jkocpa

I just got a notice that he is on our Island Princess cruise Sept 16. Love Steve. Even cruised on one of his Steve Moris cruises in 2018, along with 100 of his family and friends.

I have a guarantee IF on the Emerald leaving in 5 days and still no cabin! The cruise has been sold out for months. I know that I will get a cabin, but it is frustrating to wait. This was my first guarantee cabin ever (and I have cruised 63 times with Princess) and it will probably be the only time I do it. I am prepared to leave for Rome in 4 days and hope I can print the luggage tags before I go.

Count me as another fan of your blog Jeanne! I have been checking it for about two weeks now, hoping to hear where you are going.

Entertainers are outside contractors who work by he wording of that contract. The completion time would be dictated by the time they start. However a well fed tip jar may extend that time.

This is not exactly true. The entertainers in Crooners are outside contractors, or self-employed musicians given a contract by Princess. But the hours that they perform are not specified in their contracts. The hours are assigned by the on-board entertainment director or music manager (depending on the ship.) Some ships, like Regal and Royal, have the crooners entertainer work later, I,e. 12:30 to 1:00 am

Thanks!

which cruise terminal in Copenhagen does the Regal Princess dock at?

I too appreciated the OP's forthright review. I have been concerned about both a drop in food quality and service by reduction in DR staff it seems. That said, service still seems good in general. As we are about to head off for 60 nights on a new ship for us, I am trying to remain positive that we will find things not changed much since we last cruised (it was on Regal) just over two years ago. So, it's hope for the best, but be prepared for some disappointment. I know I am a broken record on this, but Princess should maintain the standard and pass on necessary price increases not sell me the same product with no price increase and then reduce standards to make up the difference.

We shall see for ourselves in less than a week.

If you are doing the 60-day Island Princess South America run, you are very lucky. Arny G will be the piano entertainer in Crooners for that cruise, and he is the best Crooners entertainer on any ship! In fact he is our favorite entertainer at any venue on any ship!

I too have complaints about Kory Simon. He belittles passengers, forgetting that if it weren't for passengers he wouldn't have a job. If a passenger is chatting while he is singing, he stops, has other passengers boo the passenger while he insults them. If you leave while he is singing, he stops playing to draw attention to you. Very insulting to passengers.

I saw this first hand on two different cruises, and am disappointed to read that he is on the Regal. I will be on the Regal in October, and enjoy Crooners. But will not step foot in there if he is the piano entertainer.

I was on the Diamond in July 2017 and yes there are electric kettles in the staterooms. Along with teas. Great addition! I wish they had this on all the ships. I used it every day!

=harryt8;53781438]My wife and I are on Diamond leaving Yokohama on Sunday 20 August for an 18 day trip around Japan including Russia and South Korea.

Can you tell me if a kettle/electric jug is available in the staterooms?

This was available on Sapphire a couple of years ago on Asian cruises.

Thank you.

John & Dale Tait

Bendigo VIC

Australia

Another thing that I found different from what people are reporting - on my last cruise, I was the second most traveled passenger. The number one most traveled passenger told me that almost all her days were on P&O ships. So I don't think that they only count Princess days for most traveled.

And by the way, there was no luncheon or cocktail party for the most traveled. Instead we got a coupon for two free specialty dinners. And the cruise was 8 days, so it wasn't one of those short cruises where they routinely don't hold the parties.

Oh, and one more thing. They have changed the gift from an etched paperweight to a black box, that you can use to hold trinkets, with a picture on the front. But not necessarily of the cruise you are on. For example, I was on a Japan cruise, but no box had a picture of Japan. So I chose Santorini. In my opinion, the box is a cheaper looking gift than the etched paperweight. The old gifts are being phased out, so some ships might still have them.

You should know that there have been changes to the recognition of your 50th cruise point. I was on the Caribbean Princess in April, on my 49th Princess cruise point. I went to the CC host and asked what I could expect on my next cruise to recognize me on my 50th. He said that it depended on the ship (could be flowers, canapés, trip to the bridge, etc). I embarked on my 50th on July 13, and heard nothing from the CC hostess, so I paid her a visit and asked. She apologetically told me that the rules had changed on June 1. Instead of recognizing a passenger on their 50th cruise point, it has been changed to a recognition on your 500th day. So, since I had "only" 431 days, I was told that I would get no special "longevity" recognition on that 50th cruise. Just have to keep cruising Princess to get what had been known as the 50th perks and now is given to a passenger at 500 days.

can someone tell me who is the Entertainment Director and the Cruise Director on the Diamond? Thanks in advance

I'm looking at the EZCheck form I received while on the Coral last month, out of Ft. Lauderdale.......

 

Participating airlines are: Alaska, American, Delta [domestic only], Jet Blue [FLL only] and United. The service fee is $20 pp our of either MIA or FLL, with additional fees for each piece of luggage. All flights must depart between 11:59am and 11:59pm if from FLL and between 2:pm and 11:59pm if from MIA. No overweight fees if you sign up onboard!

 

There's also an exemption from paying airline baggage fees for some of us who have airline credit cards or fly firs/business class, to be noted of the application form.

 

Be sure to keep your valuables with you if you decided to go this route.

 

Darcy

We have used it in the past with Southwest and were planning to do the same on our cruise later this month. I am disappointed that it seems from your post that Southwest is no longer participating! Now what will I do? Our flight home is not until the evening!

I agree with many of the previous posters.....my absolute favorites: Steve Moris, Carlos Oscar, Troy Thirdgill.

And as for the comments that the comedians only repeat the same jokes, I would say that is not true of the best. We did a b2b2b2b two years ago, and were fortunate to have Steve Moris perform on 3 of the 4 cruises. We went to see him every time, and much of his show was different each time. In fact, I stopped to talk to him after the show to tell him how much I appreciated his adding new material. And he told me that he always does (but I am glad he kept some of his best gigs, including his performance on the bottles. Hysterical!)

We are on the Dawn in Oct and Nov....our first cruises that are charged in AUD $. When I was filling our my Personalizer, it asked me if I wanted Princess to do the conversion before charging my credit card. Foolishly, I said yes. Now seeing what their conversion rate is, as compared to the current rate, I would rather have my credit card company do the conversion. How can I change my instructions to a Princess? I can't find the option on my Personalizer. I booked my cruises through a travel agent. Do I call them to change this? Or do I just go to the purser's desk when I get on the ship?

Anyone know?

Thanks.

Thank you so much for keeping us up to date on this amazing story. So sorry that you will miss Istanbul, but in my opinion, Santorini is one of the most beautiful places on earth!! It is a fabulous stop. Take the donkey ride up the mountain, have some fabulous Greek wine and food, take pictures of beautiful blue waters, blue sky and white buildings. Enjoy your day!

I TOTALLY agree about the goat cheese soufflé. Best, best thing on any Princess menu!!! We always do anytime dining and only eat in the dining room about half the nights. But we check the menu every day so that we don't miss goat cheese soufflé. Always the first priority for food!

Thanks for the great reports on your cruise. I love following along on your trip.

We were in Punta Arenas Chile on Christmas Day 2013 and we went on a penguin excursion. The excursion was awesome but nothing in the town was really open. Lots of excursions though.

Best entertainer over all - Arny G the piano vocalist in Crooners (we have been on 24 cruises with him, and still coming back for more)

Other wonderful entertainers:

Troy Threadgill, comedian

Steve Moris, musician and comedian

David Cats, illusionist

We are thinking of a cruise on the Dawn Princess next fall. I have a few questions. I see on the deck plan that there is no "Crooners" on the Dawn. Is there a venue that is similar to Crooners with a resident piano entertainer?

I also see that there is no anytime dining, which is what we prefer. If we meet other cruisers as the cruise goes on, and we wish to dine with them, is there anyway to do this, other than dining at Horizon Court or a specialty restaurant?

I also have been reading some recent reviews on CC and they are not very good. Can anyone who has been on the ship recently tell me - is it in good shape? Does it have anything like the International Café?

thanks.

Judy

I have been on 2 back to backs in the past few months and there has been a change in the procedure (at least there was on the Grand). You no longer get a new cruise card for the second cruise. The original cruise card showed the full dates that I was to be on, and it was used in getting off the first cruise and back onto the second. So I would advise you to look at the dates on your cruise card when you first get it. If it shows the full dates that you will be on, then no new card will be issued.

Has anyone else noticed that there are quite a few new cruise directors being added, and in many cases they are not being promoted from within the princess ranks of Asst Cruise Directors? It seems many are being brought over from Carnival.

Also it looks like some of the new entertainers are also coming from Carnival.

More examples of the Carnivalization of a Princess?

Just heard from a friend on board that it's a propeller problem

My husband and I have different numbers of cruise credits, since we travel together but I also do solo cruising. I will hit 50 cruises much earlier than he will. When I do, will we both be able to have breakfast each day in Sabattinis? I wNt to be sure that I hit 50 cruises on a long cruise when we both are traveling together!

Happiness is being in Crooners, with a cosmo in hand, listening to Arny G sing and play the piano! My happy place!