Ultimate tip to a princess 1st timer

[LARGIN]

Ask you room steward for soft feather pillows. They sure beat the hard ones you normally get.

 

9/5 Coral Princess Alaska

[LARGIN]

Don't sweat the small stuff !!

 

9/5 Coral Princess Alaska

[sammiedawg]

Read the Princess Patter's thoroughly and choose 1-2 activities per day. No need to try to do everything. Buy a soda card for $20 if you drink cokes. Attend the bingo, horse racing, art auction island night parties to get to know the cruise staff. The cruise staff can be lots of fun. Choose personal choice dining. Take a lighted travel clock. Use the telephonic wake up service if you have an excursion. The Princess excursions are reasonably priced and will maximize your time in port to sightsee. Island tours are always a nice quick overview. If you have a balcony, ask your room steward to bring lounge chairs and give him a tip. Otherwise stay with the automatic tipping program. Carry the ship map. Take the ship tour the first afternoon. Don't wait until the last day to search for photos to buy, it gets very crowded. Read these message boards and you'll learn so much. Have fun.

[NASH99]

Captdata <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> My advice is the same as some of the above go to the aft pool and see the stars. Breath deep and dream. Relax and enjoy yourself.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Princess has food available 24/7 so do some star grazing

Steve

 

Golden 2/04

Grand 11/03

The three most exciting sounds in the world: Anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles....George Bailey

[prarie cruiser]

Be sure to catch the sailaway from you main port, with drink in hand if possible. It is usually a lot of fun, especially in Ft. Lauderdale.

Sailaway is most fun on the upper deck. Then, some night when sailing out of a port stop, catch a quiet glass of wine on your balcony or in the lounge and observe the sail away.

Finally, always budget a bit more for the cruise than you might expect at first. You will want to buy a few souvenirs, gamble at the casino, and have a few drinks. Make some financial room for those extras.

Also, mark your suitcases with something loud so you can identify them upon disembarkation (there are hundreds of suitcases in the room). Don't hesitate to hire a porter at disembarkation, it gets you through the lines faster.

The number one rule of cruising is to have fun and try something new.

[JCH]

Try the Afternoon Tea in the dining room and free ice cream in the Horizon Court.

 

JCH

 

Sky Princess - 1997 West Coastal

Sea Princess - 2001 Western Caribbean

Sea Princess - 2002 Alaska

 

Reposition Cruise - Transcanal

Coral Princess April 27, 2005

[vikry]

this is great guys keep them coming

 

thanks for taking the time to respond.

[chamima]

Vikry,

Someone found "secrets of Princess" for you.

It's the thread you originally wanted.

Karen

[seagarsmoker]

Take half as many clothes, twice as much money.

 

fun,fun,fun,

the warmth of the sun,

JBrown

 

booked - Sun Princess (SC-10) Feb 27, 2005

Celebrity Century (EC-7)03/03

Sea Princess (MR-7) 03/02

Sea Princess (WC-7) 03/01

Grand Princess (EC-7) 03/99

Sun Princess (WC-7) 03/98

Celebrity Century (EC-7) 09/97

Star Princess (SC-7) 09/94

RCI SOS (EC-7) 03/92

Carnival SYJ (scrap yard junk) 09/89

[marc334]

write what you want for breakfast on your card and they will bring it

[Crowsie]

Go all out for the formal nights.

 

Bring your best duds, have the portraits taken, go to the cocktail parties, go to dinner, go to the show, then take a walk on deck and off to the nightclub.

 

It really makes it fun to "do" the formal nights!

 

Sky Princess 01/1999 Australia and New Zealand

Sky Princess 03/2000 China

Royal Princess 02/2002 South America

Golden Princess 05/2003 Med

Sapphire Princess 03/2005 Sydney to Bangkok

 

 

March 2005 - Sydney to Bangkok on the Sapphire

 

[sungirl]

I always pack our bathing suits in our carry-on luggage, so if we get to the ship early enough we can lounge by the pool. (on the cruises I've been on, our luggage has sometimes come piece by piece over a number of hours)

 

"I want to go back to the island..." J. Buffett

[pattie63]

The "Secrets of Princess" thread has been resurrected. Take a look - lots of great stuff.

 

For me, my #1 tip would be to go to the dining room ufor lunch on embarkation day. After we fly in, transfer from the airport and check out our cabin, we head for the dining room while most of the masses head for the buffet. It's nice to have a quiet meal after you've travelled and on the Coral, it was one of our best meals (they have a very limited menu that day but it was delicious).

[CruiseFever]

Don't floss when at sea if you have dental work that could come off.

 

Your dental hygeine really will survive and you won't accidentally yank off a cap that would distract from your feeding enjoyment. Plus there will be one less reason to have to pack Crazyglue.

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Diamond Princess 12/22/04

Sapphire Princess June '05

Caribbean Princess 09/17/05

Carnival Valor 10/30/05

 

[cruiselifers]

Do not buy the shirts in port. They shrink, take up too much space in the luggage and are a waste of money. Look at the unique items each island has and buy that. We have been on many cruises and always have treasured the items that were special to an island. The shirts are now dust rags.

 

Sun Princess 04

Dawn Princess 03

Carnival Imagination 95,96,97,98

Royal Caribean Splendor of the Sea 98

Holland Massdam 99

Carnival Destiny 00

Costa Atlantica 00,01,02

[pattie63]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CruisingIsLife:
Don't floss when at sea if you have dental work that could come off.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
YIKES! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img] LOL I'm a floss fanatic. I'll have to visit the dentist before our next cruise to make sure everythings snug.

[PLHag]

Set the alarm so you wake up extra early as the ship is docking into at least one port. I'm usually a "sleep 'til 11:00" kind of girl, but the best cruise moment I've ever experienced was standing out on our balcony as the ship was pulling in Cabo in the predawn hours. In 15 magical minutes, the sleepy little town awoke before my very eyes, but I was able to realize and experience the quaint side of Cabo and even take an award winning photo. Once the gangplank opens or the tenders start running, you've likely already missed a great experience of your destination port. (Naturally, I recommend returning to bed once the moment has passed and waiting for either room service to knock or the tender lines to recede!)

-- The Hag

[yancycruiser]

What great advice and a wealth of information for any cruiser whether you are a newbe or an experienced cruiser.

I didn't see this posted so I'll go for it.
We always take two large suitcases and pack half of our clothes into each incase one of the two gets lost. We also have carry ons that include one pair of casual clothes and one pair of smart clasual. We put both of our formal night outfits into one - that way we both either have it or don't.

Last but not least - regardless of what you hear there is no need to take a crockpot and blender.

yanceycruiser

Carnival Pride Feb 03
Grand Princess Jan 01
RCL Enchantment of the Seas Jan 99
NCL Norway Jan 97
NCL Dream Jan 95

Sapphire Princess 8/22/04
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=000080&cdt=2004;8;22;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

[bcs819]

OK, here's my list. Some of these are repeats, but important nonetheless:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Start taking your anti-seasickness meds the day BEFORE you get on the ship.<LI>Sleep with your balcony door open every night.
<LI>Make copies of your passport and put them in several places (luggage, carryon, etc.) This will help if yours gets lost/stolen and will also help identify any luggage, etc that ends up without your name on it.<LI>DO some of the activities, even if you think they're "dumb". You'll never see more cut-throat bingo in the world than on a cruise ship<LI>You don't need that many clothes for a seven day cruise. Take some of that stuff out and leave it at home<LI>Don't be afraid to try food you might not eat at home. If you don't like it, the waiter will bring you something else, probably before you get done spitting it out. Just because your first reaction might be "Ew, strawberry soup" doesn't mean you won't like it.<LI>Expect things to go wrong. Cruises are part of life and we all know how that goes...enjoy whatever happens, whether its an extra sea day or the story you will tell for the next 50 years about missing luggage<LI>Pack some of your stuff in her suitcase and some hers in yours(see above point)<LI>Use our balcony for some personal time (yes, I mean THAT). If you don't do it, you'll always wonder what it would have been like...<LI>Don't be afraid to separate. If she really wants to do the galley tour and you really don't, don't. (warning, relationship advice coming) It is NOT NOT NOT necessary for you to spend every waking moment together. You'll try and eventually you will freak and need your space. You don't want to hear about the missed galley tour for the next 50 years do you...
<LI>have fun. you're on vacation. do whatever you damn well please (unless that means wearing shorts or PJs in the dining room, then please don't...
[/list]
Have fun...

Bernie


"so many cruises, so little vacation time"
Diamond Princess - September 2004
Grand Princess - March 2003
Carnival Pride - June 2002
Carnival Victory - June 2001

[juliejoe]

If you are like us and are always in an inside cabin, you can't sleep with the balcony door open. Here's a neat idea someone more clever than me posted once. Turn your TV on to the station with the camera at the front of the ship. Turn the volumn off. At night the screen will be dark, but it will begin to lighten at dawn and will be enough light to wake you up when its daylight. Your own small window on the world will even let you know what the weather is like outside.


<')))><
Grand Princess 8/17/04 Baltic B2B with 8/27/04 Transatlantic & 11/27/04 Western Caribbean

[Shell-Sea]

Hi. Could someone tell me how to find this "secrets of Princess" thread that everyone is referring to?

Thanks!

[CruiseFever]

Bernie- you own this thread!

Happy Cruising

Chris

[url="http://www.LifeIsCruising.com"]www.LifeIsCruising.com[/url]

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Diamond Princess 12/22/04
Sapphire Princess June '05
Caribbean Princess 09/17/05
Carnival Valor 10/30/05

[sue d. miller]

secrets of princess: [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=887097554&m=93410142"]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=887097554&m=93410142[/url]

Sue
7 days on Star Princess 10/24

GROWING OLD IS MANDATORY..... GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL

[boyd_san_diego]

Early on someone mentioned bringing medications such as Imodium AD. We picked up some at LAX before flying to Tahiti as a precaution, and were glad we did. The rich food we weren't used to caused some, shall I say, gastric difficulties, and after we went through the Imodium box we found out at the ship's gift shop they WILL NOT sell Imodium because the symptoms are a symptom of the dreaded Norwalk virus. They will make you go to the ship's doctor ($60) to get checked out, given an "AD" drug and possibly quarantine you to your room for 24 hours as they did one of our newfound friends on our cruise.

San Diego Boyd (AIM)

You never know which will be the last time you ever do anything in your life. Make the most of every experience as if it is the last time.

Tahitian Princess 5/27/2004

[Jim & Louise]

Hi Bernie,

If you're saying what I think you're saying about the balcony - can you really get away with that - especially on those Dolphin Deck balconies that are totally overlooked?

Jim