JLC@SD

Sorry guess there's no question. Read a lot of threads yesterday and now afraid DD and wifey won't be safe. Have to make sure they stay with DH or DS

What kind of horrible mother has to tell her kid don't hold hands, it could get you killed or arrested. I've just managed to upset myself. Sorry for posting at all. Shhh you're right James, the wine got me.

You indicated DD and wifey, so I assume they are married or in a "married" relationship.

My guess is they are more aware of the issues you are concerned about, than you think.....;)

Hi-

 

I have a question about the mini-suite locations on the Royal Princess. On the deck plans, all the mini-suites seem to be opposite inside rooms. Do the mini-suites face the inside rooms' front doorways? (We're concerned about noise issues.)

 

Thanks! - Musing About Cruising

Our experience is the problem noise comes from the cabin next door or the hall .....not the cabin across the hall.

If any traveler does not want to go to either of these ports, they have many options to book with other cruise lines or to even choose other itineraries with Viking if they wish.

This is probably the response Mr Hagen will provide to your open letter.

The Only Wat to Cross is a great book.

I leave my laptop home now and carry a mini ipad.

It has enough memory to load photos and I also use it to access the internet on board.

I saw a vehicle w/ red flashing lights go past the bow, while she was returning on the FL web cam.

Hi everyone! We are thinking about taking the Zuiderdam for the Panama Canal cruise in January. Recently, it has received very mixed reviews and has left me feeling confused. Could anyone offer some advice? The other alternative would be to take the Oosterdam. It would cost significantly more so I am wondering just how big of a difference there is between the two ships. We have only cruised on the Nieuw Amsterdam so we don't have much to compare it to. We will be cruising on the Westerdam in August. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

We just completed an 11 day cruise on Zuiderdam and the ship, service and food were great. We would sail on her again and as you can see, we are Princess fans.:)

I read a story not long ago about a widow who has been traveling the world by cruise ship for years. She only changed ships once, when they stopped having ballroom dancing on the original ship. She loved dancing & her late husband did not. She so loved the dancing that when they stopped it, she found another ship that had it & moved there. Once or twice a year she visits her kids in Miami but the rest of the year she sails...same ship, same room. I want to say it costs her $170,000 a year, give or take. Oh how wonderful that would be!

Lorraine Artz is the widow and she sails Princess.

We met her husband and her on one of our cruises and she has been on two of our cruises.

She was selected as godmother for Royal Princess (the x-R ship).

I was impressed by that fire boat. NYFD has the best......:)

Beautiful and elegant ship. Thanks for posting the photos.

EZ Air offerings have the plane arriving in Ft Lauderdale at 1 am. So where does Princess have you wait until you can board the ship? Don't want to spend the rest of the night at the airport.

An offering of Virgina to FLL and arrive at 1 am.

I would pass on that and book my own airfare.

Live from 2/26 sailing. Don't get me wrong the first 1 day and half have been wonderful. We have a great steward (GEMMA) on Dolphin who is attentive, Dexter who is in Palm Dining Room who is Asst Waiter...but everything else is "NO". I asked (mine you I "elite") for a couple of items off menu and was told the chef would not prepare. Really...I have friends that are Executive Chef's that not only have worked on cruise ships but also hold several professional designations that love the opportunity to get outside the normal "realm". How difficult is it to slice up a couple pieces of salami and hard parm and make some risotto...Really. I was told by the head waiter the chef would not make it. The menu itself tonite was not to my tastes, and furthermore no pasta was on the menu, thus I sat and drank wine for dinner. Had a bit of desert and a cup of coffee. Really Princess... is this the way you want to treat people who have "black" cards, not only us but people who you wish to entice to become future "black" card holders.

 

Mind you, this is not the entire staff, most have been really enjoyable but the few "rotten eggs" have made the first day and half not really wanting me to continue my loyalty to this cruiseline. I have talked to a few "in transit" passengers and have heard the same comments.

 

Princess, are you listening??

keep in mind ......black cards entitle us to free laundry .....not free reign ordering in the dining room.

I am sure they do not have anyone in the kitchen standing around waiting for all the risotto orders on a non risotto night. :)

okay, I will be the lone dissenter ....:D

I do not like the hull art .....it is the stuff you see on older fading ships and ferries....:)

It appears that some of the Princess line ships are giving passengers the incorrect information about the time they need to be back on board after a shore excursion. They state the latest time is an hour before the actual latest time, apparently to try to persuade passengers to use the expensive ship tours rather than take tours on offer by local providers which would return the passengers to the ship before the actual deadline but not before the incorrect deadline. The lengths shipping companies will go in pursuit of the almighty dollar!!!

They do not need to play games with the back on board times ....all they need to do is announce they will only hold the ship for the ship's tours .....which is what they do ......;)

We had it on the Emerald on our New Years Cruise a few weeks ago.

It was nice to be able to check our folio.

As others have said there could be a LOT more to this story than we currently know.

The information only the ship has... that is critical.... is the security tapes.

FYI

I would be surprised if a straight man would be forced off a ship for touching the behind of a straight woman.

I think they would take the straight guy off if this happened to a woman...;)

Anything but NCL Epic! Loved the ship but it's so ugly.

Epic is a brutal design .....and fortunately they only built one copy....:)

We sailed on Emerald Princess on the recent New Years cruise. It is a new, beautiful, efficient terminal with lots of parking. But I think the fog issue will make Princess and NCL rethink scheduling many departures from there.

fog will usually "burn off" (as my dad from Louisiana used to say), around 9am. Hopefully they can depart by then.

you can see from the webcam at the bayport cruise port @0645

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruise-information/live-cruise-terminal-cam/

They are leaving at 10 am CT, approximately 16 hours late for an approximately 60 hour sail time to Roatan. That is about a 25% delay to the time to get to Roatan. Any word about a new schedule.

Thanks for posting the video, we leave on Emerald Princess on the 28th.

Wasn't there also a fire on Azamara's Quest and a Princess R ship (Ocean?)

Royal Princess (a sister to Insignia) had a similar engine room fire on June 18, 2009.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3277

She was towed to Athens for repairs and was not back into service until July 7 2009, when we boarded her for her first cruise after repairs.

Great review and great photos, thanks for posting them.

W did a 5 day north bound LA to Vancouver a few years age. We stopped in SF and Victoria. Highly recommend a short Princess coastal repositioning trip.

Costa Concordia's final journey is under way.

http://www.giglionews.it/2010/02/24/webcam-giglio-porto-panoramica/