tanyaewa

I’m glad someone mentioned the goat cheese souffle! It is incredible.  Love love love it

I'm also a big fan of the creme brûlée.  

We were on the Crown for 10 days in the Med this fall and every night in the main dining room our table was very happy. 

 

I highly recommend arriving at the port, dropping your bags at check in and then taking the port bus out to the Columbus statue and wandering up Las Ramblas for an hour or 2.. go to La Boqueiria Market.  it’s very easy and very safe and absolutely worth it to soak up the amazing atmosphere in Barcelona and stretch your legs after travelling.

 

Fantastic review! We were on the Crown Sept 22-Oct 2 Rome to Barcelona.

We  loved it so much 

Your ports were slightly different. Very interesting summary.  Thanks for taking the time to post it. 

On 11/4/2018 at 7:27 AM, TedBar82 said:

Hello,

We are considering trying Princess cruise lines next year.

Does Princess offer a discount on beverage packages if purchased before the cruise?

 

No.  As explained there are ways to get a booking that includes beverages but unlike other cruise lines like RCCL the price is the same on board.  

Princess does allow 1 bottle of wine per passenger of legal drinking age without a charge ( more than that would incur $15 corkage ) and allows you to bring water and soda aboard  at embarkation and subsequent ports stops so I rarely find it worthwhile to purchase on Princess.

A few  benefit of pre purchasing is that you can lock in exchange rates, use OBC, budget spending and it will already be loaded on your card so you can walk straight to the bar.

hope that answers 

2 hours ago, IrieBajan54 said:

 

How are you able to see that many cabins? In doing a mock booking, I can only see a maximum of 15 cabins per category.

This.  How do you know?

Never any problem with hot water.  But our Sept 22-Oct 2 cruise on the Crown E633 (ocean view)  we could not get the room cool.  It was close to the ships laundry room and sometimes at night you could smell the laundry coming through the vents.  Maybe there was an issue with laundry exhaust coming in? We kept drapes closed during the day 

We were on the Crown Sept 22-Oct 2.  In my opinion is was the absolutely weakest entertainment lineup I’ve ever had on any cruise ever.

I hope it’s different now.... 

I think it’s definitely an individual choice - lol. As you read in the answers here, price and value is subjective.  Did you get excited about it? Will it break your budget? Sometimes it’s just a matter of “hey - let’s do it just to say we did”

My hubby and I recently had an opportunity to go to a fancy airport lounge at the beginning of an overseas trip.  We thought “hey why not?!” It’s rare that the 2 of us travel alone so that made it fun and special.  Not necessarily a great deal... but a good experience 

On 10/25/2018 at 6:55 AM, Heyref said:

What would stop me from taking 2 bottles on board, and having my wife check in 10 min later, and her taking 2 bottles.  Do you think we would each be charged $15 for the extra bottle??

To answer your questions- 

Nothing is stopping you.

In my experience you would be unlikely to be charged for the extra.

I can tell you that this fall has been very cool and wet in the Vancouver region - we are having record low temps for September with no real likelihood of it getting much warmer or drier. Sometimes there is really lovely late summer, warm, dry weather - this does not seem to be that year. I would prepare for definite wet and cold weather for the first 4 days

Could you or your friends do me a favor, take a picture of the beer list, I'm wondering if it's the standard beers, or, if they've rolled out the new drinks yet...

 

If I get a chance - will do!

I like to book ahead to guarantee my rate and booking but keep checking to see if the rates drop and cancel & rebook.

 

I often see the rates drop and then go back up.

Thanks for posting the link - Len

 

I think a lot of things he says are spot on.

Perhaps some Americans don't like the mirror held up to look at their behaviour and how they are perceived by the rest of the world.

It's always a great idea to practice self-awareness

I have friends on her right now. Sending lots of photos of amazing weather and good times on the ship. We are embarking sept 22. Looking forward to it

My current booking with Princess is at 1.20 exchange

We did a 5 day Coastal- Vancouver to LA for less than 2K$ for 4 ppl

 

lol- I just checked...it was almost 10 years ago!

Just out of curiosity- how does one get $995 to $2000 of OBC from a TA?

Large groups? Super suites?

Ha! And that’s so funny! i am such a bargain shopper that it never occurred to me to change that economy field... but now I see it! Thx!!

Fwiw- my one way Vancouver to Rome with one 2hr stop was $580 CDN this September with ez air

OK TO SHARE THE 15 SPECIALTY COFFEES

 

Firstly- no need to yell at me...

Secondly - again I ask... why is it interpreted OK to share the coffee but not the BP

But I do have one question.... at what point to you get to choose first or business class? I never have seeen that option.

I booked with EZAir air - one way - yvr to Rome and then booked return flight Barcelona to YVR with points. Easy peasy. I monitored the EZ air flights and they did decrease about 2 months after I booked (6 months before departure) flights are with British Air and would have cost me 3x the price on their website. There were Plenty of options too.

 

For travel to Europe ez air seemed like great value

Definitely worth it to do Disney someday. Outside of school holidays the masses of kids are minimal and there are plenty of adults cruising without kids.

It’s extraordinary.

If you purchase a card, you can put it on any way you want. He wants one, she wants one...put a card on each account.

 

If you take both cards with you to the IC for specialty coffee, the other person is probably not going anywhere anyway...getting dressed, reading, showering???

But if you want 2 specialty coffees or 1 brewed & 1 specialty, you only need one card in your hand.

 

When I recently purchased a coffee package I had to put it in my name. It’s assigned to me. When I purchased the beverage package I had to put it in my name. It’s assigned to me. Why is it that everyone still thinks it’s ok to share the coffee package but not ok to share the beverage package ? Genuinely wondering....

We were just on the Emerald Princess and had a balcony cabin for 4, but in reality it was meant for 3, as the forth got a rollaway bed. It was a tight fit and in fact our desk chair had to be kept outside in the balcony in order to fit in the rollaway.

Same as us. We didn’t mind terribly as it was myself, my mom and my 2 teen sons and we are pretty easygoing- but it was the worst configuration of any quad room we have ever had on any other cruise line. Including interior. We always book quad and are very happy to