mizLORInj

So is the dry dock happening this month? Where would we find what they are or have done to refresh this (older) beauty?

I love The Love Boat too--in all its silliness. I watched Dr. Odyssey--while I've never been to medical facilities on any ship, I doubt the space is so huge! And his cabin/suite!

Our passes said EXPRESS for Liberty in August. It didn't speed anything up for us. Still had to wait in line. I asked the agent what it meant and she said it just means you completed everything online. She still scanned our passports and took a new photo. This was at Cape Liberty in NJ.

I looked at the cruise calendar at vinow website - shows you at Havensight (WICO) on July 31. -------- Princess sometimes uses Crown Bay, along with Royal and Celebrity.

I asked for conditioner and got a little tube to use. Always bring my own shampoo.

Hi everyone. We're back from our 4 night Bermuda cruise on Liberty and here are our thoughts on it. We love Bermuda/Canada season from NJ because no airports are involved, therefore, less travel time. Our TA had a group rate for balcony cabins on this particular cruise, but I did not respond quickly on that and when I said "book it" she told me all that was left was GTY category. Hmm. The 2 times we and friends did GTY on NCL we got the front of the ship. Experience has shown that you never know what the seas will be like to and/or from Bermuda, and the front is not where I want to be. On the other hand, it's 4 nights vs. longer, so we went ahead and booked it. Shortly after, and much earlier than I expected, we were assigned an aft-facing balcony cabin. YAY! Chose a 12:30-1pm arrival timeslot because by that time people are already on board and the terminal is cleared out. Not this time. Security check was quick and then we went to check-in for our document check. . . and then we were directed to the seated holding area (C&A status did not matter here). Things moved along quickly though and we were onboard maybe 10 minutes later. Also, don't fret about your photo on the app; they were taking all new photos of everyone. Got onboard and dropped our stuff off in the cabin. The entire corridor on deck 9 (both sides) elevator to stern smelled of mildew. It smelled the entire cruise. How does no one working on the ship notice this. Yes, I did point it out. Cabin was nice though not in the best condition. Bed was comfy, lots of storage space. I always bring a few hangers from home and I'm glad I did. Usual bathroom style on this type of ship; it was fine. There was a bar of soap for the sink, and a coconut-scented body wash/shampoo in the shower. You can ask for conditioner. We have had aft-facing balconies before (thought not on Royal), and we're aware that there can be soot. We got a lot of soot on the balcony this time, and there was the smell of exhaust a lot--to the point where we would leave the balcony. I realize this all depends on wind direction. The balcony was quite deep which we loved, and able to accommodate 2 lounger chairs and more. The balcony chairs should have been in the trash due to damage and holes. Our cabin stewardess was excellent. 🙂 Food. We prefer the Adventure or Anthem Windjammer layout. And sinks to wash hands as you enter vs. squirt of hand sanitizer. We always found food items that were quite good. I did get tired of the message: "[when you're finished eating, please leave]" because we built a ship with cabins that hold too many to be accommodated in some public spaces. Dining room was very pretty and we had a table for two against a huge window, so we liked that of course. Our servers were excellent, although the food was bland and nothing was memorable. Apparently mashed potatoes are now served with every meal. We ate there the first two nights only. When we went to bring a tip to them the last night between dinner services, we were of course told about the survey, blah, blah, blah. I told him I will not rate the food a 10 because it wasn't, and he said if I don't [something happens to the servers]. Well, if that is true, shame on Royal Caribbean. The servers are not responsible for the taste of the food. The standout that was in both the buffet and dining room was Beef Bourguignon--it really was delicious. Pizza was decent as usual. I remember when cupcakes were included in our cruise fare, and now there is a cupcake store where you can pay $2.75 instead. There is popcorn for sale usually on the bar of the Schooner. . . $2.50 each. This cruise really showed me how desperately they are trying to get every penny out of the passenger. We like that there is a lower deck that goes all the way around the ship (4) and even has open bow access. We participated in some of the trivia and games, and that was always fun. People were using their phone apps for some of the music trivia, and the host said don't do that; the prizes aren't worth it. And they aren't. (and you're teaching your kids it is ok to cheat) I thought the kids waterpark was great. So many activities and all the kids looked so happy. Crown Lounge was nice. There was an absolutely fabulous Melitta coffee machine to make cappuccino or whatever coffee beverage you fancied. The evening happy hour was ok. There were breakfast items in the morning too. Cookies and whole fruit were there most of the time. Saturday Night Fever, the Musical, was the production show. We enjoyed the dancing. The same cast also was on stage earlier in the cruise singing; they seemed to sing a lot of Doobie Brothers and Chicago songs. I do miss the tribute bands Royal used to have. Seemed to frequently get disconnected from ship wifi--while on the ship. Bermuda. We were in port with Norwegian Joy that was a 7 nighter from NYC, so they had already been in port for one day. Our plan was, as usual for us, to take the $7 shuttle to Horseshoe bay (not RC sponsored). We did not rush to get off the ship. Arrived at the beach around 10 to a VERY long line for chair rental. I had never seen this beach so crowded, and I've been there with two ships before. With still about 20 people ahead of us, they ran out of umbrellas and chairs. So we just plopped down on our towels and went for a swim for a bit. Last year's rental prices were $45 for 2 chairs and an umbrella; this year it is $60. People next to us on the beach had gone to Tobacco Bay the day before and shelled out $70 for the same items! Home in NJ was getting hammered with rain, yet we had nice weather the duration of the cruise. The seas were a little rough mid-day the last sea day, but I felt like the ship handled the waves quite well. We have a cruise planned on this ship in 2025, but we are currently viewing other options. All the money must be going to the new ships because maintenance is not kept up on the older ships. Which is sad because we like this class and the Voyager class of ships a lot. On the RC survey I stated that the new ships are too expensive, and the older ships are not well-maintained. I am grateful for the perks we get for our C&A level, for sure. I love cruising out of NJ and being home so quickly when the cruise is over instead of spending hours in an airport. I do hope Royal Caribbean reads some of these reviews because the survey does not allow you go to into detail sufficiently.

You can get coffee, cappuccino, espresso from a machine in the Crown Lounge, which as D+ you have access to.

I see you already booked. This was our experience. We were the 2nd ship (of 5) into port that day this past March, and we were at the airport by 8:30am. Among the first off the ship and carried our own luggage off.

Have sailed both (and other mainstream lines). We try to sail whatever is in NY/NJ since we can drive to the port. We decided to try out MSC Meraviglia over Thanksgiving last year. We enjoyed it. We did do the status match and got Gold level which gave us a cute MSC bag, and I don't remember what else, but I didn't expect much anyway. Embarkation was easy -- we purposely chose a 1pm arrival time to avoid the earlier crowds. Ship was beautiful; cabin was nice. Were there little quirks? yes, but I don't even remember now what they were. I loved the adults-only area at the stern. Multi-stepped lounger area, bar, and pool. Spent A LOT of time there. They also had a high deck lounge that we found similar to the Viking Crown area. . . full area of windows--I think it was Sky Lounge. We called it the Viking lounge, and fellow tablemates all knew what we were describing as they were seasoned cruisers as well. Entertainment was good although I would not do the for-pay shows again. Will we sail MSC again? Yes, we will. I am glad we tried it to form our own opinion--and I suggest others do the same! Maybe we'll try Yacht Club someday. As far as cost. . .we priced MSC Meraviglia and Odyssey of the seas for a later-this-year cruise, 7 nighter out of NY/NJ. . . WITH the drinks/wifi pkg in a balcony cabin, MSC was $1,200 less than Odyssey.

If seas are rough, toward the bow of the ship is where you will feel it the most.

So if this ship is like Explorer and Adventure, (I'll be finding out soon for myself!) totally agree! Way too small and crowded for popular trivia. You'd think the Activities crew would note this and move it to a larger space, but nope. We did win Royal pens on Adventure in March, and I was surprised they were giving anything since it seems like years since winning merchandise I view it as free advertising for Royal; what do the trinkets cost them to give out? $1 each max? ok I'm done. 🤩

Ah, so they're assigning parking area by ship. Sounds like the area we'd park for Liberty is a lot we used many years ago (2009/10) before the new terminal was even built! Uber/Lyft is sounding better. . . Thanks everyone!

I wonder where you are directed if the deck is full and so is the overflow lot across the street from the terminal/deck. With Symphony and Liberty and Celebrity Eclipse using this port for the summer, I'm concerned about parking and thinking of using Uber/Lyft instead. What has been people's experience in the past month or so--since the 3 ships are using this port?

HI all. With 2 Royal ships and Celebrity using this port right now, are parking areas full? I would think the deck remains full--I know there is an overflow lot across from the deck, but I would think this is filling up too with 3 ships using the port. What has been your experience? We are trying to decide whether to drive and park, or just Uber/Lyft instead (we have done both ways in the past). TIA!

Yes, we got a group rate through our TA for a 2025 Princess cruise. So yes is the answer to your question, but you need to find a TA who has these group rates which are usually for certain cruises only.

We tried out Scarlet Lady late 2022 and it was fabulous! We'll be going back. But we still cruise other lines too. And it is true that Royal and Celebrity have changed noticeably since pre-c too. Sadly.

The Baths of Virgin Gorda is definitely worth the trip to see.

ok, so that's new. We had a suite 2x before and I don't think we had a special dining room. I guess they're following Celebrity on that one with the "classes" and special dining rooms. Not in a suite this time. Got a Caribe deck balcony cabin at a group rate from our TA so I'm good! 🙂

ok thanks. Love Skywalkers. Any time or set hours for visiting the lounge?

What's the platinum lounge like? I don't remember that in the past.

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate your comments.

oh ok. I remember there was a pizza place on the Lido (?) deck? We frequented it---also on Crown and Emerald if I remember correctly, but it was prob 10 years ago. But it was the best pizza at sea at the time! Thanks

noooooooooooooooooo! the pizza was great! I can't believe it's no longer included in cruise fare! Well, I guess I can. Thanks.

I usually see Princess ships at the Brooklyn (Red Hook) terminal. When I looked at the NY cruise terminal schedule, it shows Sky Princess at Manhattan and Enchanted Princess at Brooklyn in the fall. You can use EWR for both ports though. https://nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/schedule-mct/

HI all. Our last Princess cruise was a week before the shutdown--late February 2020. We had a fabulous aft corner suite on Regal Princess and it was a wonderful cruise. I know that all cruise lines have had cutbacks and have experienced them myself since late 2021. We are looking at Caribbean Princess (love that ship) for 2025. I realize it's old; I remember the first time I saw it in 2005--I was on another ship in Jamaica and when CP pulled in, I said WE ARE GOING ON THAT NEXT!!! I do love that class of ship. So what have you noticed has changed on Princess over the past few years? (besides pricing structure) Thanks in advance, and happy cruising to all! 🙂