spunks

Craftyneighbor...We are going on that Quantum.I do not know if you have read the thread on Cruisecritic about that very cruise, but you might gain some insight from it. We believe the lack of posting of excursions might be due to the fact that this Itinerary was changed only a little over a month ago and they might not have all the info up yet.

We have done 137 cruises and 27 were TransAtlantic. The trouble with finally doing a TA is that from that point on it is all we want to do. We have to carefully budget our time on the crossings because there is so much to do that some of the things you enjoy happen at the same time.

1. Everything is open. 

2. There are lectures that can be very interesting.

3. There will generally be Duplicate bridge games for those that enjoy that.

4. There will be a cruise long "progressive Trivia" in addition to regular trivia.

5.Big Bingo games every day.

6. The Casino is open everyday from 10 AM for table games and 24 hour slot machines

7.Daily Zumba

They even allow you to sit and do nothing if that is what you prefer.

You will have every opportunity to meet people that you may stay friends with for the rest of your life....even those that live on the other side of the pond from you.

To the O.P....do it! Mark Twain was very correct when he said..."20 years from now you will regret more the things that you did not do than the things you did do"

ok..ok..I said that wrong. The 23 hour days happen sailing east. WB you get 25 hour days,

I guess we have done 27 trans Atlantic cruises...as many EB as WB. We MUCH prefer flying east and sailing west. When we get to Europe we are gassed as we do not even try to sleep on the plane.We get to the hotel , drop our bags and go out...maybe to eat. When we get back to the hotel we try very hard to stay awake until 8 PM at least. We then go to sleep and sleep like the dead, but when we wake up we are pretty much over the jet lag. When we sail east and then fly home we are miserable for at least one week and sometimes two. also, those 23 hour days cruising west bound catch up to us. ...but it is worth every hardship.

we are looking at a flight on United from Singapore to LAX with a connection  at HND of 1 1/2 hr. Is this doable?

As an aside....when we get to LAX will we be able to go to the United Lounge before we pick up our bags, or will they refuse us because the flight is over?

Anyone have any idea when this might be this year? If it is the same as last year we will not be available.

I want to second NRWPA's post recommending RCCL as best for you. I want to add that on RCCL, your points accumulate with each cruise.....for the year April 1 thru March 31 each year. As soon as you become Prime (2500 points) you will be prime for the rest of the year ending March 31 AND through the next cruise year. With your level of play you will become prime about halfway through your first cruise which entitles you to free drinks in the casino for the rest of that cruise AND every cruise through that year AND the next year...At 6000 points (your $30,000 coin in divided by 5) you will get $500.00 free play on your next cruise. If you were to up that to 6500 points you would get $750 .00 free play. You would get a looong list of free cruises up to 15 day trans Atlantic offers to choose from free.

My wife and I take up to 18 cruises a year ....all free Also, if you accumulate 25,000 points in a year you become signature for the rest of the cruise year plus the next. That entitles you to free unlimited internet....every cruise. 

my issue with Princess ( and I have almost 700 nights on Princess) is that NOBODY associated with Princess can/will tell you what level points you need to accumulate to get anything comped. For years I went from Pit boss to casino host to casino manager to casino website to phoning the casino.....whew! I never got any kind of answer. Offers might come, but there was never any explanation as to why.

We had a 27 day comped cruise with VIP booked that we cancelled because we thought it was a waste of our Casino dollars to spend on Princess. RCCL on the other hand publishes a list of what you will receive at every level of play. That list is posted right at the host desk and cashier cage. 

And yet Rccl tells you at every stage what your points mean and what the levels are. For example...at 2500 points for the year you get unlimited drinks on the casino, plus they have a sheet posted the show what offers you will get for every level of points.

11 hours ago, memoak said:

You do know that the casino employees are not Princess employees the same way spa employees and future cruise salespeople are not Princess employees 

Ok...you have a better group to ask about casino questions?

We are looking for our best deal on flights from Singapore and got a quote from cheap flight fares...non refundable!

Is this a legit operation? Does anyone have any experience with them?... Thanks

Doug

If you want to gain perks through points in the casino, avoid Princess like the plague. There is not ONE employee of Princess that can tell you what the points are for. Unlike other lines, Princess has no schedule of tier level that show perks.

I have gotten free cruise offers, but they may as well be assigned by lot for all the explanation they give you. I have over 600 nights on Princess and have sworn off of them.

Don't believe me?...go ahead and get the run around from the pot boss to the host to the casino manager to the princess casino site when you ask what the points mean as far as comps....

Doug

10 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Because it is set by the International Labour Organization and is published every year. 

yeah...I read that link with some amusement. It said...recommended wages....It also said recommended working hours of 48 hours a week. It also said recommended off times of at least 10 hours a day. Have you seen even ONE worker on a cruise ship get such generous treatment?48 hours for someone working 7 days a week seems strange to me.

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Exactly, thank you. We all know what the minimum pay scale is, the “behind the scenes staff” is doing just fine 

I will not get into the tip -vs-not tip debate, but I am curious how anyone would know the minimum pay scale???

some people tip their favorite bar tender nicely on the last day of the cruise.....this is completely wrong. If they know they are going to have a favorite bar, tip that bar tender at least $20.00 bucks the first drink.From that point tip every now and again. I promise, with the first tip that guy remembers you and you stand a great chance of getting a good pour from then on......just sayin....

yep....beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Our favorite by far is The Book We also have enjoyed ShowGirls several times. Our least favorite by far was Hairspray.

Doug

I must have missed it, but you said they looked you up?...How did they look you up? Is there a registry where each citizen is listed?.....All 380 million of us? The whole deal sounds bizarre.

We have done 26 TA's and one TP. It is the best of cruising in our opinion. We prefer the Westbound TA's because we have no jet lag when we get home. We have learned that when you fly into Europe, we simply stay awake that first day as long as we can stand it till maybe 8PM and then sleep like we were dead till the next morning. When we wake up we are fine....no jet lag. However, sailing to Europe and flying home takes days to get over.

What we like about the sea days is easy....the whole ship is open. There is so much to do that we have to tightly schedule to avoid conflicts. I agree that we have to choose between bridge and trivia.

to be honest....( I am a non smoker) ...if they would simply enforce their own regulations about limiting smoking in the smoking section to only the people actively gambling it would help tremendously. They dont even have to send in the smoking police during Casino hours. If they would simply not allow people in the casino to smoke when the casino is not operating it would be a great help.

On our last months cruise on the Symphony, there was a chain smoker that brought his laptop into the casino and sat there all day everyday lighting one after another. He never played a dime. If they would run those guys, then there would be less "heat" on smokers that gamble.

Thanks FlyerTalker....You might not realize it, but on more than one occasion you have given me great advise on Frankfurt and DeGaul......much appreciated again

Doug

We are looking at  cruise ending in Tokyo. We know nothing about Japan Airlines. Is that a good line for a flight back to the US? Also, which airport in Tokyo is best for flying back? 

Thanks

Doug

Coming out of Cozumel yesterday we passed the Wonder and it looked dead in the water.  Maybe it was just resting?

We will be getting off the Regal Princess and getting on Harmony OTS. It is just a bit too far to walk. What is the best option for us?

Thanks

Doug

On 6/18/2023 at 12:50 PM, peterhof said:

Hi

my wife and I are on the Island Princess in October for a 14-Night Northern Lights cruise and we booked a year ago (July 2022). At that time the extras now included with the Princess plus package were not thought off.

 

When Princess announced the extras - ie 2 specialty deserts per day, unlimited juice bar and 2 free fitness lessons, they said they would not be given to already booked passengers, thus creating both a two tier package and lots of disgruntled loyal passengers. I also predicted at the time that this would be unworkable in practice. 
 

The latter it seems I was proved correct, as passengers are finding that the new package is being administered to all passengers having the plus package, no matter when they booked.

 

My question though is, it would seem the new package was designed with the newer larger ships in mind, so will we get all the benefits on the two smallest ships in the fleet. If so, in what bars and where are they?

 

Also, as we are cruising out of and back to Southampton, will all cabins still have tea/coffee making gear, including kettles, as before the pandemic?

 

Paul

 

 

 

 

In over 60 Princess cruises I have NEVER had a cabin with tea/coffee making kettles.Perhaps the Suites do have them

I do have a question about the new policies. In the past we have always ordered coffee every morning from room service and there was never a charge( other than the nice tip we give to the delivery person). We have the plus package. Will we be charged every day for coffee delivery under the new policy?

if you have the Plus package can you order room service coffee in the morning or is there an upcharge every time?

Doug