V
vickie_bernie
Guest
First be prepared this could get long. Also this is only my personal experience so take it for what it is, only my opinion.
My husband and I had sailed five times on Princess and a handful of times on Carnival. We love Princess and these cruises were our first at Platinum level. I am 42 and Bernie is 52 and we live in Vancouver B.C. Canada.
We booked this cruise about 9 months prior and decided to try 20 days as we love ten days and the warm weather. We had the same cabin for both sailings B724 and inside aft cabin.
We decided to do our own air to FLL because Princess Air was just too expensive compared to how we could do on our own. We drove to Seattle (3 hours away) and flew to FLL via Atlanta two days prior to sailing. We encountered no problems at all, received our luggage and actually arrived on time.
We booked a hotel thru Priceline and stayed at the Sheraton Yankee Trader right on the beach. The price was right and we were given a very nice room. For further info on hotel check Fort Lauderdale board where I posted a review. Taxi to the hotel from the airport was $22. The concierge arranged a taxi van for us to the pier. We hooked up with a couple from our roll call and traveled together. The cost was $25 total for all of us.
I am going to post in segments because the boards are slow and I don't want to run the risk of loosing stuff and retyping.
Oh the ship is beautiful, as we pulled along side her. We handed our suitcases to the porters and gave them a tip and were directed to the Platinum line on the side of the building. We were glad as the regular line looked so long. However when we got to the side to the Platinum/Elite line it was long too. And we soon learned that many in the line were first time cruises or Gold. It ended up taking us 25 minutes to get onboard, which wasn't too bad but we laughed as we boarded as there were our friends that we took the van with us, who are Gold status but got on the ship a few minutes before us. Well so much for the perk of the special line. (I should note on the second sailing when we got off the ship to go shopping we noticed this line again and it appeared to us that it was made up of only Platinum/Elite, but don't know if it was faster.)
We headed right to our room and dropped our bag and checked out our home for the next 20 days. Not too bad, the usual stuff. No sense describing it in detail many have done so in the past.
A few things we noticed that were different from previous sailings were that they delivered a Cruise Planner that looked like a calendar and had a detail listing of the date, what port we were in that day, the dress code, times we were in port and the evening entertainment. I highlighted what I wanted to check out and this also enabled us to plan our vacation. I wish that they would of put what the dinner themes were on there too. The planner also included a space for appointments/notes and on the back there was place to write Friends and staff met onboard, Memories, and Shore Excursions.
They also delivered a Scholarship at Sea Schedule for the entire cruise so again you could review and plan out your holiday.
We met our Cabin Steward Aldwin from the Philippines and asked him to do a few things. Remove the small coffee table (room is too small for it), bring 2 wine glasses, egg crate for the bed, extra pillow, and robes. We tipped him a little something to show our appreciation. It was all in the room when we returned from the Muster drill.
We met for the mandatory Muster drill which went very smoothly as usual. Princess has mastered this. We quickly returned to our room to drop off the life jackets and we headed up to the Outrigger for our Roll Call informal meet and Greet.
I am a huge fan of Cruise Critic and tell everyone who will listen about it and so of course the first thing I do once I book is look for the appropriate roll calls. On our first sailing we had a large gang. In fact one member actually created a webpage http://www.metrobattalion.com/emerald/cruise.shtml thanks Brian. Because there were pictures and bios for everyone we really got to know each other. I would say we had about 100 people registered. We had planned many events for our roll call. The first being an informal roll call at sailaway at the Outrigger Bar. Well we took over the entire area. It was fun recognizing people right away that I felt were truly friends already.
Oh I should say our bags arrived early probably within an hour and we unpacked and organized stuff. We had more than enough room for our stuff, even 20 days worth of stuff.
We went down to the internet cafe and signed up for our free 250 minutes (for Platinum and Elite - 10 night cruise).
Purchased my coffee card for $27.95 for 15 specialty coffee drinks. Note that freshly brewed coffee is free with card as well as specialty teas and hot chocolate. We noticed the lattes were only warm every time we received them so had to drink them fast. We soon learned to ask for "extra hot" latte when ordering.
That night we had to go to the Horizon Court for the Seafood Extravaganza... we had never been, and boy I didn't know what I was missing. We filled up on prawns, crab legs, and lobster claws. I think the ship lost money when we showed up there. I ate I would say about $50 (at home prices) worth of seafood.
I noticed that the Horizon Court on the Emerald was a little more organized than on other ships we had experienced. They had defined entry and exits (for those who could read). Hand sanitizers were at all entry/exits. Plates where stationed all over so it was easy to get one. On the first cruise you had to pick up your utensils wrapped in a napkin. On the second cruise they were no longer in the buffet line but were given to you by the waiter when you sat down which was helpful when your hands were full.
That night we went exploring... we checked out the casino (too smoky), the stores, the bars and then the MUTS (our first time with MUTS) then off to bed with big smiles on our faces.
Slept like a baby, oh how I love the sea, and with the egg crate the crack in the middle was not too bothersome. The inside cabin is very very dark, normally we bring a nightlight for the bathroom but I forgot ours. Luckily we got one in the gift exchange a little later that day -- thanks Illene and Murray. Also the bedside lights use to be dimmers but now they are on or off, light or dark, reading while keeping Bernie awake or Vickie laying awake staring into darkness.
We had ordered room service first thing in the morning and it arrived at the designated time. In fact every time we ordered room service it came at the exact time we had ordered it. A few times we added written in items. Nothing fancy but we did get bagel and cream cheese and sometimes we asked for oatmeal and got that too. The crew were allways friendly and helpful and they got to know us and what we liked. We always tipped $2. One comment, the milk was always warm? So we would put that in the fridge and take out the day before's milk that was now cold.
Every morning we would wake up and turn on the T.V. Yes we were addicted to Wacky Wacky TV with our Cruise Director Neil Chandler and his sidekick Sean from Halifax (our Canuck bud). Sure they were corny, but they were good for a laugh and we enjoyed their banter and their question of the day. In fact we made a point of answering as many as we could, usually wrongly, sometimes purposely just to see what they would say on the show. We even enter some jokes and special shout outs to our friends onboard. Still trying to pick up Wacky Wacky TV show here at home, but reception is bad I guess.
Brian from the roll call had arranged the formal meet and greet today at 10 am in Skywalkers. I have to commend Brian for all his hard work, he had personally written many of the officers inviting them to the meet and greet and they showed up. I was impressed. The Captain, Staff Captain, Chief Technical Officer, Passenger Services Director, Cruise Director, First Purser Food and Beverage, Executive Chef were all there. The captain introduced everyone and spoke briefly, they then mingled and we got our pictures with them. This is where I first got to meet Mr. James Deering the Passenger Services Director and I am glad I did... more on him later.
We had about 75 people attend the meet and greet. There was a gift exchange. We asked everyone to bring a small gift that somehow represented their home town/state/province/country. We then had a gift exchange.... this is when I received the night light from Florida.
We also then did a little game where everyone received a list of things and you had to find someone that it applied to and you couldn't have someone sign the sheet more than once. Items on the list included, who travelled the furthest, who has cruised the most, who is the oldest, etc. A prize was given to the person who had the most.
Princess provided the venue and had servers there where we could order drinks (at a cost), there was also a type of pretzel mix on the tables. I would like to see Princess expand on what they offer the Cruise Critic groups... similar to RCI would be nice.
I wore my CruiseCritic T-shirt... funny the comments I received while moving about the ship. The funniest was a woman came up to me in the Horizon Court one morning and said right out of the blue "hope you mention how cold the pools are"... I just said sure... so I've mentioned it. But the pools were cool because the weather was cool and windy, the last few days when it was really hot out, the pools were too warm. Many people asked about the site, even some crew asked. Some even approached me because of my live thread on the second cruise and said "are you Vickie" he he he I am famous!!!
We then had to hit the pool deck, well I didn't hit it but you know what I mean.
There were tons of chairs, sure it was crowded, but it was easy to find a quiet spot or find a chair her or there and bring them together. The deck crew were always helpful too. And yes, if you want a chair by the pool you better get there early.
Bernie ordered me some lilies from the florist on board. They had a table set up on deck 7 (promenade) on many days, usually in the afternoon. Prices were reasonable, comparable to home, and they lasted the entire cruise and into the second sailing. The flowers were delivered within an hour! They had a wide selection of flowers and you were even able to customize your order.
Tonight is formal night, we dressed up -- sure we can clean up with the best of them.
We had anytime dining. In fact anytime dining is one reason we sail Princess. Anytime is served in the Da Vinici and Michelangelo Dining rooms and Botticelli serves traditional dining. Botticelli is hard to find but walk all the way aft (end of ship) on deck 7 and then go down one flight of stairs.
We showed up for dinner and were seated with Donna and Laurence from our roll call and another nice couple celebrating their anniversary. Service was great, food even better, experience priceless.
We took some pictures, and had a good laugh with Caio (South Africa) from the Photography department, she'll remember us as we took pictures with Donna and Laurence and in one Laurence kissed Bernie's head, cute, he even bought it... should I be jealous??
Notes from my book:
Wireless internet is available at .50 a minute. Although I only heard people complaining about this. So I don't know how it really was. Internet service was sometimes slow depending on how many people were on the bandwidth (remember passengers, crew, officers all use the same bandwidth). Also depended on the site you use for your hotmail... AOL seemed to be slow, Cruise Critic was very slow, but my hotmail was quick.
Library, we visited the library to put in our Wacky Wacky TV question answers and took out some books. Large selection, well I had no problem finding a book to read; however there were some who complained that it was too small.
Dress Code: tonight was formal and most were dressed up, at least everyone I saw in the dining room was dressed up.
Dan Bennett (comedian/juggler) performed tonight. We love him, but have seen him so many times. I think we've seen him on the last three cruises we have taken. But we did say hi to him.
The staff on board seemed to be so attentive to every possible need we could have. We did not pass one employee (didn't matter what their position was) that didn't say hi.
Here are some examples of outstanding service we received, please feel free to add your experiences too:
- Horizon Court, staff on hand to carry your food to your table if necessary
- one day when I wasn't feeling great (tummy was upset) I went to the HC to get some yoghurt but there wasn't any because it was lunch. I asked a staff member and he quickly came back with two. Stated I had a tummy ache and hoped it would help. He said oh here have some jello too he found that always helps. He then offered to carry my food to my table as my hands were full with towels/books etc. I said was going back to my room and he quickly checked and then carried my stuff back to my room for me.
- Hostess Sandra in the dining room always remembered us and welcomed us by name and a huge smile.
- Tatty was a bar server, usually found in the Explorer's lounge, she always remembered us and our cruise card # -- one day we were both a little tipsy after consuming way to much sake with a new friend and when we appeared in Explorers Tatty offered us a drink and when we said we were a little drunk, she said no problem and came back with 2 waters.
- Passengers Services Desk was the best we have ever experienced. Every single one was friendly helpful and considerate.
- Aldwin our cabin steward seemed to be there whenever we needed him, in fact I swear he was hiding just waiting to provide any service necessary, he was quick to respond to any and all requests.
- Tatania the junior waiter was so very bubbly and so happy to see us all the time, it made us feel very special and like we were a part of her family.
- Istvan the waiter provided us with superlative service seemed to always be one step ahead of what we needed.
- Generoso the Matre d'Hotel is by the best Matre d'Hotel we have ever encountered. I miss him so much and his three kisses he gave me every time we met.
- Carlos in Vines, he looked familiar to us and us to him... we sailed with him in 2006 on the Dawn. He was so nice and quick to please.
- The chefs at the International Cafe. Bernie craved more peanut butter cookies, but after many days with none to be found and many requests the chef made a batch and actually tried to get my attention so I could notify Bernie they were ready. One of the chefs would dance and sing, heck he was great entertainment while we enjoyed our tea/latte.
- Staff in the stores, many remembered us from the first cruise and would chat with us every time we came in. We had purchased enough perfume to get the 10% discount and they kept reminding us through the sailing that we could buy more and still get the discount. These guys have the patience of saints... I actually saw two women arguing about who's $20 it was that paid for the item and they tried to drag the clerk into the argument, and he was very diplomatic. I just giggled.
- Cruise Director Neil and his crew, Sean, Samatha, Cris, and Lisa were a treat and they would say hi all the time and chat. They commented often about our comments we had put in for the Wakie Wakie TV. They were a lot of fun during the Island Deck party.
We loved MUTS here are the movies that were shown on our sailings up at MUTS
Stardust, Shrek I, II and III, Astronaut Farmer, Hairspray, Ratatouille, License to Wed, Nanny Diaries, Bourne Ultimatum, December Boys, Oceans 11 and 12, Blades of Glory
Many of the movies were also show in the Princess Theatre during the day.
MUTS is great, they put covers on the lounge chairs that have a pillow/cushion... not really helpful. I would recommend bringing the pillow from your room; however that might make you fall asleep. They provide wool blankets and popcorn. I had heard that they sometimes provide hot chocolate but I never say any. A nice treat is that the hamburger/hot dog grill is open, as well as ice cream and pizza, just in case you are hungry.
The Piazza has entertainment throughout the night. Acts vary but here are some of the acts that were on our sailings: hand balancing of Fulcrum, Street entertainer Mat Ricardo, The Astoria String Quartet, Street entertainer George Orange, Dixie Band, Piano classics, Stilt Walkers Unbalanced, and Street Entertainers Strangelings (which were weird).
Most acts were repeated throughout the sailings and it was nice to watch while enjoying a glass of wine or coffee at one of the locations on deck 5.
The Casino was quite large with a good section of table games as well as different slots. It was rather smoky every night; however the ship did have a few non smoking nights, usually the formal nights which lasted until 11 pm. They also offered lessons on different games, slot tournaments and the ability to use your cruise card to make your donation.
On this ship something we found different was that they had conditioner and shampoo in plastic containers. This use to be only available in suite, but not here. Nice change; however our friends who just got off the Crown said their shampoo/conditioner was still in cardboard rip off containers. They also had a lovely body wash called Caress which I enjoyed.
We attended the Island Night Deck Party on the first cruise; however about an hour into it the sound system went... yup not too good for a party. So they moved the entire deck party down to Club Fushion -- which of course didn't really work. Also it didn't help that the Deck Party was on Sunday and was competing with the playoffs for Football.
I am happy to report that Princess flew in a touch notch expert from head office to Barbados on second cruise to ensure that the sound system worked on the second sailing's Deck Party and it did work fine. This party was well attended and was lots of fun.
We signed up for one of the wine tastings. There are two held, one that is $25 and the other that is $9.50. We attended the $9.50 one. I was a little disappointed that they served the exact same wines that the served a year and a half ago on a Mexican Riviera cruise. One other notice was that in previous wine tastings they gave us a list of the wines we were trying and a place to make notes. They didn’t this time and I have unfortunately forgotten the names of the wines. You also get to take home the glass that the dessert wine comes in.
I should also state that Princess definitely reads these boards. While on board I was writing a live thread, and one of my posts asked for directions to a liquor store, drug store and Starbucks in Fort Lauderdale when we arrived on our turn around day. A half hour after I had posted and had gone back to my cabin Mr. Deering, the Passenger Services Director had called our cabin and gave me directions. Now I was impressed.
Throughout the next sailing we had the pleasure of getting to know Mr. Deering better and that only added to our voyage. He went out of his way for not only us but for many of our friends and other passengers. He even came to Club Fushion on the last day specifically to say good bye to us. Thanks James.
Our second sailing consisted of an entirely different crowd. In fact both of us were surprised at how different. Our first sailing had a much older crowd… now don’t hate me… elevators were packed with people who could not manage stairs, walkers, scooters, and wheelchairs filled the hallways. And boy there were a lot of complainers on this sailing (nothing to do with age here). Just seemed every time we turned around someone was complaining and about the stupidest things. Even though is was an older crowd they sure were active and most were up until the wee hours… in fact the not so newlywed game consisted of two couples that had been married over 50 years, and when they asked the question when was the last time you made woopie, they both answered last night! The second sailing was more our age (40 – late 50’s) more kids (but still only 75 kids) mainly non US (I think we were told there were 1200 Canadians alone. Many people were seen taking the stairs, hardly no walkers or wheelchairs. However I did notice quite a few people must of got injured while sailing as quite a few newly disabled. The whole atmosphere was different.
We did go to Sabatini’s on the second sailing and for $20 it is a nice treat. But you do need to pace yourself. Really like Sabatini’s on the Emerald, it is so much bigger than other ships and it’s placement at the back of the ship allows for amazing views. The Adagio bar right next door is a great place to get a drink and relax, definitely a must.
On the second sailing our first day was Princess Cays so they moved the Formal night to the second day, where the formal night on the first sailing was the first night and also a sea day.
I want to say here, even though I am not reporting on the ports of call, that in St. Thomas we docked at Crown Bay and not Havensight. Crown Bay has many stores and you can certainly pick up what you might need here. From what we saw with prices they were the same as they were in town, in fact many stores at Crown Bay have stores in town as well as at Havensight. Taxi to town is $4 pp, and it is $5 to Havensight. You can walk, it took us about 20 minutes. Crown Bay is a nice change and not very busy… on one sailing when we arrived in St. Thomas there were 7 ships in port and one in port in St. John’s – the town was a ZOO! Glad to get back to Crown Bay where it was quiet. Also docking at Crown bay gives you the opportunity to go to Water Island as the ferry leaves from right there.
On our second sailing we attended the Caribe Buffet more often… I have to say that the German buffet is as good as everyone says it is. On the last night they had a seafood buffet that was just as good as the first night’s Seafood buffet, but a little different.
We also did the Chef’s Table on both sailings… I’ve written an extensive review on that experience on another thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13397097#post13397097
Now we did a back to back and personally I find it to be the only way to go. Sure we have done the shorter vacations, and even though this was a 10 day trip, we weren’t ready to get off after 10 days and we were glad to stay on for another 10 days. Princess arranged everything for us on the turn around day. New cards were delivered to our cabin the night before, all we had to do was show up at the designated time in the designated location and they escorted all b2b people off and thru immigration and then back on board. The whole experience took about a half hour. Princess also carried forward our onboard expenses from the first sailing onto our second sailing. We got all our wash done early and decided to get off the ship to pick up some items. When we returned to the port all we had to do was show our “in transit†pass and we were allowed to come right on board.
One nice thing about doing b2b is the relationships you develop with many of the crew. Many were happy to see we were staying and after 20 days they truly felt like part of our family. You also feel more relaxed on the second sailing, often there was no need to rush to a show because you had seen it already or you skipped the dining room because you had that dinner last sailing and you’d rather try something different. If you ever get the chance to do a b2b you be able to experience a different side to cruising and hopefully have as enjoyable a time.
Thanks for letting me share our experience.
My husband and I had sailed five times on Princess and a handful of times on Carnival. We love Princess and these cruises were our first at Platinum level. I am 42 and Bernie is 52 and we live in Vancouver B.C. Canada.
We booked this cruise about 9 months prior and decided to try 20 days as we love ten days and the warm weather. We had the same cabin for both sailings B724 and inside aft cabin.
We decided to do our own air to FLL because Princess Air was just too expensive compared to how we could do on our own. We drove to Seattle (3 hours away) and flew to FLL via Atlanta two days prior to sailing. We encountered no problems at all, received our luggage and actually arrived on time.
We booked a hotel thru Priceline and stayed at the Sheraton Yankee Trader right on the beach. The price was right and we were given a very nice room. For further info on hotel check Fort Lauderdale board where I posted a review. Taxi to the hotel from the airport was $22. The concierge arranged a taxi van for us to the pier. We hooked up with a couple from our roll call and traveled together. The cost was $25 total for all of us.
I am going to post in segments because the boards are slow and I don't want to run the risk of loosing stuff and retyping.
Oh the ship is beautiful, as we pulled along side her. We handed our suitcases to the porters and gave them a tip and were directed to the Platinum line on the side of the building. We were glad as the regular line looked so long. However when we got to the side to the Platinum/Elite line it was long too. And we soon learned that many in the line were first time cruises or Gold. It ended up taking us 25 minutes to get onboard, which wasn't too bad but we laughed as we boarded as there were our friends that we took the van with us, who are Gold status but got on the ship a few minutes before us. Well so much for the perk of the special line. (I should note on the second sailing when we got off the ship to go shopping we noticed this line again and it appeared to us that it was made up of only Platinum/Elite, but don't know if it was faster.)
We headed right to our room and dropped our bag and checked out our home for the next 20 days. Not too bad, the usual stuff. No sense describing it in detail many have done so in the past.
A few things we noticed that were different from previous sailings were that they delivered a Cruise Planner that looked like a calendar and had a detail listing of the date, what port we were in that day, the dress code, times we were in port and the evening entertainment. I highlighted what I wanted to check out and this also enabled us to plan our vacation. I wish that they would of put what the dinner themes were on there too. The planner also included a space for appointments/notes and on the back there was place to write Friends and staff met onboard, Memories, and Shore Excursions.
They also delivered a Scholarship at Sea Schedule for the entire cruise so again you could review and plan out your holiday.
We met our Cabin Steward Aldwin from the Philippines and asked him to do a few things. Remove the small coffee table (room is too small for it), bring 2 wine glasses, egg crate for the bed, extra pillow, and robes. We tipped him a little something to show our appreciation. It was all in the room when we returned from the Muster drill.
We met for the mandatory Muster drill which went very smoothly as usual. Princess has mastered this. We quickly returned to our room to drop off the life jackets and we headed up to the Outrigger for our Roll Call informal meet and Greet.
I am a huge fan of Cruise Critic and tell everyone who will listen about it and so of course the first thing I do once I book is look for the appropriate roll calls. On our first sailing we had a large gang. In fact one member actually created a webpage http://www.metrobattalion.com/emerald/cruise.shtml thanks Brian. Because there were pictures and bios for everyone we really got to know each other. I would say we had about 100 people registered. We had planned many events for our roll call. The first being an informal roll call at sailaway at the Outrigger Bar. Well we took over the entire area. It was fun recognizing people right away that I felt were truly friends already.
Oh I should say our bags arrived early probably within an hour and we unpacked and organized stuff. We had more than enough room for our stuff, even 20 days worth of stuff.
We went down to the internet cafe and signed up for our free 250 minutes (for Platinum and Elite - 10 night cruise).
Purchased my coffee card for $27.95 for 15 specialty coffee drinks. Note that freshly brewed coffee is free with card as well as specialty teas and hot chocolate. We noticed the lattes were only warm every time we received them so had to drink them fast. We soon learned to ask for "extra hot" latte when ordering.
That night we had to go to the Horizon Court for the Seafood Extravaganza... we had never been, and boy I didn't know what I was missing. We filled up on prawns, crab legs, and lobster claws. I think the ship lost money when we showed up there. I ate I would say about $50 (at home prices) worth of seafood.
I noticed that the Horizon Court on the Emerald was a little more organized than on other ships we had experienced. They had defined entry and exits (for those who could read). Hand sanitizers were at all entry/exits. Plates where stationed all over so it was easy to get one. On the first cruise you had to pick up your utensils wrapped in a napkin. On the second cruise they were no longer in the buffet line but were given to you by the waiter when you sat down which was helpful when your hands were full.
That night we went exploring... we checked out the casino (too smoky), the stores, the bars and then the MUTS (our first time with MUTS) then off to bed with big smiles on our faces.
Slept like a baby, oh how I love the sea, and with the egg crate the crack in the middle was not too bothersome. The inside cabin is very very dark, normally we bring a nightlight for the bathroom but I forgot ours. Luckily we got one in the gift exchange a little later that day -- thanks Illene and Murray. Also the bedside lights use to be dimmers but now they are on or off, light or dark, reading while keeping Bernie awake or Vickie laying awake staring into darkness.
We had ordered room service first thing in the morning and it arrived at the designated time. In fact every time we ordered room service it came at the exact time we had ordered it. A few times we added written in items. Nothing fancy but we did get bagel and cream cheese and sometimes we asked for oatmeal and got that too. The crew were allways friendly and helpful and they got to know us and what we liked. We always tipped $2. One comment, the milk was always warm? So we would put that in the fridge and take out the day before's milk that was now cold.
Every morning we would wake up and turn on the T.V. Yes we were addicted to Wacky Wacky TV with our Cruise Director Neil Chandler and his sidekick Sean from Halifax (our Canuck bud). Sure they were corny, but they were good for a laugh and we enjoyed their banter and their question of the day. In fact we made a point of answering as many as we could, usually wrongly, sometimes purposely just to see what they would say on the show. We even enter some jokes and special shout outs to our friends onboard. Still trying to pick up Wacky Wacky TV show here at home, but reception is bad I guess.
Brian from the roll call had arranged the formal meet and greet today at 10 am in Skywalkers. I have to commend Brian for all his hard work, he had personally written many of the officers inviting them to the meet and greet and they showed up. I was impressed. The Captain, Staff Captain, Chief Technical Officer, Passenger Services Director, Cruise Director, First Purser Food and Beverage, Executive Chef were all there. The captain introduced everyone and spoke briefly, they then mingled and we got our pictures with them. This is where I first got to meet Mr. James Deering the Passenger Services Director and I am glad I did... more on him later.
We had about 75 people attend the meet and greet. There was a gift exchange. We asked everyone to bring a small gift that somehow represented their home town/state/province/country. We then had a gift exchange.... this is when I received the night light from Florida.
We also then did a little game where everyone received a list of things and you had to find someone that it applied to and you couldn't have someone sign the sheet more than once. Items on the list included, who travelled the furthest, who has cruised the most, who is the oldest, etc. A prize was given to the person who had the most.
Princess provided the venue and had servers there where we could order drinks (at a cost), there was also a type of pretzel mix on the tables. I would like to see Princess expand on what they offer the Cruise Critic groups... similar to RCI would be nice.
I wore my CruiseCritic T-shirt... funny the comments I received while moving about the ship. The funniest was a woman came up to me in the Horizon Court one morning and said right out of the blue "hope you mention how cold the pools are"... I just said sure... so I've mentioned it. But the pools were cool because the weather was cool and windy, the last few days when it was really hot out, the pools were too warm. Many people asked about the site, even some crew asked. Some even approached me because of my live thread on the second cruise and said "are you Vickie" he he he I am famous!!!
We then had to hit the pool deck, well I didn't hit it but you know what I mean.
There were tons of chairs, sure it was crowded, but it was easy to find a quiet spot or find a chair her or there and bring them together. The deck crew were always helpful too. And yes, if you want a chair by the pool you better get there early.
Bernie ordered me some lilies from the florist on board. They had a table set up on deck 7 (promenade) on many days, usually in the afternoon. Prices were reasonable, comparable to home, and they lasted the entire cruise and into the second sailing. The flowers were delivered within an hour! They had a wide selection of flowers and you were even able to customize your order.
Tonight is formal night, we dressed up -- sure we can clean up with the best of them.
We had anytime dining. In fact anytime dining is one reason we sail Princess. Anytime is served in the Da Vinici and Michelangelo Dining rooms and Botticelli serves traditional dining. Botticelli is hard to find but walk all the way aft (end of ship) on deck 7 and then go down one flight of stairs.
We showed up for dinner and were seated with Donna and Laurence from our roll call and another nice couple celebrating their anniversary. Service was great, food even better, experience priceless.
We took some pictures, and had a good laugh with Caio (South Africa) from the Photography department, she'll remember us as we took pictures with Donna and Laurence and in one Laurence kissed Bernie's head, cute, he even bought it... should I be jealous??
Notes from my book:
Wireless internet is available at .50 a minute. Although I only heard people complaining about this. So I don't know how it really was. Internet service was sometimes slow depending on how many people were on the bandwidth (remember passengers, crew, officers all use the same bandwidth). Also depended on the site you use for your hotmail... AOL seemed to be slow, Cruise Critic was very slow, but my hotmail was quick.
Library, we visited the library to put in our Wacky Wacky TV question answers and took out some books. Large selection, well I had no problem finding a book to read; however there were some who complained that it was too small.
Dress Code: tonight was formal and most were dressed up, at least everyone I saw in the dining room was dressed up.
Dan Bennett (comedian/juggler) performed tonight. We love him, but have seen him so many times. I think we've seen him on the last three cruises we have taken. But we did say hi to him.
The staff on board seemed to be so attentive to every possible need we could have. We did not pass one employee (didn't matter what their position was) that didn't say hi.
Here are some examples of outstanding service we received, please feel free to add your experiences too:
- Horizon Court, staff on hand to carry your food to your table if necessary
- one day when I wasn't feeling great (tummy was upset) I went to the HC to get some yoghurt but there wasn't any because it was lunch. I asked a staff member and he quickly came back with two. Stated I had a tummy ache and hoped it would help. He said oh here have some jello too he found that always helps. He then offered to carry my food to my table as my hands were full with towels/books etc. I said was going back to my room and he quickly checked and then carried my stuff back to my room for me.
- Hostess Sandra in the dining room always remembered us and welcomed us by name and a huge smile.
- Tatty was a bar server, usually found in the Explorer's lounge, she always remembered us and our cruise card # -- one day we were both a little tipsy after consuming way to much sake with a new friend and when we appeared in Explorers Tatty offered us a drink and when we said we were a little drunk, she said no problem and came back with 2 waters.
- Passengers Services Desk was the best we have ever experienced. Every single one was friendly helpful and considerate.
- Aldwin our cabin steward seemed to be there whenever we needed him, in fact I swear he was hiding just waiting to provide any service necessary, he was quick to respond to any and all requests.
- Tatania the junior waiter was so very bubbly and so happy to see us all the time, it made us feel very special and like we were a part of her family.
- Istvan the waiter provided us with superlative service seemed to always be one step ahead of what we needed.
- Generoso the Matre d'Hotel is by the best Matre d'Hotel we have ever encountered. I miss him so much and his three kisses he gave me every time we met.
- Carlos in Vines, he looked familiar to us and us to him... we sailed with him in 2006 on the Dawn. He was so nice and quick to please.
- The chefs at the International Cafe. Bernie craved more peanut butter cookies, but after many days with none to be found and many requests the chef made a batch and actually tried to get my attention so I could notify Bernie they were ready. One of the chefs would dance and sing, heck he was great entertainment while we enjoyed our tea/latte.
- Staff in the stores, many remembered us from the first cruise and would chat with us every time we came in. We had purchased enough perfume to get the 10% discount and they kept reminding us through the sailing that we could buy more and still get the discount. These guys have the patience of saints... I actually saw two women arguing about who's $20 it was that paid for the item and they tried to drag the clerk into the argument, and he was very diplomatic. I just giggled.
- Cruise Director Neil and his crew, Sean, Samatha, Cris, and Lisa were a treat and they would say hi all the time and chat. They commented often about our comments we had put in for the Wakie Wakie TV. They were a lot of fun during the Island Deck party.
We loved MUTS here are the movies that were shown on our sailings up at MUTS
Stardust, Shrek I, II and III, Astronaut Farmer, Hairspray, Ratatouille, License to Wed, Nanny Diaries, Bourne Ultimatum, December Boys, Oceans 11 and 12, Blades of Glory
Many of the movies were also show in the Princess Theatre during the day.
MUTS is great, they put covers on the lounge chairs that have a pillow/cushion... not really helpful. I would recommend bringing the pillow from your room; however that might make you fall asleep. They provide wool blankets and popcorn. I had heard that they sometimes provide hot chocolate but I never say any. A nice treat is that the hamburger/hot dog grill is open, as well as ice cream and pizza, just in case you are hungry.
The Piazza has entertainment throughout the night. Acts vary but here are some of the acts that were on our sailings: hand balancing of Fulcrum, Street entertainer Mat Ricardo, The Astoria String Quartet, Street entertainer George Orange, Dixie Band, Piano classics, Stilt Walkers Unbalanced, and Street Entertainers Strangelings (which were weird).
Most acts were repeated throughout the sailings and it was nice to watch while enjoying a glass of wine or coffee at one of the locations on deck 5.
The Casino was quite large with a good section of table games as well as different slots. It was rather smoky every night; however the ship did have a few non smoking nights, usually the formal nights which lasted until 11 pm. They also offered lessons on different games, slot tournaments and the ability to use your cruise card to make your donation.
On this ship something we found different was that they had conditioner and shampoo in plastic containers. This use to be only available in suite, but not here. Nice change; however our friends who just got off the Crown said their shampoo/conditioner was still in cardboard rip off containers. They also had a lovely body wash called Caress which I enjoyed.
We attended the Island Night Deck Party on the first cruise; however about an hour into it the sound system went... yup not too good for a party. So they moved the entire deck party down to Club Fushion -- which of course didn't really work. Also it didn't help that the Deck Party was on Sunday and was competing with the playoffs for Football.
I am happy to report that Princess flew in a touch notch expert from head office to Barbados on second cruise to ensure that the sound system worked on the second sailing's Deck Party and it did work fine. This party was well attended and was lots of fun.
We signed up for one of the wine tastings. There are two held, one that is $25 and the other that is $9.50. We attended the $9.50 one. I was a little disappointed that they served the exact same wines that the served a year and a half ago on a Mexican Riviera cruise. One other notice was that in previous wine tastings they gave us a list of the wines we were trying and a place to make notes. They didn’t this time and I have unfortunately forgotten the names of the wines. You also get to take home the glass that the dessert wine comes in.
I should also state that Princess definitely reads these boards. While on board I was writing a live thread, and one of my posts asked for directions to a liquor store, drug store and Starbucks in Fort Lauderdale when we arrived on our turn around day. A half hour after I had posted and had gone back to my cabin Mr. Deering, the Passenger Services Director had called our cabin and gave me directions. Now I was impressed.
Throughout the next sailing we had the pleasure of getting to know Mr. Deering better and that only added to our voyage. He went out of his way for not only us but for many of our friends and other passengers. He even came to Club Fushion on the last day specifically to say good bye to us. Thanks James.
Our second sailing consisted of an entirely different crowd. In fact both of us were surprised at how different. Our first sailing had a much older crowd… now don’t hate me… elevators were packed with people who could not manage stairs, walkers, scooters, and wheelchairs filled the hallways. And boy there were a lot of complainers on this sailing (nothing to do with age here). Just seemed every time we turned around someone was complaining and about the stupidest things. Even though is was an older crowd they sure were active and most were up until the wee hours… in fact the not so newlywed game consisted of two couples that had been married over 50 years, and when they asked the question when was the last time you made woopie, they both answered last night! The second sailing was more our age (40 – late 50’s) more kids (but still only 75 kids) mainly non US (I think we were told there were 1200 Canadians alone. Many people were seen taking the stairs, hardly no walkers or wheelchairs. However I did notice quite a few people must of got injured while sailing as quite a few newly disabled. The whole atmosphere was different.
We did go to Sabatini’s on the second sailing and for $20 it is a nice treat. But you do need to pace yourself. Really like Sabatini’s on the Emerald, it is so much bigger than other ships and it’s placement at the back of the ship allows for amazing views. The Adagio bar right next door is a great place to get a drink and relax, definitely a must.
On the second sailing our first day was Princess Cays so they moved the Formal night to the second day, where the formal night on the first sailing was the first night and also a sea day.
I want to say here, even though I am not reporting on the ports of call, that in St. Thomas we docked at Crown Bay and not Havensight. Crown Bay has many stores and you can certainly pick up what you might need here. From what we saw with prices they were the same as they were in town, in fact many stores at Crown Bay have stores in town as well as at Havensight. Taxi to town is $4 pp, and it is $5 to Havensight. You can walk, it took us about 20 minutes. Crown Bay is a nice change and not very busy… on one sailing when we arrived in St. Thomas there were 7 ships in port and one in port in St. John’s – the town was a ZOO! Glad to get back to Crown Bay where it was quiet. Also docking at Crown bay gives you the opportunity to go to Water Island as the ferry leaves from right there.
On our second sailing we attended the Caribe Buffet more often… I have to say that the German buffet is as good as everyone says it is. On the last night they had a seafood buffet that was just as good as the first night’s Seafood buffet, but a little different.
We also did the Chef’s Table on both sailings… I’ve written an extensive review on that experience on another thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13397097#post13397097
Now we did a back to back and personally I find it to be the only way to go. Sure we have done the shorter vacations, and even though this was a 10 day trip, we weren’t ready to get off after 10 days and we were glad to stay on for another 10 days. Princess arranged everything for us on the turn around day. New cards were delivered to our cabin the night before, all we had to do was show up at the designated time in the designated location and they escorted all b2b people off and thru immigration and then back on board. The whole experience took about a half hour. Princess also carried forward our onboard expenses from the first sailing onto our second sailing. We got all our wash done early and decided to get off the ship to pick up some items. When we returned to the port all we had to do was show our “in transit†pass and we were allowed to come right on board.
One nice thing about doing b2b is the relationships you develop with many of the crew. Many were happy to see we were staying and after 20 days they truly felt like part of our family. You also feel more relaxed on the second sailing, often there was no need to rush to a show because you had seen it already or you skipped the dining room because you had that dinner last sailing and you’d rather try something different. If you ever get the chance to do a b2b you be able to experience a different side to cruising and hopefully have as enjoyable a time.
Thanks for letting me share our experience.
..Joanne
