matadams4u

As a lurker on this board with aspirations of cruising on Regent in a few years - threads like this really get me excited about my future plans even though I will need to wait a few years to experience Regent first hand.

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Princess or holland America would be good bets. Vancouver would be less expensive and you could wait for a last minute deal.

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The Ernesto burger looks like a nice addition.

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The only good news from the retrofit is that you can get some really good deals for Alaska cruises this summer. The windowless gym was a big disappointment. The redesign really tested the limits of how much you could take away from the cruise experience without giving anything back. Couldn’t even give an IC which would have been a no brainer. On the other hand if I was retired I would have booked the summer cruising on the Island going back and forth between Alaska and Vancouver.

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You only need to look at the drop in fares from Vancouver to Alaska to get an idea of what might be going on. Great time for a last minute deal.

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I was on the sun in a beaufert 9 or 10 and you definitely felt the drop and the decks were sparse. Take two Bonines a day and you should be fine.

Much thanks for that tip! That will make things easier!

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I wasn’t aware you could book EZ Air through Princess and the cruise through a TA. Is this the

case?

When booking EZ Air it is best to choose your flights prior to calling the TA otherwise the tendency of the TA is to book the first option and that could be a really bad choice. I have had to insist on booking a flight showing on EZ Air when the TA said it wasn’t available. EZ Air is definitely the way to go - just do your homework.

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My favorite thing about the Sea is the vista lounge. A lot of the entertainment is presented there and it is much more comfortable than the theatre.

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It is hard to tell at first if you are eligible for casino rates. The easy way is if you receive a mailer offering casino cash - those mailers have rates lower than other mailers. The second way to tell is to call while you are looking at the price on the website, ask if you are eligible for the casino rate and see if you get a lower rate than what you see logged on to the website. I travel with two people eligible so I have them make the reservation and they get discounts.

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Also on sea days there is usually a Zumba class around 9 am or when you board you can go to the gym and sign up for stretch class (unadvertised). I prefer the stretch class. There is basically one weight machine for each muscle group and a few machines that allow adjustments for arms, chest and back plus free weights. I believe you can also hire the gym staff to provide training - just ask them the first day.

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Correction - I did speak to the cruise director after the fact and said the channels were limited to espn for sports. So basically the answer is if you want soccer or hockey you need to complain directly to princess. I have never seen a survey question on channels or event availability so it is probably way off their radar screen.

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Princess does not seem to have problems with getting rights for the US market. Princess does not seem to make sufficient effort at catering to the tastes of its international clientele when it comes to entertainment. They have a lot of data on their customers - this would seem to be an easy fix. They have got major US sports figured out.

It was the person giving the shore talk for Victoria. He is responsible for scouting the ports and could not even point out a sports bar. Real snotty kid.

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After the condesceding and dismissive attitude displayed on the emerald princess customer service deserves to be flooded with calls.

I was disappointed last week on the emerald where they did not show the play off games but managed to satellite in the Love Boat self congratulatory Hollywood star ceremony. The attitude was really bad about it too.

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I have been on both. Although they are basically the same ship I give the edge to the emerald because the staff seems better trained - they all make an effort to engage passengers and say something to make your day.

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The repositioning cruises to and from Vancouver are fun. I will be taking the Emerald up on may 9th and riding the star and Emerald back to la in the fall.

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Last year there was a flash unadvertised sale on Australian cruises that lasted about two weeks. It was either in July or August. No freebies but the mini suite prices were the same as an interior.

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I haven't been getting any Princess emails lately. I did see one a few weeks ago offering increased OBC if I used one of my future cruise deposits.

Last year at this time I had five cruises in my personalizer - this year one. The cruises I am looking at went on sale during April and sometime during the summer with some deals on fall cruises 60 days out.

Seems that pricing is staying pretty steady - since I am watching about 50 cruises for that one time deal I hope one of my numbers hit.

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It is so good to hear from you Barb - you and Bruce are very special.

After the Drake Passage and being able to stay vertical and enjoy a small ship dropping 30 feet i enjoy the rough days at sea. It definitely keeps the lines for food short but I don't advise the soup course.

I was on the Sun in February and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it - just 2000 passengers, the Vista lounge is wonderful, it has a full promenade, an IC. My only complaints were the limited buffet an a non working steam room. I also liked the fact the atrium seemed larger and made it easier to see performances in the atrium. Maybe dated but generally well maintained. Also the mini suites have really nice layouts and bathrooms.

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I pulled everything and nada so maybe it was updating or something.

Does anyone know why pricing for the Emerald Princess disappeared from the Princess website today? Probably a glitch of some sort...

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