Curly-Q

I'v searched and cannot find what I'm looking for, so I'd appreciate your help. Most of the Grand Suites I see pictured do not have a dining table in the room, usually a small one on the balcony. If you order room service, how do they serve your meal in the GS cabin, especially when the weather does not cooperate for outdoor dining? Thanks for your help?

Besides it's great balcony, the Celebrity Suites have a wonderful wall of glass for the best views from your room! Since the balcony was added afterwards, you get both the balcony and wonderful view! And since the balcony bows out, privacy is pretty good, except when at the rail. Of course, this is only on the M-class, don't think the S-class CS are as wonderful! Trust me, you'll be glad you booked it! Enjoy your cruise!!

We've booked the OS (7114) on Pacific Princess and wondering how it will compare to Celebrity's Celebrity Suites.

We've never sailed with Princess, making this our first cruise with them. With Celebrity's CS, you have a butler and room stewards, but all requests go through the butler who takes care of everything--wonderful experience! We love the afternoon in-suite tea service! How does this compare to Princess OS?

Celebrity offers Michael's Club where suite guests can enjoy any type of beverage at no charge, open all day -- anything similar on Princess? Elite lounge, maybe?

When we go on vacation, we like to be spoiled. We've been very happy with Celebrity, but love the time frame and itinerary of this particular Pacific Princess cruise, especially as a small ship. We're fans of the "old style" cruising; and like to get to know the staff as well as other passengers.

So if you have experience with both, I'd love to hear from you! Let me know what we can expect on our first Princess owner's suite cruise! Any pics of cabin 7114 will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

This question probably applies to other cruise lines as well, but I'm curious:

I've noticed that I can get a better price for non-suite cabins booked through my TA; but if I book a suite, then the price is the same as the brochure/on-line price, no difference--no matter the time frame, early or not. I'm not talking about add-ons such as OBC, etc., but the actual price of the cabin.

So, should I shop for a new TA or is this routine for pricing where deals are only available for non-suites? Color me curious....

Agree with you, NancyIL. I called my TA this morning and it's the first he's heard of it. I explained some of the changes I'd read about and the new cruises listed on X's website, the deletion on our reservation list, and that we are interested in transferring to the Sept. 25 Pacific Coastal; but he didn't even see that cruise listed on his computer! I told him I saw it on X's site, but there's no telling what's going on; he's looking into it and will get back to me.

I know cruise lines can cancel and/or change cruises and I really don't have a problem with that. Of course, I'm not too happy with the "why" X changed and/or cancelled these cruises; it seems X is motivated more by corporate greed than customer satisfaction, but then, I think they all are on some level. More than anything, I'm concerned mostly about the serious lack of communication from X, especially to the TA's booking their cruises. Well, at least it wasn't a cruise that was "just around the corner," so there's time to adjust, if you can.

My, how it has all changed! Our Sept 11th cruise has changed from Pacific Coastal to an Alaskan cruise, both of which are RT out of Vancouver. Our original Sept. 11th was a Pacific Coast from Vancouver to San Diego, but now the PC cruise departs on Sept. 18th, and the Alaskan on Sept. 11th. Hmmm, wonder how that's gonna work out?

Of course, I haven't heard anything yet -- will have to get my TA to check into it and see what shakes out; still nothing showing up on my reservations list either.

I don't see anything addressing the Sept. 11th Pacific Coast sailing from Vancouver to SF. And the post about the Tech conference is NOT for 2016, because check in date of Sept. 14th is NOT a Monday.

My reservation for this sailing was on my X list yesterday, but our December Summit cruise was not. Checked today and our Summit cruise is there but the Infinity is not there. Sheesh, I think I'd receive SOMETHING from X about this but have not received any email or notification regarding their apparently aborted Sept. 11 sailing. I also have a Panama Canal on Infinity scheduled for April 2017, but am wondering if I can count on that cruise now that I see how X does business.

Good for you X, this is real good way to lose customers!

Hmmmm, interesting posts. We're booked on the Sept. 11th sailing but were already thinking about canceling, even before we read these posts. If it's a huge corporate reservation, I'd feel like I was crashing somebody's party and would definitely cancel.

I don't know, maybe it's me, but I really do miss the old days of booking your cruise. Now there are so many decisions to make while trying to make sense of pricing and all the switch-a-roo policies that it's becoming a hassle. Add to that cruise line companies' increasingly lack of customer service and it's sure to become even worse. Oh well.......

Interesting post, and I certainly don't think you qualify as a "snob" because you like to be pampered on vacation!! IMHO that's what a cruise vacation is suppose to do for you!

Years ago, I sailed on a Carnival and it's probably not fair to keep my impression of Carnival as the wet t-shirt, belly-flop, loud music venue cruise line, but we have no desire to sail with them. However, I'm sure they are a good cruise line, just not our cup of tea.

We started cruising with NCL which we enjoyed at the time, but pretty much quit after they went to anytime dining - we absolutely hate anytime dining. We LIKE servers and staff that actually get to know our likes and dislikes and we've found Celebrity's staff to be very good at this. The NCL dining room staff was good at remembering our preferences, but I think anytime dining leaves room for improvement with this--and may different now.

We enjoyed Royal Caribbean, but got tired of dining room staff and others actually asking for "outstanding" reviews. I don't know how many times I had to say no to the offer of extra bread, coffee after dinner, etc. - mostly because they didn't remember our preferences. If they are really good, we always mention them by name with ship comment cards AND tip extra. But we hate being "asked" for this. So, we haven't sailed with RC in a while either.

We loved the Regents cruise we took for an anniversary celebration a few years back, but feel the high prices are needed to off set the costs of unlimited alcohol (which we don't imbibe as much) and the continuous stream of offers via postal mail. However, their Alaskan cruise and cruise staff service was outstanding!!

We took our first Celebrity cruise on Infinity last year and just absolutely loved it. Service is important to us and Celebrity wins hands down on that. We have a couple more cruises booked with them, but must admit we don't practice brand loyalty. We go for the itinerary, ship and cost that best suits our needs, then return because of great experiences. :D

Thanks everyone for the clarification - I think I've got it now. My reservations don't show where, just the assigned time, and all this is so new.

You are absolutely correct.

When they do this, they are taking up seats in Select Dining that would otherwise go to regular Select diners.

The result is more congestion and longer waits for Select dining.

 

The same thing happens when passengers assigned to Blu choose to dine in Select dining instead of Blu.

 

 

They could balance out the load quite easily if they would allow 2 passengers from the Select line the option of dining in Luminae or Blu for every 2 passengers from Luminae or Blu whom they seat in Select.

 

It need not be complicated at all.

The people who staff the podium at the entrance to Select could have passes for Luminae and Blue right there.

Whenever they seat passengers from Luminae or Blue in Select, they would then offer the appropriate number of passes for either Luminae or Blu to the next Select passengers who come along.

 

If they don't want it, the offer then goes to the next people in line.

 

Besides alleviating the overcrowding in Select, an additional benefit could be that having the opportunity to experience Luminae or Blu might give some Select passengers an incentive to book Aqua or Suite accommodations on a future cruise.

 

So it could be a win-win arrangement all the way around without unbalancing the passenger load in any of the dining venues involved.

 

This will not work because Aqua and Suite guests are not "taking" seats away from the MDR. If I understand it right, Luminae is an option for Suite guests, like specialty dining, it's not their MDR.

We have Suite reservations with assigned MDR seating, and Luminae will be an option should I choose not to eat in the MDR. The same is true should we dine in a specialty restaurant.

Luminae is new to me and I look forward to trying it. Of course, whenever we plan to dine in a restaurant OTHER than the MDR, we try to let the maitre'D know in advance so our table may be used for Select.

If all else fails, there's always the buffet....

YES----

 

"Holland America Line Smoking Policy does not allow cigar and pipe smoking anywhere inside the ship; it is only permitted on the outside decks where smoking is otherwise allowed and on STATEROOM VERANDAHS."

 

"Even some cruise lines that no longer have cigar bars per se may make some concessions to the culture. Holland America Line, for instance, has cigars for sale at its open-air Seaview Bars, located Lido deck aft. Smokers can puff with views of their ship's wake."

 

http://experience.usatoday.com/cruise/story/best-of-cruising/2013/11/16/best-cigar-bars-on-cruise-ships/3613997/

 

Holland America Line Smoking Policy---Updated April 2015.

For the comfort of all of guests, all staterooms (cabins), showrooms and most other indoor areas are designated non-smoking. While smoking is not permitted in staterooms, Holland America Line Smoking Policy does allow guests to smoke on stateroom verandahs. Smoking is also permitted on certain other designated, outside decks. The designated smoking areas for all ships are as follows unless otherwise noted.

 

Stateroom verandahs

Casino (Active players only)

Seaview Bar

Outside Decks

Sports Deck

Observation Deck (ms Prinsendam, ms Eurodam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Noordam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam, and ms Zuiderdam only)

 

Holland America Line Smoking Policy does not allow cigar and pipe smoking anywhere inside the ship; it is only permitted on the outside decks where smoking is otherwise allowed and on stateroom verandahs. Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms but not in other public areas of the ship other than on outside decks designated as smoking areas.

 

Any guest who smokes inside staterooms in violation of the Holland America Line Smoking Policy will be charged a US$250 cleaning fee per day of violation. Last Updated : Apr 2015

Thank you for posting HAL's most recent smoking policy. I wanted to try HAL because I really like some of their itineraries, but their smoking policy--specifically allowing smoking on cabin verandas--is why I won't sail with them. I can avoid the ship's smoking areas, but I don't want to avoid my own veranda. If I wasn't allergic to cigarette smoke, it wouldn't be too big a deal. I'll keep checking periodically to see if HAL initiates any further veranda smoking restrictions.

Add more round-trip cruise departure ports--such as New Orleans, Tampa, Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, and the previously suggested port of Charleston--in order to reach out to passengers who would rather drive than fly to their cruise!

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm feeling a little more encouraged now. I always go for early seating; yes, I've done late too, but prefer the first seating. I don't know what RCL is up to, but it can't be good. I don't want to spend the money for a nice cruise and then not get my dining preference--unless, of course, I was booking close to sail date.

Like others of you have said, I think RCL wants to go to MTD, but they can't seem to handle the dining traffic. Personally, I like the two MDR seatings (assuming you can get your choice, of course); and offer the buffet and specialty eateries to all those who do not want to eat in the MDR at their assigned time.

I booked a cruise for January 2015 and first seating is not available :eek: ! I'm scheduled for second and wait listed for first. Is there THAT much demand or has RCL reduced dining space? Just very surprised that early seating is full this far in advance.

On June 4 Terminal 2 opens at Heathrow when 20 airlines will be moving from their existing terminal.

I wonder if Delta will move? Our plans are after the opening, so that might have some bearing on our plans. We'd planned to stay at the T-4 Hilton before departure, so I may have to re-think that should Delta change terminals.

. Cost and convenience should be the deciding factors.

Hear, hear!!!

Being on holiday and keep the wallet from imploding--priceless. Thanks for all the help and suggestions!!!

I personally would not take cruise luggage on the tube; it's difficult to move through the small passageways and you really get in the way of the locals trying to go to and from work.

 

This would be the way I would do it:

 

-- take the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington

-- take a cab from Paddington to your hotel (flat)

-- use the tube for sight-seeing

-- take a cab to Liverpool Street Station

-- take a regular train to Harwich

-- take the return train Harwich to Liverpool Street Station

-- take a cab to a hotel near Paddington

-- take the Heathrow Express back to Heathrow

 

What you save by not taking the "Cruise Train" you can use to pay for Taxi Cabs.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

Very useful information, indeed, and thanks so much!!!

Okay, flat is located east of Tower Bridge, not too far from Bermondsey. Perhaps a cab to Liverpool would be the best option. Although OP states transfer from Jubilee to train is an option, I'm leaning towards the cab. Should I expect any problem in calling a cab to my location in a residential area and, approximately, how much time and fare should I expect to Liverpool?

Really useful info for the inbound portion, too. I plan to avoid early morning rush traffic. I understand the tube's space limitations and certainly don't want to be in the way. Do you think the tube from LHR would be okay if I'm using late morning, say 10-11am? I haven't checked yet, but where does the Express depart from at LHR? Likely, I'll be at terminal 4. Again, the cab question of approximate time and expense from Paddington to the Bermondsey area?

As for the cruise return--since I'm spending the night at a LHR hotel before flying out the next day, I'm considering the dedicated cruise bus to LHR. I don't know much about the cruise bus, other than the bus operates on port days only and can be somewhat lengthy depending on traffic, but I have the time. I assume one can do one way and not just round trip, but I'll have to check into that further, along with cost as it compares with the return routing you provided.

For now, discerning the different travel cards -- Rail, London Pass with Travel, and Oyster -- and which one would work best for our trip, is taking up most of my available brain data space! :eek:

Well, this is certainly a very informative thread, so I'll add my questions:

We've booked a Harwich Infinity cruise next October and and pre-cruise stay in a wonderful apartment near the Jubilee line/Bermondsey station. We'll be arriving at Heathrow T-4 either on Saturday or Sunday and wondering what would be the best way to get to Bermondsey station from there, especially with manageable luggage in tow and keeping costs down?

Also, we plan to take the train (regular or cruise) to the cruise terminal and are wondering if we should catch the train at Liverpool, or follow the Jubilee around to Stratford and make the train connection there--which seems easy enough looking at the map, but not sure?

We are staying the night of the cruise return at Heathrow. We will need to plan our exit from Harwich to Heathrow, but there's no rush since we'll be staying the night before flying out the next day. Using a private car service is not high on our list since we have the time to get to Heathrow. Don't know which would be better-- the cruise or regular train or cruise bus service?

Thanks for the help and suggestions!!!