MisterOJ2

I'm glad some people can get good deals on NCL. I've wanted to try NCL, but have never been able to. At the end of the day, I just want a basic fare (no internet/specialty dining/etc.) with *maybe* a drink package. Sometimes we buy it on Carnival, sometimes we don't.

But for the past few years, every time I have tried to book an NCL cruise (with the Free at Sea promotions) it has always been more expensive than a similar Carnival cruise with the price of Cheers! factored in. Since I like having the option to buy Cheers or not, it's always been a no-brainer for me to pick Carnival.

Belize is a tender port. There's no beach near the port, but it does have a decent amount of shopping and restaurants inside the port area. Outside the port area isn't great though. Usually when we go to Belize, we just enjoy the tender ride, do a bit of shopping and maybe hit a bar/restaurant in the port area and then head back to the ship.

6 minutes ago, Daruma said:

 

Thank you. 

 

Most Spring breaks are mid/end of March, (my son graduates this May... and his Spring Breaks have always been mid-March; this year Monday March 11 - Friday March 15), so hoping a late March into April should be safe. 

That time of year is usually spring break for kids in elementary/high school. So if you cruise then, you're going to see a lot more families on board.

14 hours ago, staceyglow said:

In 27 Carnival cruises (including 4 on the Spirit), I have never ever encountered a situation at a made-to-order food place when they wouldn't accommodate reasonable requests like that.

 

You must have run into a really anal retentive crewmember.

I was on the Spirit in December and never even ordered "off the menu." I just walked up, told them what I wanted and got it. Everyone else did the same around me too, more or less. 

6 minutes ago, straitlover1965 said:

My sister had a pretty good casino deal, and we (ages 60 & 64 at cruise time if it matters) booked a cruise on the Magic in April 2025. Did not realize that it was over Easter. Never cruised over a holiday or in April. Any idea on how bad the crowds might be? I know some schools have spring break early, but NC schools' break is usually around Easter, so I'm kinda worried. Also, thought they would have had their really needed dry dock by then but read it's now not until October 2025 (or is it September??? Already forgot!), so that concerns me, too.

Easter in the southeast usually coincides with A LOT of school spring breaks. So, I would definitely expect it to be crowded with plenty of kids.

1 minute ago, sturderick said:

We are going on the Celebration and have 3 people in a room.  We have a choice of a room with a pullman (which I wanted because of space) and a sofa that turns into a bed.  We are staying in the Havana area (again, for extra space outside).  Is the pullman comfortable enough?  A 29 year old will be in it if that makes a difference.  No brainer for an older person like myself lol.

I've never personally slept in either, but my kids always found the pullman beds to be more comfortable than the sofas.

29 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Chopsticks wasn’t as crazy as it has been this week and they just put out fresh sesame chicken so I grabbed some.

 

I really liked Chopsticks when I was on the Spirit back in December. I think I actually prefer it to the Mongolian Wok - and I love that Wok.

This is anecdotal, I know, but when I was on the Spirit in December, my wife and I both thought it was the least smoky we've ever noticed a cruise ship casino being. We didn't gamble, but we walked through a lot going from one place to another and I never thought it was smoky. Most of the time, I didn't notice any smell of cigarette smoke.

They can accommodate you. But, for a group that large, you might be waiting a while if a table is not available when you check in on the app.

We normally do set time dining, but when we cruised in December (with a group of 7) we did YTD because early wasn't available and my father couldn't do late. I really wish we could have had early dining, because it just didn't feel as "nice." 

Also, we found that wait times depended on what time you requested a table. The times we did it pretty much as soon as the dining room opened, we were seating quickly - within 5-10 minutes. However, a couple of nights, we waited a half hour or so later, and found the wait time to be close to an hour. 

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

The Plus package works for us. Most “normal” drinks will fit within the $15 limit. I drink Woodford Reserve bourbon and Captain Morgan rum. My wife drinks Grey Goose vodka. All those are covered by the package. If you are a wine drinker there are quite a few wines by the glass over the limit

Perfect. Thanks for this info. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. If I can get a Woodford old fashioned and my wife can get some Capt. Morgan or Bacardi drinks, we'll both be happy with the Plus package.

5 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Interesting. If you book this cruise directly on Princess website, the taxes are ^$209.39 pp. If you book through this specialized site, not only is the price higher (my guess since it includes access to the special performances), but the taxes are higher as well:

 

Taxes and fees are $398.39 per person and are not included in the above per person rates.

 

Twice as much... 

 

 

I'm guessing it's because the company that you book the music cruise through is based in New York, so you're probably paying New York taxes on top of the regular taxes for the cruise.

4 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks for the link. It sounds like this is a partial charter where only cruises booked through the agency get the benefits (band access, etc.). It looks like a good deal if you like the band(s) and are willing to trust the agency. Have fun!!

That makes sense, actually. I love the two bands that are hosting, but I thought the Sky Princess was an awfully big ship for them to charter.

Were any of the music cruises you took partial charters? The one I went on was a full charter and they took over the entire ship. I'm wondering how a partial would work with the bands performing in venues while the rest of the ship's passengers are kept out? I'm guessing that would mean no concerts on the pool deck then? 

10 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I don't think there is an obligation to get Princess Plus. Princess Plus is $60 pppd. You may opt for Princess Premier at $80 pppd instead.

 

Which date are you looking at on Princess website? 

 

1 minute ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Do you have a link to the charter cruise or your band's website? I'm curious about it as a fan and veteran of music cruises. Thanks.

 

I'll defer to my colleagues on your other questions, except to say that I like Carnival and Princess about equally for different reasons. Though I REALLY REALLY liked the 80s themed cruises that Princess hosted in the past.

The cruise https://stringbreakcruise.com/. I was assuming it wasn't listed on the Princess website since it's a charter cruise situation, but it's still listed on there right now. I guess since the music cruise was just announced last night, maybe Princess hasn't gotten around to taking it off the regular website yet?

Based on what I'm seeing, it's only about a $200 pp more for the theme cruise - which seems like a pretty good deal.

Hey y'all!

So, I never thought I'd be posting over here, since my wife and I are pretty set on Carnival these days, but one of our favorite bands just announced last night that they are co-hosting a music cruise on the Sky Princess in February of next year. But the price and itinerary (along with it being hosted by a favorite band) just makes it super attractive. That said, I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you guys can answer. Thanks in advance!

1) I know since this is a music/theme cruise there will be a lot of differences from a regular Princess cruise. We sorta know what to expect since we took a music cruise on Carnival a few years back. But, outside of entertainment - what are going to be the biggest differences between what we're used to on Carnival and what we'll find on the Sky Princess? I've done a very quick look at the ship and it seems like there's less quick-service type places to eat. And, I wasn't able to really tell how many were included and how many came with an extra fee? What are some other key differences?

2) According to the cruise website, everyone booking will get the Princess Plus package. Right now there is no information about being able to upgrade to whatever the deluxe package is called. I assume that will be an option, but maybe not. Anyway, if we just stayed at Princess Plus - does that include most drinks you can order? I'm used to ordering whatever I want with Cheers. If Princess has a bunch of things priced just over $15 so it's not included, I think that might be a bummer.

2a) Along those same lines, how are the bars on Princess? Is there something similar to the Alchemy?

3) We're platinum on Carnival. Is there any sort of status match we could get on Princess? 

14 minutes ago, bg2310 said:

You understand it could very likely be in AUD and not USD, which could account for that reason? USD has higher value than AUD.

The prices are in USD. Just like it's in USD when you do the same search and look at European cruises. I guess the strength of the USD might be part of the reason. Maybe most of the reason. It's a pretty stark difference though.

So, for months now, anytime I just go and look to see what the cheapest 7-day cruises Carnival has (according to my offers) all the cheapest ones are always out of Australia. If I don't filter out Australia, I usually have to scroll past dozens of cruises from there before I start to see ones leaving from anyplace else.

Does anyone here know why that is? Is Australia just cheaper from a logistical standpoint for Carnival? Or, is there another reason?

Most (if not all) of the shows have an early and a late performance.  That way people with late dining can go to the early show, and vice versa. 

4 minutes ago, HangryGrl said:

Did you ask the night before for the following evening?  They won't let you order same night.  We did have some evenings it wasn't available but we were thinking it is because they probably only have 7 nights worth and our cruise was 15.

We didn't. I didn't realize it was the sort of thing you had to order the day before. We just saw a couple things that looked tasty on the vegan menu when we pulled up that night's menus in the MDR. The servers didn't say that we had to order off that menu in advance. And I don't remember seeing that noted on the menu or in the app. 

We were on the Spirit last month and tried ordering from the new vegan menu a couple of times. But each time we did, our waiter looked confused, walked away from the table for a minute and then came back and said that it "wasn't available." So we just stuck to the regular menu after that.

I've not been on that ship, but I was a little disappointed when I went on the Spirit last month and there was no poker table in the casino. I don't usually play much on cruises, but I do like to every now and again. That was always the one thing in the casino that I ever really cared about.

17 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

When we were there, over a year ago, the tram made a stop at the "free beach".  Maybe they were flagged down.  I like access to facilities so the Free Beach wasn't for me.  

Now that you mention it, I think it did make one more stop by the free beach before going back to the ship.

2 hours ago, twins_to_alaska said:

Read the tram doesn't stop at Kayak Beach/Fisherman Village/Golf Carts before heading to Resort World now and only stops on the way back? is that right?

That's right. First stop is the casino/resort. Then Resort World. Then the Fisherman Village. Then back to the ship.

11 hours ago, freewilly said:

Plus this ship has the 4K cabins.. they are on deck 4, come with sofa have full length floor to ceiling windows and are priced as interior rooms. Leaving me more money to spend seeing the sights in the UK and Ireland. 

Yeah! We're booked into a 4K cabin - one that is in between life boats and has a pretty decent view, all things considered. We're pretty happy with that, but after we booked it my wife noticed it is also over the piano bar, so now we're wondering if we might get extra noise from that at night.

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I'd probably try it if it was open later, when less venues are open. There are so many solid, complimentary lunch options, that it makes it tough for me to choose this. 

It's been open kinda late the times I've been on a ship with one. Last month it was open till 10 or 11.