greenie082756

We just did a back-to-back on the Emerald Princess in an inside room for 29 days.

As far as the space for 2 people it mostly was manageable and there was a ton of storage / shelves and drawers in that cabin. 

We used to only get balcony however being in an inside felt to me like being in my cocoon and enjoying it. It was good enough to realize that was all we really needed. 

We are doing Alaska next year and have chosen a balcony because we feel that we want to see the beautiful scenery from our own area. We have cruised Alaska once before and we are looking forward to it again! 

On 12/24/2023 at 6:13 AM, mrell345 said:

Ok, whoever had the brain fart to install the motion activated lights under the bedside tables and outside the bathroom should rethink the idea.  Not fun at 2 AM when you need to use the bathroom and those bright white lights come on.  Bring a small roll of painters masking tape with you to cover the sensors at night.

They didn't have that on the Discover inside cabin and we were keeping the bathroom light on and the door ajar. We just want to make sure we don't bump into something we are not familiar with.  Hopefully these lights won't be a nuisance for us. 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences on this cruise. DH and I will be doing a back-to-back cruise in February on the Emerald. 

I have to say that calling slices of ham as pork loin on our last cruise on the Discovery a month ago was surprising. I really expected a white meat instead of slices of ham. Still edible, just surprising. 

I will keep watching! It looks wonderful so far! 

Well talked with our PVP and she said yes, the back-to-back can be done and

recalled that the screen had told her it couldn't be done but now it can.

Human error and now I've learned more than I wanted about the PVSA !

Thanks all 🙂

Thank you all.

Once my PVP gets back to me I will update what I was told.

Crossing fingers its a go 🙂

We tried to book the following back-to-back and were told that we could not do it because of the PVSA.

First cruise is called Circle the Carribean from Ft. Lauderdale to many islands including Curacao which I understand that is a distant foreign port if I read the PVSA correctly. It will return to Ft. Lauderdale.

We wanted to do a back-to-back staying on the same ship through the Panama Canal from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles. We were told that the first cruise did not quality so we could not take the second cruise. 

Not trying to beat a dead horse, just confused. Put in a question to my PVP and hopefully will have an answer. 

Thank you all for the answers.

I was pretty sure I knew the answer however was crossing fingers that I could do this.

We won't be able to purchase any FCD's until November.  The cruises we are looking into are in Feb & March 2024.

Have a great day!

I have put in a question to my PVP and thought perhaps I could get some insight before she answers me. I told her no rush, but I hope I hear something this week.  

My question is: If we put down a cash deposit on a cruise however later purchase FCD's, can we apply the FCD's and receive the benefits from it as well? 

Has anyone done this?

Thanks!

Hubby has the dirty banana. I have either a Pina Colada or a Margarita. 

Last Princess cruise I had the Key Lime Pie martini, and I must say that out of 3 different bartenders - w were pretty good and 1 was average. 

Thank you for doing this review.

We are going on the Breakaway at the end of January for the Vloggers cruise.

You gave a lot of good information for people like us who have not experienced NCL yet.

Again, thank you!

We have done 1 Disney cruise (this got us wanting to do it again). Princess, we have done 9 sailings with. Last cruise was with Carnival. Next cruise is with NCL and then after that RCL.

My hubby retired 1 1/2 years ago and I hopefully will be retired in mid-January. We want to try as many different cruise lines as possible that we can. 

Our last cruise with Princess, last April, left us feeling like we were watching reruns on food and entertainment. This pushed us to try others.

I have to say that we did try Carnival and we did not feel that it was a good fit. Crowded, loud running children, food selection was "just okay". I do have to say that the fun squad was full of energy and the CD was great. Went to two production shows and again "just okay". 

We are looking forward to the NCL cruise out of New Orleans in January. But it too will be under scrutiny as we compare. I am very hopeful that it may be in the top list.

Still to be booked: HAL, MSC, Celebrity and I am sure more.

On 11/26/2022 at 8:47 AM, gmbhardy said:

When I read the original post I asked my son who is on the Breakaway right now to ask the Vibe bartender if the ban was in fact true. He confirmed that it was - a fleet wide ban on serving mixed shots. As you may or may not know, the Vibe bar is known for serving mixed shots, so if you are unable to get them there, it’s doubtful you’ll get them elsewhere.

Mixed shots like Duck Fart? I can understand that because it's a layered shot and time consuming to make. 

Well, if they are going to return to the old muster regime, that must mean that those little sheets of paper saying we were in good health will return as well. Gosh I hope not 😉

So, if I understand what was stated:

Any cocktail that has more than 1 shot (ounce) of alcohol is not honored with the Premium beverage package.

Hmmm...  smells like $$$ reduction.

Good think I like to order a shot of Fireball with a coke back.

@JamieLogicalthank you so much for sharing your experiences.

DH and I will be newbies with NCL and on the Breakaway in January and you gave me

some insight of what to expect and what to try.

Thanks!!

Not scared at all. We have done many cruises to Mexico or had stops in Mexico through cruising.

Like anytime you take a vacation to somewhere you are not familiar with caution and awareness of your surroundings is important.

We are cruising for the first time on Carnival Panorama to Mexican Riveria in 10 days and I am actually more concerned about the incidents that can happen on the cruise ship. 🥳

We may or may not get off the ship because of the many times we have stopped in those cities.

Last April on the Grand Princess I tried the Key Lime Pie martini. 

It was so good I had it 3 times.

Hopefully I can compare Carnival and Princess Key Lime Pie martini,

On 9/12/2022 at 11:15 PM, TrumpyNor said:

I always book directly through NCL, and when I receive the booking confirmation the included promotional perks are listed there as well, usually on page two of the confirmation (just above the "Important information"-section - please see screenshot below. I don't know if you receive that type of confirmation also when you book your cruise through a travel agent.

 

@TrumpyNorWe are new to NCL and I have a question about the add on list. 

Does the statement Prepaid service charge mean gratuities (other than bar service chg) for employees? 

@monakayk Carnival does not itemize the OBC like Princess does.

I found ours and it just has a total. 

Hope you get answers.

On 7/26/2022 at 10:36 AM, urbanhawk said:

You are so right-I live in AZ and wouldn't even take the hour flight to get to L.A. from here. (Just imo).

Hubby and I use to take 6 am flights from Phoenix to Los Angeles arriving at 7:30 am, a lot.

The only pain was sitting around waiting for the Princess bus to take us to the port. We knew it was not recommended but we both worked, and this is what we had to do. Figured there were 4 other flights behind the early bird one, so if something happened, we would get there in time. 

Now before I get hazed for this, we now drive in the day before and stay at a hotel. Hubby is retired and I have a pretty liberal boss, so it is what we do now.

 @JillKThank you for sharing your experience.

We will be first time cruisers on Carnival (we are Princess cruisers) and the Panorama is

it in October for our 44th anniversary.

I am reading and watching as much as I can about the Carnival Panorama because I like to be familiar with the ship.

Again, thank you!

We will be doing our first Carnival cruise this October. Keeping an open mind 🙂

We have done many sailings with Princess. We enjoy Princess however we have become too familiar with their ships and have decided to try many other lines for comparison.

We are in our mid 60's and yes Princess is a much calmer atmosphere which is great if you just want to chill and unwind from the daily challenges.

We took our last cruise in April to Hawaii. It was noticeable that the staff was reduced even though they tried really hard to service the passengers with a smile. There were some differences from past cruises (it had been over 2 years since our last Princess cruise) due to covid and it was okay.

Whatever you decide to do just have a fantastic time!

We will check our large suitcase with the porter. 

We each take a carry-on suitcase.

Hubby has camera and electric gear and I take medicines and

extra clothing incase our large suitcase goes missing.

I think that people should do whatever makes them feel comfortable.

@jerseygirlinAZ Thank you for sharing your experience on the Carnival Panorama. 

We are also from AZ, and we tell people that if its below 80 degrees we get cold. I know you will understand that. Today it is supposed to get to over 110 degrees. Oh my!!

We will be on this ship in October for our 44th anniversary. This will be our first experience with Carnival Lines as we usually do Princess.

You gave some really good tips and I hope that you all are doing better now.

Thanks for sharing!!

23 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

In my case, Princess is the winner.

 

My cruise ended on April 9, received my $600 OBC refund this morning.

 

Used USPS, sent my paper copy of my Federal tax return on March 4, requested direct deposit.  Haven't received my refund yet.   Went to irs.gov to check refund status, and got the message "we cannot provide any information about your refund".   My sister sent her on February 28, and when checked status on irs.gov, she got the same message.

Exactly. We just got our OBC refund in the mail yesterday.;

I mailed both our federal and state returns. Requested electronic deposits. Got our refund from our state electronically about 6 weeks later from mailing date. Still waiting for Federal electronic refund.

Like you, I tried to find out what was going on and got the same answer online.