Toddy709

Just booked our first Princess cruise in about 10 years and so excited to be coming back "home"!!  Will there be an adults only pool on the new Sun Princess without having to pay for the Sanctuary?

We are flying in late the eveing before our cruise out of Port Everglades and are just looking for a clean place to lay our heads for a few hours. We would like to find a place that has free airport shuttle, and would like to try to keep it under $150... possible??

I did not get a drink package.  How much does RC charge for a glass of low to mid range chardonnay, along the lines of Kendall Jackson?  Also, if you do get the low end adult beverage package, what is the the chardonnay available on that package?

No time to research to find what I'm sure has been answered a thousand times... Does RC allow one carry-on bottle of wine per person or per stateroom?  Also, do both people in a stateroom have to purchase the non-alcoholic drink package, or can just one get it, and the other passenger doesn't?  I don't drink anything but tea and water and my cabin mate wants the $20 a day package...  TIA!!

We are looking for a cabin for our first Celebrity cruise on the Equinox.  We like an inside cabin with the nearest door to outside.  I don't have the time to research like I normally do, so I thought I'd just throw that quick question out here and see what kind of response I get.  Thanks!

Hi all!  I've been away from the cruise scene for quite a while and have a bunch of questions, and very limited time to research, so I know this will all seem pretty repetitive.  First question, if we were given a soft drink package as part of our cruise fare, can we upgrade the package once we get on board and how much is the upgrade?  We are going on the Allure.  Thanks in advance!

What is the title of the gentleman that wears the red jacket in the MDR??

Had my first RC cruise on IOS in October and really enjoyed it. Just off FOS today and it was the least enjoyable cruise DH and I have had in our 12 or so cruises. It wasn't a "bad" cruise; just several small, but irritating things, coupled with several less than friendly crew members, it was just not what we are used to... Will post a full review when I get home.

Highly, highly recommend Bering Sea Fisherman's Tour!! It was our favorite excursion that we did in Alaska!

Just off the IOS October 11. It was almost 11:00 before we disembarked due to some delay with customs. After that, I'll never book a flight out before noon.

Couldn't agree more. On Princess we never go to the buffet for lunch...The poolside Trident Grill has delicious cooked to order burgers and dogs...and their pizza, is awesome. This is definitely an area I wish Royal would improve.

They had burgers laid out in the Windjammer every day, but the patties were all stacked in a pan and looked kind of dry so I never even tried one. The condiments did look nice and fresh though. I do prefer the cooked to order at Trident. The Johnny Rockets burgers were really good, but not worth paying extra for... and then to have to pay for a shake in addition... if it had been $7 for a burger AND shake, that would have been more reasonable.

And the pizza... no comparison!!!

Nice review. We were on Indy a few weeks ago. Had no issues at all with checking our account on the TV.

I wondered if the batteries in the remote were dying, but every time I thought about asking the steward for fresh batteries, the remote would start working fine again. One of our traveling companions had trouble getting their Seapass acct to load, and the other didn't, so it could have been a "timing" issue.

DW and I have been on 6 Princess and 1 NCL cruise and we just booked our first Disney cruise. We are huge Disney fans despite not having kids, I was curious to hear your thoughts on Disney vs princess?

I didn't make comparisons with Disney because I LOVE all things Disney and making a comparison would have been biased.

Disney was our first cruise and I loved the food and the split bath in the cabins; those were two of the things that stick out in my mind. The only reason we haven't been back on Disney is we no longer cruise with kids, so in our minds we can't really justify the much higher cruise fare to go for adults only.

However, once grands enter the picture, I'll be very excited to introduce them to all things Disney!!

Thanks for your report.

 

In the entertainment category it appears you did not see a IOS production show.

 

You gave your thoughts about the inside on the Promenade deck. Any thoughts about the outside?

Didn't see the any production show, but I've not been a fan of them on Princess. That's why I didn't rate the entertainment category.

I never made it to the outside promenade deck, although I love sitting out there and reading on Princess.

Just for background info: I've cruised Disney once, Princess eight or nine times, and had one booked on Celebrity but had to cancel. I've read enough on CC to know these are very comparable cruise lines, and I knew there would be some things that I preferred on Princess and other things I liked better on RCL. There will be many comparisons in my review, but overall, I thought both lines came out about even. This was a girls' cruise and there were five of us sailing together in three cabins.

Embarkation:

Was extremely fast and efficient. I do prefer being able to go straight to the cabin to drop off carry-on bags on Princess, but knew that I wouldn't be able to do that on IOS so I was prepared. We were on the ship early enough that the Windjammer wasn't a zoo yet, so we had a nice lunch.

Ship:

I liked the size of the theater; we were always able to get good seats, which is difficult on Princess. I personally wasn't a fan of the Promenade. I'm just not into that atmosphere and at night it was ridiculously crowded and hard to make your way through. I much prefer the atrium and the International Cafe on Princess. I had read an IOS review from a cruise just before ours and it mentioned the difficulty in getting a drink now with so many people getting the drink packages. I never found this to be a problem at all. Granted, there weren't many servers walking the pool decks, but I didn't mind going to the bar myself and never found it overly crowded.

Cabins:

We had inside cabins on Deck 8 aft. Our room steward was perfectly nice and polite, but nothing "over and above". My cabin mate had to cancel last minute due to a death in the family so I asked the steward to change my bed configuration from twins to queen which he did promptly. However, this ended up being a mistake because it's very difficult to get around the edge of the bed between the sofa on one side and the mini fridge on the other. I do prefer the layout of Princess inside cabins without the sofa and having the dressing space between the closet and the bathroom. The bathroom was adequate. I liked IOS's shower doors better than Princess' shower curtain, and that IOS's shower has shelves to hold your shampoo, soap, etc. I do wish both lines would install a foot rest in the shower to make shaving easier!! I did miss my Princess eucalyptus lotion that I am extremely fond of!! Princess' beds are notoriously uncomfortable for most people, so IOS wins in the more comfortable bed department. The interactive TV drove me insane. Frequently the remote control was very unresponsive... I had to be standing in just the right position to use it, and then many times when I would go to check my Seapass account the system was down. I did order from room service once and it was very prompt.

Pool Areas:

I love the adult only pool on Princess that is on the very back of the ship and thought I would miss that great aft view, but I found IOS's adult pool and pool deck to be much nicer and roomier. I loved the cantilevered hot tubs, too! I thought checking out pool towels would be annoying when, in actuality, it turned out to be nice because you could exchange wet towels for dry at any time. I greatly appreciated that more than once I saw a deck hand show up almost immediately to tell kids that got in the adult pool that they had to leave. I also liked the self-serve ice cream on IOS.

Food:

For the most part, I found the food in the dining room to be very comparable to what I've had on Princess. Our wait staff, Sylnette and Luciane, was amazing!! One thing IOS does do better is the formal night lobster tail. Princess serves their tiny, little lobster tail with prawns and it's hard to even tell which is which. My lobster tail on IOS was a good size and very tasty as well. However, Princess wins big on burgers and especially pizza on the pool deck. I liked the layout of the Windjammer better, but as with Princess, it is standard buffet food. I did order the spinach dip from room service once, and it was pretty bad... it was your standard spinach dip with what looked to be a slice of Kraft American cheese melted on top, but it was delivered very promptly.

Entertainment:

This is where I really expected IOS to come out on top. However, we saw two different comedians that were only average at best. We did see an acrobatic team that was outstanding. We enjoyed the game shows. Sadly, we missed the ice skating which I understand is really good. I don't want to give Princess the "win" on this category because I might very well have missed something that would give IOS the advantage.

I'm not a big fan of the Western Caribbean, so the ship was definitely my destination on this cruise and I enjoyed it very much. I will definitely be adding RCI to my list of cruise lines to look at for future cruises.

Just wanted to post my review here if anyone has questions or comments:

Just for background info: I've cruised Disney once, Princess eight or nine times, and had one booked on Celebrity but had to cancel. I've read enough on CC to know these are very comparable cruise lines, and I knew there would be some things that I preferred on Princess and other things I liked better on RCL. There will be many comparisons in my review, but overall, I thought both lines came out about even. This was a girls' cruise and there were five of us sailing together in three cabins.

Embarkation:

Was extremely fast and efficient. I do prefer being able to go straight to the cabin to drop off carry-on bags on Princess, but knew that I wouldn't be able to do that on IOS so I was prepared. We were on the ship early enough that the Windjammer wasn't a zoo yet, so we had a nice lunch.

Ship:

I liked the size of the theater; we were always able to get good seats, which is difficult on Princess. I personally wasn't a fan of the Promenade. I'm just not into that atmosphere and at night it was ridiculously crowded and hard to make your way through. I much prefer the atrium and the International Cafe on Princess. I had read an IOS review from a cruise just before ours and it mentioned the difficulty in getting a drink now with so many people getting the drink packages. I never found this to be a problem at all. Granted, there weren't many servers walking the pool decks, but I didn't mind going to the bar myself and never found it overly crowded.

Cabins:

We had inside cabins on Deck 8 aft. Our room steward was perfectly nice and polite, but nothing "over and above". My cabin mate had to cancel last minute due to a death in the family so I asked the steward to change my bed configuration from twins to queen which he did promptly. However, this ended up being a mistake because it's very difficult to get around the edge of the bed between the sofa on one side and the mini fridge on the other. I do prefer the layout of Princess inside cabins without the sofa and having the dressing space between the closet and the bathroom. The bathroom was adequate. I liked IOS's shower doors better than Princess' shower curtain, and that IOS's shower has shelves to hold your shampoo, soap, etc. I do wish both lines would install a foot rest in the shower to make shaving easier!! I did miss my Princess eucalyptus lotion that I am extremely fond of!! Princess' beds are notoriously uncomfortable for most people, so IOS wins in the more comfortable bed department. The interactive TV drove me insane. Frequently the remote control was very unresponsive... I had to be standing in just the right position to use it, and then many times when I would go to check my Seapass account the system was down. I did order from room service once and it was very prompt.

Pool Areas:

I love the adult only pool on Princess that is on the very back of the ship and thought I would miss that great aft view, but I found IOS's adult pool and pool deck to be much nicer and roomier. I loved the cantilevered hot tubs, too! I thought checking out pool towels would be annoying when, in actuality, it turned out to be nice because you could exchange wet towels for dry at any time. I greatly appreciated that more than once I saw a deck hand show up almost immediately to tell kids that got in the adult pool that they had to leave. I also liked the self-serve ice cream on IOS.

Food:

For the most part, I found the food in the dining room to be very comparable to what I've had on Princess. Our wait staff, Sylnette and Luciane, was amazing!! One thing IOS does do better is the formal night lobster tail. Princess serves their tiny, little lobster tail with prawns and it's hard to even tell which is which. My lobster tail on IOS was a good size and very tasty as well. However, Princess wins big on burgers and especially pizza on the pool deck. I liked the layout of the Windjammer better but, as with Princess, it is standard buffet food. I did order the spinach dip from room service once, and it was pretty bad... it was your standard spinach dip with what looked to be a slice of Kraft American cheese melted on top, but it was delivered very promptly.

Entertainment:

This is where I really expected IOS to come out on top. However, we saw two different comedians that were only average at best. We did see an acrobatic team that was outstanding. We enjoyed the game shows. Sadly, we missed the ice skating which I understand is really good. I don't want to give Princess the "win" on this category because I might very well have missed something that would give IOS the advantage.

I'm not a big fan of the Western Caribbean, so the ship was definitely my destination on this cruise and I enjoyed it very much. I will definitely be adding RCI to my list of cruise lines to look at for future cruises.

Hi all! We are less than two weeks out until our cruise and my cabin mate has to cancel due to a medical issue. We always get insurance, but have never had to make a claim. Will she get back all of her money, including the port taxes?

Also, will there be any problem with me traveling solo, such as having to pay the single supplement or any extra gratuities or anything?

We started cruising with a balcony and never thought we'd do anything less... and then life happened and income was considerably reduced for a little while. During that time we had a cruise with a balcony cabin reserved and decided rather than cancel the cruise we would step down to an inside to see if we could tolerate it.

We more than tolerated it; we loved it!! We both slept so good. We were both more active out and about on the ship. And since we're both early morning people, it was a perfect room for napping in the afternoon, so we were able to stay up later and enjoy the nightlife more!

Best of all, even with income restored, we're still booking insides and booking more often!!:D

And the very best tip I got about cruising in an inside cabin is to take that little oval end table out of the sleeping area and stick it in the back of the closet!

If you agree to an "upgrade" then this is what can happen on any cruise line. If you are very particular about your cabin choice, you need to have your booking marked "no upgrade".

I hope you can put this incident behind you before your cruise begins and that you have a wonderful time.

They're already gearing up for their lawsuit, as she had her first nightmare last night about the event. I bet these people think they have won the lottery... and sadly, they probably will be "rewarded" handsomely.:rolleyes:

Hi all,

My sister and I are booked with a group of friends for a girls' cruise on Royal Caribbean in October and have not made final payment yet.

My sister's DH has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness and emotionally I can't talk to her about what to do about the cruise just yet. According to his doctor, he may not even be symptomatic until later in the year. We do have insurance though so if/when she decides not to go, she will at least get her $$ back.

I'm trying to decide if I should still go. My sister and I live 1000 miles apart, and she has three adult children living in the same town with her, so it's not like she would be dependent on me for help in caring for my BIL, at least not until later in the year most likely.

My TA is not in the office today, so here's my question: If I should decide to go, how does RC handle only one person in a cabin? Is there a single supplement, and if so, how much would it be? I need to make a quick decision because I've got an opportunity to get a fairly cheap, but non-refundable, flight right now...

And since putting this in writing, I feel rather callous...

I have my first RC cruise coming up in October. I normally do a lot of research when trying something new, but this year has been crazy and I've had no time to spend on the boards or RC website.

I'm reading this thread and thinking WHAT???? We have to PRE-BOOK our entertainment??? Seriously? Much less trying to figure out what all this dining stuff is about. It really DOES sound more like work to me...

I think I've picked a bad time to try something new:confused::confused:

Eastern Voyager is our all-time favorite Caribbean cruise itinerary!:D

I just tried. I can't log in either...

My last ten or so cruises have been on Princess. Needless to say, I'm a Princess fan. My next cruise is on Celebrity. I know that I will miss some of the things I like on Princess, and I'm also very confident that I will find some things I like better on Celebrity.

If this is your first cruise, you have nothing to compare it to, so I'm sure which ever line you choose, you will love.

The deciding factor for me would be the number of days. There is too much work, such as packing, traveling to the port, etc. for me to ever consider a cruise of less than 7 days!!