Cabogirl13

Just got our first offer as well for our early March cruise from balcony on deck 7 to Cloud 9 Spa Balcony...decided to take it. 

I completely disagree with the notion that a price match/price reduction shouldn't matter to someone just because they were happy with the original price. Yes, if we book a cruise, then we obviously accept the rate at which we booked, but who doesn't want to put money back into their pocket? I know we do. Whether we keep it or use it to spend a little more on the cruise, if I have an opportunity to get the lower rate, you bet your butt I'm going to try. If we miss an opportunity to price match a lower rate, will it ruin our cruise? No, but we'll be disappointed...and there's nothing wrong with feeling that way.

 

OP, two years ago we saved ~$200 through ES price protection (total for 3 of us). For our upcoming cruise, we've saved $105 so far, with a couple months left to go. So here's hoping it goes down a little more. Nothing wrong with wishful thinking. So there are times when a price reduction can save you more than just a few dollars. With that said, booking ES came back to bite us this time around. We originally booked with another family, but several months later, they cancelled on us, so ES cost us a $50 cancellation fee. So technically, we've saved $55 so far with the price reduction, but I'd still rather have it than not.

What have you found to be the best way to monitor rates to try and catch a reduction?

It's alive again. Just bought my 2nd set of three. And by-the way, it is a Paypal digital offer through Ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/263666308350?vectorid=229466&lgeo=1&item=263666308350&rmvSB=true

How did you know it was live again, luck or a notification? I appreciated you giving a heads up and I am hopeful to see one again.

THANK YOU!!!! I just nabbed mine.

Our little refrigerator magnets kept falling off, so you'll need strong ones. Our Magic magnet is really strong, but I don't want to risk it getting stolen, so it stays at home. Our reason for the magnets was to help spot our room. Now we just use those swirly decorations that are intended to hang from the ceiling. We just hook them on our mailbox and we can see our room from down the hall. They're a buck or two for a set of three and pack flat, so they work well for us.

What a great idea!

I can't find them on Ebay, just the $100 for $100...where is everyone finding them?

Thanks for sharing!!

I am not able to see them when I hit the link...am I doing something wrong?

We are on the 8 day Eastern on Vista as well and our group has been anxious to see the menus also so we can plan specialty nights!! Look forward to the info being shared. #mermaiddrinkingteam

We just booked the Vista for April 2017 and we will purchase the Cheers program, but I have a question as to potential changes. If we have purchased it in advance and any changes to program or price happen between now and when we cruise, will the price and package in place when we booked it be honored or will we get a potentially diffent version andotentially higher price? I know they just had changes to the program and since it is a year out til we leave I wonder/worry about other "changes". Would love feedback from the long term Carnival cruisers.

Wen use got off Emerald a few weeks ago and we DID prepurchase some liquor for our room as well as a few other items. Flowers were already sitting in our room but the liquor was printed on cards sitting waiting with the instruction to just call the number listed and it would be delivered. We did enjoy having some beverages in our stateroom, especially with our balcony.

Our only experience is just coming off the Emerald with Anytime Dining. On a 5 night cruise we ate in there 3 times. The first time we went late in the service and got immediately in and with a private 2 top. The other 2 times were right around 6:30-7 and we did not have to wait for shared seats. As soon as we walked up, they asked if we were interested in sharing, upon agreeing, we were walking to a table. Service the first 2 nights was very good, not as much the 3rd time. They do have buzzer/pagers if you wait so you don't have to stand in line.

On the other nights we did The Salty Dog Gastropub and Crown Grill which were both outstanding. For the Salty Dog we made a reservation but it looked like you probably could have walked up and gotten seated.

Yep, as others have said, we just carried them in our 6 bottle bag we have from Trader Joes, worked great. As you are going through security you will walk over to a table where they will check your wine and Mark you accordingly for the extra bottle. Easy Peasy.

PS reminder ... Don't dorget to bring your wine opener if not screw tops. Our room steward brought is wine glasses when he saw we had wine. If they don't just ask for some and enjoy!!!!

We got off 3/19 and they definitely had them and they were wonderful.

You will have the card to put out with continental breakfast and the (in)famous hot sand which. We ordered ours daily and enjoyed on the balcony. A few times one of us popped down to the IC and grabbed a few other morning treats. We also noticed lasted in the week we missed a few a things, but upon calling they were promptly delivered. Of note we had ours delivered early 2 times, one of the two was an hour and a half early and startled us awake, but the plus side was we started enjoying the day earlier.

You do need to be on board to book the Crown Grill, but the location is just off the Piazza so when you embark you can walk straight there and book, there will be someone right at the door...or as soon as you get to your room call the dine line. Good luck and enjoy it, it's great. Order multiple apps if you want to try different things and you can add (LOTS) of lobster to any steak...yum now I am hungry.

I agree on NO WAY for Nassau...heck not even top 10. Agreement on the Castaway Cay being far better than. Princess Cay.

This was our first time on Princess (Hubby's first cruise ever) and was intended to "test the waters" to see how he would like cruising. Thanks to the Emerald Princess it was a success, he loved it! We were on the 5 night (out of FLL) leaving out on March 14th. As others have said, yes we had a college Spring Break group on board, but by and large they weren't too bad.

First let me say that the ship is beautiful! She felt very high end and in excellent condition. We had booked a guaranteed balcony and were very happily surprised by being placed on the Caribe deck midship in C434. This location was outstanding as it was easy to get anywhere and we had the benefit out that very large, partially covered balcony. LOVED IT! The room was in very good condition and our room steward did a great job taking care of us. We took the tip from another reviewer and located the additional outlet behind the TV and plugged out additional outlet adapter there and it worked great. The closet space/gerenral room layout was very nice and all felt much larger than we were expecting. The bathroom also had a good amount of space with the under sink shelf that we never felt a lack of space. Despite hearing that the showers were not great, we thought they were just fine and after a few days figured out how to minimize how much water ended up on the bathroom floor. I did love the water pressure in the showers, that was a great surprise. My only complaint about our room was that despite having the thermostat down as low as it would go, we were very warm at night while sleeping. Speaking of sleeping the new beds and bedding are fantastic. Loved it!

Everyday we ordered room service for breakfast and enjoyed it on our balcony. 2 times during the week they came early, one day an hour and half early, but hey who needed to sleep in anyway.

We signed up for anytime dining and was glad we did. We ate in the MDR 3 times, with varying results. The first night we went a bit late and were sat by ourselves, which was great. The 2nd time we agreed to a combined table with pretty nice results. Met some nice folks and our service and food were very good. The 3rd time was a bit of a trainwreck. We agreed again to a shared table and hit the short straw of the draw with some very obnoxious and very drunk table companions and their young kids. The service was terribly slow and food just alright. We couldn't wat for that dinner to be over. After that we tried the Salty Dog Pub. Let me say that you should absolutely try this!!! Very easy to get into, we had great service and the food was super yummy! Well worth the small price tag. Lastly we did the Crown Grill, and as others have said, WOW it was great. Our service stated out great but then our server got really busy, but she was sweet and our food was incredible. Definitely recommend this and had I done it earlier in the cruise probably would have done it again. Only concerns with the food situation was that late at night the offering were pretty slim. We tried to grab some food (late) in the IC but they were out twice during the week. When we tried room service after walking away empty handed, we found they were also wiped out as well except for a plain, not so great cold sandwich and some lasagna that was inedible. My guess was that the college spring breakers cleaned them out during the late nights, so don't hold that against the ship.

We did not make it to any of the shows, but had a great time in Crooners. A special shoutout to bartender Chris who was amazing and we visited often. We did get the AIBP and for us it was worth the money. Only had to wait for drinks longer than desirable was at the pool bars, but again the SpringBreakers had them pretty clogged up. If you are considering this, keep in mind it includes water bottles (ask for the big ones) as well as all soda, coffee, specialty stuff. For us, we found it a good value.

As to ports, Grand Turk was great! Via another reviewer recommendation, we headed past Margaritaville and parked ourselves at Jacks Shack and had a wonderful day. Incredible jerk chicken, hubby loved the conch fritters, very strong rum punches and great service. The Lounge chairs are free and it $10 if you want an umbrella. We just went with the chairs but gave the guy $10 anyway because he moved our loungers straight to the front and center so we had beautiful views all day and our stuff was close when we went into the water. Loved not having to tender at this port.

Princess Cay was a mixed bag for us. I had prebooked a clamshell which ended up being completely unnecessary as we sat in 2 lounges in front of it the whole time enjoying the beautiful weather and view. We did enjoy our floats though, I would recommend that. Let me say however that when we went to check in for our clamshell they had us on the left side of the entry dock and it was so crowded with a lot of kids and college kids, I knew we would not be happy as we were looking for relaxation. Before we were done setting up I asked if we could go to the other side (to the right of the dock) I got An initial answer of "once we set it up we can't change it" but he promptly followed it by..."but I will let you this time". We walked over to the other side which was a million times better. Far fewer people, not many kids or college kids, no one in front of us. Drink service was pretty good once we handed our waiter a cash tip, he came around often. The bathrooms were exceptionally nice and clean. Service at the actual bar was lower and the bartenders had zero personality so we stuck with them coming to us. Now as to my only real complaint of the whole cruise, the food situation in Princess Cay was terrible. There was no notice or announcement about food service or times provided so when we wandered up to the restaurant on our side at 1:05 we were shocked to find it closed. Asking some crew where we could find food we were told on the other side til 1:30. We walked over there where they had a buffet set up, which after fighting a god awful amount of flies on the food we found the absolute worst food. Terrible dried up precooked burger pattys and hotdogs. There were some watery looking salads and that was it. Not even a bag of chips. We saw some food carts over on our side advertising jerk chicken and tacos, so we were really excited to find those, but the carts never moved and we were left hungry and disappointed. I do not know if this is the normal for Princess Cay, but next time we will tender back and eat on the ship then come back over. Otherwise, the port itself was still a good one and despite a long line to tender back at the end of the day, it didn't take to long to get back on board.

All and all, we had a fantastic time. Hubby will cruise again. The ship and the staff were great and a special thanks to all those other posters out there from who I gained a great amount of info and tips from.

We were also on the March 14th one and it sure could have been ours. Fr. the most part they were pretty respectful (with some exceptions) but when we encountered large groups, we mostly headed the opposite direction. Only complaint was they really clogged up the pool bars and did take over one of the pools completely. Still a great cruise though.

We were on the 14th-19th and definitely had our share of Spring Breakers. This was our first Princess cruise and we had a great time, but we were not happy about the takeover of the pools, hot tubs and outdoor bars and the longer bar lines in general. The kids we spoke with were pretty good and respectful, but there were plenty sitting up on balcony rails and we actually said something to some on a balcony over us that was smoking and ashing down on top of us. I must admit that I laughed out loud at a guy who had likely fallen asleep on his stomach while his friends had fun with sunscreen designs on his back. We will try Princess again, but not likely in March.

We just got off on the 19th...we had a fabulous cruise and will post a review soon, but wanted to chime in on the AC situation. We were in a balcony C434 (mid ship, deck 10) and despite having the AC turned as low as it would go, hubby and I both were uncomfortably warm every night, despite only using the sheet on the (incredibly comfortable) bed. It didn't occur to us until disembark that perhaps we could have called on it, but we shrugged it off as it was such a great trip. By contrast, I nearly froze to death in the MDR multiple nights.

Loving your posts, keep them coming. Especially helps since a certain blogger is now on hiatus ;) We board the Emerald on Monday so love getting updates and glad to hear the Spring Break crowd is thinning. Keep enjoying yourself.

Leaving on the Emerald on Monday (out of FLL) with stops at Grand Turk & Princess Cays. Are we going to need to bring any insect repellent with us for this time of year in that area? Anyone recently in the area that can provide feedback would be great (or with historical knowledge for this area and time of year). Thanks!!

Is it wrong that I am feeling sad...like the end of my own vacation is coming? I just found the blog this winter and read it religiously every day. We are coming onboard the Emerald Princess in about a week and I feel like I have gained so much knowledge. Thank you for sharing your travel "diary" with us.

On my first Princess cruise in a few weeks and wondering when would we see the dining room menus? Are they provided daily? will we see them at one time for the week? We are also trying to determine the best night to hit the Crown Grill. Thanks