From Princess to NCL

[neptune18]

Sailed Princess six times. Just booked a mini suite on 12/28 Pearl Western and have many questions.

 

1.What time do they REALLY start embarkation and are the lines bad?

2. How much of a pain is it to make dinner reservations every day?

3. How are the chair hogs at pool?

4. We always brought several bottles of wine on board. If I bring it and they find it can I still bring it on by just paying a corkage fee?

5.When can I book shore excursions?

 

Thanks in advance.

[cynbar]

This is a coincidence, I just posted today a comparison between Princess and our recent cruise on the Gem (it's here on the NCL boards.) From what I understand , the Gem and the Pearl are sister ships. We were sailing from Barcelona, so I don't know how this will transfer to Florida, but we were allowed onto the ship about 11:30 but cabins weren't available until 2:00. Chair hogs weren't too much of a problem but we had a port intensive itinerary. One thing I liked about the NCL pool deck is that they have flags on each lounger which you raise when you want cocktail service --- no problem with waiters circling asking if you want a drink.Also, I didn't carry any wine on (which I usually do on a Florida cruise) but I sent a couple bottles to myself as a gift -- you can do this via the reservations dept., if you're interested. Anyway, overall we still like Princess but would not hesitate to sail NCL again.

[DAGVBSB]

Sailed Princess six times. Just booked a mini suite on 12/28 Pearl Western and have many questions.

 

1.What time do they REALLY start embarkation and are the lines bad?

2. How much of a pain is it to make dinner reservations every day?

3. How are the chair hogs at pool?

4. We always brought several bottles of wine on board. If I bring it and they find it can I still bring it on by just paying a corkage fee?

5.When can I book shore excursions?

 

1.) Most ships begin allowing people on board by noon (sometimes earlier depending on how quickly disembarkation of the previous cruise goes) but cabins usually aren't ready until 1:00 or 2:00. (due to the fact that you can remain in your cabin until you are called to disembark.) You can have lunch and explore the ship in the meantime.

 

2.) You cannot make reservations in the two main restaurants unless you are in an upper end suite or part of a large group (8 or more) and even those times are limited to before 6:15 or after 8:15 for groups. You can make reservations for the specialty restaurants the day prior to the day you want to go. Sometimes it can be tough, especially for Tepperanaki (which has limited seating) and the popular Cagney's.

 

3.) Chair hogging varies. There have been reports on here that NCL crews are doing a better job of removing peoples belongings if left unattended for more than 30 minutes.

 

4.) You can bring wine on board if you pay the corkage fee. (no beer or hard liquor). The best way to do it is to put it in your carry on bags and tell them when you reach pre-boarding security that you have wine to declare. They will then take you to a special table where you can pay the $15 per bottle fee and have a sticker put on each bottle. The sticker allows you to take the bottle with you and you can even take the bottle to dinner with you and the waiter will even open it and serve you. Much easier (and less embarassing) than trying to sneak it on board.)

 

5.) Shore excursions usually go on sale 90 days before the cruise.