hehny

Cruising on a full suite on a mass market line is not the same as cruising on a luxury line. There is a reason you are paying a premium price point. I enjoy Princess and love her new ships. But if your only experience cruising is silver sea and crystal and you are already asking about crowds, I think the size of the ship will bother you. You will wait for elevators at peak times (I have never experienced this on a luxury line). You will need to get your theater seats early. There will be lines to disembark for excursions. The sanctuary gets booked immediately for sea days. Pool decks on sea days are extremely crowded.

Princess has many loyal followers. Between suites and elites, many of the so called priority benefits are not realistic. There are lots of reports of laundry turn around being limited due to demand.

If you wish to try a mass market line, the Haven experience at NCL is far closer to crystal with its ship within a ship concept than the suite experience on Princess.

Like you crowds bother me. However, I find there is enough I love about the newer princess ships that compensates for this dislike. I’ve learned to avoid midship elevators at peak times, get reservations early for things I want to do and Not rush off the ship at every port. For its food, comfort and value, I think Princess is a great line.

Keep doing your homework and think about what is most important. Good luck!

If you have looked at the recent weather patterns over the past few years, there is no answer. I agree with the suggestions to go with the itinerary you prefer.

Generally, you are looking at a half hour ride into Porto. You cannot walk to Porto from where the ships dock. There were hop on buses outside the port and most cruise lines offer a shuttle.

Check the port boards about STP disembarkation for cruise passengers. It’s being reported that the authorities are insisting ships tour passengers disembark before any private tours. NCL reportedly held private tourists back last month and followed this rule. This has causes massive headaches for Tour operators and your response may be a reaction. It seemed to catch people off guard.

We did a ship’s tour to the Catherine Palace and were glad we did, as we were allowed in before the palace opened.

Russian immigration is notorious. I wouldn’t count on Haven access to get out quickly. It may help but there could be other ships in port. And if they are following the new requirement for ship tours to leave first, it won’t matter.

Received the survey. Personally, even traveling Grills class, I welcome more alternate restaurants. The offerings have shrank over the past couple of years (yes, even QG) and I find it is more of a struggle to get off menu items. Just MHO.

People on the port boards are starting to report back on how rigidly their cruise lines are implementing the rule change (ship tours first).

We also purchased a letter opener in Barcelona and didn’t think about it...until it was flagged by security. They surprisingly let us board with it but it took some back and forth.

I am just glad we bought a small souvenir!

Love the ultimate tours. If you have access to the concierge, they can take care of it.

I was told that in the case of extended interest suites had priority. This was several years ago, so I can’t say if it is current.

So glad you decided to do this! We also suffer in extreme heat but somehow we did two Baltic cruises where the weather was over 100! I say two because we did not feel that one overnight in STP was enough. So we looked for a second cruise.

Oceania is one of the rare cruise lines that offers two nights in the city and we jumped on it. IMO none of the sites you mentioned are similar enough that I could skip one. If you enjoy cultural sightseeing, they are must sees!

Regarding crowds, both our trips were over the summer in July and it was mobbed. I can’t imagine what the crowds will be like for the WC. We actually did a ship’s tour to the Catherine Palace, because we got in before it opened. There was some private tours in the Amber Room at the same time and they were miffed because they’d thought they would be alone!

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Recommendations for chateaux visits in Bordeaux, please? We have three days and would love to visit one. Many thanks!

I can tell you I used to love the grills on cunard but I found the quality of the food plummeted and i wasn’t worth the price, If you are interested in in a ship within a ship concept highly recommend the Haven NCL.

Far prefer the food on Oceania and Marina is one of my favorites. The ship is small enough that you don’t need to worry about separate areas. But definitely not a ship within a ship concept. It’s fantastic not to wait for elevators!

I do miss the idea of walking in and having my table. There are times when we have had to wait and even in a ph could not get reservations to the specialty restaurants. We just learned to alter our dining times.

We didn’t find much to offer in terms of activities,so we tend to use Oceania for more port intensive cruises. Cunard had more offerings for onboard activities.

But the last time we were on Marina (July) the service and food were exemplary. The cabins are very comfortable. I would be hard pressed if all things were equal to choose cunard over Oceania, even though I love q.v.

Think about what is most important to you. Can you live with unassigned dining? Are you okay on a smaller ship? Will you miss the activities and exclusivity of the grill?

Good luck and happy cruising!

Technically, but if you are in a high enough cabin and close to the minimum age they seem to be flexible. At least that was my experience.

They do take you to the engine room and there is a lot of walking into tight areas, so a young child would not be allowed for liability issues.

I did this and as a high tea lover it was one of the highlights of my cruise. The food is far superior to the regular tea, there is no comparison. We were allowed to try different teas and received a lovely tutorial from our server.

I honestly don’t think any pax cared. Everyone is on vacation. It’s in the early afternoon, so not much is going on in the piazza. I don’t recall the entire seating area being reserved, just the inside tier.

Oceania is considered a luxury line. Princess is not. If you want less passengers, more intimate service and the best food at sea, go for Oceania. It's hard to compare cruise lines to begin with but in this case, it's not really fair. With that said, Princess offers a great product. If you can afford Oceania, try it and see what you think.

Is it just me or has everyone caught on to the fact that you can buy a service dog vest on eBay and then take you family pet on the cruise ship! Its getting ridiculous. Its time that congress fixed the loophole in the ADA rules They should require service dogs to have a letter from a doctor stating the person needs the dog. Also a letter from an authorized service dog training company that your dog has indeed been certified as a real service dog. Cruise ships could then require these two documents before a dog can enter the ship. Its a shame so many people from the "its all about me" generation are taking advantage of ADA.

This topic pops up frequently on cruise Boards. I certainly condemn people who take advantage.

But I want to kindly remind people NOT to make any rash judgements. Just because you can't "see" the disability doesn't mean it is not there. I wish the OP added more information as to why he/she felt the dogs were fake. Poor behavior? People openly admitting it?

The disabled board on CC has a huge thread on service dogs. If you are thinking of bringing your amnimal, it is a great place to start.

Do you get one coffee card for the mini bar set up or two?

Tony

I believe the OP stated 2. We just returned from regal last week and exchanged the mini bar set up for two cards.

Was on the same cruise, had a great time and your post brings back memories. Had cruised before on Royal and was prepared for lack of stairs so it didn't bother us.

Food is subjective. I enjoyed Princess, but I like fancy food. We tried the specialty restaurants and thought they were excellent. The dining room and buffet were quite good.

The only complaint I had was the constant shopping activities. It seemed a bit overkill. How many times could effy offer champagne and a prize drawing? But that's just a minor quibble, nothing to disturb the cruise itself.

Glad you enjoyed yourself! Look forward to the rest!

We didn't get one in our cabin on regal last week, but to be fair we didn't ask...already have too many! Not sure if it was an oversight...we talked to a couple of pax who said they didn't get it and were told princess wasn't handing them out anymore.

Just got off Regal feb 14th... Boarded at 12, rooms were ready.

When I did this excursion two years ago, it was participants only. Hopefully, someone went more recently and can comment.

But I wanted to add the guides were fantastic at taking pictures for us. Obviously the ship sent a photographer but when I took out my camera, my guide kindly offered to take pics of me and my family.

Just be realistic in your expectations. Years ago you could get a great bargain. Nowadays, it's not as common as it once was. Buy something because you like it not because you think of it as an investment. In other words, don't expect to purchase low and have a high appraisal. I've seen prices higher in the Carib than in the states, which is saying a lot (for comparable jewelry.

The disability board in cc has a huge thread about cruising with service dogs, I encourage anyone with an interest in the subject to check it out.

Of course abusers ruin it for everyone but please remember...just because a person doesn't look like they need a service dog (to you) doesn't mean there isn't a disability.

I don't think anyone can predict the demographic of passengers but a good rule of thumb is the longer the cruise, the less likely you are to have families or students. I'm not sure line reputation matters as much. This is because I did a seven day u.s. spring break cruise on HAL and was stunned at how many kids there were. HAL has a rep for being pretty staid, this cruise was anything but!

I tend to have pretty good sea legs and was amazed at how much the vibrations bothered me. I was midship btw. I remember putting a bag on the bed and watching it move due the vibrations. I do think it is a structural issue as I have sailed on other ships and never felt anything to this extent. You can search the threads to find some extensive theories. The issue of vibrations and Eurodam is pretty well established.

Of course sensitivity varies by person. But I can't see sailing Eurodam again.

Very often licensed tour guides can skip the lines. We also did this and didn't have to wait. Well worth the money.