peninsula_2014

In case it has not been reported yet, the rate has increased to $17 per day.

I will be on sail tomorrow. Weather will be nice in South Cal. I expect the seas to be relatively calm. If that's not the case, I will report back upon return. Weather forecast points to mostly good weather until Feb. 23 or so.

 

I made the booking more than a month ago. Took risk on the weather and it is playing out nicely now.

 

In hindsight, with El Nino present, I should have waited closer to the sail time to make the booking. Actually, I find that the prices closer to sail are at, or even lower than a month ago.

Just returned from the cruise. As expected, seas were calm and the sail was smooth. I brought along medication but there was never a need for such. Lots of sun for us.

A non-related topic: Vast majority of passengers were very casual even for "dress to impress" evenings. I was the only guy with a tie at the large table.

Hi cruising friends,

 

Super curious for the cheap early February departures...how are the El Nino seas treating you? I've heard from one neighbor who said it was pretty miserable...lots of people suffering from motion sickness. Would love to hear about your experience. (My son and I are prone to seasickness. We use Dramamine and sleep through most of the cruise...lol).

 

Thanks!

 

SwimCarrie

I will be on sail tomorrow. Weather will be nice in South Cal. I expect the seas to be relatively calm. If that's not the case, I will report back upon return. Weather forecast points to mostly good weather until Feb. 23 or so.

I made the booking more than a month ago. Took risk on the weather and it is playing out nicely now.

In hindsight, with El Nino present, I should have waited closer to the sail time to make the booking. Actually, I find that the prices closer to sail are at, or even lower than a month ago.

With thousands of people boarding each cruise from all parts of the world and with the possibility of dozens of them being sick how is it the crews fault for the spread of anything. They do their best with an impossible situation.

Crown has had this problem for TWO CONSECUTIVE cruises. Does Carnival have the same problem? I quickly checked the Carnival forum and could not find any recent threads. Carnival receives thousands of people as well.

If Princess customers are as vigilant as Carnival's, the only factor of difference is the cruise line, and the crew.

No?

As I recall, with Noro, Princess only charge for the medications and not for any consultation, about $35 and not worth the trouble of processing through insurance. We went through this a year ago and while I was not bothered about the charges, I was less than impressed by Princess handling of the Noro outbreak.

What did Princess do wrong?

Interested to know. Going for a cruise in a few days.

It sounds like Celebrity has a better solution to the problem making it much easier to comply with their rules. It is always better to go that extra mile to help your clients have a good time so they will come back. Princess needs to re-evaluate their procedure in the case of Noro.

 

The current Princess procedure for Noro cases encourages pax to not report it and not seek medical assistance. This then results in the bug being passed to even more pax. This is reality and not make believe.

Very well said indeed.

Cruise line is a hospitality industry, after all.

Yes for Princess it is the norm......

The OP did not sail Celebrity.

 

 

You always manage to insert a Celebrity snippet. :(

Out of curiosity, I read the first note of OP again. OP did NOT ask about Princess. OP asked about OTHER cruise lines.

This :( is not warranted.

My husband is very brave to pay for 50 day cruise for a family of 8! :eek:

 

Brave.

Affluent as well

It is unsweetened. I also drink ice tea, but I can't take the caffeine, so I get a hot decaf tea and a glass of ice = ice decaf tea.

Good idea :)

Google Maps shows the distance as 56 miles but Florence is still a considerable distance away from the port and it would take some research for the best option to get there.

Livorno to Florence is slightly over one hour of driving distance, without traffic.

For a day trip, you can hire a car (or a van if you have a group) to visit Florence as well as Pisa, then back to the ship before 4 pm.

Also, avoid the Asian buffet day at the HC. Mexican and Asian buffet = diarrhea for a few days of your cruise. :mad:

This is an outright lie.

Heavy tone, isn't it? These are the exact words used by @Kingofcool1947 in another active thread to point out incorrect information posted by others.

diarrhea for a few days of "your" cruise.

You are obviously implying food poisoning here. Intention is questionable.

I do not have a sensitive stomach. Why would I have diarrhea after Mexican and Asian buffet then? Why?

Also, avoid the Asian buffet day at the HC. Mexican and Asian buffet = diarrhea for a few days of your cruise. :mad:

@Kingofcool1947

You need to be careful with your choice of words.

You are implying Mexican and Asian food would result in food poisoning here. If that is not the case, and you have said it is not the case, you are then spreading FALSE rumors with possibly malicious intention.

Also, avoid the Asian buffet day at the HC. Mexican and Asian buffet = diarrhea for a few days of your cruise. :mad:

@Kingofcool1947

Is this a fact? If so, please advise the dates of such food poisoning incidences.

I will be on board the Crown soon. If there was food poisoning recently, I would be concerned.

Looking forward to your clarifications.

they don't cover doctors or evacuation emergency

Of course, they don't.

I thought OP was struggling with the $$ penalty of cancel due to emergency reasons. That will be covered by the credit cards.

In case no one has brought this up.

Most of my credit cards have travel protection. When I book a cruise, or a flight, I am automatically covered if I use such credit card(s) to pay for the trip. It saves me the hassle, and the $$, of arranging a separate travel insurance coverage.

I find this feature extremely convenient.

Yummy ....

Can't wait to get on board. Different cruise ship but hopefully similar arrangements.

Well, one does have to take three cruises to become Ruby. We don't normally make a big deal out of it, but the wife and I are Elite Platinum Diamonds with Horseshoes and Feathers. Only two more cruises and we'll get our Squirrel Tails.

And I have absolutely nothing whatsoever. Have yet to try my first ever Princess cruise next month. Does it mean I stand a lesser chance to correct a mistake of Princess (IF there is one, that is)?

Don't think so.

I do find the bragging of $100,000 amusing. Still cannot shake it off.

Actually the world cruises that are full 100+ days exceed 100K depending of the cabin you select. I doubt the OP sincerity if they used this ploy to get a refund instead of stating their facts. The world cruises sail full so Princess didn't loose so much a cent.

I now have found a couple still open. 115 days in an OWNERS SUITE for just under $83,079 for each passenger.

Sails in May 2017. Still plenty of time for me to save up :)

I wonder where the OP went to?:rolleyes: First post about $100,000 and disappears.:eek: Interesting. Also note he/she said IF. This is a tell. :DDon't threaten if you're not going to follow through. Just a thought.:p

Yep. First and ONLY post, ever.

I am not able to any available Princess cruises listed for a hundred grand. Have to look harder.

We were allowed to bring one bottle of wine at embarkation and one bottle at each port no the Royal a few weeks ago. They also had 375 ml bottles of wine in the buffet during dinner hours for $7.95 each.

Not bad at all, considering corkage fee is $15.

Looks like the stock market hasn't heard about the 100K loss yet .

Carnival Corp stock price is up to over $55 a share today.

2015 has been very good for this stock while many other investments had a down year.

Cruise ships use lots and lots of fuel. As energy costs plummet in 2015, these companies' profit margin should have improved considerably. Perhaps that is one positive factor in support of the higher stock price.

For curiosity, I just checked out world cruises. It is difficult to find many such cruises that sell for $100,000 per cabin. You have to keep cruising for more than 100 days and pick the largest suites to accomplish this feat.

Got it, thanks for the information.

BTW, has anyone tried the sports facilities on board? I read that there are courts for basketball, badminton, etc. Do you just go and play, subject to availability? Or, reserve for a fee, etc.?

Again, first time Princess cruiser. Trying to learn more before boarding.

Thanks for the information. Interesting.

Toast to the scores of un-seen, un-heard crew members who work 70 to 90 hours a week so that we can enjoy our trips ....

The only issue I have with the well-edited video is the title- it doesn't show a day in the life of any crew member. It's a compendium of happy relaxed smiling crew faces.

 

Speaking from experience, having been a musician on a Royal Caribbean ship for 44 cruises (30 years ago so no wi-fi rooms and Crew disco) my work week was

6 days averaging 3.5 hours a day (mostly after midnight in the Disco)-so a 21 hr workweek with every Tuesday off (Ocho Rios). The guys who came to my crew cabin (2 bunk beds) serviced by a room steward each day, for drinks when I wasn't on stage were waiters and room stewards among others. They worked 12 hour days 7 days a week- 4 times more than I. They ate only in the crew mess where the food was "interesting". I ate there too if there was something that appealed but the majority of my meals were in the MDR eating what the passengers were eating. My breakfasts were by the pool buffet-open to passengers,musicians, visiting entertainers and casino crew only.

 

I could socialize with passengers, drink in any of the bars. Service crew members couldn't. Their socializing was restricted to the crew mess. There was no bar there but the ship did sell cases of beer at rockbottom pricing ($7 for a case of 24).Liquor was sold too but I didn't indulge much. The crew could smoke there and in their cabins.

 

I liked to smoke leaning over the railing on Promenade Deck but I would only be joined by Casino staff or Musicians or Photographers. No service staff. Engine room staff might come up for some air and a smoke. There are crew members who seldom glimpse the sea when the ship is moving. (Laundry staff I feel your pain)

 

So a privileged life on board. Ashore at every port. There would be some service crew on the beach as they had a few hours off between shifts. I'd have as long as the passengers.

 

Norris

 

"THEIR SOCIALIZING WAS RESTRICTED TO THE CREW MESS". I am just curious. Is there a place called CREW MESS? If so, what a name !

Taking a 4-night cruise on Crown Princess in January. First time on this cruise line. What are the entertainment shows like? Scale production or cozy shows intended for small audience? Is there a need to make reservation, if so, can I make it on line or have to wait to be on board?