laniriveira

Every cabin' date=' no matter the category, will have a mini-fridge.

 

The first day Patter (the ship's newsletter) will give a night-by-night listing of the dress codes for the MDRs. The specialty restaurants are always smart casual, but often people will dress up if celebrating a special occasion.

 

Look at the back of the Patter (for any day of your cruise) and it will list the hours for various venues. For themed buffets or the pub lunch you just asked about -- those will be listed in the schedule of activities on page 2 and 3 of the Patter.[/quote']

 

I hit submit reply just a little too late lol!

Don't miss the pub lunch. It's really good!

 

But do beware of afternoon tea. It's also really good, and it's easy to spoil your appetite for dinner, especially if you have early traditional seating.

Where is pub lunch held? Or is it posted in the daily activities (what's the name for it on princess)?

Thanks for all the replies/tips/advice. It is greatly appreciated! DH and I are confirmed for 'Anytime Dining' and I've read a post on here recently that is questioning my decision on choosing that instead of early or late dining! Is it true I must call every morning to make a reservation for time and table size for that night's dinner?

Sailing Star Princess next week. I have cruised with Carnival, NCL and Disney. What info/tips/advice can you share that will help a first time Princess cruiser. Anything done differently on Princess compared to lines I've sailed? Thanks in advance for the help!

I was on Miracle in November and you could come and go as you pleased all night long in PV.

Lucky! When we were on the Miracle in May the gangway closed at 9pm and reopened the next morning. I think it was due to the issues that were going on in PV with their police and local drug cartels.

When we were on the Miracle in May we had a over night stay in Puerto Vallarta. DH and I chose to book a room at a local resort and stay there for the night. When I called Carnival I was told that we would be unable to do that. We decided to keep our booking and once on the ship spoke to guest services and was told that there was no problem if we decided not to sleep on board that one night. Gangways closed at 8 or 9pm and re-opened the next morning at 8am. I don't know about Cabo but in PV the ship stays docked in port. Funny thing, the lady I spoke with at the 800 Carnival number stated that the ship leaves the port overnight and re-docks the next morning!

When we were on the Jade 11/2014 we were allowed to order another appetizer or dessert. If you wanted another main entree they would charge a fee. We enjoyed their filet, cooked to perfection every time!

I think it's probably not a big deal in elementary school, but I have had parents take high school kids away for a week when they are in my AP classes.

 

As someone who teaches a tough, one semester AP class, I have to say that that its unfair to the kid and the teacher.

 

AP classes are jam packed and missing a week for a vacation puts the students far behind.

Completely agree! My children are in second grade and kinder and I'm jamming all these vacations in because I figure by the time my oldest reaches middle school, cruising during the school year will be highly unlikely!

DH and I have taken our now 8 year old son and 5 year old daughter out of school to cruise on numerous occasions. Longest cruise was a 17 day Panama Canal cruise that my son missed over 10 days of Kindergarten. The school district my children are in states that if a child misses 10 consecutive days they will be dropped from school (meaning you must re-register them and there is no guarantee that they will return to the same class). We take them out of school occasionally throughout the year for smaller 4,5, or 7 day cruises and have no problems. I always remind my children that in order to cruise they must be doing well in school, continue to listen and keep up their responsibilities and if ever they decide not to do one of those then their cruising privileges will of course discontinue. We prefer to travel during non-peak seasons due to less crowds and it offers tremendous savings that can't be beat!

So, what about the plates etc the room service meals come on? Where do those dishes go? It kinda defeats the purpose of clean corridors!

We took advantage of their fly aweigh for our 9 day Caribbean cruise aboard the Splendor in 2013. LAX to JFK. Booking the airfare through Carnival directly gave us the security in knowing that if our flight was delayed they would hold the ship (within reasonable time) or pay our way to get to the next port. When I was looking for flights the price quoted by our PVP was a little more (approx $35). I was told by my PVP that if I booked flights directly through Carnival that it would include the transfer from airport to port plus if they chose to fly us in a day prior to embarkation that they would cover one night hotel costs. Well that was a complete lie! We received our flight information three days prior to sail date. They put us on a direct flight (red-eye) LAX to JFK but our return flight departed from Newark and had a layover in Dallas, Tx. I personally wouldn't book my flights directly through Carnival again unless there was a substantial savings!

Keep in mind that where ever you are seated in Nick and Nora's steakhouse you will constantly feel a vibration/shaking! The steaks are decent but nothing to write home about.

Couldn't tell you about the price of a pina colada, but I do know that even with the ultimate dining plan you still have to pay the $5 fee for the delivery pizza.

The problem between PMA and the longshore union won't affect cruise ships out of LA and LB ports. There will be longshore (porters) to take your luggage plus longshore will be there to load and unload the ship (luggage, food etc). Enjoy :)

My only concern .... is the free water bottles bpa free?? :D

We got a $500+ price drop two weeks before final payment was due on our November 2014 Europe cruise aboard the Jade ... Just in time to cover our gratuities!

We booked a Europe sailing Thursday 2/5/15 and receive UDP + UBP for DH and I only, and got our two children for $0 (KSF). Noticed today that for the exact same thing the price was $60 less. Called in and was told by a NCL rep that we would receive the $60 savings, DH and I would still get UDP + UBP, kids will still be $0 but now the two kids will also receive UDP + UBP!

My kids are 8 and 5 and have sailed twice on NCL and numerous times on CCL. They prefer to cruise period, but lean a little more toward NCL. They really enjoy the indoor play gym inside splash academy onboard NCL ships.

Congrats! I have hope it will happen to me one day. I am platinum on Carnival, and have cruised Royal, Holland, Norwegian. I gamble on all ships but never have receive an offer. The only thing that I have received is an email stating that I would receive a premium bon voyage basket which never came. LOL

 

Did the offer come in the mail or via email?

 

Congrats again! Hope you have a nice cruise!

Check your VIFP account online. A couple times my PVP called and informed me of my free offer, other times I just randomly went onto carnival dot com, logged in and checked my special offers and found free ones, or the latest ... sail for $50 per person and receive $100 OBC.

We were there September 2013 and DH and DS did the stingray excursion. As a previous poster said, the stingray area is fenced off. I was able to walk around freely and take pictures of them inside the stingray area (I didn't purchase the excursion). DH and DS were booked on the last group of the day, but I really don't think that made a difference. My DD (didn't pay for her either) was on the sand inside the stingray excursion playing right where they were feeding the stingrays. I'll attach some pictures ...

Thank you for the up and up everyone. I did do more research and just to be clear I do understand that I would be giving gifts as well. BullDawg91 was it here on CC or was it another site? Meanwhile, I'll do more research...these sort of special games are my thing...thaaaaa***********s all

Try disboards dot com .. My sailing last September was more active there than here on cc.

DH and I aren't sailing on Royal Caribbean until Aug 2015 (Rhapsody of the Seas). We sailed DCL, NCL and Carnival but this will be our first cruise on RC. Please give me any info/advice you wish you knew prior to your first RC cruise!!

Thanks ;)

My vote … Jewel! My kids 7, 3 enjoyed themselves tremendously onboard the Jewel when we sailed April 2013.

We were on the jewel April 2013 for 17 nights NYC to LA and there were approximately 18 kids on board and two of them belonged to me! DS (6 at the time) and DD (3 at the time) enjoyed themselves tremendously!! They merged all the age groups together minus the newborn/toddlers (if there were any onboard). They had Nickelodeon activities as well as free play and scheduled activities. DS and DD enjoyed the one-on-one attention they received from the kids staff :)

Awesome review!!! Wish it was longer :) ... loved the photo's too.