alonzo14

That,s great! Thanks for your replies:D

Hi I’m new to Princess. I’ve sailed with all the other mainstream lines so Princess is my only holdout. We are taking a 10 day Christmas cruise with my son and his family on the Crown Princess December 17-27, 2018. We are on the Riviera deck and I was wondering if there is a door on this deck leading out to the Terrace pool area. :D

:D:D

I am on the Liberty now. I believe the ship doctor resolved the medical issues. My husband was down there because yes, he did not pack enough medication for our extended cruise days! Lesson learned! He had to pay $88 for the office visit and the cost of medication. I do not know if we are covered for this with trip insurance or not, but it is a small price to pay. They are very well stocked with medication and were knowledgable. Other than the crowds of people in the same situation, we were thankful they were there. One of the emergencies was a gentleman with diabetes who had spiked blood sugar. I believe the doctor was able to stabilize him.

 

I have to say, I was feeling a little concerned that they were trying to get me off the ship for several reasons. They wanted to get the new paying customers on the ship. Also, the minute I walked down the gangway they were relieved of being responsible for me. They could take the new passengers and get out of town during the "window of opportunity" the Captain kept referring to.

 

I have no reason really to base those feelings. Never did he say if he got in the port we had to leave, really. I will say I truly have no clue what they were trying to do and I was right there. The crew kept telling us that they did not think we were going anywhere. They had more faith than I did. I admit I was very worried about driving home through Houston. My employer was very kind and understanding. My husband's employer was as well. Life is good and we are very grateful to be here happy and healthy!

 

One experience like this will not change how I feel about anything. Every single day we take a risk. I feel extremely blessed this morning as I sit on my balcony and sip coffee. All my children, their spouses and grandchildren are with me on this trip. Today is my sons birthday. I truly feel overwhelmed with joy.

I lke your attitude! Enjoy those extra days with your family!

Here in the Dallas area there are road signs stating not to drive to the Texas coast.

Rain is now coming down at 2-4 inches per HOUR in Houston. They are telling people to stay in and DO NOT try to drive. It's a serious situation. Whether it lets up is yet to be seen.

Can you tell me which night is the first formal night?

How exciting! The fun is in the planning! You will feel overwhelmed the first day at the size and things offered on the ship. Enjoy!

Yes the Royal Replenish Package DOES include all non alcoholic fruity drinks such as Pina Colodas, Vocanoes, Daquires etc. it also includes fresh squeezed OJ, regular brand bottled water ( not Evian), all soft drinks and any iced or hot specialty coffees. If your ship has a separate Starbucks kiosk it DOES NOT include those. Do not confuse this with a kiosk selling Starbucks as the newer and some of the refurbished ships have separate kiosk. You can get one type of a drink at a time. In other words, you cannot get 2 bottled waters, 2 cokes etc. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us. A Baltic cruise is on my bucket list for sure! Some very gorgeous photos too! Those Princess cruise desserts are prettier than any cruiseline I've ever been on including Celebrity!

What a romantic way to start your life together. It's simple yet beautiful! Thanks for sharing your special day with us! Best wishes to you both!

As one that has been involved in sales for over 30 years, I can say that people value things that cost something even if it is a small amount more than free stuff.

A good example is a free ticket to an event, half of the people won't even bother to show up, but charge even a minimal amount and that changes completely. This is a case of perceived value at work to some degree.

 

If you order a drink at the regular price, you will always take the second one if it is free, however, i wonder just how many of those are unfinished and dumped out? If you charge $1 for it, many people will take a moment to decide if they really want or need it before taking it. Of course for some it is still a no brainer!:p A drink on a cruise ship for only a dollar?!! Of course I will take one!:D

 

Just my thoughts,

 

 

 

Dixon

Very well said Dixon!

I also some questions if you don't mind my asking on the OP's thread here.

1. Where do you get fresh squeezed OJ in the buffet on the Navigator and

2. Is Jonny Rockets open for lunch on port days? I know all other restaurants are closed but not sure about this one.

Such good information being shared here!

I don't know about Alaska or what you think would be important to them but Royal Carribean has some of the most beautiful well laid out ships of any line. They are not as good of a value as Princess with drinks and specialty dining. Princess would probably have a better type of Alaska experience. That being said Royal Carribean does have a movie screen on deck but I think the Movies Under the Stars on Princess is enhanced by padded loungers and pop corn available and show a bit more movies in the evening than Royal Carribean does. They have rock climbing walls and ice skating as well as a terrific ice show! If the movies are extremely important then I give the edge to Princess. Also if cheaper costs for drinks are important. Otherwise I think your teens would love Royal Carribean.

I haven't sailed Princess. My first Princess cruise is December of next year. Looking forward to it. I am Platinum with Royal Carribean and here is my humble opinion based on that and what I do know about Princess. I would first look at Itinerrary and determine what ports are most important to you. Royal Cartibean has the most beautiful well laid out ships of almost any line! Their Radiance class ships have tons of windows. You really feel like you are at sea. Royal Cartibean has very good entertainment. You should not be bored at all. Food is decent but I can't compare it it Princess. Princess is a better value for the money in that Royal Cartibean's drink prices are definitely higher and specialty restaurants more expensive. The Royal Princess seems like a very nice ship. Princess offers more food available later in the evenings. The Royal Cartibean ships have a bit better space ratio. The balconies are good size on Royal Carribean and and beds more comfortable but the beds on Royal could be different because it is new. And of course it is new compared with the Serenade. Depends on what is most important to you. Good luck choosing.

Got the AIBP just a few days ago! Balcony was the exact same price just yourt the package thrown in!

My prayers for the families. Tragic loss!

Forgive me for being a contrarian but we will be consistent with some of our other posts elsewhere on CC. If you get a cold, flu, or even something more serious the Princess Platinum plan may well pay-off without too many hassles. Yes, that is a good thing.

 

However, lets say you have a real serious medical problem, have to be evacuated to a hospital in a foreign land, and quickly run-up $80,000 in medical bills for critical care, surgery, etc. That same Princess plan will pay $20,000 and then say....that is all we will pay. My point is that while the plan is fine for relatively minor things, once your expenses go over $20,000 they say "too bad, you exceeded our maximum." Now some folks might thing that $20,000 of Medical is generous coverage, but we have seen that amount exceeded very quickly when you have a major problem. So for those that have no other insurance that will give them coverage outside the country we always suggest finding a travel med policy with at least $100,000 in medical coverage,,,and that should be the bare minimum. Buying insurance that will pay off for minor claims of a few hundred or even thousand dollars is fine, but not having coverage for a truly major medical issue is taking a gamble with your entire financial future (for most folks).

 

If I have to fight with an insurance company over a $300 claim my life will not change if they refuse to pay or if they are nice and do pay. But if I am fighting to get reimbursement for a $80,000 claim or even a $30,000 claim and they have a $20,000 limit it is going to be a very bad day for me :).

 

Hank

Thank you for sharing this! I think you've made a very good point. I always try to get high coverage for this very reason. Also, depending on the type of evacuation needed and where medical evacuation can get very expensive much less adding medical cost to that.

Just back from the Imagination of the Seas and it was the absolute worst cruise of my life. I will never ever ever ever sail on Royal Caribbean again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Here are some of the details of my terrible ordeal.

 

EMBARKATION

 

When we arrived at the port there was a line to get on the ship. I couldn't believe that we had to stand in line. You would think Royal Caribbean would have figured out how to get everyone on the ship without having a line. Once we got to the desk they asked to see my photo ID. I told them that I had already shown it to the people at the airport, but they were so rude as to insist I present it again. Royal Caribbean really needs to get their act together on this. It's unreasonable to make people show their ID all the time.

 

CABIN

 

When we finally did make it to our cabin it was an absolute pig sty!!! The first thing that I noticed was that there was a piece of lint on the comforter. I've stayed in the best 5 star hotels all over the world I have never seen such a travesty as this. Just the thought of sleeping in a bed that had a piece of lint on the comforter was making me sick so I picked up the phone to call the steward. Instead of coming right to my room, it took him 3 minutes to get there. This level of service is just unacceptable! I told him about the lint and he wanted to merely remove the lint. I told him that the whole comforter needed to be replaced immediately. He left and came back with a new one but we had to wait for him for 7 minutes. I also noticed that there was some dust on the back of the TV. The refrigerator was too small to hold the 4 cases of beer that I snuck on board so I called and asked if they could bring another one up. They said that there could only be 1 per stateroom. This is the dumbest policy I ever heard. I told them that I would be writing a letter to the CEO of Royal Caribbean about this. There were multiple other things wrong with the room as well including the toliet paper not being the same as the one we use at home. When I went on the balcony to check it out, it was really windy out there. I called down to Guest Services to complain and they tried to make me beleive that they no control over it. They said that there was nothing they could do to fix it.

 

DINING

 

Royal Caribbean has the worst food! In the main dining room, the Chateaubriand should have been served at a temperature of 170 degrees, but it was clearly 172 or 173. The lobster tails were so bad that I had real issues even finishing the 4th one. But, the worst part was the service we received in the dining room. Our waiter did not even bother to ask the names of our children even though we told them that our kids were at home. One night after my wife ordered the beef wellington, but changed her mind after ordering. Our waiter didn't even check with my wife to see if she had changed her mind and instead just brought out the beef wellington. It's not unreasonable for people to change their mind after ordering. The waiter should have checked with my wife and he would have known that she really wanted the pork medallions. That's the main reason we removed the auto-tip from our account. The buffet was even worse than the dining room. For breakfast they didn't have super crunch berries with marshallows which is my wife's favorite cereal. The food for lunch was so terrible it was like being forced to eat at Outback. My sister-in-law's friend's cousin's father-in-law also said the food on Royal Caribbean sucks!

 

 

I would like the address of Royal Caribbean CEO so that I can write for a full refund!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the spoof! When I read your subject line I thought, Oh no another one of THOSE post...lol. You'll have to think up more for us!

I have a few, but you'll have to fast forward to the Falmouth section of the video.

Very good video! You did a great job of depicted the different happenings and ports on the Oasis. It brought back memories. However we didn't go to Famouth when we sailed on Oasis several years ago after she just came out. I think our cabin was very near yours too!

We will go going to Falmouth this October on the Navigator so thanks for capturing some of it on video!

CC needs a like button.

Exactly! I've read a post and said to myself, Where's the LIKE button! Haha!

You can request robes in your cruise Personalizer. You can request for just yourself or everyone in your cabin. I can't remember which tab it is under but it's there. Don't know how helpful I have been but I hope it helps.

Our first cruise was in 1983 on the Song of America. She was Royal Carribean's first brand new cruiseship then. I was struck by the size of the ship! She was only 27,000 tons...lol. Meals were special and we loved the service. We didn't cruise again until 1999 and have been regular cruisers ever since.

Cruising is the ultimate getaway vacation. There is nothin like being at sea. You don't have to worry about making separate reservations for things. You don't have to drive anywhere. You get a chance to explore both inside and outside the vessel. Plenty of decks to roam!

We don't cruise Royal Carribean exclusively but they are probably our favorite for their gorgeous ships and better entertainment and service.

I always have thought "why own jewelry if I don't wear it" especially my wedding rings. The only time I have been without them is when hospitals made me remove them for surgery. Use common sense. If you are going ashore in a place that could be 'sketchy', remove any jewelry. That will not be necessary in Bermuda. It is a very beautiful, very safe island.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage.

 

Sail7seas: Very good advice!

Persephoneo: I also congratulate you on your upcoming marriage! Best wishes and smooth sailing!

As of 10 minutes ago, St. David, the small but fast Pilot boat was pulling away from the Dawn at 20 knots, she's now at 24 knots - returning to shore - headings for St. George's on the east end. The Dawn isn't moving & there's no further update about whether it was successful in freeing her from the coral reef - remember her bow was above the waterline earlier.

 

Bermuda weather service chart - next low tide @ 5:09 AM local time and next high tide @ 10:50 AM Wed.

 

When we're on the Explorer of the Seas (2012) - we definitely had the pilot boat alongside as escort both coming in and leaving Dockyard/Bermuda - the Dawn docked next to us. Ships followed each other along the narrow channel. (Photos then for those of you collecting them)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/2012%20Cap%20Liberty%20-%20Bermuda/BDA-12091.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/2012%20Cap%20Liberty%20-%20Bermuda/BDA-12090.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/2012%20Cap%20Liberty%20-%20Bermuda/BDA-12092.JPG

 

Hoping for the best for the Dawn's pax & crew in the morning - don't look like there's much they can do at night even with the divers on scene. Just trying to imagine 2 megaships floating off the islands, unable to dock and maybe too far to safely run tenders - or, at best, late for reaching Dockyard.

 

We always travel with our U.S. passports and travel light, even when cruising - a 22" carry-on and 25" carry-on for cruises from home port and only 22" expandable carryon when flying - reasons: plans do change & flexibility is when you don't have to worry about checked luggage - way too many near "horror" stories after flying a million air miles over the years.

Thank you for this report. Hopefully they can get moving after daylight in the morning.

This same complaint about cutbacks, food, drink prices etc are on every main stream cruiseline message board. And also charges for Room Service on NCL and Royal Carribean.