BETELVE

Not to worry, 27 years ago I flew over.   As a result, I never turned 50.   Life is really better before 50.

I'm sorry the poster had such a bad time.    I was on the same trip and had a wonderful time.    I love the Sapphire Princess.    My theory about embarkation is that government inspections were keeping the staff from allowing anyone on the ship since she had just completed a 30 day cruise.    I have cruised many times from San Pedro and never encountered a    situation like this before.    I don't think Princess could do anything about it.

Most of the food was good, but I do agree about the fish and chips.    The portions seemed normal to me.    I only ate in the buffet when the dining room was closed.    I did notice that most of the passengers bypassed the wash station even though a crew member was standing in front of it.    I took the added precaution of using the wipe dispenser after getting my food.    There does seem to be less choice of items since the Covid shutdown.    I solved this in my room by bringing Ghardelli chocolate bar squares and having one each morning.    The afternoon tea on sea days with sandwiches, desserts, and scones was wonderful.

I found the service very good.    I had a great room steward.    The staff was very friendly and kind.

I did not participate in any of the entertainment except the Zumba every sea day.    That was wonderful even though I had to hang on to something since I use a walker.    I still got a lot of action with my feet.    I went to the gym once to use the weights.    I also took advantage of a late cruise spa offer of a massage and facial.    It was excellent and my person did not offer me any products afterwards which I have heard is not usual.

I had a share table for breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner and met a lot of interesting, well travelled people.    It was nice to put names to faces.    There were 180 solo travellers on board so someone from CC arranged with the International dining room to have a solos lunch every sea day.    We were able to just walk in and back to our tables.

As to diseases, I think Covid is going to be with us so all we can do is mask when we need to.    On two occasions I saw someone who continued to cough so I left the area.    

A couple of times in the past year, the latest being April on Caribbean Princess, I got a $40 credit at guest services for turning in my package.

Does NCL offer free fitness classes?

Fitness

I am on Caribbean Princess.   No free classes or Zumba.   Zumba has been replaced with a free fitness dance class outside on the deck.

This morning at Customer Service on the Caribbean Princess I was able to exchange my mini-bar for a $40 credit.

14 hours ago, graygran said:

And if you are mobility challenged? What classes?

 

I have gone to both the stretch and abs class with my walker and modified the exercise as needed.    I also enjoy Zumba, but stay in the back with the back of the room to support me if needed.

Does anyone have recommendations for a pre-cruise hotel for three days of sight seeing?

19 hours ago, highscar said:

GJust wondering.  Could there ever be an up- grade offer for a solo cruiser.   

I received an upsell offer yesterday on the 1/4 Rotterdam from my obstructed outside to family outside or veranda.    Veranda would have cost $800 single.    I passed on it.

2 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

This morning the tracking info was updated to show they have arrived at our local USPS for delivery today.  It'll be interesting to see if the packages have been tampered with.  In the past few months we've had several envelopes and a couple of packages violated.  The envelopes all had cards in them.  One of the packages was ripped open and the invoice stuffed back in when the thief saw the book title was their genre.  

If you have not already, please report this situation to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.    Tampering with mail is a federal crime.

16 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

I was in the blue lane before I even did all the check-in stuff on the app.  Probably because of our air arrival time.  I think our incomplete is because of the health questions that you have to answer last minute that can't be done before.

I don't know if it helps you, but when I got to green on the web without the photo, I answered the health questions and was told also to check back just before sailing.

I was wrong about the "incomplete" on the security photo putting me in the blue line.    I just printed my summary and noted that I was to be in the green line.    

Since I found this discussion this morning I went on line and was successful for my Feb. 28th cruise, except for the security photo.    I have no idea how I would do that, but I guess it will keep my time at the counter to a minimum since everything else has been successfully entered.    I'm glad they put this back on the web.    Maybe someday they will have a security photo only line for those of us who can't manage that on a computer.

Grand Princess balconies on the 10 day February 28, 2022 cruise are available solo for around $1000.

I booked with Princess yesterday to snag a low, low price for a balcony.    Then I emailed my agent of 33 years to see if she was still in business.    She got me a $100 plus on board credit and was able to take over my booking and get insurance for the trip.    My agent has always come in handy, but especially so when I fell at the airport in Grand Rapids, MI breaking my hip on the way to a meet-up with a friend at Newark to fly to a Venice to Barcelona cruise.    From the airport floor I had my California agent on the line who was quickly able to cancel the cruise and change the hotel into my friend's name.    I highly recommend a good agent and trip insurance.

Eleven days out twice.

My friend and I enjoyed the Dikker and Thiese.    The location is the same canal as the Anne Frank house.   We walked there from the hotel.  Loads of restaurants  in a restaurant district just around the corner.    It's a little funky if you are looking for something like an American hotel, but the location is great.    It was very comfortable.   We would definitely stay there again.    I have also stayed at the Movenpick which is just a block from the train station.    It was much more like an American hotel but not nearly as convenient for eating or as fun.

33 minutes ago, BETELVE said:

I am on the 1/6 sailing of the Maasdam and have no assignment yet.    There are a number of us on my roll call without cabins.    Today is 10 days out for us.   

Just checked my messages.    My agent sent me the cabin number after I checked last night.    So for me 11 days out was the day.

26 minutes ago, richrhon1 said:

We are on the 1/13 sailing on the Konigsdam.  We booked 2 cabins, VH-Balcony Guarantee.  We have still not received our cabin assignments.  Hope this works in our favor.  Got an amazing fare back in June.  Called TA asking what it would cost to upgrade.    We're sticking with the VH. 

I am on the 1/6 sailing of the Maasdam and have no assignment yet.    There are a number of us on my roll call without cabins.    Today is 10 days out for us.   

Assuming you overnighted in Lima on the Emerald, do you know how late you could go back to the ship? Or how late the Princess shuttle ran? We'd like to go out for dinner that night independently and it would be nice if we didn't have some curfew or something we had to make to get back to ship. Many thanks!

On LA to Santiago there was a yearly balancing test that the ship needed to do so no access between midnight and 4am. It sounded like except for that, boarding would take place all night.

need some suggestions from those currently on (or who have been on) the Emerald... I need a place fairly open with low traffic to do tai chi on sea days. I prefer outside (if it's not too cold/rainy), but an inside local would be ok too. On the Sea Princess, we originally tried the sports deck, but found it too windy up high with no wind-breaking ship walls between us and the open ocean) I will check at the desk when i board (too see if there's a dance floor or aerobics room we can use on rain-days) but need a likely spot to meet ppl at that first sea day (and don't want to have to call a whack of ppl the day i board the ship, lol). Anywhere come to mind? if so, please let me know.

On the LA to Santiago leg there was a large group doing Tai Chi in Club Fusion before Zumba started at 9. I do no know when they started. It was not an activity announced in the Patter.

You probably should call. On my segment of the World cruise, someone was already occupying my guarantee cabin, so mistakes do happen. In my case, instead of an outside cabin next to the crew door, I got a mid-ship balcony cabin because that was all that was available. So it worked out well, but to avoid shock, it would not hurt to check if all is well.

I love your review. I'm boarding the Pacific in Sydney on the 12th so I really appreciate seeing your pictures. I expect that I'll be in an inside cabin (no assignment yet), but your pictures show how nice even an older ship can look.

Princess Cruises has Zumba every sea day at 9:30. Fantastic!!!