cruisequeen4ever

Hawaii by land gives so much more time to explore the islands, BUT especially now, it’s terribly expensive. Hotel prices soared there when travel started coming back in 2021 and 2022, and they haven’t come back down. Our Uber driver told us a 3.5 star hotel on Maui was $1,200 on NYE! That makes a Hawaii cruise a huge value!

That’s very good news, and I hope it applies to all ships!

Many things remain open and available. Some things close early or go away early. The spa usually closes hours early for cleaning. We noticed poolside pizza shut down early for cleaning. Occasionally, a food like a certain fruit, veggie, or might run out toward the end.

Search online for “Sapphire Princess B747”. You’ll see plenty of pics of it in the Images section that should help you make an informed decision. It’s the type of balcony that some will love and others will try to avoid; it all depends on what your priorities are.

I think like Hank said, the problem is that the insurance companies are overwhelmed and under staffed. I’d wager that they are also paying out a lot more in claims each year than they used to pre-pandemic. That may have them being more nitpicky than before, not saying that’s right to do to consumers at all, just saying that’s my guess of why they’re being tougher. My only experience with a travel insurance claim was actually with Aon through a cruise line, but I had a good experience. This was long before the pandemic, though. They paid out in six weeks, which was exactly what they told me it would take. I’m sorry some of you were having a terrible experience getting your claims paid. This thread has been very informative and eye-opening as I prepare for our next cruise. I sincerely hope insurance companies do right by their customers and process claims in a timely manner!

I’m sorry I don’t have any menus to share, but I will say that from my cruise over Christmas to other people’s cruises since then, I have seen some similarity and some variation. Princess gives chefs some liberty at adjusting the menu, especially on cruises longer than seven days, so you may have the same menu or a different one from what is posted Online. Even from what was posted on our stateroom TV to what was actual reality in the dining room was slightly different on our cruise. Typically, there is baked Alaska on the last night. There is filet mignon on one of the formal nights. There is lobster on the second formal night. At some point, there is usually beef Wellington. Steak may be offered a few nights. Every night offers lots of seafood. There’s always a vegetarian option. There will be appetizers, a soup option, a salad option, and 2 pastas every night. For dessert, there will always be ice cream, sorbet, a crème brûlée of some kind, and then rotating desserts.

Since they were doing it in the middle of the night, my guess is they just wanted to notify everyone in case anyone heard anything, but they didn’t expect much noise to actually occur. It’s very good to hear that you were not woken up. I too have never experienced this, but I’m not surprised as I know they have to do many routine tests and maintenance on everything.

Embarkation day is normal, except that you’re not stressed about missing the ship. Yes, you can come and go as you please after you have boarded. Depends on the port whether you can come and go throughout the night or not. Crew typically love overnights because they can go out and party in the night. They may allow emergency check in on the second day for those who were delayed, but normal check-in would probably not occur because it’s not a standard check-in day. I can’t say that for certain, though.

Well, I guess they plan on keeping it just for suites. 😏 I wish it was free for suites and a paid experience for others.

I’m curious to know what will change as we will be on it this summer. I’d love to try 360 if they opened it up to everyone.

Interesting. We weren’t thrilled with our recent Sabatini’s experience. It started out strong and then wilted away with meh entrees and progressively slower service. We’ll have to give this adjusted menu a try.

Congrats on the nearly free cruise!

I really enjoyed your blog; please blog as many of your upcoming cruises as possible!

I’ve never been, but from the pics I’ve seen, I can’t even imagine having 2 mega ships there at one time, let alone double that! Talk about 2 hour water slide lines and fighting over lounge chairs. CoCo Cay has always seemed really cool, but it would really detract having that many people there.

We did the Hawaii cruise on the Royal over Christmas and New Years, and it was fantastic! They did not offer any of those Hawaiian dishes someone mentioned above, but maybe that was because of the holidays or supply chain issues. They did have a make-your-own poke bowl station one day on the way back to SF. It wasn’t really true poke, though. We did have wonderful Hawaiian activities, though…lei making, hula lessons, and ukulele lessons. In Honolulu, a group came aboard to perform hula in the theater. There was some Hawaiian music, too. Have fun!

Wow, that’s such great service!! Have an incredibly special cruise!

The Deluxe Balcony idea was great, except there aren’t any on the Ruby. OP, I know what you’re saying. I need an accessible stateroom now and have to plan our cruises around their availability. They typically book up far in advance. Keep checking each day, though, and hopefully one will open up. I second that the bathtub in a mini suite would be way too challenging and risky to get in and out of. Be safe, have fun, and good luck!

After reading this thread, I now realize I received the same call. It was a man with a British accent from an Arizona phone number. He left a voicemail saying he was offering a special package for Elite members. I was not about to call back. If it turns out to be legit, Princess should make it known that it is safe and from them. I know that princess responded on Facebook as pictured above, but it still makes me nervous.

That would be awesome! I just hope I get one someday! 🤣

That’s very helpful; thank you.

Thank you both. That’s really good information, and I will watch some YouTubes of the marina area.

Funny! Ok, cool; thank you! I really liked that you can pre-book and know what you’re gonna get. I have used PrimeTime before so good to know the connection. Yay; I’ll start following! Happy sailing! 😀

You pull up, and you either get in a long line to hand over your luggage or strike gold with a porter choosing you to be graced by his help! Have cash in hand outstretched, and you may luck out, but even with my hubby doing that, it took multiple attempts to convince a porter to take our luggage. Fort Lauderdale is much smoother. After luggage drop-off, it’s smooth sailing.

Are there shops inside the secure area of the port in Cabo?

Thank you for sharing your experience! Is there shopping inside the secure port area of Cabo?