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Cruising is not for everyone and if you decide not to cruise then that is a perfectly good decision for you. For some people they only need the bare basics of accommodation, food, water and entertainment to make a cruise a wonderful holiday especially if the stops are places they want to visit. You normally don't need to spend a small fortune on excursions... However, others want the extras of drinks packages, wifi, and many love the ship excursions or health spa services, private cabanas, speciality dining.
Included with your cruise fare:
On shorter sailings, you'll find a slightly younger demographic and a significantly higher number of kids. Most Grand Princess passengers hail from the U.S., but you'll also find Canadian, British and Chinese contingents onboard. What cruisers won’t find aboard Discovery Princess -- as with all Royal-class ships -- are standard Oceanview staterooms. Only interior staterooms, balcony staterooms, and suites are offered onboard, along with just six "Deluxe Oceanview" cabins located all the way forward on Deck 17 that feature floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the bow.
Find Norwegian Encore Cruises to Alaska (with Prices) - Cruise Critic
Find Norwegian Encore Cruises to Alaska (with Prices).
Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 03:14:20 GMT [source]
Night U. S. Pacific Coast CruiseDetails
The customer experience is something I feel really strongly about as I've worked in customer experience my entire life and this felt like an absolute kick in the teeth and sod the customer. I even spoke to them online and although I don't blame the online agent as they are bound by what they're allowed to do, they didn't want to know, first fail in my book, but they still want more money from me, you can see where this is heading. I totally get they can't just hand out freebies for something that is probably outwith their control but if you want more money from me, I feel I want something it appease my initial disappointment first, is this unreasonable? This experience has tainted the entire cruise for me as I feel I'm just a cash cow right now for Princess when they should be pulling out all the stops. Our only area of disappointment on Sky Princess was the service, which wasn't as good as we've come to expect from Princess.
Discovery Princess Deck Plan Highlights Must-See Experiences
Your current view of your vacation will bring you only misery. Your current attitude will NEVER let you enjoy this cruise because you will always believe someone is out to steal your money and everyone on the ship will have more than you. I know people who have simply paid for the cost of the cruise with not a penny more. No package, no specialty dining, no spa, etc. And, from talking with them, they had a fantastic cruise. You won't find water slides or heart-pounding activities aboard the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, and while passengers aren't teetotalers by any means (a glass of wine being most people's poison), you won't see anyone staggering around after midnight either.
It's not just all silly fun -- some of the ship's best attractions are more cultured. Trivia is standing-room-only and full of die-hard players, art lectures and auctions are well attended and the best stage show is full of operatic arias. Passengers on Caribbean Princess also eat up destination talks and enjoy participating in arts and crafts, and musical instrument lessons inspired by the locales the ship visits. Most popular are the line’s mini-suites, which offer a nice compromise on space (and price) between a full size suite and a regular balcony cabin by adding a large sitting area with second television, a full-size bathroom with tub, and a generous balcony. Refreshed during a dry dock in 2018, the ship was embellished with new offerings, such as super comfortable Princess Luxury Beds in every room, rebranded poolside dining options and an upgraded kids' center.
Photos of Sun Princess: First Look at Princess Cruises' New Ship - Cruise Critic
Photos of Sun Princess: First Look at Princess Cruises' New Ship.
Posted: Mon, 11 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The vessel has a lot going for it, including great deck layouts, tons of dining options, and itineraries that include Glacier Bay. The "Just get the Plus package" advice pushes the costs to £7k, not a small figure for any family and especially during a cost of living crisis, and that's before shore excursions or anything else. I just can't wrap my head about how much do you actually need to spend before it actually feels like a care free all-inclusive experience, which it certainly doesn't feel like it at the moment, it's like there's a toll booth at every turn. Although selections at the buffet are limited, the quality of the items is high, and the offerings change just enough on a daily basis to keep passengers from getting bored. Dining room options are tasty and served with a smile, and the pizza found onboard is out-of-this-world delicious. The service is consistently pleasant, helpful and efficient, from cabin stewards and waiters to the folks at the guest relations and shore excursions desks.

There is always enjoyable nightly live music, but some of the main theater evening shows got mixed reviews. When we weren't listening to music, a movie under the stars was always a great way to spend the evening. Many families choose Princess; multigenerational groups (grandparents, adult children, grandkids) enjoy the dining and entertainment options and the line's solid family programs, particularly during the summer and holidays. During the Alaska season, the average age is mid- to late 50s; on warm-weather itineraries, the average age skews higher into the 60s (except during school holidays). A nice choice for people who love a traditional cruise's comforts and rituals, Royal Princess is big enough, with an impressive array of restaurants, to appeal to first-time cruisers.

Unfortunately, on our Royal Princess Alaska sailing, OceanMedallion didn't live up to the hype. Spotty Wi-Fi hindered ordering drinks using the app in most locations or finding our cabinmate using OceanCompass. Similarly, bartenders or waiters rarely consulted iPads; most interactions used our room number, like always. The MedallionNet internet, billed as strong enough to stream, was inadequate to download email. The hotel director told us the system works better outside Alaska, but at least passengers on our sailing seemed to enjoy wearing the Medallions, even if they eschewed pulling out their phones. First, you have to pay a higher rate in order to tuck it on, and then it costs money on top of that.
But the shows, games, main dining room, pool, etc are available to you. Cruise Critic is not a booking agent and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners who list cruise pricing on Cruise Critic are required to provide prices for cruise only or cruise packages, per person, double occupancy, and are based on specific cabin types and sailing dates, and may not be available for all cabin types/sailings. Rates are in USD and valid for US and Canadian residents only. When you book with one of our partners, please be sure to check their site for a full disclosure of all applicable fees as required by the U.S. It definitely is a bottomless money pit - as long as you keep throwing money into it.
But you really don't need all that stuff to have a good time. The buffet isn't the only space where there are traffic flow issues. Most main corridors in public areas are difficult to navigate, due to the number of other passengers making their way through. Shows in the theater are often standing room only, as are many events in the ship's main lounges. Plus, the ship's design doesn't include a central stairwell servicing all decks, so passengers are forced to either walk all the way forward or aft or wait, sometimes several minutes, for an elevator.
(One elevator was closed for maintenance our entire sailing, making wait times even longer.) Overall, this nearly 2,600-passenger vessel generally feels more crowded than some ships that carry two -- or even three -- times as many passengers. Royal Princess is a large cruise ship with a maximum capacity of 3,560 passengers, but crowds are usually not an issue here. You may find some lines and waits at peak dining times – and finding a lounger around the main pool may be a frustrating experience on sunny sea days – but the open-plan spaces, multiple elevators, and ample seating make for good passenger flow. If you’re wondering just how big Royal Princess is, the answer is 1,083 feet long (exactly the length of 3 American football fields) and 260 feet tall.
Where you can skip the things you don’t care about and only pay for what you want. Don’t bring your attitude on board and spoil it for others. Basic research uncovers the costs are base fare, optional service charge(£13) and the two optional packages(£50,£65) that include the £13 service.
In the US Princess has fully refundable deposits most of the time. Now, other lines like X and RCI do not usually have refundable deposits, unless you pay a lot more for it. Plenty of included food so all the paid options are optional.
It’s the perfect complement to the additional-charge Sanctuary on Deck 18 forward, away – but never out of reach – of the well-designed World Marketplace buffet restaurant on Deck 16 aft. Shops and specialty restaurants make up much of the rest of Decks 6 and 7, along with entertainment venues like Princess Live! For a full comparison between the two cruise lines, read Princess Cruises vs. Royal Caribbean International. Lowest pricing is based on our 3rd party pricing supplier and valid as of April 22nd, 2024.
Special meet-up groups are offered onboard for solo and LGBTQ+ travelers, while support groups like Friends of Bill W. Also free of charge is the extensive World Fresh Marketplace buffet on Deck 16 aft and Gigi’s Pizzeria on Deck 6 that whips up fresh pizza creations daily and is often packed during the main Noon lunch hour. A large casino is situated on Deck 6 forward of the atrium, while Take Five – a most surprising jazz lounge – takes up a small space adjacent on the port side of the vessel. Princess does an excellent job of ensuring cleanliness in areas such as the buffet, where traffic is monitored by crew members who ensure that everyone uses hand sanitizer before entering the line. Read thousands of Princess Cruise Reviews from cruisers like you.
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