I am taking a cruise on Princess Cruises next month. Can I please get an opinion good or bad. I am taking the Dawn princess and just trying to find out what to expect Thanks for your help
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I am taking a cruise on Princess Cruises next month. Can I please get an opinion good or bad. I am taking the Dawn princess and just trying to find out what to expect Thanks for your help
We have sailed on almost every major cruise line and would rate Princess among the top 3. Much depends on your personal taste. If you are under 30 years of age, you might like Carnival better. The music on Carnival is fast paced and blaringly loud. Princess offers the songs of Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, etc as well as Broadway show tunes. We also felt the food was just a notch above what most of the lines offer. In our opinion, you did just fine choosing Princess.
We have only sailed on Princess -- the inaugural Alaska sailing for the Ocean Princess in May 2000. Our expectations were generally exceeded. We had a cabin with a balcony which we enjoyed although it made the cabin itself smaller. The food was good, not great, the coffee was terrible in my opinion, the ship was beautiful and clean, the staff was generally friendly and knowledgable (with the exception of the bar staff, which seemed unfamiliar with different types of liquors and drinks), and there were so many activities available we couldn't possibly participate in them all. One of our three shore excursions was not what is was described to be, but we felt this was the fault of the tour company, not Princess. Overall, we rated it a four on a five point scale. In fact, we have just made reservations to sail on two Dawn Princess cruises within the next year, so we hope the Dawn lives up to our experience on the newer Ocean. Have a great time.
My husband and I will be celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary by taking a cruise on Grand Princess 4.8.01. Many friends will be celebrating with us before the trip at a party given in our honor. Our friends have asked if we could bring our own wine on board. This would be enjoyed in the privacy of our cabin. I can not find any information as to what the policy is of the cruise line in bringing gifts of wine on board. Can anyone offer any insight or information? I would hate to have a gift and then be told that we could not bring the wine on board.
Hi! We took a Carnival cruise, and were told several times that outside alcoholic beverages were not allowed on board. Also, if it was bought in a port, they would hold it for you until docking.... I don't know how they would enforce the "port" ruling, but they do check all luggage when you embark at the beginning of the cruise. Ask your travel agent, or call the cruise line direct. In addition, be sure to mention that this is your "anniversary cruise", you're sure to get some free-bee's!
I believe most cruise lines want you to buy the alcohol you consume on board from THEM, thus almost all of them have rules against bringing alcohol on board. That said, I can tell you that on one cruise we managed to sneak on a bottle of Tequila and a bottle of rum, which we added to orange juice we got from room service in the afternoons. We brought them in our carry-ons, hidden among the shampoo bottles. They were spotted by the girls at the Port of Miami running the X-ray machines, but they let us by. I have also heard of a family sneaking on a 12 pack of Pepsi, divided up among their checked baggage, since the cruise lines charge outrageously for Cokes and such.
Karen, I have cruised with Princess twice. Both times I have carried on beer, wine, booze and soda with no problem. Just returned from the Grand and after bording on Sunday we left the ship, took a taxi to the Publix Grocery and stocked up(we had the cab wait), and returned to the ship in less than 30 minutes. We openly carried our grocery bags onto the ship with nothing more than a "hello" from the crew. So you can fell comfortable carry on your wine. Enjoy your cruise!
They enforce the 'no alcoholic beverages' deal at the ports by checking all bags before reboarding. We were on Princess recently, and they did NOT check the bags - we walked onboard with the things we got.
We recently sailed on Princess, and I am not certain what 'freebies' there are - the cabin door WAS decorated nicely. So were all the doors of all the honeymooners, birthday people, and anniversary celebrators - seemingly half the ship ! Take it from me, I have been on many a ship, and there are no 'freebies' from the ship - the TA might do something.
My husband and I sailed on Dawn last December. Our first cruise. We loved the ship. Service was great. We didn't lift a finger the whole time. Food was wonderful. We were happy with the entertainment, but I understand from more experienced cruisers that there is better on other lines. We had a cabin w/balcony on Baja deck. I'd go on the Dawn again! Have a great time. P.S. Try the pizza!
I been meaning to post this for quite some time. In December 1999 we took the Sun Princess Cruise from Acapulco, Mexico through the Panama Canal to Puerto Rico. We had only cruised Holland America before and found the food on the Sun Princess very mediocre. Their British staff VERY rude, unfriendly, and certainly not service oriented. The worse was their excursion person. What a rip off. We paid a good amount of money to spend the day of debarkation in Puerto Rica on their advertised tour and resort (which sounded wonderful) and ended up being kept on the ship until the very last. Then we were rushed around (shops, where they get kick backs mainly) and then on to the resort, which was alright. What a rip off! I still get upset every time I think about it. One should be cautious with their excursions anyway. We found them to be rather costly and most of the time one is shuttled to merchants, where again the crew was seen to collect their kick-backs. I hope people will wise up to these practices and let them know that we expect more for our money - even on a vacation. So very disappointing.
Just got off the Grand Princess yesterday (03/04/01)...I've never seen anyone look into peoples' bags to check for liquor (as some posters have alluded)....I've been on Princess 2 times....
Take the bottle of whatever and keep it in your carry on. Nobody is going to search your carry on....
Come on people...let's get real.
I've got nothing but praise for Princess cruises. Have not had a bad experience on the two I've been on. Both were excellent. Will book with them again.
Anniversary and Honeymoon couples are in all probability going to get some special attention. There were balloons hanging on doors of those just married, welcoming them onboard. I don't know if they got any other freebees, but I'm sure they must have gotten something.
I don't know how they handle liquor bought off ship in port. I know the liquor store does send the merchandise to the ship. I don'tknow if it's stored or what but we're talking large quantities here.
Liquor on board is not expensive. If you were to order drinks at a five star restaurant, you'd pay a LOT more for it.
You find their british staff rude. I don't agree with you. They are extremely friendly on the Grand Princess. I just returned yesterday 3/4/01 and enjoyed every minute of my cruise, my second on this ship.
We have cruised on Princess on two occasions, Dawn Princess and Crown Princess. We will be going through the canal with them next month. We did like the Dawn better, it is a larger ship therefore the dining room didn't seem as crowded as the Crown. Serving the number of people that they do at one time I would say that the food is just fine. It's not a restaurant where the food is specially prepared for 50-100. Considering the size of the dining room I would say that the service isn't excellent and the food is just fine. The specialty restaurants are excellent ie pizza parlour or cafe. The balcony rooms are marvelous.
We will be going through the canal next month too and are expecting the same good service we had on Princess in the Caribbean several years ago. It will be interesting to see if things are better or worse. I don't know of any cruise line where the tours do not stop at a "shopping opportunity" but hope they will be minimalized. As far as tipping, the guidelines from different sources vary a lot.
I am seriously considering signing on to the Sun Princess for a 10 day trip to the Panama Canal in early Oct. The cabin is on the lowest deck, Plaza, and is in the front of the ship with a port hole. Does this sound like a good location? Is it good or bad to be down low and at the front of the vessel?
Has anyone cruised this trip with Princess lately? Any comments, good or bad? What about "on shore" excursions sold by Princess - worth the money or should we try to get our own trips when on shore? Any comments or suggestions on ports: Cartagena, Costa Rica, Cozumel, and Georgetown?
Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who could help me.
Carnival WILL check your bags when boarding and at aevery port stop when you get back on. They squeeze every penny they can from passnegers. Other lines are not particular about bringing a bottle aboad and we have never have one checked by the 5 other lines we have sailed with.
20+ cruises on Princess with 4 more on tap make us believe Princess is best overall and for the the money. Never have we seen a rude staff member or crew. The English are too polite to be rude to anyone.
We've traveled on several different cruise lines. Princess is one of our top two! In fact, the Grand Princess has been (so far) our favorite vessel. Yes, it is a nice ship, but the service and entertainment really make it outstanding.
It's obvious that you've never cruised on Princess. Because, that's one of the reasons I love this line. They DON't have these silly rules! In March, my husband and I boarded the Ocean Princess in San Juan PR for the Carribian. There is a "make shift" liquor store in the terminal at the port. After checking in and looking around the ship, we left the ship, and went back into the terminal where we bought a case of soda, a bottle of wine, and the makings for margarittas and brought it back onto the ship in clear view of everyone..no problem at all! There was a long line of people behind and in front of us doing the same thing. We were even able to bring our own bottle of wine into the dining room to share with the rest of our table....our waiter poured it, and we were changed a very nominal corking fee.
I need feedback on the crown Princess cruise; May 14, 2001, Rome to Copenhagen.
This itenerary appealed to my wife and I, but it is only once a year.
Tony and I were married in Rome last year, and would love to go back. The cruise line we were with also went to several Greek isles, and finished in Istanbul. This itenerary starts in Roe and goes the opposite way, but the real attraction for us is it also visits London, Paris, Amsterdam, and other cities before finishing in Copenhagen. Although we would love to see Copenhagen and Amsterdam, we didn't want to cruise that part of the world an entire week. Thank you for your help. Steven & Tonya
I went on the Dawn Princess last year to the Carib. Great ship & wonderful food & service. I'd avoid any of the excursions, which were overpriced. We had an especially disturbing experience on their tour of St. Martin, which had been devastated by a storm several months earlier. Their bus took us through the worst poverty-striken area I'd ever seen - they exercised very poor judgment in scheduling the tour and should have offered us a refund, since you pay enough per day on a cruise that you don't want to waste a minute, let alone have to pay for such an experience. They also booked us at the Wyndham in San Juan, which was an awful hotel - they didn't there was a disco that boomed music until 3am that kept us from sleeping - and they overcharged us to boot! The cruise itself was wonderful - I just wish we had had more information about the excursions and the hotel.
