well, I really am suprised...no responses in two months, ok I know most of you only seem to cruise with Thompson, Ocean Village and P&O but I did think that there might be a few princess cruisers out there. Even the mods don't seem to be bothered about putting the emerald princess in the review section,so I could post a review.
There were a significant amount of Brits on board on the cruise I was on along with alot of americans, canadians and a mixture of other nationals and everyone seemed to be enjoying sailing on the brand new emerald princess,but then I guess most of you arn't really interested in sailing with princess or there would have been more interest in this section.
Sorry that you didn't receive any response to your previous enquiry. I think I was on holiday when it was posted so wasn't here to pick up that the Emerald Princess needed to be added to our reviews section. Perhaps if you had asked for it to be added in your post, another mod would have arranged it.
I shall ask for it to be added now, but unfortunately the admin who can add ships is on holiday so it won't be added for a couple of weeks.
I hope you had a good cruise as we enjoyed the Sea Princess.
luci
I shall ask for it to be added now, but unfortunately the admin who can add ships is on holiday so it won't be added for a couple of weeks.
I hope you had a good cruise as we enjoyed the Sea Princess.
luci
I have cruised several times with Princess Cruises on Golden Grand and Island. T/A on Golden Panama on Island and the Med on Grand.
Enjoyed all of them but whilst I have cruised with P&O RCI and Cunard my cruise line of choice is Celebrity.
Cruised on Millennium Summit Galaxy and Century. Did Caribbean on Summit Med on Millenium and this March did a T/A on Mill. Also last year did T/A on Galaxy and then the Med on Century in September.
Doing the Med on Century in October but booked a BTB on the QM2 for 12-24th July so am off again in just over 2 weeks.
I enjoy cruising but am not interested in doing any of the package tour company cruises i.e. Thomson or Island Cruises. This is mainly that I enjoy a mix of nationalities and also the standard of service etc. I also enjoy the luxury of the newer build ships. I had thought about the Emerald but I find it hard to step away from X these days. The QM was such a good offer and too good not to take advantage. I love the long sea days and there is always plenty to do to keep me from becoming bored.
Glad you enjoyed your cruise and found things out as you went along. I have been cruising now for many years and did not have the use of a computer until 2 years ago. Sometimes the fun of a holiday is finding out as you go along and I hope you were not disappointed.
Sue
Enjoyed all of them but whilst I have cruised with P&O RCI and Cunard my cruise line of choice is Celebrity.
Cruised on Millennium Summit Galaxy and Century. Did Caribbean on Summit Med on Millenium and this March did a T/A on Mill. Also last year did T/A on Galaxy and then the Med on Century in September.
Doing the Med on Century in October but booked a BTB on the QM2 for 12-24th July so am off again in just over 2 weeks.
I enjoy cruising but am not interested in doing any of the package tour company cruises i.e. Thomson or Island Cruises. This is mainly that I enjoy a mix of nationalities and also the standard of service etc. I also enjoy the luxury of the newer build ships. I had thought about the Emerald but I find it hard to step away from X these days. The QM was such a good offer and too good not to take advantage. I love the long sea days and there is always plenty to do to keep me from becoming bored.
Glad you enjoyed your cruise and found things out as you went along. I have been cruising now for many years and did not have the use of a computer until 2 years ago. Sometimes the fun of a holiday is finding out as you go along and I hope you were not disappointed.
Sue
Hi, I would've replied had I seen your email earlier!
I will be on the Emerald Princess for the Med cruise at the end of July. It is actually quite a task to find reviews seeing as it is such a new ship.
I sailed on Sea Princess in May 06 and had a fab time. Please reply (if i'm not too late already) if you have any questions and i'll try to answer them for you.
I will be on the Emerald Princess for the Med cruise at the end of July. It is actually quite a task to find reviews seeing as it is such a new ship.
I sailed on Sea Princess in May 06 and had a fab time. Please reply (if i'm not too late already) if you have any questions and i'll try to answer them for you.
I am thinking of booking a cruise for The Med July 08 on the Sea Princess is it a good cruise or can you recommend something better it is our first time not sure what to take iron ect.
I am not sure if this is from S/H and if it is 14 nights or whatever. If you sail out of Southampton then depending on the time of year and our unpredictable weather it take 2 days to get into the Med also on the return journey the same situation.
I cruised many years ago in fact 1984 abd 1985 on Canberra and in 1884 we had a force 8 gale and not having brought enough pullovers my daughter had to wear a pullover of her father's as it was so cold even on the ship due to A/C. In Gibralter in M&S we went off to buy her one. Because it was June it was not easy.
The bad weather continued to Barcelona this time now 4 days into the cruise. Had at that time never seen such heavy almost like tropical rain.
The following year the start of the cruise was like being on a mill pond and the weather for the past 2 and the first 2 days were not typical med weather just much like here but dry.
It depends on what you want. You can fly out to places like Barcelona or Rome or Venice and join the ship there. Most of these cruises will be 12 days typically whereas Sea Princess will be most probably be 14 nights.
Do you need to go in school holiday time as outwith this time not only will you find better pricing but also there will be far less children on board. Sailing out of S/H will probably mean that most of the cruisers will be from the Uk.
Do you like a mix of nationalities? I do. Again Princess is owned by Carnival as is P&O Cunard Costa etc etc. Carnival is also the largest cruise line. Don't consider a Carnival ship unless you want party type time.
RCI own Celebrity and they are the 2nd largest company. If they had been able to buy Princess and P&O they would then have become the largest cruise line.
I have cruises with P&O Princess RCI Cunard Celebrity and many years ago with Sitmar line.
It depends I have just come off a 12 night round trip on the QM2 not everyone would do this but I just love the sea days which is why I do a lot of T/Atlantic crossings. I got a fabulous deal on it. March/April Idid a T/A on Celebrity and I have a further cruise booked with them for October.
I love cruising and whilst I sign on as Sue in my family where they call me Susan I am known as CRUISIN SUSAN!
Think about the ports your budget where is it more convenient to leave from. If you live in the south then S/H is easy for you. Think about buying your own flights but leave the day before if I were you. Look at the Cruise company's web site.
The other important point is that there is often a discount for booking early. If you do book and the prices come down as they often do on US ships and they are not able to sell the cabins then if you look at the site frequently you can have this price drop applied to your booking. TA in this country are reluctant to do this as it means the price drop means that they lose a little bit of commission. RCI PRINCESS CELEBRITY CARNIVAL all use and will apply this reduction. If you h ave booked with the cruise line directly which I would not really recommend as their prices are often higher. You can contact the cruise company direct. You have to insist that the TA do this for you and if you look in the small print I think clause 9 on the celebrity brochure it tells you that if the price drops by more than 2% then you are entitled to this reduction. I started a thread on this RCI PRICE DROPS.
Also I take an option on another cruise I may be interested in whilst on board and they just hold a room. This reference no will give you this on board credit my next cruise is just $100 but June my friend who was not on the ship and really should not have got the OBC but I took an option on a cruise for her for her own room. They knew she was not on board but is a good X customer and she has got $150 OBC, They used to give the OBC based on the no of nights of the cruise and for me it was always $200 or more now they have changed the system but it is still $100.
For my Century cruise in October 11 nights in the Med and for single occupancy I have paid £880 less a discount from my TA and the OBC.
Booked my own flights for £90 Celebrity wanted to charge me £360 for the same flight. Read reviews look at brochures ask at TA for DVD's they will give you or just order them on the web site for the cruise company.
You can all shoot me down if you like but I would never ever buy or take a cruise from a package holiday company.
Did once and it was a nightmare long story. Made me ill with vibration and noise in my room. " 2 week cruise and stay with Airtours around 1995 or so. Ended up in hospital when I got back but to cut the story short we got a 100% refund and I insisted they pay the hospital bill for the ship which they did I think it was around £300. We had the second week in a hotel in Majorca but the total cost of the holiday was refunded. I think it took me just over 2 months to achieve this and did it without redress to newspapers etc or press or Lawyer other than the advice of my daughter.
I could have claimed it from my insurance and at first I think they offered us £600 and my daughter said tell them you had a rotten holiday and you want all the cost back. She has a law degree. They offered me £1000 which we refused and in the end they gave both my husband and I a total refund and refunded the bill I had paid to the Ship's Dr's.
You will love cruising and that BUG will bite and once bitten then the love affair with the sea will start you on a whole new holiday love affair.
Anything you want to know post me and I will help you out.
I am not criticising those who have waited so long for their cruises I would have gone to court or threatened to much sooner. You have to just keep repeating what you want and to the top. MY motto became I WILL NOT GO AWAY to the Hoover Saga and not only did I get my free flight I also bought 2 Shuttle flights to Heathrow after giving them a deadline of 5pm on a weekday. 5.5pm I booked the shuttle sent them the bill for payment within 14 days and they did so. I have it in writing that it was because of my determination and spirit that they did so. NONSENCE otwas because they had failed to close a loophole in their offer and I would not discuss the loop hole with them just told them they had very bad legal advice. In the end Hoover were on the phone all the time and I had to say don't call me I will call you.
Sorry to go on so much but I do hope that this will help people out there who deserve compensation or have been let down or have not got what they paid for then just go for it!
My only advice would be to know what the law says about your particular situation and to ask for what you want when you write rather than let them make an offer.
Just be sure that your claim is valid and not some little things as this can devalue the most important issues of your complaint. Report it in resort etc and follow up the time limits etc. I TALK TOO MUCH must get to bed.
Yes Graham I did love the QM2 I will post a review and will also post a direct comparison between Cunard and Celebrity which some of you might find helpful.
Just go for it and book a cruise and I did love Princess sailing on Golden and Island Princess through Panama Golden Venice to New York!
As they say any cruise is better than a good day at the office!
Sue
I cruised many years ago in fact 1984 abd 1985 on Canberra and in 1884 we had a force 8 gale and not having brought enough pullovers my daughter had to wear a pullover of her father's as it was so cold even on the ship due to A/C. In Gibralter in M&S we went off to buy her one. Because it was June it was not easy.
The bad weather continued to Barcelona this time now 4 days into the cruise. Had at that time never seen such heavy almost like tropical rain.
The following year the start of the cruise was like being on a mill pond and the weather for the past 2 and the first 2 days were not typical med weather just much like here but dry.
It depends on what you want. You can fly out to places like Barcelona or Rome or Venice and join the ship there. Most of these cruises will be 12 days typically whereas Sea Princess will be most probably be 14 nights.
Do you need to go in school holiday time as outwith this time not only will you find better pricing but also there will be far less children on board. Sailing out of S/H will probably mean that most of the cruisers will be from the Uk.
Do you like a mix of nationalities? I do. Again Princess is owned by Carnival as is P&O Cunard Costa etc etc. Carnival is also the largest cruise line. Don't consider a Carnival ship unless you want party type time.
RCI own Celebrity and they are the 2nd largest company. If they had been able to buy Princess and P&O they would then have become the largest cruise line.
I have cruises with P&O Princess RCI Cunard Celebrity and many years ago with Sitmar line.
It depends I have just come off a 12 night round trip on the QM2 not everyone would do this but I just love the sea days which is why I do a lot of T/Atlantic crossings. I got a fabulous deal on it. March/April Idid a T/A on Celebrity and I have a further cruise booked with them for October.
I love cruising and whilst I sign on as Sue in my family where they call me Susan I am known as CRUISIN SUSAN!
Think about the ports your budget where is it more convenient to leave from. If you live in the south then S/H is easy for you. Think about buying your own flights but leave the day before if I were you. Look at the Cruise company's web site.
The other important point is that there is often a discount for booking early. If you do book and the prices come down as they often do on US ships and they are not able to sell the cabins then if you look at the site frequently you can have this price drop applied to your booking. TA in this country are reluctant to do this as it means the price drop means that they lose a little bit of commission. RCI PRINCESS CELEBRITY CARNIVAL all use and will apply this reduction. If you h ave booked with the cruise line directly which I would not really recommend as their prices are often higher. You can contact the cruise company direct. You have to insist that the TA do this for you and if you look in the small print I think clause 9 on the celebrity brochure it tells you that if the price drops by more than 2% then you are entitled to this reduction. I started a thread on this RCI PRICE DROPS.
Also I take an option on another cruise I may be interested in whilst on board and they just hold a room. This reference no will give you this on board credit my next cruise is just $100 but June my friend who was not on the ship and really should not have got the OBC but I took an option on a cruise for her for her own room. They knew she was not on board but is a good X customer and she has got $150 OBC, They used to give the OBC based on the no of nights of the cruise and for me it was always $200 or more now they have changed the system but it is still $100.
For my Century cruise in October 11 nights in the Med and for single occupancy I have paid £880 less a discount from my TA and the OBC.
Booked my own flights for £90 Celebrity wanted to charge me £360 for the same flight. Read reviews look at brochures ask at TA for DVD's they will give you or just order them on the web site for the cruise company.
You can all shoot me down if you like but I would never ever buy or take a cruise from a package holiday company.
Did once and it was a nightmare long story. Made me ill with vibration and noise in my room. " 2 week cruise and stay with Airtours around 1995 or so. Ended up in hospital when I got back but to cut the story short we got a 100% refund and I insisted they pay the hospital bill for the ship which they did I think it was around £300. We had the second week in a hotel in Majorca but the total cost of the holiday was refunded. I think it took me just over 2 months to achieve this and did it without redress to newspapers etc or press or Lawyer other than the advice of my daughter.
I could have claimed it from my insurance and at first I think they offered us £600 and my daughter said tell them you had a rotten holiday and you want all the cost back. She has a law degree. They offered me £1000 which we refused and in the end they gave both my husband and I a total refund and refunded the bill I had paid to the Ship's Dr's.
You will love cruising and that BUG will bite and once bitten then the love affair with the sea will start you on a whole new holiday love affair.
Anything you want to know post me and I will help you out.
I am not criticising those who have waited so long for their cruises I would have gone to court or threatened to much sooner. You have to just keep repeating what you want and to the top. MY motto became I WILL NOT GO AWAY to the Hoover Saga and not only did I get my free flight I also bought 2 Shuttle flights to Heathrow after giving them a deadline of 5pm on a weekday. 5.5pm I booked the shuttle sent them the bill for payment within 14 days and they did so. I have it in writing that it was because of my determination and spirit that they did so. NONSENCE otwas because they had failed to close a loophole in their offer and I would not discuss the loop hole with them just told them they had very bad legal advice. In the end Hoover were on the phone all the time and I had to say don't call me I will call you.
Sorry to go on so much but I do hope that this will help people out there who deserve compensation or have been let down or have not got what they paid for then just go for it!
My only advice would be to know what the law says about your particular situation and to ask for what you want when you write rather than let them make an offer.
Just be sure that your claim is valid and not some little things as this can devalue the most important issues of your complaint. Report it in resort etc and follow up the time limits etc. I TALK TOO MUCH must get to bed.
Yes Graham I did love the QM2 I will post a review and will also post a direct comparison between Cunard and Celebrity which some of you might find helpful.
Just go for it and book a cruise and I did love Princess sailing on Golden and Island Princess through Panama Golden Venice to New York!
As they say any cruise is better than a good day at the office!
Sue
Sea Princes is fine and not a bad choice for a first cruise.
We like the anytime dining. give a bit more flexability over traditional.
There are a few other choices next year in June that my be worth looking at.
RCI independance of the seas
mega big ship
NCL Jade
freestyle dining
are two, both ex UK, similar cost/standsrd to princess but different styles.
read a few reviews, any ships will do, to get a feel for what to take and what to expect.
You will need to budget for tips,trips,drinks and On board/off ship expences, for a two week trip we think £500 is reasonable for two unless you spend very little or spend loads.
There are tons of options and if you get hooked like a lot of people do you will get a chance to try other ships/itineries so don't woory too much about trying to get it perfect first time.
We like the anytime dining. give a bit more flexability over traditional.
There are a few other choices next year in June that my be worth looking at.
RCI independance of the seas
mega big ship
NCL Jade
freestyle dining
are two, both ex UK, similar cost/standsrd to princess but different styles.
read a few reviews, any ships will do, to get a feel for what to take and what to expect.
You will need to budget for tips,trips,drinks and On board/off ship expences, for a two week trip we think £500 is reasonable for two unless you spend very little or spend loads.
There are tons of options and if you get hooked like a lot of people do you will get a chance to try other ships/itineries so don't woory too much about trying to get it perfect first time.
can someone tell me how much is the Drink on board the Sea Princess is it expensive.
my parents booked a crusie through thomas cook for princess cruises, thomas cook were the only TO they found offering the princess cruise they wanted. When they booked there was no mention online about the flights having stop overs and the flights were from manchester to miami but with crusies times etc to be confirmed. They got their flights today and they are flying ewith 2 carriers and going manchester to germany then to miami, and on the way home, miami to chicago to manchester. They are absolutely livid as they have paid a fortune and could have done a better job on flights going DIY. Thay have 30mins between their flights in chicago. Just wondering before we complain if anyone else in the same situation or is this common with thomascook/princess cruises??
A query from a cruise newbie!! I'm looking at the sea princess,caribbean cruise (14 nights) on 3rd April 2010. It would be for my husband and myself plus the children who will be 11 and 13. When is the best time to book? Do I book early or would we do better waiting and who should I go to for the best price. It is also our 20th wedding anniversary that year (hence wanting to do something different) and I saw earlier on about the celebration package, can you get that on any of the cruises?
Also does anyone know what the cabins for 4 are like?
Thanks for any help
Pam
Also does anyone know what the cabins for 4 are like?
Thanks for any help
Pam
Pam
I would sign up with as many cruise specialists as possible for email offers. There are some listed at the top of this forum under Useful Links. I get regular, almost daily, emails from The Cruise Kings and they have had some excellent offers. Also have a good read through the Offers topic in here to get a feel for some of the prices. If you cannot find the topics let me know and I'll post links.
I don't know if that date will be near Easter as that could push up the price, but if it's not then it's off season and you should be able to get a good price. Personally I wouldn't book early unless you get an exceptional offer as we did last year. I believe with Princess, if you notice that the price is less on their website then they will apply the price drop for you. That said, a TA may be able to offer at a much lower price than Princess themselves.
As for the celebration package, check their brochure, but when we went we got an excellent package at no extra charge as long as we provided proof of the anniversary. P&O on the other hand charged for everything.
You can read my review of the Sea Princess via Cruise Reviews at the top of the page.
luci
I would sign up with as many cruise specialists as possible for email offers. There are some listed at the top of this forum under Useful Links. I get regular, almost daily, emails from The Cruise Kings and they have had some excellent offers. Also have a good read through the Offers topic in here to get a feel for some of the prices. If you cannot find the topics let me know and I'll post links.
I don't know if that date will be near Easter as that could push up the price, but if it's not then it's off season and you should be able to get a good price. Personally I wouldn't book early unless you get an exceptional offer as we did last year. I believe with Princess, if you notice that the price is less on their website then they will apply the price drop for you. That said, a TA may be able to offer at a much lower price than Princess themselves.
As for the celebration package, check their brochure, but when we went we got an excellent package at no extra charge as long as we provided proof of the anniversary. P&O on the other hand charged for everything.
You can read my review of the Sea Princess via Cruise Reviews at the top of the page.
luci
Thanks Lucy, I'll do that. The dates are school easter holidays and quotes are all around £6000 mark for the 4 of us, which compared to prices I've found for 2 weeks 'on land' isn't bad, but it is for a restricted view cabin. I don't really know if it's a good price or not. I guess in the current economic climate we could be better waiting and hope the prices drop for the better cabins. Still a lot more than we would normally pay for a holiday and really the maximum budget I had in my head, so I want to get as much for the money as we can.
Thanks again for the advice, I'll register, watch and wait!!
Pam
Thanks again for the advice, I'll register, watch and wait!!
Pam
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