them at times, and people are not able to use their balcony. I have also read of noise complaints for people in deck 10 balconies on the sphere. Evidently, noise from the Piazza filters up to them. We are booked in a Category DA on the sphere on deck 11, and I haven’t heard of noise complaints there. Hopefully, I will do a LIVE from our cruise, with a comparison to Odyssey which is similar in size. We are also looking at Princess. Last time I was on the Enchanted and absolutely loved it. They have been very gracious enough to keep extending our Future Cruise booking deposits as has NCL so looking at those. We look and research and read, and then somehow end up with Celebrity or Royal. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare h20skibum Posted August 20 #127957 Share Posted August 20 23 minutes ago, Arzeena said: I suppose that is their prime cruise time. Also I was hearing about their Premium drink packages and changes they made that passengers were complaining about. We booked our cruise with the Plus package. Princess has a standard fare, Plus, and Premier. I think they are on the third iteration of their packages now, with the latest increase in the premier package now going for $90pp/per day. It was previously $80. Under the $80 package, they limited you to 15 adult beverages a day up to $20, included tips, WiFi, and two specialty restaurant meals per sailing. With the new one, they went to unlimited drinks, and unlimited specialty restaurants, in addition to the WiFi and tips. Not sure what the complaints would be about, unless the ones who booked Premier under the old plan can’t get the new perks. That still looks like a good deal when you compare it to what you would spend on Royal for the beverage package, specialty dining, WiFi and tips. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefly333 Posted August 20 #127958 Share Posted August 20 We had a treat during water aerobics class this morning. I heard the teacher tell someone we will be able to see it too but didnt know what. Later everyone was looking somewhere and I looked and it was a rocket. Wow. The fire it emits was bright and then after it got above the top rail of the fence it had a vapor trail for a while, the the rocket launch noise. I asked which it was and was told a rocket, I mean which one. Someone said space X. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBE4 Posted August 20 #127959 Share Posted August 20 (edited) 6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said: I also dislike summer ending. I like not hearing the furnace and having to pay to be warm. The days are getting shorter which makes it hard to get a bike ride in after work. At least football has started and it is great being back with the kids. 5 hours ago, h20skibum said: Add me to that group. I have enjoyed the low utility bills this summer. It is 54° here this morning. On the flip side, having the windows open for the past 24 hours & shutting off the air conditioners for the first time in 2 months is pretty nice too. The one thing I don't like is the shorter daylight hours. That gets depressing. Edited August 20 by HBE4 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted August 20 #127960 Share Posted August 20 15 hours ago, HBE4 said: Curacao was a new port for me which is why I did the Cave and Walking tour of Willemstad. Both the cave and the walking tour of the town were interesting and the guide was very professional and informative. How she could talk non-stop for 4 1/2 hours was impressive. I did get to see the swing bridge in action so that was fun. We did that same excursion in July. I have never been so hot in my life. Even with the fans in the cave. Wow. We attached a lock to the hearts beside the bridge. The bridge started to open while we were on it, and we jumped across the gap at the end in order to get off before it was too late. It is such a beautiful place. I would love to go back someday. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBE4 Posted August 20 #127961 Share Posted August 20 3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said: I don’t mind summer ending. Fall (and Spring) means the perfect weather for us, away from the summer heat and humidity. Plus, FOOTBALL! This is the year. Go Bills! 2 hours ago, Sea Dog said: I love fall. It’s my favorite time of year. Our anniversary is in October and then my two favorite holidays,Halloween and then my all time favorite, Christmas. I love all 4 seasons. My favorite would be the late Summer/early Fall time of year, Sept & Oct. Still warm enough to wear shorts during the day and even hit the beach (ocean water is at its warmest!) but far less humidity & fewer bugs makes being outdoors & enjoying the fall festivals perfect. Night time cools down enough to need a light jacket but makes the fire pits all the more enjoyable....plus it's great sleeping weather. What I don't look forward to is putting on flannel shirts and heavy jeans. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBE4 Posted August 20 #127962 Share Posted August 20 (edited) 8 hours ago, h20skibum said: That would mean you would be on the sailing just before ours. Like Royal, it looks like they charge a hefty premium for the NYE sailing. Once again, we would almost but not quite cross paths! lol One of my hesitations is price & booking 4 month out means I'll be paying top dollar. Plus, the sail date of Dec 28th means I'll need to be out of town by the Dec 26th, if not earlier, which will impact the holidays. Still, my friends can be quite persuasive. 🙃 2 hours ago, h20skibum said: If you do consider the Sun, this website has a lot of good information on it, although they have archived it now. https://britsonaship.com/sun-princess-latest-news/ I know I was scouring everything, to find information about the new ship. There have not been many reviews, probably because it is still in Europe. Just a couple of tips I have found. Stay away from the Cove balconies on deck 6. There have been reports that they close them at times, and people are not able to use their balcony. I have also read of noise complaints for people in deck 10 balconies on the sphere. Evidently, noise from the Piazza filters up to them. We are booked in a Category DA on the sphere on deck 11, and I haven’t heard of noise complaints there. Hopefully, I will do a LIVE from our cruise, with a comparison to Odyssey which is similar in size. Thank you for this, I really appreciate it, especially since I'm a light sleeper. I know very little about Princess and have been trying to research as much as possible. I spent some time on the Princess forums here on CC - and much like here on Royal - the opinions range from it's the only cruise line worth sailing to it's a worthless & money-grabbing cruise line. 😆 It looks like only balcony guarantees are available so if I want to pick my own room, I might need to go with Ocean View or Interior. OV is actually cheaper but I'm guessing its a less desirable location. If I do decide to pull the trigger & do this cruise, I'll decide by the end of this week as I doubt it'll be any cheaper come Labor Day. Edited August 20 by HBE4 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted August 20 #127963 Share Posted August 20 40 minutes ago, HBE4 said: On the flip side, having the windows open for the past 24 hours & shutting off the air conditioners for the first time in 2 months is pretty nice too. The one thing I don't like is the shorter daylight hours. That gets depressing. I rarely use air conditioning either at home or in the car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted August 20 #127964 Share Posted August 20 11 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said: I rarely use air conditioning either at home or in the car. We use a/c about 24 hours a day in summer even in the early morning it is in 80’s , yesterday high was 107 today should be cooler just 103 . Luckily cars are in a garage when we go to lunch car sometimes says 120 after lunch is over . 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted August 20 #127965 Share Posted August 20 23 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said: I rarely use air conditioning either at home or in the car. I live near George. My car said 110 on the drive home last night. We'll be using AC up until November, most likely. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBE4 Posted August 20 #127966 Share Posted August 20 (edited) 2 hours ago, h20skibum said: We booked our cruise with the Plus package. Princess has a standard fare, Plus, and Premier. I think they are on the third iteration of their packages now, with the latest increase in the premier package now going for $90pp/per day. It was previously $80. Under the $80 package, they limited you to 15 adult beverages a day up to $20, included tips, WiFi, and two specialty restaurant meals per sailing. With the new one, they went to unlimited drinks, and unlimited specialty restaurants, in addition to the WiFi and tips. Not sure what the complaints would be about, unless the ones who booked Premier under the old plan can’t get the new perks. That still looks like a good deal when you compare it to what you would spend on Royal for the beverage package, specialty dining, WiFi and tips. Do you know when they changed the Premier Package? When I booked the Alaska cruise, it was $80 per day. Considering it included tips, wifi (up to 4 devices), 2 specialty & unlimited casual specialty restaurants( which I guess would be their version of Playmakers, Johnny Rockets, etc) and a few other things such as photos & fitness classes, it seemed liked quite the deal. Quite the deal, considering that I just payed $65 for the drink package on Adventure, the extra $15 gets you a lot more. Edited August 20 by HBE4 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted August 20 #127967 Share Posted August 20 30 minutes ago, HBE4 said: It looks like only balcony guarantees are available so if I want to pick my own room, I might need to go with Ocean View or Interior. OV is actually cheaper but I'm guessing its a less desirable location. Have you checked with Ken or a TA? Sometimes they can see rooms that aren't shown on the regular website. I used to book cruises on my own until I learned this. I usually have specific cabins in mind, and they aren't always visible to me. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare h20skibum Posted August 20 #127968 Share Posted August 20 (edited) 8 minutes ago, HBE4 said: Do you know when they changed the Premier Package? When I booked the Alaska cruise, it was $80 per day. Considering it included tips, wifi (up to 4 devices), 2 specialty & unlimited casual specialty restaurants( which I guess would be their version of Playmakers, Johnny Rockets, etc) and a few other things such as photos & fitness classes, it seemed liked quite the deal. Quite the deal, considering that I just payed $65 for the drink package on Adventure, the extra $15 gets you a lot more. They changed it on August 16, for sailings after August 31. This article has the roll out schedule for different ships. https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2024/08/new-unlimited-features-make-princess-cruises--premier-package-the-best-value-in-cruising The article does say you can upgrade to the new package. May be an extra $10 a day well spent. Edited August 20 by h20skibum 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBE4 Posted August 20 #127969 Share Posted August 20 1 hour ago, TravelGirlinDallas said: We did that same excursion in July. I have never been so hot in my life. Even with the fans in the cave. Wow. We attached a lock to the hearts beside the bridge. The bridge started to open while we were on it, and we jumped across the gap at the end in order to get off before it was too late. It is such a beautiful place. I would love to go back someday. Usually when going into a cave, the temperature drops 10-20 degrees. This cave, I think it went up 10-20 degrees. I almost had a chance to ride the bridge, I was about 2 minutes too late. I can' believe it'll swing open with people on it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBE4 Posted August 20 #127970 Share Posted August 20 (edited) 31 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said: Have you checked with Ken or a TA? Sometimes they can see rooms that aren't shown on the regular website. I used to book cruises on my own until I learned this. I usually have specific cabins in mind, and they aren't always visible to me. Not yet, only because I want to be more sure, or more serious, before contacting someone. Plus, I want to do as much research as possible first so I can talk intelligently to a professional. 27 minutes ago, h20skibum said: They changed it on August 16, for sailings after August 31. This article has the roll out schedule for different ships. https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2024/08/new-unlimited-features-make-princess-cruises--premier-package-the-best-value-in-cruising The article does say you can upgrade to the new package. May be an extra $10 a day well spent. Thanks, I booked it on Aug 11th. As you said, It could very well be worth the extra for unlimited drinks and specialty dining. Edited August 20 by HBE4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted August 20 #127971 Share Posted August 20 10 minutes ago, HBE4 said: Usually when going into a cave, the temperature drops 10-20 degrees. This cave, I think it went up 10-20 degrees. I almost had a chance to ride the bridge, I was about 2 minutes too late. I can' believe it'll swing open with people on it. I think that cave is warm as it isn't far underground. As I remember, one of the chambers has light coming in from the ceiling? I think the sun heats the rock and heats up the cave. I love that bridge. Yes, first time there I was surprised we could stay on it when it opens. When you think about it, sometimes they don't even give you enough time to get off of it between when the alarm sounds and the gates close. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted August 20 #127972 Share Posted August 20 37 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said: I live near George. My car said 110 on the drive home last night. We'll be using AC up until November, most likely. One more time, where did I tell you to move to? 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted August 20 #127973 Share Posted August 20 4 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said: I think that cave is warm as it isn't far underground. As I remember, one of the chambers has light coming in from the ceiling? I think the sun heats the rock and heats up the cave. Yes. You have to go UP 49 steps to get into the cave. It's like a sauna inside. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akcruz Posted August 20 #127974 Share Posted August 20 6 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said: Yes. You have to go UP 49 steps to get into the cave. It's like a sauna inside. We did that same excursion in Feb one year and it was very humid and sticky then. We had hoped for some cool inside the cave, oops. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reallyitsmema Posted August 20 #127975 Share Posted August 20 2 hours ago, firefly333 said: We had a treat during water aerobics class this morning. I heard the teacher tell someone we will be able to see it too but didnt know what. Later everyone was looking somewhere and I looked and it was a rocket. Wow. The fire it emits was bright and then after it got above the top rail of the fence it had a vapor trail for a while, the the rocket launch noise. I asked which it was and was told a rocket, I mean which one. Someone said space X. There are a bunch of different websites that will give you information about when the launches are on the Space Coast. There is an app too. Here are a couple of the links so you will know when to look out. https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches-and-events https://www.visitspacecoast.com/launches/ The night time launches are neat to see. We were at a wedding in St. Augustine when there was a launch that part of the payload was actually something my DH worked on. Launch was when dinner was being served inside but there was a rooftop bar area where we could go watch. It was cool seeing something he worked on launch. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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