dutrie

If I have two 10 day cruises booked back to back, will I receive two Medallions?

We are on a 20 day cruise.  Unlimited is not listed on the personalizer, but other blocks of time are.  We can purchase up to 600 minutes.   

I need some up to date information on internet packages on Crown Princess.  Many of the search results are quite old and this topic seems to change frequently.

Is it better to buy pre-cruise or are there specials on board?  

Does Princess offer an unlimited package (not Elite yet!) onboard?  It is not available in the cruise personalizer.

Thanks for any information to help with my decision.

We are going on a cruise with another couple. They bought the $99 special and prior to purchasing asked if we'd like to split it. I hadn't looked into it but of course it sounded great. I started to realize we can't possibly split it as it will only be for pictures they are in.

 

So, my question (since I already paid them) is if we are all 4 in pictures or one of them and one of us will that be included?

 

Thank you.

In the Royal Princess photo gallery a promotion poster stated that only people in the same cabin are included in the package. But, we had a photo with two other couples and they gave it to us.

We had the pleasure of hearing Leigh Cara on our Feb 8 to Feb 28 sailing. She did a great job during her performance in Vista. I thought she really related to the crowd.

The production shows were very entertaining and well done, but the highlight for us was the Cabaret performance in the Piazza (only on the second leg) the last night of the cruise. The four vocalists were incredible!!

We purchased the photo package prior to our cruise for $99. I think it is a great deal. We usually buy at least 2 or 3 photos on a cruise and this covered the cost and allowed us to experiment a bit. We only totaled about 35 photos, but I ran into people that had over 150 taken. The Ship Thumbdrive is included and is 8 Gigs. The ship ads said this offer ended on February 28, but hopefully it will be renewed.

The deal is per cabin. Their ad states it is only good for the people in that cabin, but we had a photo of six of us taken (three cabins) and they gave it to us.

One caution, be sure to check your thumbdrive in a computer if possible. When I arrived home six of our photos on the thumbdrive were not readable. I have the prints and can scan them.

Although you are given the jpg files on a thumbdrive, I did not receive a release. Some photo shops will NOT reproduce photos that appear professional without a release. I print my own, so no problem

The Platinum photos are not included in the package, but every photographer will ask you to make an appointment for a "no cost" sitting. We cancelled twice, but finally gave in and had the sitting. We bought a single 8X10 which was $150. You have until the end of the cruise to cancel the order. We tried to cancel, but it never went through, so we got stuck.

The Platinum photos, IMHO, are not worth it. The photographer didn't even make sure our hair was in place. I was not impressed at all.

Interesting how opinions vary. My wife and I had a wonderful 20 day cruise on the Royal along with 4 family members.. We enjoyed the production shows and the entertainers. We have been on Celebrity the last few years and the production shows on Princess were far superior. We were impressed with the variety of music on the ship. We are dancers and loved Atomic and Tempo Quatro.

The entertainment staff went out of the way to ensure we had a good time.

I would guess the entertainment has a lot to do with age. We are in our sixties and enjoyed the shows, especially the Beatle Maniacs. However, my brother and his wife are mid 70's and complained about most of the shows being too loud.

As for the food, while it is not up to the standards of 15-20 years ago, it is not on any of the cruise lines we have been on. But, it was very good. We ate nearly all of our breakfasts, and dinners in the Symphony and had great service. Thee was a wide selection in the buffet, but we only ate there a few times. We are definitely not foodies, but if you are, I doubt any of the mass market cruise lines will satisfy.

Asking someone who has been on the Royal Princess.

It appears from deck plans that they only interruption in the promenade deck is at the bow. Is this correct? Can you walk MOST of the way around the ship (except for the bow)?

We love walking the promenade deck both for the exercise and to watch the waves go by, but it is not a deal breaker for us. We tried Celebrity Eclipse and Equinox. All the Celebrity ships in that class have no promenade access thru the bow or the stern.

Of course Captain Leo doesn't arrive any earlier or make the ship safer (although that is difficult to judge as a passenger); but the entire mood of the ship during our cruise was better than many I have experienced. I attribute this to the captain.

I found Captain Leo to be very professional, yet friendly, accessible and very funny. He gave one of the best lectures on how the ship moves that I have attended. He did it himself rather than assigning the task to another officer.

I am convinced the captain makes a difference. He/she is the one in charge and the captain's attitude and expectations filter down thru the crew. I have never been on a cruise where the crew was so anxious to please and make sure the passengers were more than satisfied with every aspect of their vacation.

Dutrie, you say you used valet service. I thought it was only good for flights after 11AM. Would be great but I doubt it. We have a 10:10AM flight. Thoughts about walking off. We are TSA approved and will check in day before.

 

You are correct about about the valet service. We had a 12:45 flight but walked off early because other members of our group were leaving then. The six of us shared a ride to the airport. It turned out great because we breezed right through customs, got a taxi immediately, and had no lines at security at the airport. Granted, we had a fairly long wait at the airport, but at least we had free internet!!

 

The valet service is worth every penny. We put our bags out at night and didn't have to deal with them until we arrived home. No moving luggage down elevators, thru customs or into and out of taxis and thru the airport.

We did a back to back, Jan 22 and Feb 1. We were at terminal 18 both times. Embarkation was the easiest we have ever experienced, no lines at all when we arrived at the port at 11:30 Am on the 22nd. On the Feb 1 sailing, we left the ship for an excursion and returned at 1 PM. No lines at all. My brother and his wife joined us for the second leg of our cruise and they arrived at 11 and experienced no lines at all.

There were long lines at customs on Feb 1 when we went on the excursion, but they moved quickly.

We did walk off on February 12 and left the ship at 7:30. Breezed thru customs with no stops at all, but we used Valet service. We were at the airport around 8 AM.

None of our group of 6 cared for the production shows, but that is a matter of taste. The other entertainment was excellent.

Too bad you will miss Captain Leo. He was the best we have had in over 20 cruises.

We just finished a back to back, January 22, and February 1 sailings. The comedian on the January 22 sailing was Wayne Cotter. Very funny guy. He participated in Liar's club which was quite entertaining (think side splitting laughter). Captain Leo really made the show, but unfortunately, he is leaving the ship.

I didn't care for Dancing with the Strips, especially the second cruise as it got way out of control. Celebrity had a real dance contest at one time in addition to Dancing with the Strips, but the dance contest appears to be gone.

While I greatly appreciate the talents of the performers, none of the six of us enjoyed the theater shows. All of the shows seem to focus on the aerialists. Although they are very talented, it makes the shows repetitive.

The magician was Jason Bishop.

We enjoyed Hard Days Night (Beatles tribute band) and the Unexpected Boys (Four Seasons tribute) on the first cruise and Tenors of Rock on the second.

Jayne Curry did two shows on the second cruise and was very entertaining. Don't miss her if you have the chance to see her performance.

Life, The Set, and Elysium are the theater shows. The band is Take Five. They play around the pool, in the foyer and in Sky Lounge. Just off Equinox today, Februa

Alejandro is the cruise director for the next two cruises. Captain Leo will be leaving halfway thru the February 12 cruise.

Just off the Equinox this morning. We had non-refundable OBC from a promotion. They would not refund the unused credit to our credit card used for our account, but we could cash it out in the casino for the 5% fee. In fact, Guest Relations told us to do so.

Everybody Dance was on our last three Eclipse cruises, 2013, 2014 and 2015. It is just as described. Four of the dance pros pick partners after scouting them at dance lessons and different events. They schedule private practices to learn a routine, then compete in the foyer near the end of the cruise.

Although the foyer is used for the event, it is a lousy location to dance. The open decks above, however, assure a good crowd of spectators.

I suffered a back injury while on an excursion in Grenada. I went to the ship's Dr. (Eclipse) who administered IV medications to relieve my pain (didn't work). He diagnosed a ruptured disk and I was forced to go to the hospital in Aruba for an MRI. The ER doctor in Aruba said I was misdiagnosed and I did not have a ruptured disk but a SI joint problem. He would not do an MRI because it would show nothing. He sent me back to the ship with a report declaring me fit to travel home on the ship.

I delivered the report to the ship's Dr. He was shocked and said that I should have been sent home immediately. I was allowed to stay on board because of the report from the ER. Had the ship's doctor declared me unfit to travel, however, my wife and I would have had to disembark immediately in Aruba where we would have been on our own to make arrangements to get a hotel and make arrangements to get home.

The ship DR has a lot of power and can decide if you stay on-board or have to disembark. They do not want the liability of you staying on-board.

I agree, prepare for the worst. Buy insurance and take plenty of cash and your credit cards! We had to guarantee payment for my ER visit up-front with a credit card with adequate limits.

I posted a comment in 2012 wondering about dancing on the Eclipse. Since then we have been on the Eclipse 3 times.

While the Eclipse is a great ship, and we have enjoyed our cruises on her, it is a very poor venue for ballroom dancing. There is not a single wooden dance floor on the ship.

There are three venues for dancing on the Eclipse:

Although music is played for dancing in the Grand Foyer (Deck 3) almost every night, it is a terrible dance venue. The floor is rock hard (literally), it is very small, there are two support columns in the way. You have to contend with traffic crossing the floor and coming down the stairway, and most nights a photographer sets up in the same space.

The Sky Lounge (Deck 14) has a larger floor (not big by any means) but again it is ceramic tile and very hard. On our first cruise, Perry Grant occupied this space almost every night. On our second, a large group used the room most nights. On the third, it was available and music was played most nights. So, it is hit and miss.

Quasar is the disco room. Music is played by a DJ. I have heard this space may be turned into something else.

The quality of the music is variable. While dance music is played, most is freestyle rock and roll and not ballroom. In my experience, the quality of the musical groups has not been good on the Eclipse, at least not as good as Princess.

Dance lessons are offered for many types of ballroom dance. They are very basic and taught by the performers that dance on-stage in the productions. The problem is, while the instructors are very good dancers on stage, they are definitely not trained as ballroom dancers or instructors. I have found the lessons to be poor.

Some of the major lines hired qualified dance instructors in the past, but like many other things, budget cuts have eliminated them. HAL used to have dance hosts, but no longer. I think Cunard still does.

Bottom line, yes, you can dance on the Eclipse. Just don't expect to be able to dance smooth or standard. Latin and rhythm is possible, as is freestyle, but in a confined space.

We had a noon flight out of FLL yesterday and made it easily

We left the Eclipse yesterday (Feb 15) assigned to group 3. We left the ship about 7:45. (This was 5 minutes late) We were off the ship and thru customs in about 15 minutes. Couldn't have been easier.

We took the SAS shuttle and made it to the airport by 9AM despite making two runs around the dock to pick up passengers.

There was a couple from a Disney cruise on our shuttle that had a 10:55 departure from FLL. They made it easily.

However, 4 of our party of 6 were flying Delta from FLL (2:30PM) and chose the luggage valet service. We were flying Southwest. Because they were using luggage valet service they could NOT exit with us (they asked several times) since there was the possibility that their bag could be selected for inspection by customs and they would have to be present. They had to remain on-board until their group was called. I think they said they got off at 9:10 and found the lines at customs to be extremely long.

I liked the luggage system used at the dock in Miami. It seemed to go much faster that having the bags filling a room.

We have cruised out of Port Everglades many times and the fare is usually $12 to $15, but it was always just the two of us and we took a regular cab. I thought maybe something had changed or there was a surcharge for the larger SUV type taxis.

What a great idea to take a photo of the cab number and ID of the driver!! I will do that from now on.

Still, it was faster and cheaper than if we had taken one of the shuttles!!!

Thanks

We entered the taxi line after leaving the Celebrity Eclipse (Saturday). Since there were 4 of us, we were directed to the front of the line to a waiting Chevy Suburban taxi. When we arrived at the Southwest Terminal at the airport (FLL) the meter read $10.10. However, the driver turned the meter off immediately as he exited. He unloaded our bags and told us that the minimum fare was $25.

Is this correct? Is there a minimum fare to the airport with 4 people in a larger (Suburban) taxi or did we get ripped off?

LF2C

We also have had the experience of bands expressing their appreciation for our dancing and asking us what we would like them to play. Many of the bands we have experienced on ships are very versatile and can play a wide variety of music so we have been able to dance smooth, rhythm, disco etc.

I always take my ballroom shoes along at a cruise. First of all, they are very light in weight for packing and it is just easier to dance in ballroom shoes rather than normal formal shoes.

My wife and I were on the January 26 Eclipse sailing. We took our dance shoes but were disappointed in the lack of suitable dance space. There are no wooden dance floors on the S class ships.

The only dance space used on our sailing was the foyer. As a previous poster has mentioned, the foyer space is small, people walk thru the area, and on many nights there was a photographer set up taking photos on the stairway. Despite these problems, there were always several couples dancing, but the floor was very crowded and you could not do ballroom dancing.

The Sky Lounge would have been a nice location to dance, but it was used every night for a private party or for Perry Grant.

Quasar has a small dance floor (with two large support posts breaking up the floor) but no one was ever in this room.

The show dancers taught introductory classes for waltz, foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, salsa and swing . There were up to 20 couples at some of the dance lessons and I frequently heard people questioning the dance instructors why they taught lessons when there were no suitable places to dance.

We were told to talk to guest relations about this problem. A few couples did. Later in the cruise, the orchestra played dance music in the foyer. Nice music, but no room to really dance.

We really liked the Eclipse and are scheduled on her again next year, but frankly, the dance opportunities are MUCH better on Princess.

The only complaint everyone had about the Eclipse was the poor entertainment - almost all the shows were dreadful.

Canada.

Which shows did you like? Our group found all except the Elton John impersonator entertaining.

Can't wait for a first report from the Sky Lounge......want to know where are the best seats.....;)

We are off the Eclipse today. We are dancers and were very disappointed to find the Sky Lounge occupied nearly every night by either Perry Grant or a private party. About the only dancing we found was in the foyer, which is terribly inadequate for dancing.

While I enjoyed the Eclipse the lack of suitable dance floors would prevent us from sailing her again. We have enjoyed WOODEN dance floors on most of the other ships we have sailed along with a variety of dance music in different locations in the evening. This did not exist on this sailing.

I am disappointed to hear of the few ballroom dancing opportunities on Celebrity. We are returning to Celebrity after trying other lines for the last several years. We started out cruising on Celebrity and did five cruises before switching due to a cancelled cruise.

We have cruised with Princess several times, the most recent on the Coral and Island. On both ships there were plenty of opportunities to dance. There was ballroom dance music in the Wheelhouse every night with a combo, dance music in Explorers with the ship's party band, and a couple of events in Universal lounge with the Princess Orchestra. The Orchestra also played big band music in Wheelhouse twice.

We will be seriously disappointed if there isn't an opportunity to dance on Eclipse.

If they give ballroom lessons on Celebrity it is strange that they don't provide places to dance!