skrodle

So very happy to report we are booked!!

Got an Aft Balcony penthouse (go big or go home on our first time right?) on the Dawn for 7 day out of NOLA the first week of may 2016.

Super excited... now reading up on everything i can find out about on NCL and the ship and the ports!!

May try to book an LA/Mexico cruise in the early part of the year to test out the waters... but very excited.

skrodle, huh? you were going on a 1 day cruise. now you're going on 7 day instead??

Yes, I was booked on a 1 day that was oversold, so the move over offer was my choice of any 7 day cruise out of a US port of my choice! (Plus the OBC)

i got the best move over offer a couple weeks ago.

we had booked the 1 day seattle to vancouver and paid $119 per pax.

We moved over to a 7 day regal at no cost, got the $119 per pax as a refundable OBC. Plus we had used a FCC to originally buy the first cruise. There is no OBC associated with a FCC and a 1 day, but now that we are on a 7 day, it gave us each $50 in OBC.

We also had pre paid our gratuities for the 1 day, and now they are pre paid for the 7 day.

We also bought the UBP for the 1 day, and it is now paid for the 7 day!

I would say that was a sweet deal!!

What's

The UBP? Ultimate soda package, the AIBP all inclusive package? Can't think of anything else... or s it UBD, ultimate balcony dinner?

sorry yes... the all inclusive beverage package.. i was switching between boards and NCL calls theirs the "UBP" (ultimate beverage package)

thanks!

Hi there-

If we pre-purchase the UBP, how do we get the sticker for our card? Will it be in our cabin? Or do we just get the folio credit for the amount of the pre-purchase and then have to go get a sticker and have the amount charged to our folio?

Thanks

David

When you ask if they are exposed, are you asking about someone looking down on you? .

thanks so much for the information!! :) My question about exposed, I dont really care if people are looking down at me, more so about shade... i don't like to sit so long in direct sunlight, but I enjoy being on my balcony... sometimes its a win... other times i just have to apply lots of sun screen... but from what it looks like, there is no real over hang on either, except for a small lip... i cannot find a good pic of the front of the ship

awesome... thanks!!

one last question, are they fully exposed? it looks like there might be a small lip hanging over, but other than that... fully exposed?

Hi there-

So you all have been great in helping me be convinced that I need to try our NCL! :) thank you for your advice...

Now I am looking at some suites, and wanted to know if anyone had any advice on the Forward penthouse suites, there are two available to choose from on my cruise either 9002 or 10002... the balconies look huge, but no shade... anyone have advice on either of these? 9002 looks from the deck plan to have a larger balcony, smaller state room... 10002 has the smaller balcony/larger room... from the pics that I can see online, the balconies are definitely different sizes, but I cannot tell the cabin size.

also on Princess, any forward facing cabin, the balcony is locked when the ship is sailing... does anyone know if this is the case on NCL?

thank you!!! I really appreciate your help

thanks everyone for you help... if anyone has anything else to share, that would be great :)

I'm getting more excited and less scared of the change :) lol

-David

Hi everyone-

We have been loyal Princess Cruisers, I think about 12 cruises now... We had a cruise booked for my Birthday on Princess, but its just not the right cruise for us. We are looking to Switch over to NCL because they have the itinerary we want.

I wanted to get a little feedback as to if anyone is familiar to the two brands, and what are the differences that I will notice (good or bad) and what maybe is kind of the same? Like I know Princess has fresh water pools, but not every cruise line does.

We are looking at the NCL Dawn out of New Orleans for a 7 day western Caribbean. Also if anyone has any advice on this ship... thats great too.

Thank you!!! So excited (and scared) about a new brand.

David

we were on this cruise also... amazing cruise... everything pretty much top to bottom was fantastic.. the Love Boat disco party is OUTSTANDING

but I am curious about your "cold" 3 of us have gotten very sick since this cruise... started about 3 days before it ended, and 2 of us have been in the ER... wonder if there was something that we picked up.. I am going to see my doc tomorrow as what ever the infection is it has moved to my ear and I along with my husband and one of our friends will now be on antibiotics... ugh

but it was amazing cruise... and worth a little "cold" :)

-David

I got to swim with the whale sharks on this cruise!!!! It was amazing... there were at least 6-7 sharks in the bay, one was probably 20-24 feet long (as it swam along the boat, it was definitely longer than than tour boat)

Amazing cruise, amazing crew... one of my best cruises ever!

The OP is on a ten day cruise on Star Princess. They're scheduled to be in Cabo from 8am - 5pm.

yup... u are correct... i was thinking that the tour is arranged only till 12:30 since the ships normally leave cabo so early... but just discovered we can stay ;) so I am excited... now to just figure out which hotel...

I believe the info on that excursion says if you want to stay longer you just need to find your own way back to the ship.

Thrak....u are a genius!!! Thanks... I just re-read the excursion details and saw that yes, I can arrange my own transport...

Now I wish I could figure out what Hotel this is at....

Anyone done this excursion?

Hi there-

I would post this over in the Mexico port thread, but that is a very inactive thread... so I am hoping a past Princess Cruiser can help with this. We are looking for something to do in Cabo, and have the "Exclusive Beach Resort Getaway" booked through the ship. It says it is on Medano Beach, but not which resort. The reason I am asking is a lot of the hotels you can do day passes for (and probably less than the ship), but more importantly, Princess has us leaving and returning to the pier like 6 hours before we leave Cabo and seeing if we could just stay and get back to the Ship on our own and not have to leave at 12:30.

If you have done this excursion, any information would be great, especially if you stayed additionally on your own.

Thanks so much

David

Osso Bucco Ravioli: Where is the Osso Bucco? What I see in the photo is not what I think of as Osso Bucco.

 

The presentation for all of the dishes looked very nice.

the ravioli is filled with osso bucco meat... so delish (pic 3 in the first post)

the osso bucco ravioli is AH-MAZING (we ordered in our Suite on last cruise, other wise I would have ordered a second helping) and the raspberry creme brulee.. yeah not a creme brulee.. but one of the best desserts I have every had on princess. I will definitely order two on my upcoming cruise...

its definitely not a menu for everyone and I think they could have picked better "classics" but to me the two above mentioned items are worth it

Yay!

 

Thanks very much :)

I have bought a lot of elemis product back at home (waaaay over priced on the ship) on their website you can sometimes get deals if you get their e-newsletter, but more recently i have been buying it on amazon.

as an interesting note, elemis is owned by steiner who runs the lotus spas (and just about every spa on every other cruise line) its good product, but very expensive if you dont shop around

Horrible reviews for Club Cantamar. Best be Avoided. Check Trip Advisor. Not Good.

I did look there, it sounds like the hotel itself is not so good, their reviews of their diving is pretty positive. I like that they are right on the pier. ;) Just sourcing if anyone here has had any person experience with them

Hi there-

I am looking at booking an independent snorkeling trip in La Paz. From just a little bit of research, Club Cantamar is walking distance from the Pier and offers snorkeling at about 1/2 the price of ship. Has anyone used them or any other operator to Snorkel? They also offer whale shark as a $20 add on which is much better than the cruise ship.

Any advice is appreciated!!! :)

Great information on the Krystal Ine!... it sounds like a great option. I like the idea of the Las Caletas getaway, but I dont like the hour transportation in either direction.

Do you have any information on good resorts that offer the same deal in Cabo or La Paz?

Thanks so much!!

David & Tyler

I've seen this on some other ships. There's been some speculation here on Cruise Critic that they are changing some cabin categories. It's probably more of a way to realign how they charge for cabins.

ah, that makes much more sense

I went to look today at the Island Deck plans for the post May 2015 dry dock. I know this has been discussed ad nauseam on here about the pros and cons of her dry dock/remodel coming up.

What I found interesting is there is another set of deck plans for May 11 2016. They were not fully loaded on (at least I couldn't pull them up) but it looks like more changes coming in May 2016 after her 3 day from LA to Vancouver. But they are selling May 11th sailings.... odd

-David

I see about 5 posts away is a Puerto Vallarta post... so I got that port covered... just need the other 3 now :) lol