First time with Princess - can you help with these?

[scareyness]

Hi

 

We are booked for our Princess cruise to Hawaii on 22nd November and really looking forward to it. I note that the ship has recently has a refit and I have booked an egg crate already. Some tips/advice for the following would be appreciated:

 

Are pool/beach towels supplied?

 

 

Is there a launderette on each deck?

 

 

I assume there is a hairdrier in the cabin? But is it one of those that makes loads of noise and takes hours to dry your hair and your finger goes numb as you have to keep your finger on the button for duration of drying? :( (in other words is my own a better option?)

 

 

Are there tea making facilities in the cabin? If not are you allowed to take a travel kettle?

 

 

How are drinks prices, for glass of wine, cocktails and spirits (Jack Daniels and Bacardi)?

 

 

How are prices in hair salon? (I paid £35 each time on P&O compared to £10 on Thompson)

 

 

How many formal nights will there be for this cruise?

 

 

How is the weather likely to be?

 

 

I think I am correct in thinking you are able to take wine/bottle of spirit on board for drinking in your cabin?

 

 

If you opt to tip yourself and not have it automatically added to your bill, are the staff aware that you have opted to do this?

 

 

We usually prefer 2nd sitting dining, have only done any time dining with Thompsons, which we did not like (maybe it was something to do with the cruise???). So not sure which option to choose. We love to share a big table and chat to people but with the anytime dining we had a couple of times we ended up on a table alone, any thoughts on this? Or maybe we just got lucky on our set tables and had some fab folks to share a table with!

 

 

I understand the ship will be busy, are there likely to be lots of kids? We will be hoping to get near the pool on somedays, without too much noise. Or should we book at the sanctuary?

 

 

Thats it for the moment, sorry for all the questions - but I know this is the ONLY place to get ALL the answers!!!:D

 

Thanks a lot

[newport dave]

Hi

 

We are booked for our Princess cruise to Hawaii on 22nd November and really looking forward to it. I note that the ship has recently has a refit and I have booked an egg crate already. Some tips/advice for the following would be appreciated:

 

Are pool/beach towels supplied?

Yes

 

Is there a launderette on each deck?

Yes

 

I assume there is a hairdrier in the cabin? But is it one of those that makes loads of noise and takes hours to dry your hair and your finger goes numb as you have to keep your finger on the button for duration of drying? :( (in other words is my own a better option?)

Yes,Yes according to people on here, but my wife who has long hair didn't find a problem with them

 

Are there tea making facilities in the cabin? If not are you allowed to take a travel kettle?

Don't think so, can't remember seeing any

 

How are drinks prices, for glass of wine, cocktails and spirits (Jack Daniels and Bacardi)?

Don't know about wine, Cocktails $7-$9, spirits $4-$5 +15 gratuity on top

 

How are prices in hair salon? (I paid £35 each time on P&O compared to £10 on Thompson)

Don't know

 

How many formal nights will there be for this cruise?

If its 2 wks then 3, otherwise 2 or 1 depending if it's a 7 or 10 day cruise.

 

How is the weather likely to be?

Don't know

 

I think I am correct in thinking you are able to take wine/bottle of spirit on board for drinking in your cabin?

You can take a couple of bottles of wine, you're NOT suppose to take spirits but people do;);)

 

If you opt to tip yourself and not have it automatically added to your bill, are the staff aware that you have opted to do this?

If you remove the autotip, then any tips you give to staff they have to hand in, and then it is put back into the tip pool and shared out, so that member of staff won't get to keep it. Some people on here think that staff are aware if you remove the autotip.

 

We usually prefer 2nd sitting dining, have only done any time dining with Thompsons, which we did not like (maybe it was something to do with the cruise???). So not sure which option to choose. We love to share a big table and chat to people but with the anytime dining we had a couple of times we ended up on a table alone, any thoughts on this? Or maybe we just got lucky on our set tables and had some fab folks to share a table with!

Did Anytime in January on the Sea Princess, we always sat won a table for at least six people, just ask the Maitre D' that you would like to sit at a large table which shouldn't be a problem.

 

I understand the ship will be busy, are there likely to be lots of kids? We will be hoping to get near the pool on somedays, without too much noise. Or should we book at the sanctuary?

Don't know

 

Thats it for the moment, sorry for all the questions - but I know this is the ONLY place to get ALL the answers!!!:D

 

Thanks a lot

 

Hope you have a good cruise

 

David

[flamomo]

Wonderful cruise that we have taken twice already and are going on again in March!

 

IMO, the hairdryers are poor, so I always take my own. Theirs have a weak flow of air, and even with my short hair, they take forever to dry it.

 

Re: weather- Hawaii's weather is like endless summer. We've been there in January and March, and we pack summer attire for the days we are in Hawaii.

Leaving out of LA, it can be cool and damp. We always have long pants and a light jacket or a nice jogging suit for those days. By about the 3rd day after leaving, it starts warming up and we saw people using the outdoor pools. There's an enclosed pool for the cooler time.

 

Re: dining - sometimes the host(ess) in Anytime can seat you with other people, but we found most of the time they put us by ourselves. If you want to sit with others for every dinner, you'd probably do better signing up for traditional dining.

 

Towels - there will be a "beach towel" for each person in the cabin on the shelf in the closet. But there are also a supply of those towels on the pool deck in a large wooden cabinet, and you can just help yourself if you need more. There's also a bin on the pool deck where you can leave you wet towels, and your cabin steward will put clean ones in your cabin.

 

Re: tips - If you leave the auto tipping on, and decide your steward deserves something extra for good service, he/she will be allowed to keep the extra, but only if you do not remove the auto tips.

 

Re: kids - Since you will be cruising over the Thanksgiving holiday period, there may be some more kids on the ship. But then too, there are usually not a huge number of kids on cruises over 7 days long.

Also, there is supposed to be one pool on the ship that is for adults only. Unfortunately, sometimes there are parents who choose to ignore that, and sometimes it is not well enforced by the pool deck attendants.

 

Have a wonderful cruise. Wish we were going that soon. March seems a long way off !

[jdm]

We will be doing the same cruise in October. We have been on Princess many times, but first time doing the one to Hawaii. I can answer some of your questions about the ship itself.

 

There are laundry facilities on most decks along with ironing boards.

 

No tea making gadgets in cabin. You can get hot water and tea bags in the Horizon Court at any time, though you might want to bring your favorite tea along.

 

We do not like anytime seating at all. We like the late seating at a large table so that we get to know others and, to us, the waitstaff seems much more attentive and remembers what we like and do not like. Remember, if you feel you are not a good match at a particular table, you simply ask the maitre'd to be switched to another table after the meal. We were once placed at a table where no one spoke English. Though the people appeared to be nice, we couldn't converse.

 

Tipping is such a personal matter. However, to us, the autotipping is simply part of our cruise cost. We do tip our room steward when we meet him and request certain things such as wine glasses, extra towels daily etc. We again tip at end of cruise in addition to the autotipping. We also give our waiter and assistant waiter a little extra at the end of the cruise. They work hard and depend on the tips as most of their wages.

 

Have a great cruise.

[RunningDeer]

I did the HA crossing 2 yrs ago in Oct and was surprised at how cool it was on deck when crossing the Pacific.....pack accordingly.

[scareyness]

Thanks guys for taking the time to reply, any other tips would be welcome!:D

[flamomo]

If any more questions come to mind, please ask.

Those of us who have done the cruise before kind of take some things for granted and don't think to mention them to someone doing an itinerary for the first time.

 

Also - - there is a listing for Hawaii on the Destinations board, and one of the threads is titled with something about "people cruiseing to Hawaii from the West Coast". There are many posts that relate to those who cruise on the Pride of America (NCL), which only cruises within the Hawaiian Islands, so a lot of the things in those posts apply to things POA.

[skellis]

Also, look at the roll call board for your trip. There should be a number of others who are also going on your cruise, and generally there is a meet and greet scheduled for the first sea day. You can not only get good information, but also may find others who want do private tours, have good information and might want to share a dinner table. On our last Princess cruise we met six of the nicest people at our late sitting traditional dinner. If you don't like the people you can change tables. On one of our cruises we were originally seated with two really unfriendly people. The next day we were seated with 6 great people after we requested a change.

 

Please be advised that at least the first and last two days of the cruise are generally cool and a little rough, although October in Southern California can be very warm on land, but cool on the water (I live in San Pedro).Have a great cruise,