Princess cruises are fantastic. Its sophisticated without being stuffy, its what a real cruise is all about, they are right "up there" with the top cruiselines such as P and O and Royal Carribean etc. They are the American arm of P+ O though now both owned by Carnival.
We cruised with them last year and plan to next year.It was our second cruise, we'd previously cruised with Festival Cruises who are Italian based and that was really good too. We took our two gilrs aged 11 and 15 and they are "hooked" on cruising now. We did also a mini cruise with My Travel as a last minute break, they, not meaning to sound disrespectfull but they try hard and the standard of service is good but you just cant compare the ships/food and facilities with lines such as Princess
The Princess ships are sheer luxury, the staterooms lovely and the food is good too.
Drinks prices are ok though wine by the bottle is a little on the dear side but hey.. you're on vacation.
Go for the "Personal Choice " option for meals. you can eat when you want and either eat at a table for two, or share a table with new found friends. The dress code is the same as the traditional dinning room and the menu is the same too. If you want to reserve a table for a certain time, you have untill about 5pm to call and secure a table for you or just turn up, and ok you might have to wait for a few minutes, they give you a bleeper, you can sit and have a pre-dinner drink , relax and listen to the string quartet, etc.
You MUST do afternoon tea. Served in one of the dinning rooms at 4pm by white gloved waiters, little sandwiches, scones and jam and cream, mini cakes , its heaven.
Horizon court 24 hour buffet, pizza or burgers by the pool, a Hagen Daz ice cream bar, West End style shows in a theatre, etc what more could you want.
Remember that your tips of $10 USD per person per day will be added to your on-board account so remember to include that in your budget , and tip room service as you go and 15% is added to each bar transaction.
Any more info you want please feel free to ask.

Thanks for the info rumbaliz. We are thinking about a Princess cruise for next year and your comments are reassuring as hubby is a little concerned that it may be too posh for us.

Can I ask which Airtours ship you did the mini cruise on?

luci

rumbaliz,

Thanks great info,

I started to write more but I deleted it, just waffle, no excuse, book Princess next year(at least one trip).

Luci5..we sailed on the Sundream, this was a mini cruise After sailing with Festival and Princess.
You say your hubby thought it may be too posh, no its quite laid back. Most of the other passengers will be from the US, they enjoy a good time and expect first class service.
Dress code wise, it can be what you want it to be. I like dressing up to go out and its an excuse to take all those outfits I have worn once and put in the wardrobe. The dinning room is quite dressy in the evening and there will be two formal nights on anything above a 7 day cruise. If you want to be real casual and just relax then there is no dress code in the buffet of an evening. During the day its required to cover your swim suits up thats all.
I do really sugest that you go to the Cruise Critics website. I did and joined a "roll call" for my sailing. We just comunicated for about two months on the message board like this one and there were about 28 of us, most were Brits, some from the USA, a Hawian lady and an Aussie couple, and we all met up in a bar after sailaway an it was great to put faces to names, and we all had a few drinks for a couple of hours. It was fun. not only that you can ask whatever questions you want and there will be replys a plenty, so do have a look.
What ship is it you want to go on and what sort of stateroom are you thinking of? We might be going on the Dawn Princess to the Southern Carribean in April 2005.
Liz

Hi rumbaliz

We have no idea which ship we fancy. Haven't started looking yet, but we would like something to tie in with a stay in Las Vegas for a few days.

As for stateroom, we'd probably go for the basic inside. We don't have unlimited funds unfortunately so only manage to get away so often with some serious budgeting!

luci

Nothing basic about inside cabins, especially on big ships like Princess, they are spacious, you get twin beds or a big american sized king bed, also a fridge which is a nice extra I think, a TV and a hairdryer, the closets are really big too. The usual twice daily room tidy and choccy on your pillow at night. room service is free, have what you like wether its on the room service menu or not, just tell them what you want and its done. Ask for bathrobes and a bowl of fruit, its all included.

Sounds really tempting Rumbaliz. We really should be thinking seriously about it as it will soon come round. We'd like to go away in August as it's a big anniversary, but I couldn't find anything suitable when I looked so we may have to change the date.

Already have two holidays in the pipeline before the end of the year and don't know if I could cope with planning a third at the moment! This may be one for the travel agent to deal with rather than just phoning up to book, especially with wanting the Las Vegas add-on.

luci

OT a bit, but going up market seems to bring back some of he little extras that are getting pulled from budget cruises in particular inclusive room service. On the Caronia our cabin steward brought the tea in the morning(almost compulsary) and she had a bleeper and she said we could call ANY time if we needed something. You definately got the feeling she was there to be of service and not just Muck out the cabin.

Luci,
If the cruise uses scheduled flights then the Las vagas add on should be no problem. One thing I get the feeleing that some lines are giving the best deals on early bookings with sweetners like on board credit this will also make planning extensions with flight changes much easier.
When we get back from the Panama trip I will try and find the time to do some price comparisons with late booking against early for P&O, Princess, Celebrity to see if there is a big enough difference to risk the late booking. The other advantage of early is better cabin choice and upgrades.
NCL are doing some 9night cruises in the caribbean which are great for a Lasvegas add on taking it up to the magic 2 weeks. I am sure there will be a Princess trip. With Vegas add on it is worth looking at west coast options Hawaii. Mexican Riviera,Alaska

Thanks for the info WJ. We don't really fancy Hawaii, but I have been looking at the Mexican Riviera and Alaska, but I thought Alaska may be too far from Las Vegas.

luci

Luci,
I think you need to look at a US map
To be fare most people don't realise how wide the US is and Vagas is considered west coast.

eg LA-boston is a 5+hr flight.

4:40 Las vagas to miami
2:40 Las vagas to Vancouver
2:30 Las vagas to seattle
1:00 LAs vagas to Los Angeles
1:30 Las vagas to San Fransisco

Hi WJ

I think you need to look at a US map.
To be fare most people don't realise how wide the US is and Vagas is considered west coast.

Now you've confused me!
We've been to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami in the past, so I know there is a 3 hour time difference between east and west coasts which gives a fair indication of the distance involved.

I wasn't sure of the distance north to south though and didn't want to make the mistake of, "Well it doesn't look far on the map!"

luci

Sorry,
The point is that a lot of people think the US is tall and narrow when in fact it is short and wide.

Thanks WJ. I've always thought of it as short and wide, but I wasn't sure just how short it was flight time wise.

luci

does anyone know when the sea princess's first cruise this year. as its changing back from p&o to the sea princess? and also are there any body booked on her this year

Dont worry about bar prices on Princess:

We have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Ocean Village, P&O and Princess.

Princess are about the cheapest (RC and Carnival maybe 50% dearer: they sell their cruises for about £100 a week less but get it back on the bar bill!)

Although I have fond memories of a cruise on RC Mariner of the Seas when we were given a free drinks package for booking through a cruise club special; we did our best to drink the cost of the cruise; we failed, but it was a lot of fun trying!!!

Windjammer: the cabin stewards on Princess also carry bleepers and room service is great: we always order coffee and pastries for when we wake up, then have the rest of breakfast in the restaurant an hour or so later.

Hi Anthony

The Sea Princess's first cruise is in April this year.

luci

I've just booked a cruise on the Sea Princess for August, going on the Italian Delight itinerary from Southampton. As it's a special occasion, we get a free cabin upgrade, champagne, champagne flutes, chocolate covered strawberries, etc. Really looking forward to it.

I'd be delighted to hear anything about the ship or Princess Cruises in general.

luci

Just paid deposit for cruise in July on Golden Princess sailing in and out of Southampton.
Stops include Le Havre, Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo and Hamburg - 10 night cruise. believe this to be a new itinerary, ship sails the Caribbean in the winter. I have read the cruise reviews on this site but it does not give me much information.

Anyone able to give me the low down on this ship?

many thanks