TinaLee

Why do the overweight always get these comments? Seriously, why is that acceptable? Was that the single bad outfit you saw on your entire holiday? And why did you feel the need to share it? Do you feel better now? SMH

oh, why did you have to go there?

You also have to take into account on the Princess/Viking comparison that Wi-Fi (although it isn’t great - lol) and specialty dining (which is amazing) are included. There is absolutely no comparison on the buffet areas, as Viking blows Princess out of the water, and personally I appreciate that I can get specialty coffee 24/7 included on Viking. Included excursions, free use of their laundry rooms on each deck (even detergent is included), free use of the spa, a really nice gym are all positives for us. If you love big production shows and a casino, Viking may not be for you, but I will say the vocalists in the tiny Viking show lounge were outstanding. 🙂

Do you mean between Princess and Viking/Crystal or between Viking and Crystal?

Here's my odd question. Since our PVS comes with daily refreshment of liquor in our mini bar, and we aren't really hard liquor drinkers, do you think they would put Koppabarger hard cider in our mini bar? That Wildberry is my husband's favorite. Thanks! And thanks to the OP for posting these. Still won't do SSP since it's fairly costly for a 14 day cruise and we aren't likely to have a drink outside meal times, but since they've gone up to $9.50 a drink and two a day would get you fairly close to the $25 per day for the SSP we may have to look at it again. 🙂

Thanks for doing this. Like you, we have sailed Princess multiple times, in multiple locations, and found ourselves giving Viking a try. We love their ocean cruises. Rivers may just not be my thing, but we will try again. One of the three was completely amazing, so we're willing to try again. Interested in getting your take on Viking Ocean and the comparison with Crystal.

The difference is 0.80 and they have to pay an exchange fee - not sure that math works in their favor.

We've used Welcome Pickups in many ports, but in Italy we use Stefano's Romecabs. Highly recommend, great people to work with.

Could you tell us which ship you're on? And maybe which itinerary? Thanks!

It would be from FLL to Orlando and I can drive it faster than flying it! We did our own air.

we are doing a TA in December and were told we could not book one way air. We only need the flight to Barcelona pre-cruise, as we're basically sailing home to Florida. Weird that they let some do it and not all.

Have you looked into ride share? Try the Rome2Rio website as they will list many options. I assume if you're considering staying the night you would have some sort of luggage or a larger bag with you? Keep that in mind as well. You may have to check a larger backpack at St. Mark's (I know you do at the Doge's Palace).

Sadly, no. If you fly in or out on any day other than the day you embark or disembark they will charge you a deviation fee. and, as stated above, you'll need to arrange your own transportation. We don't use Viking Air, as by the time we pay for deviations and selection of our own flights we can usually book better tickets on our own. We also do self-exploration and arrange our own transfers.

Yes, it is. We’re doing the little 6 day before Rotterdam repositions and we got the HIA.

Ahhh… Princess fries - it’s a real thing! We love them. We often went into the buffet to make a cheese plate or get some shrimp before watching a movie and all around us people would ask where we got the food - ummm… the buffet is right there! Happy memory for us! Enjoying your review!

We’re sailing the “baby” cruise of 6 days in April before she crosses, and we haven’t sailed HAL since about 2005(?), so very interested in your review. We are breaking our own “no short sailings” rule on this one! 🙂

This is exactly what we did - we didn’t grant them access to our brokerage account, but did send a pdf of the cover page with account number, other stocks, etc blanked out. Worked like a charm - now if only I could use it before we board - lol!

Actually, once stockperks verifies that you do qualify for the OBC it falls on you to hit the "redeem" button to have this applied to your cruise. If you failed to follow this step, that is why Princess did not apply the credit to your account.

Wow, this thread jumped the shark…

We were there in December, but just for a transit on our way to Prague. The passport control line was nuts, but if your flight is leaving within a certain time frame they let you go to the head of the line - just listen for the announcements. We’ve flown in and out of Schiphol many times and I don’t think it’s any worse than JFK and it’s better than CDG. What I always shake my head over is that you land and you taxi for what seems like MILES, even though you can see the tower “right there!” Don’t stress over AMS, but don’t plan a short connection, and arrive at least 3 hours before your flight.

Sorry, I guess the point I was trying to get across was that the more often you boil the water the less oxygen it contains, so having it sit there “warming” just makes it worse, not better. Which is why you never reboil water in the kettle. Thanks for the clarification.

Well that is certainly bad news!

I just think I should interject for the non daily kettle users the following - making hot tea correctly means you take fresh water, place it into your kettle, and boil. Once it reaches boiling level and the kettle turns off, you immediately pour the water over your loose tea or tea bag(s). No water provided in a buffet or at a coffee station is fresh off the boil, so it is not hot enough. The longer said water sits, the more oxygen it looses, again making the brew less than ideal. I get that a lot of people don’t understand the hubbub, but to people to whom this is a daily part of life it is a big deal, most especially when using said kettle is okay “sometimes” on the exact same ship. stepping off my box now…

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that rules be broken and lives be endangered, but your premise fails to take into account that the exact same ships which sail out of the UK in the summer (where kettles are provided by the cruise line in the cabins), when they are repositioned to do the Caribbean in the winter, the kettles are no longer available and “suddenly” unsafe to use?