trojangirl90066

Just got a text from our friends ...Island is following the sapphire Princess down the channel now to open water. She did book a Cabana #3 at $40/per day....yikes....hope she is not lonely up there....:o

If that's for two people it's correct. We booked the Sanctuary for the entire cruise and it was $20 day/per person. For me it was totally worth it. We had a cabana and it was amazing.

If you are in a full suite do you get the passes for free?

Do the clubs on the ship have dancing to the type of music that the 50+ (OK, 60 +) would enjoy dancing to?

I hope someone answers because I would like to know this as well.

Cruising tomorrow -

How early do people line up at the Princess terminal? Is 9:00am too early to arrive?

I would love to know the answer to this as well. We are sailing Feb. 6 on Princess, we have a suite so we will have preferred boarding but want to be among first on to sign up for the sanctuary.

I hope I am not sorry I paid for a suite on my upcoming cruise! I did it for the extra room and am lucky enough to have booked before they took away the free internet so I will be grandfathered in. I have read so many negative things about the princess suites I have my fingers and toes crossed it will be worth it!

Thank you for the great review. We leave one month from today and your review has really given me an insiders look at this cruise.

DH and I are doing this cruise on Feb. 6, 2013 so really enjoying your review and all the great pictures!

Like food, mattress comfort is subjective. That's why mattress stores have so many options.

 

Some people prefer a soft mattress, I find them very uncomfortable and tend to develop sciatica very quickly on them. I've never had a problem with the mattresses on Princess but have on HAL and Celebrity where the mattresses are softer with less support.

 

Had a pillowtop mattress on the Star last March which was great. Firm support with a soft layer for comfort, just like at home. :)

Did you have a pillow top on the Island, Pam?

Lee Miles is also excellent. Great reviews on CC & trip advisor.

I too would love to know if the Island Princess has the new pillow tops mattresses. We are in a vista suite and I have my fingers crossed that they do.

Darn, I quit smoking 5 years ago and really can't stand the smell. Fingers crossed it won't bother us. We are in D631.

We are on the Island in a suite on the Dolphin deck on the starboard side. Will we smell smoke on our balcony? Just wondering if we should switch to the Port side.

The best pre-cruise hotel in Fort Lauderdale is either The W or The Lago Mar. Forget the Embassy. It cannot compare.

Is the Bahia Mar the same as the Lago Mar?

We were just there a couple of weeks ago after a red-eye from LAX. We landed at 6:30 and by the time we got our luggage it was around 7:00. We just went back upstairs to the pre-security waiting area and got coffee and bagels and relaxed and read for a couple hours, then went downstairs around 9:30 and got a cab to the Port. We were sailing on Princess. We got to the port around 10:00 but could not drop our bags off right away. I think we waited about 20 minutes until they let us check our bags. After that, we just walked into Port Everglades shopping district to run errands, pick up wine, etc. We went back to the ship about 1:30 and there were virtually no lines to speak of. Another option would be to take a cab right away to somewhere like Starbucks or Panera where there is free wi-fi and lots of people hanging out, but then you have the hassle of lugging all your bags and having to pay for two cab fares.

Were you comfortable taking the red eye from LAX? I always worry about flight delays etc. so was thinking I should come in the day before.

Both the Gem and the Pearl had great blow dryers... which ship has the bad ones... I am sailing on the Jewel and would like not to have to pack one but will if necessary.

I took my own after reading a lot of posts on CC. Very glad I did as my hair needs a more powerful dryer.

Take your own unless you are not particular. I was in a suite and didn't love the conditioner & shampoo they provide.

I was on the Star (sister ship to the Dawn) in that same cabin & loved it. We asked our room steward to bring us a regular coffee pot as we brought our own coffee. Also a good tip, put the bench at the end of the bed underneath the desk/counter that is across from it. It gives you so much more room. After bumping in to it 4 times, I finally figured that out.