MJfromCA

I'm new to Princess and will be going on several ship excursions in a few weeks. If I can go on a bit of a tangent on this thread, I had a few questions about Princess excursion tips and currency:

• In the FAQs, Princess suggests a tip to the tour guide of $1 for a half-day tour and $3.50 for a full day per person. Is that the amount most of you follow, no matter what the cost of the excursion?
  

• Do you tip anything to the driver also?
  

• Do you use US dollars, or the currency of the country you are in?
  

Thanks for any help on this!

-- MJ

How bumpy is the road to the penguins at Volunteer Point in the Falklands? The tour sounds wonderful for penguin viewing, but we'd like to get an idea of how much lurching will be required to get there.

The ship's descriptions of Falklands penguin excursions say the 4x4 portion may cause issues for pregnant women and those with neck or back problems. Sometimes they say that for legal reasons, and unless you've recently had back or neck surgery you'd be fine, but at other times they really mean it.

My DH and I are adventurous, but have had some neck/shoulder muscle strains in the past which required physical therapy (fully healed from them now).

• Do they really mean it, so we'd need to worry about bouncing severe enough to potentially wrench something on the trip to Volunteer Point?
  
• If so, would we see almost as many penguins in Punta Tombo in Puerto Madryn and/or on Isla Magdalena in Puenta Arenas instead in February? (I know they won't be kings). Are those smoother trips?
  

Thanks for help with any firsthand comparisons of Falklands vs. Punta Tombo/Isla Magdalena!

Thanks for all the help! We are booked now for Feb 2017 and can't wait!

For those who choose TD, many times the notion of 5:30 and 6:00 is simply Princess' way of keeping the two MDRs separate, and TD will be at 5:30 regardless of which seating time you think you have.

We are first-time Princess cruisers and chose TD at 6, but were wondering why those two times were so close. Thank you for this answer.

On Grand class, do all ships use the same restaurant for "5:30" vs. "6:00" TD? If so, is it Botticelli at 6:00 or Michelangelo?

If the decision is instead made by the ships individually for each cruise, is there a way to request (and confirm) Botticelli now? We are booked near the aft elevators on Crown, so Botticelli would be much more convenient for us.

I really appreciate all these quick, helpful responses! Booked near the aft elevators yesterday. Good to know that means we need to use the central or forward elevators on our deck (or get off on Deck 7 to go forward) if we need to get to the Piazza or lower theater level. And to potentially go down a level to catch elevators going up at busy times.

Thank you all! Can't wait to try Princess.

Hi, I'm a long-time cruiser (Celebrity, HAL, Regent, some others now defunct) but considering Princess (Crown) for the first time. I'm trying to understand which elevators are best to be near, and how near is too near.

Which set of elevators (stern, central, aft) do you prefer to be near and why? And how many cabins away from them do you need to be to not hear the "bings" or too much "people noise"?

Looking forward to experiencing Princess! I know it is not this forum per se, but you have any other clues about cabin location on Dolphin deck of Crown Princess, I'd appreciate the help. Thanks!

To clarify: do you need a cabin toward land (i.e. port side from Val to BA) for the best views on sea days with views like the Horn, glaciers, etc? Or will you normally be viewing from the common areas on those days, so it doesn't matter so much?

We are considering a South American cruise around the Horn in early 2017, either Valparaiso to BA or BA to Val. Is it better to have a Port or Starboard cabin for a given direction, and if so, why? (I know, I know, pick a stern balcony and I won't have to worry!)

Also, I've seen a lot of happy Celebrity reviews on this BB. Do they have advantages over HAL or Princess, or should we pick primarily by port/time?

Thanks for any help. After reading so many of your posts, this looks like an amazing trip!

Two of the areas being worked on during this Dry Dock are new laundry equipment and redo of the cabin interiors on the two lowest passenger decks. I am sure there will be more done, but these were being started as we disembarked in Long Beach on 12/4. Our dinner table was told by an officer about these two projects and he said many more things were going to be done. Being dry dock I would expect that the hull, particularly below the water line, will be worked on as well. The dark red area (waterline and below) needs cleaning.

 

As we got off in Long Beach many, many contract workers were getting onboard to sail on the ship to San Francisco and start their work at sea. On our cruise contract workers were rewiring in the ceilings of many passenger decks. We were told it was in part in preparation for "improvements" in the internet capabilities and updated hardware and software. I will be interested to see if any change is noticed on the World Cruise by the many folks who were on the Asia/Pacific cruise this fall and are going on the World as well.

We'll be stepping into our Main deck cabin next Wednesday, so I'm delighted to know it may be refurbished! Thanks for the info. I'll report on it in January when we get back.

Thanks all for the reassurance that I won't miss it!

See you there, fm6175. I'll be the one with a Stanford shirt that day.

-- MJ

I'm hoping the Amsterdam will show the Rose Bowl, which is on ESPN.

Thanks, KrazyKruizers. We'll bring multiple bottles, then, while we still can.

Is there a limit on the number of bottles of wine we can bring if we board next month? We're not huge drinkers but on a 2-week cruise, it would be nice to bring more than two of our favorites to dinner or to have in our cabin.

Thanks for the help on our Embassy Suites vs. Marriott Waterside decision, Salt, Jim and Bev, and Jessemon. We are going at the height of high season (between Christmas and New Year's) so the Embassy and Marriott are almost the same price, and the S4B Marriott price is a lot higher. I think we are going to opt for the Marriott, like Jim and Bev.

Does anyone know if the new Embassy Suites actually opened this month? If so, does the inside seem finished? We booked both it and the Waterside Marriott for the end of December and are trying to decide between the two. The Embassy Suites breakfast is a plus, but a new paint smell or missing facilities would be a minus. Thanks!