jrblach

we spent 32 days on the Coral Princess in Jan & Feb. late dinner was at 7:15 - ugg.

the entertainment was mainly planned for early dinning. we missed out on a lot of it due to late dining.

1 hour ago, drsel said:

What's the difference please, between Princess and Holland America?
I have read everywhere that Princess has better shows, activities and entertainment

we find that Princess is fun with music & activities for everyone.

HAL is stuffy and for old people - like a nursing home - assisted living. HAL has a nite club for classical music but very little rock & roll. we did the  2017 world cruise on the amsterdam LA to FTL. we died.

each to his own. no more HAL for us.

We were on the 2017 World Cruise on the Amsterdam – LA to FTL. We visited Korea, Japan & China in February. It was cold. It snowed during our visit to Beijing – the crew made snowmen on the ship. The ship was cold during this time especially the Lido Market buffet on the top deck which was surrounded by windows that let the cold in.

Orlando visited our cruise for a week. He hosted a town hall meeting. A passenger asked why the ship was so cold. Orlando could not answer so an engineer type officer said the following.

The air conditioning is controlled by HAL headquarters in Seattle. They turn the heat off from midnight to 6am. Also the ship failed to bring adequate repair parts and replacement filters for the A/C system. Can you imagine that for a 100 day voyage!!!

But, this affected us personally. The heat in our cabin broke during Feb & March and the ship could never repair it. Finally at the Beijing port, they brought us an oil heater (electric) that heated enough so we could shower.

We were on the 2017 World Cruise on the Amsterdam – LA to FTL. We visited Korea, Japan & China in February. It was cold. It snowed during our visit to Beijing – the crew made snowmen on the ship. The ship was cold during this time especially the Lido Market buffet on the top deck which was surrounded by windows that let the cold in.

Orlando visited our cruise for a week. He hosted a town hall meeting. A passenger asked why the ship was so cold. Orlando could not answer so an engineer type officer said the following.

The air conditioning is controlled by HAL headquarters in Seattle. They turn the heat off from midnight to 6am. Also the ship failed to bring adequate repair parts and replacement filters for the A/C system. Can you imagine that for a 100 day voyage!!!

But, this affected us personally. The heat in our cabin broke during Feb & March and the ship could never repair it. Finally at the Beijing port, they brought us an oil heater (electric) that heated enough so we could shower.

Business week article on Zandam. apparently it sailed ANYWAY in early March after all the problems with covid and the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess. absolutely amazing.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-zaandam-pariah-ship/?srnd=businessweek-v2

we cancelled 97 day jan 2021 world cruise in mid april. got refund to credit card early june.

we cancelled 97 day jan 2021 world cruise in mid april. got refund to credit card early june.

we booked the 2022 world cruise today. 97 days LA to FTL.

we have set up a roll call WORLD CRUISE 2022 ISLAND PRINCESS

under roll calls - Island Princess. come join us there

thank you CEILIDH1 for posting Princess brochures - very helpful.

please post them at the roll call.

hopefully here is a link to a list of bookable princess cruises

 View the list of available voyages ❯.

you can download an excel file -and unzip it

Jan 13 – visit Cape Horn, Chile. Ship circled island. Steaming toward Antarctica.

Jan 14 – 15 – abbreviated 2 day compressed visit to Antarctica. This replaces the scheduled 4 day visit.  Temperatures ranged from 36F to 30F.  2C to -2C.

Sunrise 3am   sunset 10pm.  Lat/long 62.

Jan 15 – around 10 PM, the Captain announced a fire in the engine # 3 area. Smoke came into Decks 6 & 7. ships crew was put on full alert. Fire was put out and alert was cancelled. All entertainment and services stopped during the alert.

Jan 16 – at sea. 32F. Most traveled passengers lunch

Jan 17 – Falklands Islands. Private tour with Patrick Watts to see Penguins at Volunteer Point. Colonies consisting of thousands of Penguins – mainly King.

We visited Ushuaia, Argentina on Sunday Jan 12.

Stores, museums, hop on hop off bus all gladly took US dollars. Exchange rate 63 to 1 USD. They were very favorable in rounding up or down to have full dollar transactions.  Sunny, partly cloudy, 60 F. most stores open Sunday.

Hop on Hop off bus $10, 1 hour.  Fantatstic museum $15 USD. Occupies old prison. 5 museums in one: Prison, maritime, Antarctic, marine art, art, original prison wing. Very complete exhibitions & info on expeditions, ship wrecks, native people, prison. You could spend several days there.

Visited Cape Horn Monday Jan 13. ship went around entire island. Shrouded in low clouds.

We r in ushuaia. Sun 60f. Miss beagle ch.  Ship is compressing 4 Antarctic days into 2. Will publish actual. Looks like long days

We are in Puerto montttt 50f rain free Wifi at port with seats and Bathrooms. Ship cold .   food .entertain. Lectures good. From. My pad.gave map of inside passage. No info on Antarctica

We have a great attitude. We booked b 2 b since all r cruisers in this area had problems. we trying to report the facts

Jan 8 - SLOW BOAT TO CHINA. Ship going very slow thru very calm seas. Captain has promised to provide map and details of our brief “2” day visit to Antarctica.

Jan 9 – still a slow boat to China. Seas a little rough, winds 50 mph, ship rocky & bumpy.  Internet is slow. No info on Antarctica yet. Storm is many hundreds miles away.

we probably will only post and not read since have limited internet minutes. if you have any questions, send email to world2021@yahoo.com

you are welcome to post our responses to your email on cruise critic

THEY TOOK AWAY 2 DAYS OF ANTARCTICA. Now we have only 2 days in Antarctica instead of 4. Antarctica is the reason we came on this cruise since we have been to all the ports before.

We were delayed 1 day due to no fuel. We sailed afternoon of Jan 6 – day 2. Now, a storm with potential high waves is causing a detour. We will hug the coast of Chile and stop in Puerto Montt. Then we will go to Ushuaia by the inside passage.  Our stop will be on Sunday so most things will be closed. Ship has chosen ports where they get the shore excursion profits instead of providing the 4 days in Antarctica. Not so bad but Captain said we were only losing 1 day and would see everything. Sounds like fake news.

we will attempt to post updates on our cruise since many of you are joining Jan 21 etc.  VERY BAD START. ship could not get fuel so we did not sail. can you really believe that??? visit at Punta Arenas Chile cancelled. Captain advised that high seas may be a problem. we are in the Port San Antonio terminal using free wifi.  Supermarket 1 mile walk away. ship allowing wine to come on board - no checking. must be on board by 2PM. we are scheduled to sail today. we are on B2B cruises - Jan 5 and Jan 21. did this since weather, wind, ice conditions frequently cause problems and we wanted 2 chances to visit the ports and see antarctica.  also, there is a posting with info from the prior cruise. they missed port & places. joan & rich

thanks so much. we look forward to all of your posts. we join the ship Jan 5 and then stay on it Jan 21 for two  B2B cruises. we figure this gives us extra chances at seeing everything since weather can be a problem down there.

our experience: if you owe at end of any b2b cruise, they charge your credit card.  if you have a credit, it will roll over until used up or the end of the final cruise.  same on world cruise segments.

thank you so much

does the ship provide laundry soap in the coin operated laundromats or do we need to provide our own. thanks

sometimes we bring ground coffee and plastic french presses and make our own by adding hot water. 

we set up a thread under Island Princess called world cruise 2021. come join us. you will enjoy everything since this is a bigger ship with so many more dining and entertainment options. bring normal amount of clothes. do your laundry or have the ship do it.

what kind of internet is the elite/plat free minutes - the new fast or the old slow? 

we have 700 days on princess - great perks. we like entertainment and rock music opportunities better on princess.

did world cruise on HAL 2017. many disappointments

entertainment - very little rock music. had nite club dedicated to classical music - ugg.  most shows were worn out music - no rock.

cabin horrible. cold for 30 days - heat broke & no repair parts.

docking was usually the worst in every port with Carnival corp bigger ships getting best.

cancelled turkey visit and substituted 4 more days in Greece instead of split & debrovnick (more interesting). food was good. lots of free booze. wine allowed to be carried on at every segment.   ship too small.