Marjule

Thanks Valantine80, will do, and not a big drinker, plus I do not take the drinks package either.

16 minutes ago, Elorac123 said:

That is only $37 a day = 3 alcoholic drinks ,,a latte,,,a couple of bottles of water 

Cheers

I do appreciate your reply, but if I can save over $2500 I will and put it toward excursions.  We won't be drinking that much alcohol and I just intend to buy the coffee cards and pay as we go for the alcohol.  Some days we won't even have alcohol.  I have done my sums and it suits me but If you are a drinker, then go for it, it is half the price.

On 12/26/2019 at 6:49 PM, Womble99 said:

Thank you for the feedback, yes we are looking at one of the Sky Princess cruises that originates out of St Petersburg. Though the more feedback we are receiving on the difficulties associated with travel to Russia we are reconsidering if the extra time pre or post cruise is going to be worth the effort.

 

Maybe altering our plans to a cruise originating elsewhere with just an overnight stay may have to be sufficient for now.

Definitely give yourself extra time is St Petersburg.  You will need a minimum of 2 days to view the wonderful palaces.  We used Alla Tours and they provided our visas.  Excellent and well worth the money as we skipped all the long tourist lines.  I would surely make St Petersburg a destination.

I too got this email. I went on the website and being an Aussie, we do not require the documentation.  That's my understanding.

I had my travel agent cost it for me after I had made final payment; he rang Princess and it was going to be in excess of $1300 each for the 35 nights.  We would not drink that much, so have not gone ahead with it.  Would rather pay as we go.

On 8/19/2019 at 7:33 AM, SuitesRbest said:

Hi,

Can anyone push me onto a good insurance plan for a 14 day cruise leaving Singapore>Sydney Australia.

 

No Pre-exsisting medical, just good value covering any problem that may pop up.

Thanks

Insure and Go.  I haven't made a claim with them and they do cover me for my existing medical condition.

Will do.

Thank OzKiwi, we are really looking forward to it as we do love the days at Sea, relaxing and this cruise give us more at sea than on land.  I appreciate your insight and will only buy one card at a time.  Also, we do love the slightly smaller ships.  Happy Cruising.

Thanks OzKiwiJJ, yes we are doing that cruise and I was going to purchase 3 cards, as we will be away for 35 days.  I was also wondering if they have an area on the Sea Princess where Platinum and Elite can have their arvo cocktails at a slightly reduced price.  On previous cruises we have used Skywalkers at the back of the ship with the magic wake views, but this boat layout is completely different.  Have you sailed on it?

I too love Crown.  We did the Baltics Cruise in Club Class.  Just wonderful.  She is a gem.

4 minutes ago, MrPantsOz said:

 

 

Some Aussie cruises don't have it in the personaliser, it is definitely available once on the ship.

Thanks MrPantsOz, I do hope we can as we are on a 35 day cruise and am not prepared to pay the hugely over inflated prince for the drinks package for 35 days.

5 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

I haven't seen Princess insurance offered here either but I understand that they don't cover flights (unless EZ air) hotel bookings etc, so why would you bother. I just take out single trip insurance and as I have had cancer I now use one of the few companies here that offer cancel for any reason. I'm not usually specifically covered for cancer related reasons including any effects from my treatment (Immunotherapy) so now having cancel for any reason gives me piece of mind. 

As for credit card related insurance that is a minefield and the fine print needs close examination. It often means you have to pay for your trip using the card which can mean fees of up to 1.5%, which is avoided if you direct bank transfer the funds. That sometimes cancels out the cost of arranging your own insurance which I think is less risky.

Leck57 , What Insurance Company do you use.  I have trouble getting travel insurance with 2 Australian companies due to existing conditions. I am always on the lookout for comparisons.  Thank you in advance.

On 1/6/2020 at 11:46 AM, Shelly97060 said:

What you are looking for is called the New Grounds Coffee Package. It’s  $36.58  and you will find it under Beverage Packages in your Personalizer. 

 

As mentioned by Thrak it is no longer a punch card, it is added to your shipboard account. 

I have just logged in to my Personalizer and there is no mention of just the coffee card.  It seems to be linked to the beverage package.  I just want to enjoy the coffee, not the alcohol part as I think the package is way too expensive.  I'd rather pay as you go with the alcoholic drinks.  I do hope they haven't taken this option off the table.

We thoroughly enjoyed Club Class on our last cruise. After we settled and unpacked, our room steward welcomed us with a cold glass of sparkling wine (not champagne). It was a nice gesture. We also had canapés on request each day. As for the 2 bottle of wine, they are half bottles and per cabin. The dining was another plus. There was no waiting, greeted each time by your name. It was very personal. At the time we booked it was just being introduced and the price was very reasonable but when I looked at it for our next cruise it was an extra $50 approx pp/pd which adds a considerable amount on that I would rather use for Tours. In saying that it was a wonderful, personal experience and the bedding was superior.

Thankyou for a wonderful post. I was actually on the same cruise and your photos mirror mine. I loved the cruise, boat and all the destinations. Anyone wanting to cruise this itinerary, I urge you to book. We also shared a taxi to Brugge. Best way to do it. Rony's Taxis. In St Petersburg we used Alla Tours and I cannot speak highly enough of them. Happy future travels

We had a fabulous 17-day cruise on the Diamond in July which was one of the best cruises that we have done. I have gotten so much valuable information from everyone on the CC board before this cruise. Here is a trip report to repay you all.

I called it a trip report instead of a review because this also covers our pre and post cruise days on this trip which may or may not relate to the ship. I will try to answer any question you may have as much as I can. This is a work in progress with the first leg of our cruise (Hokkaido) done. I will continue with the rest of the report whenever I can.

Thank you all again for your help!

Thank you ROCruiser for this fabulous report you wrote a few years back. My husband and I will be doing the first leg of it in July 2018 and I found your information so helpful, especially taking a tour when in the Russian port as I am currently looking for tour operators privately, so very good to know we will need to take a princess tour in this port. Happy future travels to you and your family.

We had Club Class dining a few months back on CB and loved it. Did have a 10 minute wait to be seated one evening (not a big deal). Service was great. We asked to have a fixed service team and were accommodated, this request certainly contributed to our brief wait.

 

Just off Coral where we had a non-club mini and lamented the expected loss in service. Didn't happen though - our late fixed dining team was as good as any we've ever had - certainly as good as our recent CC experience.

 

This takes the decision down to price. Looking at new bookings I see minor differences in cost (a few $10's pp/pd), I'd pay that. However, I also see differences of $50+ pp/pd, and that is completely unreasonable IMHO. To each their own, but I personally wouldn't advise overpaying for CC.

 

Jon

I have to agree, We took CC last June to the Baltics when it was just introduced and the price difference was negligible, but when enquiring for my next cruise it was nearly going to cost an extra $50 p/p/pd which I thought would be better spent on our excursions. However, I must say CC was very personable, with waiters calling you by your name, we chose whenever we ate and the dining room was nearly always half full, no crowds, meals were okay, nothing to rave about, but waiting time was reasonable. Position of cabin was Dolphin deck without a roof over the balcony, so this was a minus, bed so, so comfortable. I feel it is not worth the money this time though, and I know I will miss the experience we had on our previous cruise.

Hi Mike, I have a question regarding the mini suite. Did you experience Club Class on The Crown. We are travelling in June to The Baltics, leaving from Southampton and we're wondering what to expect. Was the bedding upgraded?

Regards,

Julie

We've just finished the 2 week TA and had a great time, the ship is lovely. We had a mini suite and really appreciated the extra space, well worth it.

During the cruise they replaced ALL the carpets on the rear and mid stairwells including all the lobby's and they looked great.

We sailed on Dawn Princess, Dolphin Deck room 728 and found the position fabulous, very stable and quiet. We did not have a balcony but a huge floor to ceiling window. I loved that position. Hope this is of help.

If you have an office laminator why not laminate the tags. We do this and it works great.

Hi, I am sailing on the Regal in a few weeks. We have an inside cabin. What toiletries can I expect to see?

 

Thanks so much :cool:

Make sure you take your own hair conditioner. The one Princess supplied made my hair dry and very knotty!!!! I had to buy some in the next port of call:(.

Thankyou Mary for your report and use of 5x8 cards. Another useful tool is Tripit. It will coordinate your bookings as you receive them via emails.:)