tinybiny

You all make it sound so good! I ruled it out because I don't eat steak and seafood, but these posts make it sound like they would be willing to serve me something else. I'll have to start thinking about it again.

Thank you both!

I'll be boarding Star in a few weeks for my first Princess cruise. I am still a total noob when navigating the Princess website and am not sure if I am missing something or if it isn't there.

Do we have set boarding times? What is typically the latest time to board the ship?

Approximately what time do we disembark on the final day?

Will I receive anything in the mail ahead of time (docs that need to be brought with me)? I've only cruised Disney and they send out a cruise booklet with everything you could ever want to know about all the stuff above and more. It is also required to bring that booklet to the cruise.

Is there generally a shorter wait if you go to tender an hour after they first open it? Sorry if that doesn't make sense. I am wondering if there is a better time to not have to wait for a tender number to be called. I am assuming most people try to get to the port ASAP.

Thanks. I was wondering if I missed out on another Disney flick.

The last time I was on the Wonder (May 2016) they did a really nice job on opening night with a Beauty and Beast theme regarding dining. It will be nice to see a production should I ever sail on the ship that will have it.

Who is Brandon?

I have cruised similar sailings on another line. I actually love both Seattle and Vancouver. If you are going to add days before or after the cruise, think about what you want to do during that time. Vancouver is really great and we only spend one night there, but loved it so much we will go back for a Vancouver only stay at some point.

A benefit to the Seattle cruise is the stop in Victoria. Even though it is a later stop, there will be nice excursions there. Victoria is a very charming city and Butchart Gardens is worth a visit.

You may also want to consider what you will do in each port. The Seattle cruise has a very short stay in Ketchikan. I've been to Ketchikan twice and have no desire to go back, so the short stay wouldn't matter to me, but if you have your heart set on something that requires more time, you'll want to do the Vancouver cruise.

Check out this old Cruise Critic post about it... :eek:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=417660&highlight=rasul

That thread was great! Thanks for saving me some money.

This is listed as a spa option on my cruise, but it doesn't say anything about it at all other than it is 75 minutes. Has anyone done this? What did you like/dislike about it? If it is mostly a steam treatment, I won't be able to do it (humidity makes me ill).

Both ideas sound very fun to me. I'd go with which cruise has the best ports. If you get the trapped feeling on a ship, find one without many sea days.

No casinos at all. There is often speculation that the Disney cruises cost so much because they don't have a casino which is a big money maker on other ships.n

I am trying to figure outhow to use this site. I am going to Hawaii on the Star Feb. 7 and want to visit turtle bay without the snorkeling exursion we have reserved. I understand it is 30 minutes or perhaps 30 miles awau by the Disney Hotel Aulani. Any thoughts or suggestion would be appreciated. My email is bartsmomme@aol.com

If you want to visit Turtle Bay without snorkeling when you get there, you can rent a car for the day. There was a car rental place at Hilton Hawaiin Village that had rental cars for the day. The car needs to be back by 5:00pm. I cannot remember which car company it was.

Turtle Bay is a hotel/resort. You can can drinks and a meal in the sand overlooking the snorkel area or you can go inside and eat in the restaurant. Hours may be limited, so look that up on their website or call them to make sure whatever it is that you are hoping to do is open when you will be there.

If you are looking for turtles, there are some a few miles away from the resort. There are always volunteers out making sure nobody touches the turtles, but you can get very close to them. They are very special. The North Shore offers really nice ocean waves if you want to watch surfers, check out Bonzai Pipeline (extremely close to the turtle area).

Another area worth checking out on that side of the island is Waimea Valley. There you can do a really nice botanical walk to a natural waterfall. Just before the turn to go into the valley area is Waimea Bay, where surfers from all over the world come to surf.

I love the North Shore. It's my favorite part of the whole island. While I enjoy Turtle Bay, I usually stop there to snorkel in their lagoon. I'm not sure I'd stop there if I didn't want to snorkel. Lots of other stuff to do around that whole side of the island, though.

Many people do bring 2 costumes. I didn't dress up for either myself. Those who did fully dress up for both events looked like they were having a great time. If you enjoy playing dress up, it's a good cruise for that.

As a family-oriented cruise, they know that the majority of their business is not going to be up at 11pm, unless it's at the adult nightlife lounges, and those already plan to be open for some catered munches.

Hope nobody found the OP's comments as "entitlement" as I did, it's amazing how ugly some of the been-there veteran cruisers' comments can sound to us wide-eyed newbies.

I didn't read it like that at all. Don't let comments that you disagree with offend you. Everybody has different likes/dislikes and vacations differently.

After growing up watching the LoveBoat, I expected to have lots of choices for yummy healthy food on my first cruise. My first cruise ended up being on the Disney Dream and it mostly kid food (burgers, chicken tenders, fries, pizza) with the scheduled meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner which had the food I was expecting. However, the 3 hour time difference, along with my vacation style of scheduling my day around activities vs. scheduling around meal times left me hungry and eating non healthy food that I prefer not to eat.

I've been on several Disney cruises since and I know what to expect now. I know I will end up eating pizza and chicken tenders. Yes, I can get some carrots, celery and cheese in the afternoon in the Cove Cafe and I do make a meal of it, but isn't exactly what I think of when I think of having a meal. It doesn't steer me away from taking a Disney cruise, but I am happy to read this report and see that there might be a different cruise line for me that will work better for me.

You will enjoy your Disney cruise, as I do. I think the OP enjoyed his cruise, too, but prefers to vacation differently.

Thanks for the post. I am in the opposite camp - only cruised Disney and going to try Princess. The more I read about Princess, the more I think I will like it more than Disney. I do consider myself to be a major Disney fan, but I get really tired of the music and all the shows being a Disney theme. And, it is very difficult to find good, healthy food when I am hungry.

I love the Wonder. I agree with you about the food not being plentiful. Whenever I post that there is no food when I am hungry, people jump in and post that I can get good food like pizza and hamburgers just about anytime. Sorry, that is not even close to being good food and only barely passes as food at all. Same with those "late night" snacks of chips and hot dogs and things.

I've only cruised DCL so far. I'll be on Princess soon. If there is good food out all the time on Princess, I will probably ditch DCL for Princess in the future. I guess I get hungry at the off times and I don't like to schedule my days around meal times when I am on vacation.

I am enjoying your report. Look forward to reading more.

I'm low carb (medically necessary) and try to avoid gluten as much as possible. I will be attending the afternoon tea next week, so will try to remember to report back. I'm a bit concerned there will be very little for me to enjoy, which is sad because I LOVE afternoon tea. Or I used to :-/ Strictly gluten free baked goods don't work for me unless they are made with almond flour -- and I doubt anything onboard is made with that.

I hope you have a great time! Please do come back to the thread and let me know it goes. He also doesn't tend to eat gluten free bread unless it is only rice or almond.

I also wondered about bringing fruit or something from the buffet. I'll have to ask ahead of time if we can do that.

Better yet how about asking the head waiter the day before you want to go to tea if he could bring your husband a plate with a scoop of each filling he likes. No bread. With an explanation they do try to please. Worse case all they can do is say no.

A very good idea Walt. I am sure that the wait staff would be happy to do it.

That's a good idea. I'll ask ahead of time and if they cannot do it, I'll ask for an extra plate for the leftover bread.

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

I was wondering about that myself after I read that recently on the Princess website. I have always given at least $5./per person, usually more for a half day excursion. The amount Princess lists is so far beneath what I have always done. I don't know what other people tip, but I'd love to hear about it.

Drivers, I just give $1. per person. And I only give USD since that is all I have carried. I do tell them I only have USD and ask if it is okay. They take it because that's all I have. If I had the currency for the country I was in, I'd give that instead.

I've seen a couple videos of the afternoon tea and it looks like something I'd enjoy. My husband would go with me, but he cannot have gluten. Do they have any options for him? He actually wouldn't have a problem with choosing sandwiches and just eating the insides, but that can look kind of tacky piling up the uneaten bread.

Just wondering if anyone gluten intolerant has done the afternoon tea and how you handled it.

I found some of your videos on youtube a couple weeks ago. I just want to thank you for the videos and the tips. I will be on a 4 night sailing on Star in a couple months and the videos have helped me quite a bit with planning.

Personally, I think you are reading far too deep into what I see as a spoof tourism video, highlighting how crap Nassau is in comparison to the glossy idilic promotional image they try to project.

 

I do not see any anger from them.

 

ex techie

I didn't see any anger, either. As someone who has read cruise reports for a few years, it is very rare that I read that a guest enjoyed Nassau. In fact, many recent reports seem to indicate that so many people stay on ship now, that the ship is as busy as a sea day. Obviously, the crew would notice that and from a personal stand point, I talk to crew. If I was staying on the ship because I thought Nassau was an arm pit (and I do think that), I'm sure I'd end up telling several crew members because they would without a doubt ask me why I wasn't off an on excursion.

The video was a good piece of entertainment. I'm sorry someone posted it where it became viral. I think Disney did a bad thing by approving the video and then firing the workers. It was a very distasteful thing to do.

Where does Disney shine and where does it need improvement

Entertainment would be a plus, free pop. Does Cabanas rotate there Buffett items

 

 

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Entertainment is considered the best for broadway shows. They are all Disney shows, though. So, you really have to like Disney. The adult only shows can be a little more entertaining, but the comics/performers are still bound by Disney rules. They will never be as raunchy as other cruise entertainers. The adult shows usually start after 10:00pm. There are not tons of people at the shows and there isn't a lot of overt drunk people. After the shows, there may be a dance party or something, but very few people actually attend or dance. While Disney does a great job with scheduling adult only stuff, most people on the ship don't attend them.

The free serve yourself soda is coke, diet coke, sprite and a flavored iced tea. There is also serve yourself hot cocoa, coffee and tea. You can order other flavors of soda, but those you would pay for.

The buffet does change up a little bit each day. I think the best way to decide if you are going to like cruising DCL is to go ahead and book a cruise and see how it goes. I think of Carnival as a party ship with stuff always going on. Disney has a lot of family stuff going on all the time, but the adults only stuff is pretty low key and laid back. I do love DCL, but am interested in trying out other lines because of the cost. I'd sure hate to be stuck on a ship that I didn't enjoy, though.

You may want to look at a 4 night on the Dream, during school season when there aren't any school breaks going on. That would give you the water slide and not as many kids running around. I've been on Disney cruises where parents let their kids run wild and others where the families always seemed to be together. I prefer to go when there will be less kids on board, but there are always a large number on Disney.

I have never been particularly impressed with the food on DCL, but I haven't sailed other lines and have nothing to compare it to. It is fine, but I'd never plan a Disney cruise because I was looking forward to the food. My brother has only sailed Carnival and it sounds like he doesn't really like it, but his wife does and she seems to only want to book that line. They said they'd never book DCL because of the cost.

As far as what deck you'll prefer, that will depend on if you want to be close to the action or not. I've always sailed on deck 2. It's less busy down there and I get a window. The rooms cost less. I'd avoid the decks with the kids clubs at all costs.

I hope they cruise out of New Orleans I know a lot of WDW has New Orleans around it and it was one of walts favourite cities to visit. Do you find the cruise line worth the money you spend I wouldn't mind doing a land/sea cruise. We've only done Carnival cruises.

 

 

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Worth it is very subjective and I've only done Disney cruises, so I cannot compare to other lines. It has been worth it to me, but I tend to cruise at off times and I don't spend a lot of extra money while on the ship. Excursions can be purchased for a lot less money by booking through the company direct and not through the cruise line.

What types of things do you enjoy on Carnival? Knowing what you like to do when you cruise will help us tell you things you'll like or dislike about DCL.